Support WW2Talk - Become a Site Patron

Discussion in 'Network Information, Suggestions and Feedback' started by Otto, Jun 16, 2016.

  1. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    27 August 2007 was a great day. It was the day I became owner of WW2Talk.com.

    At the time, WW2 Talk was in danger of being dumped into the ether. This site was founded on 24 January 2004, and when I rescued the site I was the seventh change of ownership since the founding. This site had been flogged regularly by website dealers, and I made a commitment on that day that I would change that.

    At the time I had already been running the WW2 Forums for about eight years and I knew enough that I had something quite good in hand. At the time, the site had all of 86,752 posts and a sturdy admin team. I knew enough to leave the operations to the capable admins in place and let them run things as they pleased. I maintained the server, but they ran things day to day.

    That was nine years ago.

    Today WW2 Talk has some 700,000 posts and the same admin team as we did in 2007. This site has even surpassed my own WW2 Forums which has an ample 650,000 posts. Clearly they are doing something right. Over the past 9 years our two "sister" sites have coexisted, examining the Second World War in depth from very different perspectives.

    The recent launch of our third sibling site, the WW2 Open Resource Group, (WW2.ORG) represents our continuing effort to preserve research and keep it accessible. Very early in it's development, the site will serve as an online WW2 encyclopedia as well as an archive to preserve copies of important primary resource documents for research and citation purposes.

    The maintenance of this site is a not insignificant expenditure of time, effort, and resources. There are server fees, software licenses, domain registrations and the like which amount to thousands of dollars annually. Our current advertising system is a welcome help but is beginning to fall short of our financial demands. To maintain and expand this site, we are giving members the option to become Patrons of WW2 Talk. For a small donation a member can now become a Patron for a one year term and know they are helping these sites stay operational.

    The best way to support this site is to become a Patron of WW2Talk.com. The cost is £25 GBP for a one year term. Patrons will get a badge on their profile, along with a few other small perks. You can do this by clicking the WW2 Talk Patron button in your profile. That link is also available in the link below.

    Support this discussion forum, become a WW2 Talk Site Patron.

    I sincerely think this site serves a worthy role for WW2 research. If you also think it is worthwhile and can spare it, why not support our effort here? If you do so, know that you are making a tangible difference in our future as a network of WW2 websites.

    There are specific and immediate goals we'd like to accomplish here at the site. If you become a Patron of WW2 Talk, here is what you are enabling us to improve the site and secure our future:
    -Transfer of web hosting to a new more reliable server
    -Migration to a new, more powerful discussion forum platform
    -enlistment of professional services to conduct a full and proper database migration
    -extension of domain registration for 5 years (WW2Talk.com), indicating our commitment to continued stability through the year 2021

    Details & Questions:
    We've already had some inquiries on supporting the site and becoming a Patron. I've compiled the answers here and will add any new information to this section as it is published.

    15 July 2016 - Patron badge start date
    Please be aware that we will moving to a new server and migrating to new forum software, and the current interface will be rebuilt (that's a main purpose of your contribution!). As a result there it will not be possible to implementing the Patron status on the current platform as it will be removed very shortly. To resolve this, anyone registering for Patron status in the next 30 days will have their one year term commence 15 August 2016.

    Non Paypal Users:
    For users who don't want to use PayPal, you can become a Patron or donate directly by mail. For details please Private Message me or email me at [​IMG]

    No Change to Existing Memberships
    The addition of Patron status does not change any aspect of current site memberships. We'd certainly appreciate any member who donated or became a Patron, but if you don't do so you still have full access to the site as always.

    Are we becoming pay only site?
    No, and we never will.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2016
    4jonboy, Owen, BarbaraWT and 3 others like this.
  2. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    Thanks for the inquiries and interest, I assure you it will be put to good use. This will allow me to give your admins some much better tools to run this place.

    Cheers, I just received notice of our first Patron, BFBSM.
     
  3. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Otto

    I'm very happy to contribute to help keep ww2talk going and to help you and the admins improve it. I'd miss this place terribly if it wasn't around!

    On migrating to a new platform, is there a way for members to back up their posts/threads before that happens? I recall that the last time the forum moved, there was an issue about photos not coming across. Maybe a question for Owen?

    Cheers

    Ian
     
    Ken P, brithm and dbf like this.
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    for chrissake dont ask me, ask Adam
    hahaha
     
  5. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    maybe this link might help...
    http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/60728-quite-likely-software-change/

     
  6. chick42-46

    chick42-46 Senior Member

    Thanks dbf, I'd missed that thread. Sounds like things might go smoothly. Cheers, Ian.

    And sorry Owen, got you and Adam mixed up there!
     
  7. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Massive thanks to those who've chipped in already.
    Really heartening stuff.
    Cheers, chaps. Big style.
     
    brithm likes this.
  8. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    @ chick42-46
    That specific issue was something I was very concerned with with the migration. I can say with certainty that all posts and threads will make the move to our new home. The copying of the text in your posts is the easiest thing to accomplish technically. The problem we had last time was with the photo gallery. That was caused be a very poor initial design by the first site owners, one of those six people who had it prior to us. Part of the reason for this Patron effort is that I'm going to use these funds to hire the very best egg-head I can find to ensure all images make the trip, and have him set up the new gallery database in the best way possible. He might (I stress might) even be able to recover the old photos as well, as I still have the database with the images (I keep everything). It's a matter of how to get at them.

    I'm sincerely humbled by the members who have helped out so far. Great group here.
     
  9. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Deleted.
     
  10. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    onwards and upwards
    just make sure we all press the right buttons
     
    brithm and dbf like this.
  11. Ron Goldstein

    Ron Goldstein WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I confess to be being a strictly "Belt & Braces" man, particularly in any matter relating to the internet.

    With that in mind, when I first started posting on the BBC People's War site I made a point of creating a blog to hold the 100 stories i posted there and any one interested can access these entries by clicking on my profile below and, once on the Blog page, select "RonGoldsteinsArmyAlbum". Likewise, before I donated my Army Album to the Imperial War Museum I took the precaution of creating both a physical duplicate plus a Blog entitled "RonGoldsteinsActualArmyAlbum"

    The problem I face with the new forum "migration" is one of scale.

    My present postings number 6,000 plus and I now lack the energy to attempt any meaningful backup of all text and images and therefore am reliant on dear Otto to see that nothing is lost in the forthcoming transfer (No pressures mate !)

    I have, of course, backed up as many significant threads as possible and ditto with the images using Mozilla, Firefox and Picassa3 so I don't intend to commit HariKari if things go pear shaped :)

    I close by saying I have implicit faith in Otto, his colleagues and the Moderators to protect all the text and images that have accrued on both sites but if perchance anything of value is lost then it's my own bloody fault for not backing-up correctly !

    Belt and Braces rule supreme !

    Ron
     
    Gerard, Smudger Jnr and Roxy like this.
  12. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    Oh god, I hope we're not changing to the same software the Great War Forum has just migrated to; user convenience seems to come a long second to that of the system architects/architecture.

    Pondering Patronage, just so you know.
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    from what I know the new software is what ''arrse'' uses .
    if I understand what Adam told me correctly
     
  14. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    I just visited the GFW, they are using the same software we are using here today. If you think user conveniences are hard on the average member, I cannot convey how awkward and byzantine it is from an administrator's point of view. Which is exactly why we are moving to a new software, the same one used over at ARRSE.
     
  15. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    What's the name of the new platform, Otto?
    (Or is it to be a luxuruously bespoke hybrid?)

    I'll also cough up a few coins when I get a moment away from work. Thanks for all that you've done here with the site.
     
  16. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    It's called XenForo Charley. The developers of XF have a good track record and provide good support, not something I can say for our current IPB platform.
     
  17. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Otto,

    Glad to hear it.

    I'm a moderator on another forum (non-history/military, but a big one) that changed over to XenForo last year. It took a week or two to learn the ropes perfectly, but when the dust settled not a single member would have wanted us to change back. There are a few refundant features that are rarely used, but the interface is 100% sound.
     
  18. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Otto

    Is there any chance the new site could have a FAQ section giving the answers to things like getting service records from the MOD, going to Kew, military abbreviations and other such 'hot' topics. It might help in some way to keep the post count under control.

    Just a thought

    Gus
     
  19. Otto

    Otto GröFaZ Admin

    Good idea Gus. Eventually I'd like to have a guide to retrieve service records for the UK, Canada, the US, Australia, etc. This info will be hosted at WW2.org.

    As for what content is placed at WW2 Talk, that is not my decision. I provide the infrastructure, but Adam and co. run the place. WW2F.com is where I have domain over content. I own both sites, but this separation of powers is an important part of how we run things, and why WW2F and WW2Talk have very different membership profiles. Early on we made the decision to keeps things separate, as the cultures were so good and different that we felt preserving that difference was worth while. For example no person can serve as a mod on both WW2F and WW2Talk, it's one or the other, never both.

    The reason for this Patron drive is so that I can give your Admin team a better server and better software to run on that server. Once that's done the rest is up to you guys. The only reason I have "administrator" under my name is so that I can access the technical side of the site, otherwise my ability is that of a regular member. Your current regime has done a great job 9 years, no reason for me to come in and mess with their mojo.
     
  20. RCG

    RCG Senior Member, Deceased

    Otto
    I have been a member since 2009, and thoroughly enjoy every minute on here and hopefully will continue to until I pass on. which brings me to the question that I have sat here for ages trying to figure out the best way to ask it.

    What happens to the ownership when you pass away?

    Mind you I will probably be long gone and forgotten by then. :)
     

Share This Page