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- This topic has 15 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 2 months ago by Doris Kenney.
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November 13, 2008 at 2:57 pm #29504Jeff HesterKeymaster
I suppose there are some rumors going around that I’m selling BigBlueBall. Sarahtowny sent me an email this morning resigning from the staff, and said she emailed everyone “to let them know.” She thinks she knows why, but she does not.
I would like to set the record straight and answer any questions you might have.
I am going to be putting BigBlueBall up for sale (as well as my other web sites). This is a personal decision that involves my health, and I don’t want to say more about the “why.”
I don’t have a specific timeline, and I am going to finish my planned updates to the site first. I’m hoping to complete those by the end of December. No price has been set.
I do consider BigBlueBall “my baby” in some ways — I’ve been doing this site for a long time — but it’s become increasingly difficult for me to maintain with the rest of my work, and it’s time to pass the baton on to someone with more energy and enthusiasm than myself. I am hoping to find someone who will take BigBlueBall to a whole new level.
There may be some impact after the sale goes through. One that seriously effects me and probably some of you, is what the new owner decides to do with the @bigblueball.com emails. I am hoping they leave it as-is, but at some point it will be their call. Since I won’t be the owner — I’m beginning to revert to [email protected]. While I hope the sale won’t change anything with BBB email, you may want to have a similar plan (just in case).
For now, I would appreciate if you do not share this information outside of the staff. The world is small and interconnected, and I’m not ready for other site owners to catch wind of a potential sale.
I think this will be a positive move for the BBB community. With the right direction, energy and motivation, the future is bright for BigBlueBall and the community behind it.
Please feel free to post your questions here and I will answer the best that I can.
November 14, 2008 at 9:13 am #172122PhilipModeratorJust out of curiousity, Jeff, how much would you be asking for BBB?
November 14, 2008 at 5:22 pm #172111Jeff HesterKeymasterI have not settled on a price yet. I will let you know when I figure that out.
November 15, 2008 at 1:50 am #172116MrEggsaladParticipantThanks for the update, Jeff.
November 15, 2008 at 5:55 am #172117NessaParticipantSeeing as how things are going down – I ask for permission to delete this thread, seeing how I actually would rather not win and the other option is no longer a part of BBB. Would it help if i say, “Please?”
Also as I was not included in Sarah’s e-mail sent out – I have no idea what the heck is going on with aside what Jeff posted and hey that’s enough for me. You let us know what we had to know and you are welcome to keep the details to yourself, it’s your life. I guess I just hope this is for the best and that BBB continues to thrive in some way since even if I’ve become less active I still log on here almost daily just to read a few threads here and there and occassionaly post a response or two.
Only time will really tell all.
November 15, 2008 at 6:31 pm #172112FanaticMemberNessa, Jeff’s alter-ego here… Let’s not delete this thread at the moment. The MotM program should continue uninterrupted for now. I don’t want to disrupt what we have in place — I’m looking for a smooth transition.
I really do think this will be the best for BBB and I’m committed to finding someone who wants to take it to the next level.
November 15, 2008 at 7:12 pm #172125Doris KenneyParticipantJeff, I’m sure this choice is one that has been difficult to make on many levels. It must be hard to be letting go of something you’ve put so much of yourself into. However, your well-being has to come before websites and regardless of how hard it is to let go, sometimes it’s the best choice to make.
I do wish you the best of luck in everything you do.
November 15, 2008 at 9:18 pm #172118MrOatsMemberI agree with Doris completely.
I believe the new owner will do a decent job and I hope everything works out for you.
February 5, 2009 at 2:07 am #172123PhilipModeratorIt’s almost three months now. Any developments yet, Jeff?
February 6, 2009 at 8:54 pm #172113FanaticMember@Philip 235244 wrote:
It’s almost three months now. Any developments yet, Jeff?
No BIG developments to report, but thanks for prompting me for an update.
Here’s what is happening:
I’m finalizing a new site design that will look more or less the same for both the forums and the “rest of the site”. The front page and the reference areas will be powered by WordPress 2.7, while the forums will be upgraded to vBulletin 3.8.1.
The content areas will be refreshed. As anyone who has used WordPress can attest, it’s a pretty easy environment for editing and management, and it will be possible to grant editor rights, so if you’re interested in taking over a section and updating it, you’ll be able to do so.
I can’t provide an exact timeline of when things will happen. I will be working on things this weekend, but this is a big project and it will take some time. In the meantime, feel free to continue the discussion here or if you want to contact me directly, send me a PM or give me a call.
February 7, 2009 at 3:28 am #172124PhilipModeratorThanks for the heads-up, Jeff. I can’t speak for the other staff, but I feel that our BBB design is really tired and needs a facelift asap. And using WP2.7 is bound to be interesting. Looking forward to what’s coming up.
February 8, 2009 at 1:41 am #172119MrOatsMemberI agree with Philip: Using WordPress 2.7 and version 3.8.1 of vBulletin sound great! 🙂
But I am not really into the Facebook theme discussed in the Staff Room. Seems a bit too simple and plain to me.
February 8, 2009 at 7:13 pm #172120imported_Ven0mMemberYeah, should be interesting to see how the WordPress can integrate with the vBulletin software.
Question though, is there anything you can do/add for anti-SPAM measures? Stronger captcha or something, to stop the Blackberry bots that come around every now and then. =P
February 8, 2009 at 10:06 pm #172115FanaticMember@Ven0m 235289 wrote:
Yeah, should be interesting to see how the WordPress can integrate with the vBulletin software.[/quote]
I’m not planning any real integration, other than look-and-feel. It is possible to integrate the membership database, so that when you’re signed in to vBulletin, you can post a reply on a WordPress post (like the front page news) and it will “know” who you are.The downside to that is that (I think) you must be registered in order to reply, and I’d like to set it up (on the news side) to allow people to add comments without registering. They’d still be required to enter an email address, but this lowers the barrier to participation.
If we did integrate the vBulletin membership database with WordPress, it might also make future WordPress (or vBulletin) upgrades more difficult. So for now, I was thinking to keep them more or less separate, but make them LOOK pretty much the same.
@Ven0m 235289 wrote:
Question though, is there anything you can do/add for anti-SPAM measures? Stronger captcha or something, to stop the Blackberry bots that come around every now and then. =P
Yes, when I upgrade vBulletin, it offers a stronger captcha. I could also return to email validation. As you may recall, we removed email validation some time ago, knowing that it would result in more junk. Once again, it’s one of those trade-offs… if we require email validation, we end up with a LOT of people never validating and then never participating (about 20% did not validate their email and activate their accounts).
February 8, 2009 at 10:50 pm #172121imported_Ven0mMemberWell, e-mail validation is definitely a must. And I believe there’s mods that can automatically remove any unactivated accounts after a certain amount of time.
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