Topic: Co-Founder of SMF has something to say

[butchas]

I really can not say much here as I am such a minor player.  But I noticed that SMF took off like a freight train in the past few months.  I was shocked to see how many people were so passionate about it.

True there is a disagreement, it is true that you guys are mad.  But really all this fighting?

No one ever wins a flame war.  All sides loose respect.  I think you guys should back off for a week or so to get your heads straight.  Call it a quiet strike or whatever.  Then try to talk.



This is me today...

[allkvinde]

Bigguy you are very respected by so many of us let me start by telling you this. We come here because of you and the way that you handle helping us all out. You show that your really care for all of us here. This is something that is hard to find anywhere else.
 
Your anger is something that we all do understand and yes of course you should let it all out. We really are here for you just as you are here for us.
 
We have not been a part of what was going on behind closed doors but to me it does rather sound as if it was just a bit abusive at times by the top person/people. At this time I would actually say that at least one person there seems to be rather narcissitic in my view.
 
When I wrote about the anger it was not from any of you that actually where there trying to give back and to help but rather it was a few of us regular members that had only read a bit about what was going on. We were not there so really had no reason to start to go after smf or the new friends at all. Better to read more, learn more and really try to find out what happened and what is going to happen.
 
I noticed that some of the people that have been with smf for a very long time have already switched to something else. Some of the rest of us will likely follow. It is my own opinion that smf is in trouble right now. They have lost some good people and the top management is likely always going to have problems because of who she is.
 
No matter what you decide I am sure that most of us will stick by you because we believe in you and what you do.
 
As I stated on the friends site I think that we all look at other forum software to see what is all out there. We don't only look when trying to find what suits us but also to see if we are still happy with our choice. I know that if and when I leave I have basically decided to go with IPB. I know that the friends are starting with something new. (don't know if you are a part of that or not). Maybe once that is finished it will be well worth using that.
 
By the way I agree that when I was looking to start a forum I was also very impressed with the help on smf. I can recall that just after a day or so that I had the first problem and went to smf to ask how to fix it. It took a matter of minutes for me to get some very polite great help on there. That was what I had noticed that everyone was getting. Things are not like that now though are they and that is really sad.
 
Also I would like to let you know that some of us feel like you do. I was not ever a part of the behind the scenes team but even as a simple user I started to feel out of place on smf. Sometimes I felt that I was being laughed at or even ridiculed. That is why I come here because you never do that to any of us. Here I feel welcome and that I belong. Many of us don't know any coding at all, that should not ever be a reason to ridicule others and yet that seems to be the norm these days. It would be horrible to be a part of a team and be looked down on or ridiculed just because you don't know as much or at least in their own minds.
 
Like I have always told the kids, you don't have to be super smart in the same subjects as most others are because you are very smart in many other areas which they know nothing about. That makes you just as smart just in different areas.
 
Bigguy you are intelligent in many areas and especially in taking care of your users/clients/members.
 
Let us know what you decide because I for one would like to follow what you do and where you go.

[bigguy]

Thank you for those kind words. I do care about all of you and the help you get. I also care about SMF very much. As a team member I have put in years of my time helping the team and SMF. As a member I/we have all put in many hours and years in our own projects.

Sometimes some of the team would not even know what is going on behind closed doors. It seems that the minute anyone gets any ideas to better improve the project, they get shot down and/or locked out.

There are talks or "Discussions" going on now but nobody really knows how far that will go. Both sides seem to care a lot BUT it also seems only a few really want change.

As for switching to another software. I don't think it is that time yet. Yes some people have switched and that is there choice. These are people that have huge boards and need a project behind them that is working for them, not fighting amongst themselves about petty differences.

The friends are starting something new and from what I have heard it is going to be great. After all you have more than half of the people coding it that coded YABBSE and SMF. I am involved with helping in anyway I can. It might be a long road but it is one that needs to be traveled.

Nobody should ever feel out of place or ridiculed. If you are making people feel this way then as far as I am concerned your project is already over. Even as part of the SMF team there have been way to many times I have felt the same way. I treat people here like I would like to be treated.

Whatever happens with SMF, this site will stay open to support the members for as long as we can and beyond. Even then I have already started to make provisions to continue on with the great support that you all get here. There is nothing to worry about. Like I have always said we are going to be here for awhile so get comfy, sit back and enjoy the ride.

I will try to keep you all informed of what is going on should there be any change to the situation at SMF. Again I would like to thank you for the kind words, they are very much appreciated.

[allkvinde]

I am so hoping that the talks turn out ok. This can take a very long time to get settled one way or the other.
 
As for me switching, I won't be doing so for a long while for sure. I am waiting it out. I love smf as I stated on the other site and have put a great deal of money into my site even if I don't have a lot of users or am making any money on it. I will only leave if the talks go totally sour and if smf comes to more of a standstill. With this I mean if smf 3 basically slows down more than it has now. Most of us really would like to see our sites move forward.
 
I have smf 2.0 RC2 now because everyone said it was stable enough to use. Besides some of the mods that I wanted I could now only get for smf 2.
 
I try to keep up to date on things on the other site but only when I have the time to do so.
 
lol doing kitchen renovations at this time as well and that takes a lot of time to do. It was a sudden thing since the cupboards decided to suddenly start to fall down about a week and half ago. Had to choose what I wanted first, do the design and drawings then buy it before the tax credit time ran out. That was something of a scramble for sure.
 
Not thinking of moving my site to anything else yet for sure. It will though be very interesting to see what friends come up with. I like what I am reading right now so should be fun once it comes along much further.
 
 
 

[Everis]

I will be making a public announcement on this site shortly as to what the future holds for SMFH. As it stand now I am sick of the childish behavior I have seen from SM and am not to sure how I want to handle things. Hosting and support for computer related problems and SMF will continue until further notice.

 

I am sitting here kind of shocked and feeling a bit numb this cannot be happening. I have been away from the net for a while because "life" happened and am just reading about this now. I looked for the public announcement, but could not find it on the site. This thread has not had an update for almost 20 days, and I am wondering if there is any other news.

I cannot believe this, how can a couple select people even act like this!

First I want to say to you, BigGuy, and your amazing staff, that you guys are an incredible bunch. I have never seen any member here treated badly or ridiculed for not knowing anything or understanding what was being explained to us members. I know for myself you all have helped me in the past, including a certain member, then soon after became a support staff. I know how difficult I can be and the way you bunch worked with me in the past was awesome. I would be surprised if I did not cause a certain staff member some grey hairs! (moose..  )

I personally believe SMF is the best setup out there and cannot imagine having to use another type. Its pretty forgiving and has so many cool feature. I wonder how many sites have been created by people that thought they could not do such a thing, but they wanted to share something with people and needed a way to do it. People who have no coding clue, but have created amazing sites, because of SMF and the great help that is out there for it. What about all the friendships that have been made through the communities that were built using the foundation and framework of SMF? If SMF crumbles, what would happen to those communities, if the owner does not know how to use other supports?

This is horrible, as I said I have just came back from being away. I have lost another "home", the 2nd in less then a year and a half and have been thinking about starting my own community. One where it would not vanish, or be taken away from me and the members, because it would be mine. I have not been to the SMF main site yet, as I came here first to see what was happening with SMF 2.0 RC as this is my support site. My next plan was to swing by sleepy to see what mods have been created and updated there. But I read announcements first, and came across this one and now, I do not know what to think.

BigGuy, if you feel that you can update this thread, could you please. Is it still possible that things will turn around? Have they already, and is it still possible to use SMF 2.0 without having to worry about there being no updates and supports for it in the near future? I am pretty sure you will always offer support to anyone using SMF, even if it has hit the bin and its 10 years down the road, my concern is if updates and security issues arise.

Thanks,

Everis..

* Everis hugs BigGuy, the HStaff and members

NB. if this is a double post, with slightly different wording, sorry had a "hickup" while posting the first one. If there is just this one post, just ignore this NB then. 

[bigguy]

This site is NOT going anywhere anytime soon. We will continue to provide support to our members indefinitely...or as long as SMF is around. If things do take a turn for the worse and SMF does happen to fall by the waste side, hosting will continue and so will support but on a different site. This site will be archived and left here for reference and everything will be moved to:

www.pctweakr.com

Where our main focus will be on computer support. We will still gladly give support for SMF, php, mysql, html and all that fun coding stuff. A long with our hosting. Boards have already been set up on that site for help in these areas. So you see, we are not going anywhere anytime soon. I will guarantee you that.

It is still safe to use SMF. It is still in active development. As a matter of fact the main site was just updated to rc3 so things are moving along. On that note. There is another project starting over here:

www.smf-friends.org

Go read up on it and see what you think.

[Everis]

Thank you BigGuy for the update, and relieving my worries about having to learn one of those other types.

 

I am going to have a look around over the next couple days and make my final decision on if I will make a site on my own or not. If I do, I will be needing hosting 

Thanks again,
Everis
 

[bigguy]

We are here for sure. If you do need hosting I would urge you to go over to www.pctweakr.com and register there. Also, we do host more than SMF so your site does not have to be SMF based.

[Everis]

Registered, just waiting on my confirmation email.

BigGuy, I am a ForumWhore first and foremost, I have used other "types" of forums and completely hate them. I have been an admin and a mod on sites not running SMF in the past and I will not to it to myself. The SMF forums from the sites I have been mod, admin, SysOp and part owner on are gone. If I decide to create one completely in my control, where nobody can just take it away and turn it into pixellated dust, it will be in SMF.

I need a couple days to digest all of this, find out what is actually on SMF 2.0 that I would not need one of my "usual" mods added to. And if it does not have something like my usual mods, hope that it is still being updated.
BTW, thanks for pointing me in the other direction. 

[Everis]

www.smf-friends.org

Go read up on it and see what you think.

I think I understand the idea, and I am liking it.
But I am getting "Problem loading Page" error there right now. Anyone else getting this?
Every other place I am at is fine.

[bigguy]

They could be having problems with their server.

[Everis]

Looks like everything is ok now. Thanks bigguy.