The White Council

Re: Let's Talk About These Message Boards

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: Hi, folks,

: Those of you who have been with Xenite.Org through the past three years know how much this domain has grown. Sadly, some of the projects I started long ago were never finished, though I still harbor some hope of completing them one day.

: But the time is fast approaching when I won't be able to maintain these messages boards. There is simply too much activity on them. I have a few choices. I can stop creating archives and just let the indexes grow to unreasonable sizes. I can still trim the older messages from the boards but not create archives. I can try to create larger archives less frequently. Or I can switch to a new message board software that may help ease the burden of administration (but there are no guarantees).

: I am thinking of switching to the UltimateBBS system. There are aspects about it which I don't like, but overall it seems it may be easier for me to administer the boards. We'll be able to add new forums and we won't have to worry as much about people not snipping their posts, since the UBBS doesn't automatically include citations.

: The chief difference is that each thread is contained in a single file. Popular threads have a tendency to grow into huge files, although board administrators have the option of locking threads and forcing people to start new ones.

: I don't know what goes into archiving old messages in the UBBS. I believe you can still create archives. And I know they can be searched. The old archives which exist today will always be there.

: Finally, to use the UBBS system, you have to register. This is a matter of no small concern to me. The reason is that a new law goes into effect on April 21 which requires many Web sites to handle childrens' privacy more carefully. Technically, Xenite.Org is in a grey area. I probably would be expected to comply with this new law (which you can read about here) eventually.

: So, I'm looking for feedback. I know that most of the people who read these boards never post. You folks will not be affected. It's the vocal minority who do post to these message boards who will be most directly affected. If you'd like to see an example of what the UBBS system looks like, check out Entmoot or The Search Engine Forums. You can browse the threads.

: I don't yet know how I would implement the forums. I would certainly like to start some new message boards here at Xenite.Org, but the more boards we run, the more work is involved in maintaining them. And we have our hands full some days with all the unwanted messages that have to be deleted.

: So, please post your comments here.

Personally I have no problem with this. I have been posting at the "other" White Council at theonering.com/tolkienonline.com for a while now, and I've gotten used to it.

In any case I think I'll stay on no matter what happens.