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Topic location: Forum home » New Forum and future strategy » Oxwall Forum

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webmaste Oct 4 '13

This was old discussion from 2013, but is relevant to 2015 and the change-over.

This Oxwall is a potential forum - I believe it has 11 main advantages over SocialGo:

a. It's free

b. It lives on our own server (web site)

c. The software is fully changeable.

d. We can upload more file types than SG2. Including pdf.

e. The BLOG is more accessible.

f. The forum is the main subject discussion area. In SG2, the main discussion area appeared to be the "Stream" and stuff vanished off that in a few days, so people came to the forum, saw no topic to talk about and left. In here there is a "Dashboard" about your OWN stuff, "Stream" which is the "Stream" page and a more ordered forum in the same sort of style that many are used to, like on Pozi's forum.

g. The birthday option is available.

h. We can add advertisements to pages with potential for some income.

i. Oxwall shows when members were last on the forum. SG 2 does not.

j. You can upload multiple photos.

k. Oxwall has a search facility in the forum. SG2 does not, so you can not find old related topics.

What are it's disadvantages? Do you have any thoughts?

The Forum post is edited by webmaste Jun 25 '15

Admin

webmaste Oct 17 '13

Chris B mentioned "gimmicks" and I have turned off the adverts and the weather. If there are any specific changes then they can be made. Another point has been the "feel" of the forum. I think that would refer to the theme..? There are a selection of themes, but the Facebook one is preferred to the Oxwall standard.

The Forum post is edited by webmaste Oct 17 '13

Admin

webmaste Oct 17 '13

Personally I thought that the change from SG1 to SG2 was a bit of a disaster. No paid forum should have behaved like that. THEY should have moved everyone lock stock and barrel.

As an example of what is my main gripe with SG2 (apart from it's cost) - you try finding any topic that you have been interested in more than a couple of months ago...! Unless you put it in the forum section, you will never find it. What we are writing here will always be searchable and in the appropriate "topic". What we write will come up in the stream page and our dashboard (I think).

The Forum post is edited by webmaste Oct 17 '13

Admin

Shvakova Oct 18 '13

Cost has to be one of the main factors to consider. Why pay when you can go free? Trying to get funds from members for a subscription is not feasible, it would be too difficult to police and administer and most people would be unwilling to pay. Oxwall is free, however if people are not happy with it then they need to find and fund an alternative. Raising funds at events for charity is all very well but money needs to be ploughed back into the group to cover website, forum and admin costs. We are all volunteers enjoying a hobby but costs need to be covered in order to keep the information out there. If we raise money at an event we put on then costs for such things should be taken out before handing any on to someone else.

Admin

webmaste Oct 20 '13

If there is to be a move to Oxwall, then there is the question of the 268 members of the SG2 forum. Each one would need to log in to the new one. It is not great, but it could add a dimension of "freshness" and perhaps if done in the New Year would be a reasonable experience. The 268 can all be directly invited and we could perhaps keep them on the newsletter, which means that information would be pushed out to them, until the day they want to read that information or take themselves off the newsletter.

The Forum post is edited by webmaste Jul 7 '15

Admin

webmaste Dec 17 '13

Just to update. The plan is to decide around 1st Jan 14. There is a poll on the SG2 forum at the moment. I don't mind what is done. My only concern is the cost of SG2. I look after a few web sites and I have had an interesting time developing the Oxwall site. The benefit of the Oxwall site is that it would be wholly owned and operated by WWIIRESW on it's own web site.

The poll has been added below the WWIIRESW Christmas Card - http://wwiireenactmentsouthwest.co.uk/...sletters/20dec13.php

The Forum post is edited by webmaste Dec 18 '13

Admin

webmaste Jun 4 '15

There is now a Responsive theme for Oxwall that corrects itself for Desktop, tablet and phone. It would take some computer nubes a while to work out I think!

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