We've rehashed this over and over again.

The foundation software/architecture running this site is horrendously outdated in 2025. That is the primary reason for the problems, aside from the state of the internet in late 2025.

The problems are inconsistently sporadic and unpredictable. It seems to matter not what browser or operating system one uses to access this site.

To update it, we need the explicit cooperation of the person holding the domain/URL, David Collinson. Or some really good hackers.

Mr. Collinson has, by all reports, not been forthcoming with the necessary cooperation or permission.

Just for the fun of it & armed with a fresh Firefox update it seems to have worked this time but much emphasis on the sporadic....mld

I have had some success by viewing a thread I want to respond to, logging in, and returning to the thread by using the back arrow several times until I'm back to the thread. I also check the keep me logged in box.

The board has always had a quirk for me, that if I searched for an old thread and then logged on to add a new post to it (something I prefer to do rather than have many threads on the same topic), when I went to the old thread I had already searched for it wouldn't recognize me as logged on and open a new post window. So, I had to go back, log on, and then repeat the search, so that when I was in the old thread I was already logged on. The problems we are having seem to be a version of that quirk.

I have attempted to add an additional post to the Climax A-313 thread for a week without success. I get "kicked out" to the Log-In page repeatedly. I have also attempted to edit past posts without success. I can move the thread to another forum with a reduced number of posts as it will not reflect the learning process I have gone through but I would like to continue the thread on RPN.

Any idea if or when the issues will be partially ameliorated? I am not expecting that everything will be resolved, but the state of RPN forum is rapidedly becoming to frustrating to use.

Question for the group. This issue continues with no end in sight.

If somebody was to create a new forum, using up to date online software, who would be interested in moving to that one?

Upside, quicker, easier, better support for photos.

Downside, none of the old content would be there. Huge issue, but my attempts to contact the domain owner have not been successful.

So, is it worth bothering with a new forum or not?

I'm on board.

In theory, it would be possible (although perhaps legally and ethically questionable) to clone the 25+ years of old forum content onto the "back" of the new content.

My working theory is that if the sole remaining "intellectual property" owner of this site has no interest in responding to legitimate queries about the functionality of this site (or perhaps no ability to), we shouldn't be really worried about somewhat spurious claims of copyright infringement or intellectual property misappropriation.

So hack away. (I do have some pros in that department in my old-school Rolodex still....)

I think someone is working on the problem in the background. The "Log me on automatically each visit" box did not show up out of thin air. The problems seemed to have started when some of us noted an unusual number of page views (5000 in three days for something obscure where 100 per day would be typical) It was fixed, but then the log on problems started. As long as I have been on the board I always had a problem responding to an old thread I searched for unless I was already logged on, my working theory is that in fixing "the 5000 post views" problem, whoever is working on it caused the "not recognizing you as logged on" problem to spread.

Someone is working on it, let's just be patient.

Edit: Apparently there is a time limit now as to how long you have to post. If it erases your post because it was too long to post it (more than three or four minutes) just use the back arrow to go back two or so pages to when you were writing it, copy, log on, paste your message and quickly post, that is what I did just now.

I would like a much more definitive answer from those who are our current mods/admins (and anyone else with an idea of what all is going on) that this website is truly down-and-out-for-the-count before we all "abandon ship" and start over from "square one". I could list any number of reasons why any and every attempt should be made to get this one back in shipshape instead.

X2

I can move the content over to the new software. There will likely be some data loss, there always is with a conversion process, but most should be fine.

However, I would not do it without the approval of the current website management. The offer is out there, has been for years. I'll migrate the content and host it on my server. But nobody has taken me up on that offer.

Bob,

I think this is your answer.



I say start the work to revive the forum in a workable format.

Wesley

I suppose I should explain some of my concerns with going to an all-new site and "dropping" this one.

Without this being an "official" migration, it presents some obvious issues, at least to me. Granted, I am not a webmaster, don't claim to be one, don't play one on TV, and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

But...

Starting a new website with a different URL, but without an official "do-over" means that there wouldn't be any automatic redirects for anyone coming to here using bookmarks or otherwise looking for answers via the search engine of their choice. They'd still land on the hypothetically-now-less-frequented RYPN. And, new posts on the new website wouldn't be displayed here, and vice versa.

Even if you were to migrate the entire 25 year history of posts from here to there, and then routinely added new posts from here to there in some sort of migration continuance, it would still be a situation of two websites trying to serve the same purpose.

And, to continue on from what I said above about users still landing here and not there, without official redirects, any user(s) of this forum who were unaware of the migration would come here, see that no one has been around, and would walk away again. They wouldn't necessarily think to look for an all-new site (and, to repeat, their bookmark[s] wouldn't take them there).

And, on the search engine aspect, a new website isn't (at least for the first however many months/years) going to be at the top of search results, which means anyone doing research is going to be led here, not to any new forum where the discussions/topics were continued. So, information they'd find (here) would therefore be incomplete and outdated.

Back to users (account holders) not being aware of the "migration", over the years this forum has had so many users come and go, and even if the actual data of all threads/posts, files, user accounts (and logins), messages, etc. were successfully copied over, if someone who has been away for a long time were to come back, they wouldn't have heard about what transpired, as I said above, and even if you were to ensure that there was a "sticky" here with the hope that returning users might therefore be visually led to the new site, there is no guarantee that they would see it.

And, for those of us who would want to make sure that anything meaningful we wish to contribute going forward would be seen regardless, we would then be made to post it on both websites in parallel.

And to what I said earlier about knowing for absolute certainty that this website cannot be saved in its current form, hosting, and URL; I have not seen for certain anyone post that the current owner of this site has said unequivocally that he is entirely unwilling to work with us, the community, on getting this website "back on track" (and, is he even still around?). I have seen mention of his supposed unwillingness, but are we truly "locked out" in the sense that he is beyond convincing that it is time to hand over the custodianship of RYPN to some sort of community effort? Might I go so far as to suggest that if it does turn out he is willing, perhaps the time has come to consider if reconstituting some sort of nonprofit entity to manage this website (as was the original plan eons ago), and to address the many issues might be the real solution.

I don't want to see RYPN go away (I don't think anyone would disagree that it has served a great purpose to the preservation community), and yes, it seems that there might be a "slow death" happening, but are we truly at a point of no return, or is just that there needs to be a more concerted effort by all concerned parties "to get the band back together"? It has been talked about off and on for years, and I seem to recall we "came close" when Doug was still involved, but...try again?

My two cents in consideration that RYPN is a brand:
Transfer ownership of RYPN - the domain name (as it is part of the brand) and all content. Then you can upgrade, change hosting service, whatever. Transfers are pretty easy if all parties agree. You'd need a few savvy participants to do the transfers, upgrades and administration. The downsides are the recurring costs of hosting, domain registration and the collection of "donations" to pay for it (it's really not overly expensive). I'd pitch in on the tech side where possible.

At the minimum, if there's an ownership change and a move to something like Bob's site, keep the RYPN domain name and have it redirect to a subdomain there.

Yes. If this were all done as an "official" transfer, with keeping the same name, URL (or redirects), all data transitioned smoothly, etc., then all of my concerns above would be moot, and no reservations would be had.