An apology, and some updates...

[roddy]

First off, I've been dropping the ball on site admin and particularly in the last six months this has seen a few episodes of avoidable downtime, technical issues and unanswered messages. I moved house, I had a ton of work, and other things.* So I'm sorry about that, and more pertinently, I'm going to try and ensure it's less of a problem in the future. To that end, and given that it looks like I can spend a fair bit of time on this in the next month or two...

 

1) Hopefully early next week: A bit of downtime while I upgrade to the latest version of the forums software. This has been an ongoing pain in the neck - I was keen to do it years back, the initial releases weren't great, so I put it off. And off, and off, and off. Our current version was first released in 2012 and hasn't been updated since 2014. There's already no technical support and even security updates stop in a few months. 

 

That will mean some interface and usability changes. On past experience some people will love these, some people will hate them, and in six weeks time nobody will care. It's still a forum. I'll be around to help figure stuff out, but to keep things simple I'm going to want to leave things as close to the default out-of-the-box settings as possible. 

 

That means we have an up to date site which should be easier to administer. Which will be good news for....

 

2) New admin folk. Wonderful though Imron and I are, it's long past time for some new blood - folk that know and love the site, and are willing to help others come to know and love it, and kick them out if necessary. And delete spam. There's a fair bit of spam deletion. 

 

3) I'm also going to do something I should have done aaaaaaaaaages ago and make sure Imron (Hi Imron! Hope you don't mind!) has all the necessary passwords and account access to take over if I get hit by a wolf or eaten by a bus, even if just temporarily while something else gets sorted out. 

 

4) Beyond that - I'm not inclined to do anything that requires regular input from me (frequent readers will know how that works out). But one-off jobs are possible. We could maybe justify a server upgrade. The new software might make setting up things like a tutor database possible. We've no doubt lost a few regulars over the last few months, we could see about tempting them back. We'll see. 

 

So that's all for now. And for anyone thinking 'Hang on, hasn't he said this kind of thing before' - yep. That's fair. If I'm not following through in the next couple of weeks, you should all start agitating for a better admin. The community deserves it.

 

Roddy

 

*have you seen Scotland in the summer, it's really gorgeous. 

[imron]

and make sure Imron (Hi Imron! Hope you don't mind!) has all the necessary passwords and account access to take over if I get hit by a wolf or eaten by a bus

You heard it here first folks... (me too).  I promise to use the new responsibility wisely, and promise not to release man eating buses in the vicinity where Roddy is known to go hiking.

[roddy]

You're pretty security conscious, Imron, so you'll know how best to do this. Should I tweet the passwords at you, or just use spoiler tags on here?

[Shelley]

Who chooses new admin folk?

 

Do people volunteer?

 

Or do you nominate?

 

Or do we suggest?

[roddy]

I don't know. What do you think?

[Shelley]

Perhaps a combination of all 3.

 

We suggest or volunteer, maybe people can vote and you and imron have final veto?

 

Those who want to do it might not necessarily be the best for the job. So maybe nominations with a vote.

 

Oh why did I ask

[abcdefg]

I remember the short-lived administrator named Chris from a few years ago. He knew a lot but was an absolute disaster. Snarky, curt, arrogant, and always needlessly rough and rude. I absolutely hated him; hated watching his abuse of new posters and language beginners. He loved humiliating others. Roddy finally removed him; may he rot in hell forever.

 

I bring him up here as a cautionary note; as a reminder of what we, or at least I, do not want again. Chris was full of good ideas, especially in esoteric realms. But that is not enough to make a decent administrator.

 

Any new appointments should definitely, in my opinion, pass muster on some sort of "kindness and humaneness" dimension. Not enough that they know a lot or be technically capable. An effective administrator needs to be welcoming and needs to foster improvement and growth of the forum. Needs to encourage people to participate.

 

Roddy and Imron are great. That's my 2 cents. Actually, it's more than 2 cents. I was very close to quitting and would have if Chris had not gotten the axe.

[roddy]

I don't recall Chris being that bad, but he did struggle somewhat. I don't think I axed him though, if I recall correctly he left of his own accord. It's definitely the case that it's much more about fostering the community than knowing facts. 

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Any new appointments should definitely, in my opinion, pass muster on some sort of "kindness and humaneness" dimension

 

And as it is in forums administration, so it is in life...