Why would we change forum applications? It's a heluva lot of work for me and will cause great consternation for many users who don't deal with technology (or change) well.
Here is a copy of a post I made in the private forum for the board of directors just a couple of months after I took over as webmaster from Al Olme.
September 10, 2022
"I am considering the pros and cons of moving the current sidecar forums to a new application.
The pros of the current application are:
- Familiarity of the users with the interface.
- It is simple to use and the look and feel are ok.
- There is a tremendous amount of history and institutional knowledge stored in the 81,000 posts over almost 20 years. Care should be taken to preserve all that.
The cons of the application are:
- Developed and maintained by a single developer. If something happens to that developer there is no team or support to carry on future development.
- Limited support - the developer is non-responsive to requests. The support website is also non-responsive and is riddled with spam. So the developer not only does not have spam protection set up but is also not moderating or eliminating those spam posts. ( https://www.asgaros.de/support/ ) Al told me the developer was recently married so that may explain his absence.
- Limited feature set. Horrible editor. Very limited moderation tools for posts.
- It is not very popular, there are only 10,000+ installations of the application.
- The online documentation has not been updated since mid-2019.
Other thoughts.
- Al Olme says he thinks it would be better to move to a more modern forum application, even if it means starting over. He suggested leaving the existing forum in place but freezing it while a new forum is started.
- The association users appear to be satisfied with the status quo so there is little call for change. The easiest thing to do is just stay with the current situation.
- I would build a new forum as a prototype and let people experience it so the organization could grow into it over time. No flashcut or decision needs to be made.
- This would be a separate project that I would work on in a few months.
Here is a forum topic on the Asgaros Support Forum (Nov 2022): ASGAROS IS DEAD
Here is a statement from the developer in his support forum (Sep 2022) (Link):
"No, the plugin is still not dead! I am just busy on a lot of private things which gives me currently less room for development. My daughter, my full-time job and all the hassles Zero-Covid here in Shanghai brings to our family has a higher priority for me at this moment."
My summary thoughts - These are not sufficient reasons by themselves to make such a decision NOW. But the situation does not bode well for the future. There are no show-stoppers at the moment. If the developer disappears now the software will continue to run, just without any feature or security updates going forward. So if we accept these statements my thought is "If not now, then when?" I have the ability and time to do this, but do you all think the sidecar community is ready to do this?
Jerry
Jerry
I fly (and ride) to free my mind from the tyranny of petty things. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
I will say that this is much faster responding than the official site. Not sure if that is server based or software based.
Illegitemi non carborundum est!
There are a few different popular forum platforms. It seems relatively easy to deal with the differences, even as a self imposed luddite.
From what I've seen in the relatively short time posting to this platform it is pretty easy to adapt. The speed of posting alone should be enough to convince many to move.
Three things come to mind (rhetorical): 1). Do you currently have the time to take on the project (i.e. is this the best time, rather than wait until later). (2). Does the automation of this new platform reduce your work load to the point the initial ROI is worth it. (3) Will the current level of forum use continue, or is it a temporary spike.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Great questions!
- Do I have the time? Yes, for now. I can handle this over the next month or so. Then I am afraid, as the weather warms and people head out for rides and other distractions, it will be more difficult to focus on the detailed tasks, study, and constant interactions and Q&A that will be required. Training posts? Demo videos? Better get it done before the summer riding season!
- Reduce my workload? Absolutely! If I don't have to watch the forums constantly during the day that in itself is freeing. If I can assign some moderation tasks to a few people that helps greatly. Another piece of the big puzzle that I haven't spoken of publicly is the need (and upcoming project) to move us to a modern membership management application like most websites. With that in place signing up new members, accepting payments, and granting access to forums will be as effortless as you see in most large scale websites and membership organizations.
- Level of forum use? Unknown. Forum use depends upon look and feel and quality content. I can help with the look and feel here but it is up to you guys to post and recruit more quality content. I will add to that in another post.
Jerry
Jerry
I fly (and ride) to free my mind from the tyranny of petty things. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
