Michelle

The ads are really big when you view the forum on a phone, and they seem to be increasing.

By the way, I would suggest not posting anything important yet - as once Hayley downloads the database, new posts won't be saved.

Dear all.. I'm very happy to be able to tell you that Hayley has decided to take over the forum. There has been a lot of discussion going on, and there's lots for us to sort out, but all being well your favourite forum will rise like a phoenix from the ashes! We need to move everything into her control, including the domain, the hosting, and all of the forum files and databases. It probably won't be smooth sailing, and the forum will probably disappear a few times. I will try to keep the facebook group updated with our progress, but if you're not on there, just keep coming back here until it surfaces again. Thank you all so much for your support over my decision, and many thank yous to Hayley for taking this on.

I don't want to tease too much.... but there may never be a winner....

I need to find out how people are getting on saving their content please. There is now a security update for the software, but to install that we need to install a massive new upgrade, which we wanted to avoid. But, we can't leave the forum with a security issue for too long in case it compromises the server. So, if everyone has what they need, we can start the process to close completely, and delete the forum. But if anyone is still having issues, we need to know. Thank you!

Yes.. I’m keeping the forum here so that people can get any content they need.

@~Andrea~ did you mean you wanted to help moderate it? Are you a member?

I posted this in the Facebook group.. For GoodReads, there's n old group which could easily be revived.. I'm not on there very often though. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/12308-book-club-forum If anyone is interested in running this one, let me know and I can make you a moderator.

That's a shame. I might just take screen shots of some of the interviews, and copy some of my more recent reviews to LT.

How's everyone getting on with saving content? I don't want to keep this going for ages if everyone is ok, but I don't want to shut it if people are still trying to get their content. @Kylie how easy is SiteSucker to use? I mainly want to save the author interviews, as I have my reading records saved in LT. Has anyone else found anything good?

Unfortunately, one of the reasons that forums don't do that well any more is because most people seem to like the ease and speed fo social media. As you've said, people are coming to the facebook group who we haven't seen in here for ages. I appreciate that there is a group of people who enjoy the in depth discussions which work better on a forum, but there are too many negatives (cost, time, tech know-how etc) to justify keeping it going for a few. There is room for discussion on LT, but not many seem that interested in joining / discussing, and you can't have a good discussion without a decent amount of people.

That's difficult.. I actually think one of my best memories was from back in the very early days. I contacted some authors to ask if they would support our new forum, with either an interview or a competition prize, and all of them were wonderful and helpful. In general, as Echo said, I've made some great, supportive people on here, which will always stay with me. Bad memories - definitely the two occasions we were trolled.. both lead by the same person. Back then I didn't have the experience or confidence to deal properly with the situation, and I had people turn against me for it. He probably had fun, but it caused me a lot of stress and upset. However.. I also had amazing support from other people on here, so there was good too.

Contact the admin. We sometimes had problems.. forum emails often end up flagged as spam, and can be blocked before they even reach you. Admins can usually confirm your email, and do things manually.

I appreciate that sentiment muggle.. and that’s why I didn’t give the name or site address.

I'm sorry to hear that muggle. By the way, do you still visit the other forum at all, where Stuart came from (who caused trouble over here)? I just wondered how things were over there?

Every forum will have it's good and bad (I've certainly had people tell me exactly what was wrong with this place on more than one occasion! ) and things change over time. I really hope that those of you who enjoy forums find somewhere you feel comfortable in. I have limited time for reading, let alone discussing, so facebook and LibraryThing will probably suit me better. When it comes to keeping in touch, it's impossible to find just one place, but there will be ways on Facebook, LT, GR and even Twitter. I'm going to miss here myself, despite knowing this is the right thing to do - I've put a lot of time, effort, blood and tears into it, and I am proud of it. But, things have to change.

Ok, anyone on LT.. group is here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/bcfonlt

There's already a BCF group on LT, but I've just checked, and it's inactive. I've gone back to there to update my records, and will be using it for my logs. I'm happy to start a new BCF group over there, although I'm not sure if many other people use it. Same for GR, I'm sure there's a group already over there.. I'm not that keen on GR myself.

Those of you who enjoy reviewing, there's always places like GoodReads or LibraryThing, or you could even start your own blog?

At the moment there is no date set - I have only recently paid for a new 6 month licence for the software, and I'm sure Liz will let me to continue to use her hosting for a while longer.

Sadly though, it's not such an oasis when you're trying to actually run it - it has taken an amazing amount of time and effort, and more and more technical knowledge; it has worn me down emotionally on more than one occasion; and it has cost me money. It's just not possible for me to keep that going. I'm aware facebook isn't for everyone.. it's not a replacement, just a simple way to allow people to keep in touch, and continue discussing their reading if they so wish. There are still other book forums around, and it's always possible for you to start up your own.

I'll still be rambling on twitter.. although that tends to be more about getting cross over Brexit and Trump, than books these days!

For those of you who keep book logs, don't forget the resources and other sites mentioned in this thread: http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2082-book-resources-library-thing-bookcrossing-good-reads-etc/

I know the facebook group won't be for everyone, but it's something we can offer. There's no rush at the moment to close down completely, so there's time to collect what you need. It has, on the whole, been a safe and happy place, but I can't keep up with everything which needs doing to make it that way I'm afraid.

Completely new one, fresh start.. https://www.facebook.com/groups/195289821332924/