Talk me out of it.

[jonsidneyb]

That qualifies as a big board by TAZ standards.. Ib be nervous moving it to.

95% of that growth in members and posts was on SMF. Went stagnant on vB4 and active users in decline.

 

[dutchbb]

Better wait, there are still some bugs like Flash upload stopping at 100%. Make the best possible impression in your community by keeping it bug free

 

[borbole]

Here are the reasons I am anxious to move. I started my forum on a lark, never had one before. It was on SMF and I didn't know what I was doing, still don't. I used to do a huge amount of activities and carried quite a bit of stuff on myself and wondered if anyone had the same problem so I started a forum on what you carry everyday and how to manage it.

I did everything that people said you are not supposed to do, I did everything wrong and it grew for no reason. There was not a single down month, also every month it grew more than the last. From the first of February to the 25th of February it grew more than 800 members. I had not monitized it and was paying for it out of pocket.

I lost my job, then my dad got ill and I spent a huge amount taking care of him then he died, expense after expense piled up while I was not working then I lost my home.

I decided I had to get my forum making money, after a few months of trying that while homeless it started working and my forum got me off the streets but during this time I had lost everything I owned except for what would fit in a closet and in my backpack.

My forum got me into a home again, well I made the mistake of moving my forum, active members dropped from 6000 to 4000 in a month, it has declined to 2400. I never had a decline in active users before the move. Though the forum got busier and busier my revenue did drop as messages from the members got heavier and heavier, it took time away from marketing products. I moved to vB thinking some automaton would save time and the CMS would do the marketing for me. The CMS does do some marketing but to a decline group of members.

I finally talked to the members that left and they spelled out exactly why they left. I should have went right back to SMF and put up a front page for marketing but I didn't because I thought it would look like going back....well it would have been going back. The members that I did lose where the ones that had been with me from the first and second year. I have a younger crowd now but I want the older crowd back, the older crowd supported the forum better and where more like me. Revenue is dropping and when I look at XenForo it has everything the older people liked about SMF but much better.

My old members are not computer people but people that spend time outside. They want easy to use, emphasis on easy. My forum used to attract people that spend time outdoors, now it attracts more mall ninjas than it did before and fewer people that get their hands dirty.

Xenforo is the ultimate in easy to use. This is what my favorite members that are still with me want, and what the ones that left want. My competitors want to tap the members with social functions so those do not help me and the members that spend the most don't like the features either.

My old members that I lost favored Ebony, Desert Ironwood, and Walnut. The latest prefer plastic and G-10.

My forum is dying but it is not dead yet. I think XenForo is the perject pill for a sick forum. The sickness is vB4.

I think the rules that help some forums do not apply to mine when it comes to members.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your father and all the other hardships that befell you.

You have put a lot of time, effort and money into your forum and from what I understood it is your livelyhood as well. In my opinion, do the test conversion I mentioned above and then give your staff and your most valuable members a peak at what xenforo offers and if you guys decide that it would be for the best to move immediately, then do so. Otherwise, if that makes you nervous, which is perfectly understandable, then wait a little until the final version is released.

 

[FredC]

95% of that growth in members and posts was on SMF. Went stagnant on vB4 and active users in decline.

Welcome to my world.. Except i started out with IPB, Moved to vB 3.8beta and things took of like a rocket ship. Upgraded to 4.0 and its a daily fight to keep it above water.. I mean it tanked in less then a month.. I need xF but i also need to execute a solid plan to make the transition seamless and painless for my members.. The forum im talking about is small by most standards but its also my largest community and my personal baby.. Most times my potential members cant even register..

 

[jonsidneyb]

Here is a link to a walk back to Oklahoma from Iowa. When I finally decided to try and use SMF to get me off the country road it worked. It was stating to work during this trek. 700 miles in 9-10 days.

http://edcforums.com/showthread.php/63362-Where-is-JonSidneyB

 

[jonsidneyb]

Oh...I am getting my dogs back soon. Not seem them but 3 or 4 times since I went homeless than got out of homeless.

 

[FredC]

Oh...I am getting my dogs back soon. Not seem them but 3 or 4 times since I went homeless than got out of homeless.

I dont know about you, but my dogs are my life.. Sorry to hear how quickly things got turned upside down in your personal life, But man i bet your thrilled to get the dogs back where they belong...

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

 

[jonsidneyb]

The biggest one is Rufus, he is a Mastiff Chow mix.

The medium sized one is Heidi, a German Shepard Rott mix.

The little one is Nikki, she is a Chow Shepard mix.