The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I saw a comment on another board that someone tried to join this board, and was unable to. Looking at the member list, it seems the last member joined back in November.

Seems we are having a problem here.

It’s because David aka MordEth has not been on here in quite a long time. He is the board owner, and is the only person who can allow people to join. No one has heard from in months. I tired emailing him, but no replay. Also, he is the only person who knows how to run the board, and he does not want to hand it over to someone else. Also, there is no one on here that knows how this board operates. It’s unfortunate that new members are unable to join. I still have hope for this forum!


Paul

When Dave first set the board up, he initially gave a bunch of us admin rights (including approving members). I was originally one of those admins (went by Jumbo). His thought process at the time was having admins be able to operate anonymously. I thought that was a good idea. When Brandon took control, he stripped the rest of us of our admin rights. And then there was the next rounds of drama when he went out. Seems going back to the board that started it all, personalities have never stopped getting in the way of things.

I wonder how many people are 'clogged up' in the approving membership bin ?

Maybe some-one could send Mordeth an email volunteering to unclog things for him to read when he is next on ? He might appreciate a bit of help with this maybe.

Now you mention this I seem to (vaguely) remember a couple of other things from reading old threads a long time ago.

One is that this website is running very slowly for me and has for a few weeks now. Didn't some-one once say that this was a bad sign ? You know, symptoms before the website goes 'crash, bang, wallop' ?

The other is, when Mordeth paid for the site to continue with the web provider (or what-ever it's called) I can't remember how long that period of continuance was for. Is the end date near or far, far away ?

Zeppy wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 11:40 pm When Dave first set the board up, he initially gave a bunch of us admin rights (including approving members). I was originally one of those admins (went by Jumbo). His thought process at the time was having admins be able to operate anonymously. I thought that was a good idea. When Brandon took control, he stripped the rest of us of our admin rights. And then there was the next rounds of drama when he went out. Seems going back to the board that started it all, personalities have never stopped getting in the way of things.

Ivory sorry to hear that you were told to pack your trunk whilst trumpeting in a new era.

Was it a 'mammoth task' ?

poodling around wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 5:58 am Maybe some-one could send Mordeth an email volunteering to unclog things for him to read when he is next on ? He might appreciate a bit of help with this maybe.

I believe that's been done a number of times, with offers of competent help and of money, but nothing resulted. Sadly I wouldn't be at all surprised if the forum just collapses one of these days.

If those currently in control of the forum are either unable or unwilling to give it the attention which it clearly needs, then surely the right and proper thing for them to do is to hand over control to those who can.
I may be an elderly technophobe, but I am sure that there are other members well qualified to run the forum efficiently.

poodling around wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 6:57 am

Zeppy wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 11:40 pm When Dave first set the board up, he initially gave a bunch of us admin rights (including approving members). I was originally one of those admins (went by Jumbo). His thought process at the time was having admins be able to operate anonymously. I thought that was a good idea. When Brandon took control, he stripped the rest of us of our admin rights. And then there was the next rounds of drama when he went out. Seems going back to the board that started it all, personalities have never stopped getting in the way of things.

Ivory sorry to hear that you were told to pack your trunk whilst trumpeting in a new era.

Was it a 'mammoth task' ?

There were several of us working on it at the time, with different levels of ability to devote to the board. It wasn't insurmountable, and it was a fairly easy process. But I don't know what has changed in the past decade or so. I personally would love to revert to the old system of several board members working anonymously as admins. It prevents having a single point of failure, and it keeps anyone from acting like its their own personal empire to lord over. Heck, I would happily jump back in too. But until David checks back in, it's out of our hands.

It might be easier to create a new website with a forum, if this one can't be managed. The biggest hurdle would be to register a similar domain name, since we can't use this existing domain without a transfer being approved. There are many free software packages for websites and forums, with free hosting, but the domain has to be registered and paid for annually. Just an idea, creating a website/forum is not rocket science and new software does not require coding skills...

If you read the notice below at the bottom of this page: "Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited". It is saying that this board runs on FREE open source software like I mentioned above. Anyone with more than basic computer skills can create a website with a forum. https://www.phpbb.com
https://www.wix.com/blog/create-a-forum ... FgEALw_wcB

APS already has an active forum with top-end software, and run by a very strong organization with a clear mission. There's really no need for another option.