Hello everyone. I hope the day finds you well!
During the last few weeks I have researched, with excellent help from
many of you, ideas for what to do next with the Silver List and our
web
archive situation. I think I've settled on a plan that will take us a
long way.
What I want to do is ...
* Create a web-based forum that will serve as archives and home for
our
community.
* Integrate it with a fully functional e-mail interface for those who
want to continue subscribing that way... Like Yahoo! Groups done
right.
* Recruit a team of volunteers to spread the workload, preserve our
healthy group culture, and lessen the risk of the community failing
if
I decide to retire someday or become incapacitated.
* Make sure the list is on a solid technical and financial footing
for
the foreseeable future.
The basis for this effort will be software from Jelsoft, Ltd., called
vBulletin. See: <www.vbulletin.com> This is a good commercial package
for running web forums. It's secure and scalable, support is solid,
and
there is a vigorous developer community adding new features and
options
all the time.
I have purchased a copy of the software and am starting the long
process of configuring and adapting it to the way I want things to
work. What with converting our archives to forum format and
integrating
the e-mail functions, I am mentally prepared for it to take the next
3
to 4 months to bring everything online.
If it seems that I can get the archives up sooner than that, of
course
I will try to do so.
As we approach launch, I also want to do some fundraising. I will ask
the community to pitch in, with the goal of raising enough money to
pay
for the next 5 years of domain registration and hosting. Paying for 5
years up front gets us a major price break from Eskimo.
My estimate of the cost -- excluding wildly unexpected growth rates
or
significant legal fees -- works out to somewhere around $1500 (US). I
have already received a donation from one generous soul which has let
me buy the software and will be a start toward the rest. I have faith
that we can achieve this goal.
Meanwhile, I plan to create a voluntary subscription option that will
reward those who contribute a small amount each year with a number of
functional and cosmetic enhancements to their membership to the
forums
and list. I won't do anything to prevent free access to the
information
we have to share, but I hope to create at least a small incentive for
people to contribute. A searchable CD of the archives is another
potential product for us.
Together, these ideas should create a modest cashflow that will help
me
keep the site free of advertising and preserve our non-commercial
character.
There are benefits for me in all this, sure.
For one thing, having other people helping will mean I can take a
vacation from time to time and know the group will be well cared
for. I
also won't have to worry any more about being a single point of
failure
that can take down the group for good.
For another, I have kids starting to apply to college, so money is
going to be tight around here for a long time. Taking the financial
burden of running the list & forums off my family's shoulders will be
very helpful. My wife thanks you! <grin>
It'll even give me the incentive I need to update my computer skills
enough to complete my personal quest to be free of Microsoft
products!
What's most important, though, is that we can carry on our mission of
getting good, clear, impartial information on CS and related subjects
out to the people who need it, and do it better than ever before.
It will be easy to build a 'Getting Started' section filled with all
the information new people need.
We should be able to handle growth with fewer problems.
We'll have our archives back, finally, with in-house control and much
better search functionality. <haleluja!!>
So, there's the state of my thinking. Nothing is cast in stone,
people!
If you have thoughts, ideas, suggestions, fears, questions,
complaints,
or any sort of advice, please feel free to contact me privately at
mdev...@eskimo.com, on this list, or on the OT list.
I've been at this job for going on 8 years. If I'm going to keep on
doing it, it would be nice to do it better -- for your sake and mine.
Be well,
Mike Devour
silver-list owner
[Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian]
[mdev...@eskimo.com ]
[Speaking only for myself... ]
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