New website?

Could we move our community to a more updated website? This website has a wonderful community and a wonderful moderator (kudos Traveler!!), but it's so difficult to search and use in general.

I think it's fairly easy to start up a new forum, like this:
http://solvepfs.com/

It would make searching and communicating a lot easier I think.

Yes, it's a great forum. Particularly with the help of such great moderators! I know all the regulars on this site really appreciate all the hard work you guys put into this site. We know it's not easy!! We appreciate your dedication!

I was just wondering if there might be a way to get more advanced forum software somehow. I think we could use an upgrade given the technologies available. Maybe we could just upgrade the software and not need to move? Just thinking out loud here, but I think it would improve the site's user experience with new software. It would be much easier to locate posts that you have made, and locate things that other people have posted. Food for thought, at least.

Ya we were just saying some features would be great ..like more tipics on 1st page ..more stickies for pertainent info ..you guys are great at spouting newbie stuff but it must get tireing explaining how why western blots and regular docs are useless...im going to get all field of dreams on you gfields ...i have a idea for a conglomerate site too but need a)and angel to fund and maintain b) a techie to create and update ..)c the energy to make it real

Ya, I don't know exactly what's involved, but I remember when I used to be in the Post-finasteride syndrome community, we had an older forum, and some kid broke out of that community (they were a really grumpy group of folks, unlike the community here), and started his own forum called solvepfs.com. I don't think he was particularly techy. I think you can just create one for free in a matter of a weekend or something. They have these websites that you can just make one relatively easily.

But I would hate to break up this community if we created a new forum. We'd all have to agree to migrate to the new site, otherwise I'd miss all of you! Or, maybe we could contact this forum owner and ask if they could upgrade this forum. That's a possibility too.

There's so much great information on this forum, but it's difficult to locate stuff, and I feel like things kind of get lost in the fray.

Doesnt a pharmaceutical company own this ?or they are subsidized by them through advertising

V-Bulletin is one of the best forum platforms out there. Very functional and user friendly.

One problem with free software is you get what you pay for. They can and are being compromised (hacked) continuously because the creator of the forum doesn't have access to the server. Also very spammy, they collect user profile information to sell for a profit. How do think they make money If they move to another software their could be an issue of page rankings on Google. Healingwell is always on the first page if they change it could be like starting over. Bots have to find them.

Just my 2 cents.

I have not seen very many forums without a cost. Either the domain name or the host will require payment. Especially if you want an ad free forum. And, it has been my experience on forums that someone always gets stuck with the payment..... or they get tired of always paying and the forum goes down.

There is also attention that is required of a good administrator. Responding to emails would be number one, notifying board members of server upgrades and interruptions of the forum. That is a job and someone that loves techy stuff is needed and available on a daily basis. Backup admins are really preferred.

This site has MANY forums and it is not feasible to upgrade the software for just our forum. It would need to be done for the entire site.

But gfields, if you move and start one up, please let me know.

I really like this site, and this community. Just think the software could use an upgrade.

I don't think it's very expensive to host a forum. If you pay for webspace, it's usually not more than 100 dollars a year. Could be wrong, but that has been my experience.

Traveler, my guess would be the work that you do on this site is 100x more than the admin does. Don't know for sure, but just guessing. We appreciate your hard work and we'll miss you if you decide to leave!! :-(

Ha ha ha, Well, thank you for the kind words, gfields! But, you SEE my 'work', whereas you don't 'SEE' Admin's work so much. But believe me, he does a lot and I can tell you that he has been working to not only keep this site up and running, but to try to 'modernize' the site as well - and it gets a LOT more expensive as the site/membership grows. I remember a time when there were no ads at all, and Admin wrestling with the decision to take advertisers and upgrade the site, or just to let it struggle along without the extra monies that would be generated.

Purple Tulip - I do believe there is a mobile site, but since I"m not very techy (nor do I have a smart phone), I have asked the other mods & admin to verify this. I'll be sure to let you know what I find out.

It would be cool if we could get a note that someone replied to a comment of ours like fb does that would be a nice feature

I worry if we left ppl wouldn't know and would get left behind this page gets a lot of traffic :0