Hunting for a new home for the Fellowship

[Strange Elf]

oops, sorry. check pm

I sent you a private message here on the forum. I didn't get one from you though.

[Primula]

Just adding my - I do give my "vote" for Dreamwidth - it's very much like the boards we have right here, quite similar in how to post, reply, etc. but with additional options that you can use if you want to. It is ad-free and protects your privacy - been with them for years now and never had even one problem with spam.

It's the same basic platform as LiveJournal but has the advantage of not being owned and kept in Russia, so it is more stable and less cluttered than LJ. DWth is free, or you can upgrade for more icons if you like, and it is easy to set up a moderated community with whatever appearance you prefer. They have responsive techies if anyone has concerns.

Sorry, but I only keep a fb account so I can see pictures my kids sometimes put up, it's not even under my real name. I likely would not follow into The Land of the Facer.

The main concerns I see posted thus far are that it needs to be A) free of charge B) protecting of privacy including of real names and C) easy to use. Possibly I would add D) able to be moderated or at least to have membership filtering capability to prevent spam. I would suggest whatever is settled on should meet those basic criteria.


I've been slow to post these past few months, but you are welcome to look at my DWth as a small sample. I'll temporarily set it to allow replies from anyone at all.

[daughter_of_kings]

Well, this sudden slew of replies from folks we haven't heard from in ages is AWESOME! Y'all need to come back more often!

Facebook seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it option. Quite a few of you have replied that FB is your first option, but other folks (here as well as in private conversations) have said that if the move is to FB, they will not follow. I am also in that camp, and when it was just me, I was willing to let the Fellowship go on to FB without me if that was what most people wanted. However, I'm not alone in that opinion any more, and I would hate to see us lose any of our precious Fellowship due to this choice.

[AnnaEstel]

I'm willing to learn something new to keep the family together, and will go wherever the consensus leads. A more board-like format would probably be nicer than Facebook, I just have no other knowledge or experience to offer.

[FredO]

As always Prim provides a balanced, thoughtful opinion. After reading her comments I felt I had to weigh. I have been pretty inactive but check here daily. I understand the issues of keeping this format. I am not on Facebook...never will be. I took some time to digest my feelings. It’s been very nice seeing so many longtime members again. I would love to see this continue on the backup Yahoo group that was established for this board when it was down occasionally. If that cannot happen I feel I could figure out Dreamwidth. Regardless if this is our last hurrah or it continues in some fashion it’s been a great ride over the years and very nostalgic this past week.

[halavana]

Am also on Dreamwidth. Would follow the Fellowship there.

[Dínelleth]

Dreamwidth for me.

[Varda]

I haven't a baldy what a Dreamwidth is

[FredO]

Good to see you V!

I actually do not know it either but I did a quick look and found a link:
https://www.dreamwidth.org/

In their explanation of who they are I think it is possible to say that this is a site where you can share, with privacy, your artistic creations:
“Dreamwidth Studios is a home and a community for all kinds of creative folk. Share your writing, your artwork, or your innermost thoughts. Find others who create the sort of things you like to enjoy. Control who can see your creation with our fine-grained privacy controls. Participate in communities for any one of a hundred topics. We are an independent, Open Source, community-centric service, and we support diversity in all its forms. Come dream with us.“

[Varda]

Thanks for the explanation and link Fredo - I understand the idea now. It is very orientated to the artists who use it. It looks great but it is would not be the platform FB is. But maybe we don't want to expand, just continue. I know all the bads and goods of FB - funny but horrific - but as a platform it is quite an animal. I don't like giving Mark more money, but just to compare, the Tolkien Society has found it a big adjunct to its society activities ( the Burning Palantir lol) I know I don't come here much but with the Hobbit trilogy I did not want to like I did with the original trilogy, which I loved. I think it is easier to look in on FB while you are posting pictures of the birthday party (or of your garden that some badger dug up) on FB. With the best will in the world it would take an effort to go to Dreamband or whatever. Just my opinion, and that was what was asked for.

[MiddleEarthMunchkin]

Do we have an idea how long these boards will be up? I might try to save some favorite threads/PMs before they close.

[Primula]

No worries - we're all paid up for this year, and we could always keep on after that if it is needed.

[Frodo Baggins]

I'm familiar with Google+

Just sayin'

[Linaewen]

No worries - we're all paid up for this year, and we could always keep on after that if it is needed.

Good to know it's not imminent! I, too, want to take some time and save some memories from this place.

[Strange Elf]

Do we have an idea how long these boards will be up? I might try to save some favorite threads/PMs before they close.

How does one save a thread when it is several pages long?

Sorry, I'm not tech savy.