Welcome back UU

The LTG Guild forum has a new tech wiz owner and he just moved that forum to a new server called XenForo. But the LTG is much smaller than UU.

This one looks interesting. I'll look into it. Definitely seems to have better mod tools than vbulletin. thanks
 
Aloha Ryan please keep the forum as it's an inspiration to all ukers, gang if you haven't supported UU VIP program in the past this is the time to
 
This one looks interesting. I'll look into it. Definitely seems to have better mod tools than vbulletin. thanks

Rayan, aren't you aware how much the people who take part in the Seasons, in particular, rely upon the current format? In fact, the general consensus of opinion here seems to be that the majority of people want the existing format to continue ... they DO NOT want a chatroom! I, myself, am not even able to access Discord. If it is a question of receiving more funds in order to find a more suitable solution or even update the current site, I don't doubt that a lot of people would be prepared to contribute. We haven't actually been asked, though! We are grateful for all that you and the other mods do ... but, in this instance, please reconsider; or you are going to destroy a community!
 
Jerryc41 said "Actually making the payment is different from discussing it, and it would have to be an on-going payment"

I've put my money where my mouth is, as they say, and have subscribed to VIP for twelve months. I know this is only gesture, but I make it as an act of faith in the future.

I just hope UU has a future and that I will continue to be part of it.

John Colter
 
A new UU VIP here, too. I hope that the forum will be going on, in some form or other, because chats are something else. Anyway, becoming UU VIP now is my thanks to the mods and this fine community for the knowledge sharing and fun.
 
+1.

I greatly appreciate all the work that the mods have been doing over the years, as well as the contributions of the members here.
I don't like chats, so won't go to Discord if that's what it is. I also don't do Facebook, so if this moves over there, I'll be out, too. But, that's my choice, and not a reason for anyone to decide one way or another about those options.

This forum has played a large role in my ukulele/music experiences, which probably would have quickly ended without this forum. It's been a fantastic resource, with both current posts and the archive of old posts to read through. I would certainly pay for that option.

I have paid at times, and would do so again. If the mods decide to charge a fee to take part, or set up a gofundme (or similar type of thing), I'll definitely contribute. I'm currently out of both jobs I work, but that means that I have more time for something like this during my shelter in place orders, and I'll make sure to contribute $ if that will keep the forum going.

I know that it wasn't COVID-19 that might take out this forum, but it kind of feels that way, due to the timing. So much is changing right now for so many. I hope that you all stay safe and stay healthy, whatever happens to this forum.


IBID-
For me, a "chat" doesn't deliver what I've enjoyed about the format here, regardless of the 'age' of the format. Perhaps it's lasted that long because it work for the participants.

Put out some of the financials and figure out what it would take to keep this going. Your time and experience is not only valuable, but "priceless" when it comes to the archival information here. I spent half an hour trying to navigate through the Discord (appropriately named, BTW), looking up specifics and trying to follow a topic and subsection. Very cumbersome (and I've written code in UCSD Pascal!!). I work in both the PC and MacOS world and use iOS 'screen' products. I just can't see using discord in those environments.
 
Thanks to all of the new subscribers! I've been a VIP since before I even joined the Seasons. When I first discovered the forum, the informational threads and Marketplace alone were worth the investment to me. Once I discovered and started participating in the Seasons, even more so!

and thanks to Rayan for keeping an open mind! I've been poking around on Discord, doing my best to do the same ~
 
Two points:

1. If you haven’t paid for UU VIP status because you thought the forum wouldn’t last you were right, so now donate for all the years you were wrong!!

2. Please don’t lay a guilt trip on UU for possibly needing to shut the forum down, we the membership are the ones that should be feeling guilty for not supporting it with donations.

I will really miss this forum if it goes away, how many folks have sold uke’s on the forum, some of that sale money could have gone for your UU VIP membership. Not to go overboard here, I also pay for UU+ to help support this (I assume UU & UU+ are one organization) group. But, I digress, I’ll just stick with what’s happening here.

In my opinion, membership should have always been required to use the Marketplace, this is true on other such forums.
 
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A new UU VIP here, too. I hope that the forum will be going on, in some form or other, because chats are something else. Anyway, becoming UU VIP now is my thanks to the mods and this fine community for the knowledge sharing and fun.

Seconded, Ylle! Another new UU VIP ... I hope someone out there is noticing the remarks made here!
 
I HATE THE FACT THIS FORUM MAY GO DOWN!!!!

I was just getting a lot of friends, having good interaction, and having a great time. Now, all that is being taken from me. ITS NOT FAIR!

It's like everything is against me!
 
I did install Discord on my computer but as well as being dark and,for myself with rubbish eyesight,hard to read I was a bit at a loss with it. Being a 76 year old computer dinosaur it was confusing to me and seemed intrusive so I uninstalled it. I will be putting it on my tablet which for some reason I find easier to use when trying something different.
 
Ukulele Tabs is another ukulele forum. Unlike the Flea Market forum, Ukulele Tabs does have some topical structure. The first page looked strange to me, because it is a hodge-podge of recent posts across all topics. However, the very top of the page, entitled "All Channels" does enable easy movement to the specific topic categories.

Rayan, aren't you aware how much the people who take part in the Seasons, in particular, rely upon the current format? In fact, the general consensus of opinion here seems to be that the majority of people want the existing format to continue ... they DO NOT want a chatroom! ... ...
Rayan's post #101 is talking about testing XenForo. XenForo is forum software, NOT a chat room app. XenForo is much MUCH easier to moderate than UU's present forum software, but it isn't free by any means.
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Folks, it looks to me like Rayan has heard our thoughts about switching to Discord's chat room environment, and he is now working to find other options for keeping this forum alive. He deserves our positive support.

I have pointed out a couple of other ukulele forums but absolutely NOT with the goal of abandoning UU. Those forums are nowhere near as great as UU. NOwhere!!! However, even if UU survives, I believe it's a good idea to support those other forums, while remaining at UU as our home base. For example, on those other forums I saw some posts that were seeking help with ukulele techniques, supplies, or models. Most of those requests remained unanswered. It would be good to look in on those forums, & help out our fellow uke-lovers from time to time, if needed.
 
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I think there are two issues here.

1. Knowing how much is needed each year... $25,000, $50,000, $??,???, to upgrade UU and maintain the original intent as a forum.

2. Knowing if there will be administrators/moderators for any upgraded UU. All the money thrown at this may not solve the 2nd issue.

Ryan, you and everyone else has done a great job over the years. It is a place that I have come and gone and come back to. This is a lot of work and everyone needs a break. Decades ago I ran a classic car club. That was small compared to this, but just like that, the buck always stops with the same people. It is tough to find people to step in and run this thing long term. I am surprised and grateful that it has gone on this long.

I was originally on the old non-UU Uke Talk Forum and also Flea Market Music. Flea Market Music bulletin board is amazingly still trudging along. If anyone thinks this format is primitive, they need to take a look at that one.

If UU will have administration in place, it really comes down to needing $X per month and letting people know we need this much of a membership fee. Unfortunately the way the economy is and the job situation for many, this is probably not an ideal time.

John
 
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This one looks interesting. I'll look into it. Definitely seems to have better mod tools than vbulletin. thanks


Hi Rayan,

Thanks to you and the others that keep UU going.

I will be very sad if the forum shuts down. I've used Discord in the past, and did not like it because of the chaos that often happens with many simultaneous, yet disconnected conversations taking place in a specific channel, all in real-time.

Using Facebook is not an option for me because the company is evil and I will not give them my personal (or otherwise) info nor my time.

I would be willing to sign up to a Patreon or GoFundMe as well as UU VIP once I have a regular income again. Right now because of the COVID-19 problems, I am unemployed and going through a very difficult time.

If in the end, it is absolutely necessary to take the forum offline, will you please consider and investigate having the historical content preserved on The Internet Archive, via https://www.archive.org?

If so, then all of the deep and meaningful text information contained here would not be lost forever in some offline backup tapes, never to be seen again.

There are also a few places I know of where there are teams of people to assist with getting sites into The Internet Archive. If you PM me, I can send you the details. I am not sure if they are all volunteers, but I know that some of them are.

Also, if the forum is to go offline, will it be possible to give fair warning, like 15 or 30 days before shutdown so that we can exchange contact info with other friends (that we may have not already), and also copy any important info we would like to save locally?

Thank you in advance for reading my post.

All the best to you, and the rest of the UU management team,

Joe :)
 
I think this should become a mandatory paid site for those who want to participate with it.
 
I hope everything can be worked out here. But if not, there is always the option of creating our own. I believe this site is running on vBulletin. Letting that company do all the work of setup and maintenance could cost about $800/yr. If there are other costs, the vBulletin web site doesn't mention them. That certainly isn't $xx,xxx.

The bigger problem would be how it would be administered. I'm not sure how that could be done, but I know there are a few members here who have a lot of computer background, although administering a forum site doesn't take a systems programmer. Perhaps a few folks would be willing to volunteer some time to help with that. I know I would.

Again, I hope this forum continues forever, but I'm just putting this out as a very last resort.
 
Thanks for the details, Rayan. I created a "Discord" account & frankly there's nothing that will keep me coming back. Too much DISCORD. Apparently by intent. A non-threaded chat service is a non starter IMO.

I will stick around the UU forum until you have to turn off the lights. The historical wealth of knowledge contained in these many years alone is priceless.

Mahalo
 
I hope everything can be worked out here. But if not, there is always the option of creating our own. I believe this site is running on vBulletin. Letting that company do all the work of setup and maintenance could cost about $800/yr. ... ...
I wonder if that $800 includes hosting, & the associated high bandwidth requirements of a forum -- also the associated costs for online storage/access for UU's VERY extensive files of previous posts going back umpteen years.
 
I just went to the Flea Market forum. Sorry to say it's not on par with this forum, rather rudimentary, no embedded videos, only links to other sites like YouTube. Really slow when I first got in, but got faster shortly.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
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