Welcome back UU

I'm all signed up and my e-mail is verified, but the "e-mail verified" window won't let me "Continue to Discord" no matter how many times I hit the button.

UPDATE: OK, I found another way in, but I don't see anything about a ukulele discussion group there.

Honestly, I'm getting tired of having to keep re-learning technology for things that should just be simple and free of techno-stress. This is a discussion about ukuleles, little wooden boxes with strings on them. Why does it have to be any more complicated than it is?
 
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That there won't be threads per se is concerning. UUF threads are a treasure trove of information, that can be searched for. It'll be a shame if all that will be lost.
 
That there won't be threads per se is concerning. UUF threads are a treasure trove of information, that can be searched for. It'll be a shame if all that will be lost.

we are not planning on taking down the forum. What we may do is lock the new user signups and new posts. We'll see how it goes.
 
Terribly frustrating. This is not a migration, this is terminating a forum and starting chat sessions. So long ukuleleunderground
 
we are not planning on taking down the forum. What we may do is lock the new user signups and new posts. We'll see how it goes.

It is taking down the forum. You just admitted to that. If you lock out new user signups and new posts it will end ukuleleunderground forum. Why are you killing ukuleleunderground forums?
 
It is taking down the forum. You just admitted to that. If you lock out new user signups and new posts it will end ukuleleunderground forum. Why are you killing ukuleleunderground forums?

Keeping this forum up is very expensive to operate and time-consuming to manage. The size of the database of a 13 year old very active forum is huge. The little revenue the forum generates does not cover its operating costs and hasn't for a very long time. The mods have thankless jobs and are tired as well. We will see how it goes. I'm listening to feedback.
 
Keeping this forum up is very expensive to operate and time-consuming to manage. The size of the database of a 13 year old very active forum is huge. The little revenue the forum generates does not cover its operating costs and hasn't for a very long time. The mods have thankless jobs and are tired as well. We will see how it goes. I'm listening to feedback.

Rayan,
thank you for the hard work!
As far as the new "thing", it's not a forum. It's a chat platform.
Alternatives don't exist unfortunately: yousician have a discussion forum focused solely on their app, that's all I see out there anywhere close.
That's alright, we can handle adversity.
Peace.
 
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I signed up and can't figure out how to see various topics that might be of interest for discussion. I am not interested in chat function. How can a new topic for discussion be started there?
 
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I agree, a chat thing doesn't suit me either. I found a Barry Maz facebook page....solely focused on reviews. Nothing out there like UU. Hey, Bill Gates, how about some money here?!?
 
Rayan, I also deeply appreciate your hard work and dedication in running this GREAT forum. Another option for an easier-to-maintain forum is vBulletin. Their version 5 is just $249 for life of ver. 5. I would be happy to donate that sum if you folks decide to go with vBulletin. Just PM me.
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At all -- Guitar forum has an Other Stringed Instruments segment that includes ukuleles. If they got a lot of new ukulele members they might agree to separating that segment into topical sub-forums. I already am a member there, & I have seen a few other UU members there,as well. (By the way, that forum uses vBulletin --should give you an idea of how it looks & works.)
 
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Rayan, I also deeply appreciate your hard work and dedication is running this GREAT forum. Another option for an easier-to-maintain forum is vBulletin. Their version 5 is just $249 for life of ver. 5. I would be happy to donate that sum if you folks decide to go with vBellitin. Just PM me.
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At all -- Guitar forum has an Other Stringed Instruments segment that includes ukuleles. If they got a lot of ukulele members they might agree to separating that segment into topical sub-forums. I already am a member there, & I have seen a few other UU members there,as well.

That is a kind thought, but the costs come with maintaining the database and the time it takes to battle spambots. This forum is running on vbulletin, just an older verson. I don't think there have been any massive improvements in user moderation in the new version.
 
Reposting my posts in site announcements, we're probably going to close this forum sometime in the near future so please move over to our discord server. It will take some adjustments for everyone, but it will be a much better experience for the mods and the members here.

:

I want to invite you all to our new Ukulele Underground Discord server.

This forum is now 13 years old, and though she has served the ukulele community well, she is tired and needs a break.

Discord is a realtime chat platform that is free to use. There are apps for it for every device and you'll be able to talk and post pictures and even voice. chat with your fellow UU members in real time.

All you need is to click this link and create a discord profile.

https://discord.gg/spkGkGZ

The forum will stay up, but honestly, discord is a much better place to hang out in this day of smart phones and tablets. The mods and I will get it set up just like the forum so you won't miss much from here. I hope to see you all in there.

-Ryan

Wow. It will take some adjusting for me. However, I can make the adjustments.
 
I edited the post for clarity. Nothing is decided, listening to all the feedback from everyone.
 
That there won't be threads per se is concerning. UUF threads are a treasure trove of information, that can be searched for. It'll be a shame if all that will be lost.

we are not planning on taking down the forum. What we may do is lock the new user signups and new posts. We'll see how it goes.

Even if the forum becomes closed to new users & posts, I'd like to see it remain online for a time, so that members can still search all the posts. I appreciate all the hard work you guys have put in over the years! :shaka:
 
If this forum goes away, is there another good ukulele forum?

Not that I am aware of. Years ago https://www.fleamarketmusic.com/bulletin/default.asp used to have lots of activity, but these days it seems pretty quiet over there. It was a great resource, but as UU gained popularity it is likely many moved over. It may become more lively again if this is shut down.

While I guess it is an older format, I still follow a number of different forums and bulletin boards for different topics and find them really valuable. I have learned SO much over the years about a variety of interests. It may not be the hippest thing, but has been great.

I'll take a look at the newest, latest and greatest, but if it is more of a chat as people mention, I will likely not find it that useful.
 
Being newer to the uke I have found that the UU forum was just great, encompassing all types of things from sales, talk, learning to build, etc. I feel chat forum will not accomplish that well. Thanks for all your hard work but if it goes that this UU forum is lost I guess I will be gone too. The forum is perfect because you have something easily searchable and easy to go back to for reference. Chat is too chaotic and hard to search.
 
Here are the main issues to keeping the forum up.

1. It has a huge database which is hard and expensive to maintain
2. The software that is running the forum is end of life and no longer is receiving software updates.
3. moderating the forum is challenging and time consuming for the mods.

I've been looking at options to move the forum to, but they're all more expensive and like I said earlier, this forum doesn't cover costs as it is.. I am open to any suggestions and advice though.
 
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Let me start by saying a huge thank you to the folks behind the scenes that have been keeping the UU forums alive all this time. It has been an incredible resource for all things ukulele. In my opinion, the absolute best resource on the internet. True, it is an antiquated software, but it contains a vast amount of information and knowledge. It is a place where conversations and discussions happen, ideas are exchanged, knowledge is passed on, and it is persistent and searchable. It is this last bit, the persistent and searchable part, that I feel is the most important part of it. Just yesterday I was looking for information about what strings people liked on a Bruko #6, and I found threads going back to 2009 with a simple Google search. That same Google search also lead to other discussions, web pages, and videos, so even if I didn't have a lot of experience with the resources and ukulele community, I got to the UU forums and what I was looking for in basically one step.

The new Discord servers are a different beast. Discord is, in my experience, essentially a group of real time chats organized into loose channels. They are meant for a much more synchronous conversation than a traditional forum. They are meant for near real-time communication about topics but are essentially transient. If you aren't in the discussion at the time, you probably aren't finding that particular discussion without a *lot* more digging; scrolling back through a very long thread and hoping to find the piece you were looking for. You have to keep up all the time, or you lose out. Well, I don't really have time for that, to be honest. I am not some ancient luddite either, I am still (relatively) young and consider myself a technophile, but I also know that I only have so many hours in the day. I don't drink from the firehose, I just read the threads that actually interest me.

There is, to my knowledge, no other resource like this one. The r/ukulele sub-Reddit is a poor substitute for the kind of in depth discussions which occur here. I know of no other "proper" forum focusing on ukuleles anywhere on the "true" web. I say this to differentiate it from the siloed communities such as Facebook. The internet is meant to be a platform for the free exchange of ideas and information, not to be hidden behind multiple accounts for the purposes of selling advertising. (I realize that this is a bit idealistic on my part, but I truly believe, deep in my soul, that this is true and that the compartmentalization of the free and open network makes us weaker in the long run.)

At the end of the day, I could not begin to ask for the UU team to keep the lights on. But should it happen, the current plan of a Discord server simply will not serve the same function. Should they decide to keep it going, I don't know how I can help, but I know I want to. Losing it for just a day was proof enough for me just how much I have come to depend on its existence.

Whatever happens, I am thankful for what time I was able to spend here.
 
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