CelticsStrong Update [OFFICIAL]

[byennie]

Hey CelticsStrong-ers (ex-CelticsBloggers? C-Strongites?),

No, we're not shutting down - getting that out of the way - but it's time for me to finally come around again with the collection basket. I know, very apropos on opening night. Most everyone here knows the general history of the site, and since an initial GoFundMe after the CelticsBlog transition, I've managed to run a pretty tight ship. Slipped in a few annoying ads to pay the hosting bill. Etc etc.

Unfortunately, inflation bites and there are plenty of surprises. One month Amazon sunset our database version (but you can pay double to keep using it!). Last month, AI bots from Singapore decided to rack up a cool extra 60,000,000 page loads crawling the site.

Woe is me. Not really, but the bottom line is that it's at a level where I need to see what community members are able to offer to take the bite out of the cost. Right now, without putting too fine a point on it, it's into the hundreds of dollars per month out of my personal pocket, which is too much. Break-even or a few bucks lost has always been fine with me, along with donating the effort to keep our steam engine era forum software running, but I can't be investing thousands of personal funds over time.

My initial thought is to try setting up a Patreon account where forum members can pledge something per month. Or, if anyone has the means and prefers, you can help me prepay some server bills and I'll arrange it. Either way, anything contributed just goes directly into the cost of running the site (and/or to future overages).

This is the most awkward thing imaginable for me, because I want the site to live forever and be free -- but I know this community also will understand.

Please feel free to chime in publicly on this thread, or drop me a private message instead. I think step 1 is just to gauge the appetite for contributions and go from there.

P.S. I'm open to creative solutions such as sponsors, new ownership etc but I'd also prefer not to get too sidetracked if they are just rough ideas and not a solid lead.

P.P.S. Go Celts.

[Redz]

I think if you tell us where to pay you'll be all set.  Please don't feel bad about asking.  This place is one of a kind at this point and only exists in a vacuum on life support provided by you.  There are enough of us who appreciate what we have here that I think you'll be able to cover the costs with some help.

[Roy H.]

I'm wondering, is there another forums platform that we could convert the site to?  SMF (Simple Machines) seems to be dying, and our site hasn't been able to sign up new members in ages.

I'm thinking that if we converted, we'd get access to those new members, who could click on ads, contribute to the monthly costs, and spark new conversations.

I know there's a SMF to phpBB convertor that would allow us to keep our database of posts, member names, etc.  But, none of that stuff is up my alley.