Stupid idea of the day: crowdfund a forum upgrade

[deathmetal]

If admins were not hostile to it,
AND enough users threw in money,
Xenforo -- pretty much the premiere forum on the net -- costs $40 a year for the software
It might be a nice upgrade after years of faithful service by this old forum on PipesMagazine!
Does that qualify as a "club"?

 

[captainprophesy]

Great... now I'm going to lose another comment to a deleted thread :lol:
I kid I kid, or am I?... in all seriousness an upgrade would be nice, but at the same time.. if it "aint broke" I know that this topic has come up a few times over the years and is always shot down, but can't remember the reasons behind it.

 

[oldreddog]

I'm always ready to chip in two cents.

 

[misterlowercase]

I reject the idea outright.
One thing I love about this forum is the "old school" feel,

the minimalism.
Most hypermodern forums suck.
Pipesmagazine.com forums as they exist are the perfect vehicle for what I like to do,

it is a simple process for me to dump massive image hordes with no problem,

unlike other hypermodern forums where such things become a task and a headache,

I've just about pulled my hair out by trying to post big image-filled threads on other forums,

it ain't no fun.
This place is perfect as it is,

a unique reservoir which is easy to use.
:!:

 

[rblood]

At the risk of revealing myself as the old fart who knows little about these fancy internet things (which I am), what exactly is wrong or missing from the current PM forum? What benefits are we missing out on?
Frankly, of the few forum sites I do frequent, this one is about the easiest for me to deal with.

 

[andrew]

You don't need to exactly crowdfund, alot of forums simply have contributing members that donate monthly to keep the forum going, but this forum has companies that pay for advertising space, which probably more than covers the cost of renting a server. So then you have to draw a line between pleasing members and pleasing advertisers, and in the end the advertisers will be the ones most likely chosen. Personally I'd love to see this become pipes and cigars magazine as the forum owner used to run a cigar website.

 

[tarak]

I'm a younger fart, but really frequent no other forums. So I, too, don't understand what is missing. Can combine fill me in on what they feel is to be gained with an upgrade?

 

[elbert]

The last thing on God's Green Earth that I need is some new-fangled "mobile" version of the site to "solve" the "problems" that I must be having by using my smartphone. I also don't want to be prompted to download Tapatalk every time I browse the site.
But if you can avoid all that nonsense, have at it! From another "young fart".

 

[pylorns]

Fairly large feature set of newer forums is missing. I think many here would enjoy those features, but its not like saying "here is 40 dollars give us a new forum", its more like hire a developer, retrofit this website - its no small undertaking because there is a ton of custom code; so I totally get why Kevin hasn't been able to get to it, its not broke (for the most part), many people like the older look that this forum offers, and people fear change. Oh.. and there is the whole, if you change the fourm system and the URLs change the SEO is all screwed up and we wouldn't want to not find stuff when searching google now would we?

 

[andrew]

About the only real things it's missing which is standard on v-bulletin and most server's of forums I've seen for as long as I can remember is a quote, multi-quote, where you just hit a quote button and it will automatically quote the member who's post you're quoting rather than having to copy/paste it, plus the ability to look up every single post a member has made.

 

[xrundog]

Upgrade? Meh.
But I don't have a Smart Phone either.

 

[pylorns]

Feature Sets:

Like Andy Said, the Quote/Multiquote

Better Member Profile Management and Message system

Calendar

Flat vs Threaded option (personally I tend to enjoy the flat type as I normally just check out the what's new section)

Drag and Drop attachments/images (this piece of usability would be awesome, but then storage space on the hosting size would have to increase)

Better polling

Social Media integration/shareing (facebook, twitter, google plus)

Security: 2-step verification
While Xenforo is ok, I like newer tech of Discourse.

 

[elbert]

^This represents the sort of thing I'd like to avoid.

 

[rblood]

pylorns thanks for the "features" list, but I personally I think these things are rather a solution in search of a problem.
I don't consider myself resistant to change, but rather resistant to change for change sake. Simple is often better.
And +1 on the no Tapatalk nonsense.

 

[dmcmtk]

Pipesmagazine.com forums as they exist are the perfect vehicle for what I like to do,

it is a simple process for me to dump massive image hordes with no problem,

unlike other hypermodern forums where such things become a task and a headache,

I've just about pulled my hair out by trying to post big image-filled threads on other forums,

it ain't no fun.

This alone would make me say leave things as they are! Having to copy and paste quotes, a little "old school" but not that hard really...

 

[derfatdutchman]

I'm of the if it isn't broke don't fix it school.

 

[georged]

I would like to start a crowdfund to raise money for the abduction, tarring, and feathering of those who want to "upgrade" (a.k.a. screw up) this forum by pretty much any means at all. :wink:

 

[johnnyreb]

I would like to start a crowdfund to raise money for the abduction, tarring, and feathering of those who want to "upgrade" (a.k.a. screw up) this forum by pretty much any means at all.

Where do I donate my funds?

 

[condorlover1]

I'll throw in $5 immediately to keep it just as it stands. I like the place just the way it is and I certainly don't need any new fangled App things!

 

[tarak]

I appreciate the current format just fine, but I would LOVE an App. I pretty much live off apps now- this might be the only place I'm still using a website it and it is cumbersome.
Chris