Hey kids!!

OK, here's the deal. All is not lost. But to be clear - The way the forum is now and the way the website is now is a hot mess, and will not work going forward. We all know how outdated and buggy the forum is in its current state (so imagine the cluster on the backend too).

Solutions and ideas are being sought. KEEP THE IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS COMING! And real world feedback. It's very important and the bit about the off topic reddit dealie and its limitations are something that wasn't considered but now is, thanks to this thread. I also threw out there the idea of a sort of "official unofficial" type fan forum, based off the solution in the other thread. So please, keep hope alive and throw out ideas that would bring this community into the modern age.

In summary because I got really rambly:

1. Feel free to cut any complicated forum features, if a simpler forum means less upkeep. It just has to work, we don't need fancy things like fonts or file upload. At bare minimum, all we need is the ability to post, edit, and reply, and of course our post counts.

2. Feel free to unload upkeep responsibilities onto the community. If we're going to have to build our own forum, we'll know how to run it, and if we're provided with a new forum, documentation and training can guide us, and you won't need a paid staff constantly on hand. We're here 24/7 - let the residents help keep the house from falling apart!

3. If you're looking to modernize, let people log in with their Facebook accounts. Lots of popular sites have FB account integration. A like feature for posts would be cool. Also, official updates on Facebook/Twitter could automatically be made new forum topics, and the Facebook/Twitter post can link to the associated forum topics so new users can jump in.


Full post:

1. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that if the forum needs to be streamlined and simplified so it's easier to upkeep on the administration side, it would be 100% worth it. At least half the features of this forum don't get used. File attachment is useless, I don't think anyone has touched their bloated about-me pages since 2012 (especially the statuses!), the search function is pretty limited (I for one google "site:forum.thechemicalbrothers.com [search term]" when I'm looking for something), and I'm sure many of us could even go without embedded media (youtube/soundcloud) if need be. Heck, many of us handled a forum that didn't even have editing for 8 years! We can do it again. Forums don't need to be feature-rich, we don't need font effects or smilies, so whatever makes it easier to upkeep, the better.

2. If even a streamlined forum will be too much to upkeep, consider this: Many of us are here on a daily basis, and could easily take on moderator and even sys-admin responsibilities. There's really no sense in having a large paid staff on hand constantly, when us forumites can spot and fight spam faster than the 3ev team did. Besides, there's Kosek, Ben_j, Krisper and I who all know a thing or two about websites. With proper training we could casually but consistently assist with the responsibilities of whatever invisible system administration is going on in the background of the forum. The "official unofficial" forum idea would be a fully fledged example of this. With the control entirely in our hands I don't doubt we'd do a clean job running things, as users, and as the people who built the forum from scratch/kit. All we'd need is a link or endorsement from the official site itself to keep the traffic coming in and the forum relevant to new users (it will always be relevant to us, that needs not be said!)

But I think the best set up (in the "official/unofficial" genre) is a joint partnership - you guys provide the server/hosting space and forum as a part of the new official Chems site, and we handle the day to day upkeep of the forum on our own. So it's an "unofficial" fan forum hosted on the real site. Basically, you guys set the forum up, then 'hand the keys' over to us. Or if that's too much to ask to make a new forum, give us the responsibility of programming / setting up the new one. If possible, we could try to fix this forum, gut all the features and problems from it as most of it still works. I might be naive as to how much work that'd take, but it's an idea. In any case I'd be absolutely happy to work with the powers at be to keep the forum in line with their vision for it.

This isn't an attempt for me to amass internet power or whatever as a mod - it's been said that being a mod is like being a janitor, if you enjoy your job you're not doing it right - but as a devoted fan I'd be happy to assist in running the official Chems forums, free of charge. I doubt I'm the only one, especially if it means the difference between a forum and none at all!

3. As far as modernizing the forums, if there were some way for users to log-in with Facebook accounts that would make for an awesome convenience. Connect via Facebook, and new users could ask questions and participate without having to make a proper forum account. A like system for posts would also be really welcomed. You could also enable Facebook announcements to automatically be posted as new topics, and link to them in the FB post, so that Facebook users can jump right into the discussion instead of just commenting on Facebook. I am trying to think of some way to integrate Twitter but it's so far removed from the forum format I can't think of any good ideas. I have more ideas but they have more to do with how the new forum would be organized and set up, they depend on confirming that we having a forum at all.