Alternatives to these forums

[curtterp]

Thanks Curt, you have always and continue to be such a huge help to those on this forum. I appreciate you so much!

Do you have any thoughts on the idea of moving to Reddit?

I have never been on Reddit. It seems to me that it is like the wild west on Reddit, but I could be wrong.

In other words, I really have no thoughts one way or the other.

[exmpro]

I too would be happy to moderate the forum, if that would help. And no, I have no experience of Reddit.
Michael

[MidCoast Jim]

1) Short term, I'd suggest keeping the Forum here -- I'm assuming there's no ongoing expense besides annual registration of the Domain.

2) Looking at the "Last Post" dates on the Board Index it would make sense to consolidate the active forums and topics -- reducing the number of "places" moderators would need to address and monitor.

With regard to moving, I took a quick look at Reddit and could not see how it would deal with users coming in and asking questions. Practically, with the limited traffic these days maybe all that's needed would be a Facebook Group (different than a FB Page). I'd suggest that if a move is going to happen that the new "forum" be labelled as HanDBase ...("HanDBase Database"?) vs DDH That would keep DDH free to deal with the business of online purchases, etc. and keep that brand unencumbered for Dave to maybe develop some other product in the future.

Finally, Dave, I have to disagree with your thinking about Patreon. Someone's who's owned a car for two decades doesn't expect to have their oil changed every year by the dealer because they fully paid for the car 16 years ago. When I'm looking for a new app to solve one of my many problems I get nervous when I'm looking at free apps. There is no incentive for the developer to maintain their app. Every time IOS does a major upgrade a few of my favorite apps fall by the wayside as the Apple App Store informs me that I should contact the developer as their app will not run on my updated device.

Hope everyone's having a safe and happy summer! Jim
PS - Interesting discovery I just made while googling: DDH is also online as "Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH)" LOL)

[DorothyD]

I’d be happy to add HanDBase to the Patreon subscriptions I currently have. Never learned to use Reddit. A Facebook Group might do. And I’ll add my thanks to Curt!

[uboche]

Not everybody is on Facebook or would want to create an account there. I would definitely not do so.

[MidCoast Jim]

Hi Ulrich - I had just typed an extensive reply to your post but the cyber-gremlins decided to it all into the hopper.

In short, it's possible to join Facebook without involving yourself in any of its "society"; make no friends and do not agree to share your contacts with Facebook. You will be a ghost that can go on, visit a HanDBase Group, ask questions, etc ...all the normal forum activities ...and then log back off without anyone outside the DDH crew knowing you were ever there. Meanwhile, the group itself can be hidden in that no one in the general FB membership can view or find the site ...you pretty much have to be told the URL to see the front page - none of the internal discussions need be visible from "the outside". Group members are approved by admins and only then are they able to see discussions, post questions, comments, etc.

If Dave wanted to promote HanDBase on FB he could set up a "page" (distinct from a "group") -- a "group" is to a forum as a "page" is to a company website.

Okay! it's Friday and I'm in Maine, protocol calls for lobstahs and steamers before sunset! Stay safe and happy! Jim

[uboche]

Not participating in Facebook is a matter of principle. I gave my Facebook account up during the Cambridge Analytica scandal and I see no reason why I should revert this decision.

Even with the precautions you are listing, I wouldn't be sure what data Facebook would gather about me and in which ways they would be able to track me. They can still gather a lot on you even if you don't have an account, so why risk more?

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Hi all,

Thanks Jim and Ulriche for your feedback and input. I learned years back that Facebook integration with HanDBase always causes a lot of people to get upset. I once had a promotion where if you liked HanDBase on Facebook you got a coupon for a big discount and got more complaints about it requiring Facebook than there were takers for the coupon! A lot of people feel strongly and I wouldn't want to require Facebook account to be able to discuss it.

Jim, the problem with the existing bulletin board system is that it gets dozens of spam posts a day and there are bots that are always trying to post to it. So I have to manually moderate the posts and make sure they are legit. The bots are so sophisticated that they will make a first post that looks like a real HanDBase user- because they copy and paste text from an existing post and post it as a new one. Once I approve that post, they then can start hitting everyone with spam! This has made moderation pretty much impossible and now I don't really accept any new members for this reason.

For Reddit, it has some advantages- their registration is very simple, doesn't require a ton of info- just an email and user name and password. And the board is easy to set up - in fact I just did one to try it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/handbase/

You can see my initial post there without needing to sign up or anything. If you want to post or join/follow the subreddit, you can give it a try. I'd like to try to just have a single forum and the topics themselves can be as specific to devices or platforms as needed. Lets try to use this for a little bit and get your thoughts on whether this can continue.

WRT Patreon, I will strongly consider it. I am hesitant because I don't want to be able to do it unless I can be sure I can actually deliver on my end, which requires a bit of time. I'd hate for you to support me and I don't live up on my end! Let's get the iPhone update out, the Android update out and then revisit!

[ddhsoftwareadmin]

Just wanted to follow up with everyone that the Reddit forum is up and running for a few months, and haven't had any difficulties with it. In the meantime these forums have over 5000 new spam posts in moderation so I think its time to set this forum to read only! If you have any questions or want to discuss, please visit:

https://reddit.com/r/handbase

Thanks for your continued support!