Closing down the forum

[Karla]

I'm sorry to say that we've decided to close down the forum. We need to minimise responsibilities and costs in our lives and the community would be better served if the forum was run by its most active members.

I'm happy to help you create a new home depending on what you decide. If you want to create a new forum and I can have this site redirect to it. Or if you all want I can give you a copy of the database so you can host it elsewhere.

[Greenbare Woods]

I would be happy to host the forum for  a few years if I knew how to run stuff like this.  I already have an Internet provider host for my personal account.  I could shift freerangenaturism.com over to my host.
 
 What kind of software does this forum need?   How much tech knowledge does it take?

[nuduke]

Oh Karla,
This is a tragedy!  We have much to be grateful for with your generosity over quite some years now.  And, as was always the case, our fate is in your hands and you have decided to withdraw, which is your right to do, of course.
I do hope we are able to migrate this forum somewhere rather than have to start over.  I haven't the first idea how that could be achieved but I hope it can.  And I hope you and Stuart will join it! 
Particularly important I guess is that you don't switch off until we have sorted something out.
Very generous offer from you Bob, thank you.  You have a couple of websites, I believe so you must surely have the infrastructure to host the forum.
May good fortune attend your researches.  Anyone else with any ideas where we could go next?  Could you help with explaining the tech, Karla?
Jbee - would a forum be possible on The Freerange Naturist?
John

[nuduke]

Obviously, Forum members, Karla's decision to exit is a wake up call for us.
Anyone with the knowledge of how to keep us going?  Do we want that or is apathy triumphing, signalling the end to 20 + years of the forum in various guises?
Let's talk - lets hear from eachother.
John

[Yorksmark]

I know running any website is time consuming and not always as rewarding as it first starts out. Especially after a long time of managing the site
 

Hopefully someone has the tenacity, wherewithal and resources to be able to provide the service for the rest of us

[Karla]

Forgot to say, the forum software is SMF.

It is possible to migrate a SMF database over to MyBB.

[Safebare]

Oh Karla! Thank you so very much for all of the effort you have extended in the enablement of this forum. Your presence will surely be missed.

The only thing constant is change. I am sure this community will step up to find a new host website. The transition might be tricky, but that's how change is.

~Safebare

[jbeegoode]

Forgot to say, the forum software is SMF.

It is possible to migrate a SMF database over to MyBB.

I'll make the time to find out what that means. Perhaps someone where I live has some knowhow to direct me. I'm here often anyway, I suppose there is mostly back up and monitoring at some point. If something more difficult would be necessary, I'd certainly need that someone that could trouble shoot. Word press has 24 hour chat and tech support. Does this format also have anything like that?

My computer is getting older and is reaching limits as well. Can this be run on a laptop and some cloud storage? My awareness of my ignorance is growing as I sit here and think!

Please, hang in there until things are sorted out. What is the general financial need at this point when the space has filled up and needs expanded.
Jbee

[jbeegoode]

Forgot to say, the forum software is SMF.

It is possible to migrate a SMF database over to MyBB.

I'll make the time to find out what that means. Perhaps someone where I live has some knowhow to direct me. I'm here often anyway, I suppose there is mostly back up and monitoring at some point. If something more difficult would be necessary, I'd certainly need that someone that could trouble shoot. Word press has 24 hour chat and tech support. Does this format also have anything like that?

My computer is getting older and is reaching limits as well. Can this be run on a laptop and some cloud storage? My awareness of my ignorance is growing as I sit here and think!

Please, hang in there until things are sorted out. What is the general financial need at this point when the space has filled up and needs expanded.
Jbee

Okay! Got that  Would you recommend one over the other? I'm looking over Wordpress, but it feels more complex right now, lots of options. SMF starts off with that word "novice." I like that. Seems that a transfer using passwords would make things simpler. What is involved in backup? Do they just do that, or you have a personal place for that? Appears that my laptop with windows 10 could handle it...if I can handle windows ten How has their support been?
Jbee

[nuduke]

Jbee, you do indeed seem to be the target person since you host a website already and SMF seems to need installing somehow on a website.  I hope you might don the mantle.  Nobody more suitable, I would suggest, since you are our leading light here by some margin
Karla, if you understand it, could you explain in layman's terms what is needed to acquire SMF  and get it going (maybe you remember what you did to create the forum in the first place)?  And then you seem to have an understanding of how to migrate the database, presumably holding all the years of correspondence.  Could you expound on that, please?  With a layman's summary we can all have a look and consider what's involved in saving the forum.
Another thought:  If migrating is too difficult, if we started a completely fresh new forum but publicised it for some time on here, then we might be able to move across without losing too many members that want to migrate.
Thanks
John

[Karla]

I'm thinking that it might be easier to just hand over the website to anyone who wants to step up. I would need to ask the hosting service if I could transfer the account to someone else. I'm also happy to transfer the URL freerangenaturism.com to the new owner. I'd be happy to show them what needs to be done and be on hand in case anything goes wrong but I can't be responsible for it any more. Generally though the forum is small enough that not much needs to be done except verifying new members and making the occasional backup.

If you want to move to a new hosting service then I'm happy to move the website there instead. We chose a hosting service that allowed for nudity. Most of them don't. Costs are actually quite low for a discussion forum. About 7 UK pounds s month. The URL needs to be paid for every year but there are loads more domains available now so it might be worth moving away from .com to .org or something.

[Fellsnude]

I couldn't do the admin but I'm happy to make a financial contribution.

[nuduke]

Sorry to digress on this very important thread, but, Karla, you do sound as if you want to get off the web altogether with FRN/naturism.
Are you and Stuart still naturists?  Do you go hiking up mountains still or was that a feature of the distant and youthful past?
I would like to think you are still the paragons of naturism that you were when active climbing Munros.
John

[jbeegoode]

Yea, ditto. Still gettin' naked and smellin' the thistles where God hangs out?
Jbee

[Karla]

Sorry to digress on this very important thread, but, Karla, you do sound as if you want to get off the web altogether with FRN/naturism.
Are you and Stuart still naturists?  Do you go hiking up mountains still or was that a feature of the distant and youthful past?
I would like to think you are still the paragons of naturism that you were when active climbing Munros.
John

We're still doing out door naturism although not so much munro bagging anymore for health reasons. And we make sure to fly to the Canary islands once a year to stock up on Vitamin D for the winter. That always involves plenty of nudity. I leave the cameras behind though.