Forum & Database Update

[ALEXAKOS]

This must be the HOTTEST thread since the begging of time!! hahahaha

[Baskingshark]

OK, so here's what's happening re: new mods - anyone who is interested should post here:

https://www.wings900.com/vb/general-s...tml#post511912

Then the existing team can discuss and decisions can be taken. Thanks to everyone who's expressed interest!

[mmu69]

Originally Posted by Baskingshark

...
If anyone else wants to become a mod, as there are a few vacancies, please just send me a PM.

Thanks for the various clarifications.

Please have any applications discussed in the team member forum. That's how we've handled this in the past. Among other reasons, confidentiality protects the reputation of anyone whose application is turned down. It's like a personnel matter... thanks.

[MYT DC-10]

Originally Posted by michael737

please , im not talking with you , I wouldn't ban you at all you bring a lot to the community if you have a problem with me go outside and message me mate im not childish you are

A mod who can use English in the way it's meant to be used would be nice.

[herpacollectorUK]

Originally Posted by ALEXAKOS

This must be the HOTTEST thread since the begging of time!! hahahaha

I know right! Haha!!
First a change in ownership notice, then mod applications. What can top that for the amount of responses?

[flyingdoc]

Originally Posted by make.me.laugh

G'day...

As the panic spreads far and wide, maybe abit of research could help...

MAS Media: Web Design - Graphic Design - Hosting | Brookings, SD | 605-627-5117
...
Time will tell, smile everyone! - polaroid moment!

Cheers Lou

Interesting and balanced comments - nice to make your acquaintance.

Originally Posted by furryforest

Before anyone suspects I had died-i can confirm I am alive and well despite the Aussies kidnapping me for three weeks and forcing me drink copious amounts of Crown Lager!
...
For now i'm going to wait and see what happens and take it from there. And if we have to leave-i'm sure we will find another outlet

As always, the voice of reason!

At least we have had a response from Baskingshark (Andrew) about who will be the moderators from now on. It is a positive that some of the old guard will be staying on and that they will be involved in recruiting new moderators. That bodes well for the forums.

Given that the running of the forums has been deputised to masmedia (Justin), it is disappointing that I have not yet received a reply from him to the concerns raised at the start of this thread.

Baskingshark has put it in writing that what HobbyTalk was really interested in is the Database. As Bob Smoot rightly pointed out, the real danger here is that the database that we all own in a community sense may be taken away from us and made into a pay-to-use site. That is where the commercial value of W900 largely resides.

It is reassuring that the site owner, Andrew, has put it in writing that "the database/MyCollection won’t be going anywhere or becoming pay-to-use or anything like that."

I will hold Andrew to his word because the rumours circulating are to the contrary.

The database is not only a great reference tool - it is also the way that most collectors with reasonably large collections keep track of their holdings and the financial aspect of things. The inference is that the MY Collection and MY Wishlist/Wantlist features will be removed from W900 and will reside elsewhere. If so, there remains the danger that personal data kept on the database will be lost to individuals.

Many of us have contributed to it and the photographs stored within. I have always been happy to share my photographs with other collectors whilst the site was free but I would take a different view if the database were to become user-pays where a third party were collecting the revenues.

The questions that I therefore pose are:

Can we be assured that the Database will continue to exist on the Wings900 site?

Will the database remain free of charge to use?

Will individuals data housed in the My Collection and My Wishlist features be preserved and remain accessible to their authors?


Direct responses to these questions will assuage a lot of anxiety in the community.

Doc out.

[Bob Smoot]

I leave for the day and things get interesting. Here's the thing though that people still don't seem to realize. Why did everyone that was either helping on the database or being a moderator on the forum resign? Don't you see that nobody got "booted off" the team, but they themselves resigned? It's not new people bringing in new blood and kicking people out, and think about it, all of the people resigned separately before it was even announced that it was being taken over, which begs the question what has been going on behind the scenes for the past two months? Have all of the moderators and previous owners thought that poorly of everything that they all jumped ship? Two + two is not equaling four.

It would almost be an insult to those who have built this site up and have all of them resign (for I imagine a good reason) only to have someone take their place without knowing the full story. I still say there is something bigger beyond what any of us know.

[El_Capitan]

Originally Posted by Baskingshark

Hi everybody,

All of us over at HobbyTalk wanted to make an announcement about the Wings/DAC forums in light of some of the speculation that’s been happening about the future of the forums and the database. We’d planned to announce this in the next week or so, but we don’t want people worrying unnecessarily so are doing so now.

Firstly, we wanted to let everybody know that nothing about the forums themselves will be changing, and that the database/MyCollection won’t be going anywhere or becoming pay-to-use or anything like that.

What has changed is ownership of the site; when HobbyTalk purchased the Wings family sites from Todd, Jim & Michael, besides how much we liked the community that had grown up around them, one of the reasons was because of the database and MyCollection, both of which we very much admired . We had planned to extend and develop this to add many more features and to replicate it on our other sites about other subjects.

However, after much work across the communities, we came to the conclusion that to build the sort of database/collection management system we wanted, we needed to concentrate fully on that and less on the day-to-day running of actual online communities. That meant we needed to find a worthy custodian for all our sites - SlotForum, PlanetDiecast, HobbyTalk & the Wings family - to ensure they continued to run on in the forum their users knew and loved. Happily, forum specialists MAS Media stepped in and expressed their interest in taking over, and after talking about the possibilities with them for a while, we were satisfied that they were the right fit and their hands-off approach would ensure that nothing about the forum experience you enjoy here would change.
This doesn’t affect anything at all as far as all you forum/community users are concerned; all the day-to-day stuff will remain exactly the same, although there will be some detail improvements as we’re currently very behind on updating the forum software and we’ll now be able to move to the newest versions.

However, while the forums are now in the safe hands of MAS Media, we have retained ownership of the database system; just to reiterate, this does NOT mean the database/MyCollection is going away or anything like that; quite simply that we’re working on it and will be making some exciting new changes and improvements to it to bring a more modern and user-friendly interface to it than the current setup has. All the current features will remain, but with the addition of the some exciting new ones to come. There’ll be some images of the prototype coming shortly along with more info about this so everyone can give info/feedback before anything gets implements, obviously. Some of the team members here are taking the opportunity brought by this change to take a step back or a break from their roles and we would like to thank them all for their hard work in helping make the database and site the great place it is today.

Once again, we’d like to reassure everyone that the community is going to remain the same great place you all enjoy visiting. I’ve asked Justin from MAS Media to post here to introduce himself (he should be by on Monday), and if you’ve any questions about anything for the new owners, please ask them in this thread. In case you're wondering, I've also posted this in the Model Database & MyCollection section just to make sure everyone sees it.

- Andrew

Some members might not like their hands-off approach. Why not give more power to members like mmu69, Lou, Rex etc. who have been hands-on in the running the site?

[El_Capitan]

Originally Posted by masmedia

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to thank Andrew for clarifying things here. As he mentioned, our only line of business is running forums. We work with existing moderator teams who care dearly about the site and ensure that the communities needs are being met. We don't plan on making any changes to the site unless it involves making improvements at the request of the community or for security purposes. We will always inform the community of any decisions that may affect the community directly. We have the best intentions to keep things going here and look forward to growing an already great forum.

Looks like MasMedia was behind the scene early on...

[herpacollectorUK]

Originally Posted by masmedia

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to thank Andrew for clarifying things here. As he mentioned, our only line of business is running forums. We work with existing moderator teams who care dearly about the site and ensure that the communities needs are being met. We don't plan on making any changes to the site unless it involves making improvements at the request of the community or for security purposes. We will always inform the community of any decisions that may affect the community directly. We have the best intentions to keep things going here and look forward to growing an already great forum.

What happened to the 'needs being met' and 'changes to the site for improvements'??
As an advertiser this will make me and probably others reconsider placing these in future if impressions are going to drop due to these recent problems. Hire a professional and fix the website!

If the database is pulled from this website I can imagine visitors dropping further so I'd get rid of any immediately.

[Flight Director]

Originally Posted by El_Capitan

Looks like MasMedia was behind the scene early on...

incorrect, We sold to Martingale (now HobbyDB) in early 2010, they then sold the forums and the domain names to MasMedia (now "The Forum") in late 2012. For those almost 3 years we continued to run the sites on my server. Just after that sale is when they moved from my server.

[Flight fan]

Originally Posted by Flight Director

incorrect, We sold to Martingale (now HobbyDB) in early 2010, they then sold the forums and the domain names to MasMedia (now "The Forum") in late 2012. For those almost 3 years we continued to run the sites on my server. Just after that sale is when they moved from my server.

I may sound rude now, but it seems to me like he doesn't want to understand. You've explained the situation multiple times to the same member, and yet he keeps asking pretty much the same question. Just drop it. I'm sure the rest of us fully understand the situation.

[Flight Director]

Originally Posted by Flight fan

I may sound rude now, but it seems to me like he doesn't want to understand. You've explained the situation multiple times to the same member, and yet he keeps asking pretty much the same question. Just drop it. I'm sure the rest of us fully understand the situation.

Yeah i noticed the same thing.. I feel like he's trying to punch holes in what i have to say...

[El_Capitan]

Originally Posted by Flight Director

incorrect, We sold to Martingale (now HobbyDB) in early 2010, they then sold the forums and the domain names to MasMedia (now "The Forum") in late 2012. For those almost 3 years we continued to run the sites on my server. Just after that sale is when they moved from my server.

So you sold the site in 2010 and only announced the sale in 2013?

[Flight Director]

Originally Posted by El_Capitan

So you sold the site in 2010 and only announced the sale in 2013?

No, no and no... Our sale was announced when the sale was completed to martingale in 2010