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  • General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.
General discussion about the RAILROAD.NET site, forums, or content ONLY. Please do not post your general railroading questions, please choose an appropriate forum. For help using the site, please post in the Help Using RAILROAD.NET Forum.

Moderator: Jeff Smith

 #1035572  by mtuandrew
 
I'm not sure that phpBB supports paid subscriptions, so Jeff and the new owner would have to manually keep track of users who've paid, create a new user category and allow permissions based on their subscription status. If the subscription level was high enough it might be worthwhile, but it's much easier to instate advertising globally.

That said, who knows? It might be worthwhile to consider a membership level that includes (semi-)unlimited attachments, zero ads, and greater control over post editing, without restricting the ability to post or see posts. It wouldn't be the only well-respected site forum that does so.
 #1035595  by marco
 
Times surely are A-Changin'.

Gone is the monolithic business model, where the attitude is "You can have it in any color you like, as long as it's black".

Success in today's marketplace is found in responding to the customer needs, providing a service, at a profit, that is needed. Having said that, the speed of feedback is swift and sure, and loyalty to any brand is also gone with the wind.

Surely, it's the desire of any community to grow and thrive, however, I've seen intention of "long time board users" to leave, and this is clearly a signal to "the mysterious new owners". Customers come and go, for all sorts of reasons, however, PUH-lenty of people have made their feelings known.

If they (the mysterious NEW OWNERS) are aware of these market signals, it's yet to be seen.

While I'm on that subject, nobody (except Jeff) seems to know who the "new owners are", and (IMHO, like all typed in this post) he seems to be the only one who can contact them. Seems like I saw a movie like this once, ah yes! "The Wizard of Oz".

Anyway, I've gotten value from using this BB, and surely would "pony up" a "reasonable fee" for usage, SANS advertisements. As far as modifications to the code of phpBB, there are LOTS of programmers OVERSEAS that will code for $15-$18/hour US. So, the modifications to open source software (the reason for open source) are available to those who seek to pursue that goal.

In any case, it's been fun passing the time, listening to the stories, so Thanks to Everybody.

DISCLAIMER:
What I've typed above is only my personal opinion, based on my observations. If there is a statement that is incorrect, please accept my apology.
 #1035605  by MEC407
 
Jeff Smith wrote:It hasn't repeated for me, but I check the box to stay logged in. I use IE9. I understand the frustration, though. Still waiting on an answer.
When I visited the site this morning, I didn't get any pop-ups... but when I came back later in the morning (still logged-in, hadn't touched my cookies or cache) I got a Netflix popup.

. . .

For what it's worth, when TrainOrders became a paid site several years ago, I left and haven't been back since. It's not that I'm a cheapskate; it's just that I had more important things to spend money on... and when I discovered RAILROAD.NET, I found that the discussion forums were as good or better than the ones at TO.
 #1035622  by Jeff Smith
 
marco wrote:Surely, it's the desire of any community to grow and thrive, however, I've seen intention of "long time board users" to leave, and this is clearly a signal to "the mysterious new owners". Customers come and go, for all sorts of reasons, however, PUH-lenty of people have made their feelings known.

If they (the mysterious NEW OWNERS) are aware of these market signals, it's yet to be seen.

While I'm on that subject, nobody (except Jeff) seems to know who the "new owners are", and (IMHO, like all typed in this post) he seems to be the only one who can contact them. Seems like I saw a movie like this once, ah yes! "The Wizard of Oz".
While humorous, I am not the owner. I just manage the discussion forums. The news content isn't even managed by me.
 #1035722  by mxdata
 
The pop-up ads have had a negative effect on the site. You can take a look at the long intervals between postings in many formerly popular discussions and see that participation is way down.

MX
 #1035893  by Jeff Smith
 
It happened to me a couple of times this a.m. I'll keep you posted. Overall, though, it's the same thing that happens any time I go to a news site. Still annoying, though. I'm waiting for a response.
 #1036022  by marco
 
Trying to keep score of the players in the RailRoad.Net Community:

Seems a bright fellow creates a hobby web site, realizes some success and then sells it to another, while keeping his hand in as a moderator, yet denying he is administrator.

The second bright fellow, adds some value to the community, re-sells the web site to a "Mysterious New Owner", while working as the admin, yet denying his ownership.

Fascinating. I used to enjoy the straight train stuff, but this back story is growing.

Ok, let's think BIG! Licensing rights, daytime talk shows, the lecture circuit, certainly a book, perhaps a Broadway Play.

I watched a few "Mystery Train Movies", however, THIS mystery is by far the most enjoyable tableau!
 #1036521  by NJT4115
 
What's with the pop-ups? They're much more annoying! :(
 #1036550  by Patrick Boylan
 
marco wrote: Ok, let's think BIG! Licensing rights, daytime talk shows, the lecture circuit, certainly a book, perhaps a Broadway Play.
When Jeff Smith's on Oprah she asks the audience to look under their seats, "EVERYONE GETS A BRAND NEW model RAILROAD CAR!"
 #1036578  by mtuandrew
 
Patrick Boylan wrote:When Jeff Smith's on Oprah she asks the audience to look under their seats, "EVERYONE GETS A BRAND NEW model RAILROAD CAR!"
There's an idea - have Oprah restart the Pullman Works and give away railroad cars, then *encourage* audience members to sign them over to Amtrak and their local commuter agencies in exchange for lifetime rides. :grin:
 #1036605  by rslitman
 
Today, I got a popup on my Smartphone again AND, for the first time, on my desktop.

I hope that this site can put a stop to them. Thanks (NOT thx) in advance (not TIA).
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