jar546
Forum Coordinator
Well, here it goes,
We are growing and our numbers are increasing. The activity on the site as verified with Google Analytics has been showing an upward trend since we began in October of 2009. At this point we have a rolling 30 day average of 42,000 sessions created by over 35,000 users. These are great numbers and during some days of the week we are almost passing the 2,000 session threshold. This is good news. We have more people registering and the registration process is scrutinized. I, or one of the other administrators must review and approve each person. There are spam controls in place. Unlike other forums, we don't let everyone in just to make it look like we have bigger numbers than we actually do.
Since our move to a new server a while back, we have enjoyed improved reliability, even though it came at an increased cost per month. We upgraded to a new vBulletin software version and have since performed 2 updates. Except for a few glitches, we are doing extremely well and everyone seems to be happy with the move overall.
After some long thought and a recent change of IT professionals that handle this site for me for those things that are way beyond my capability, we are now getting ready to move further even more and I have some good news to share.
First, we will be moving to an even faster server (10x) with equal or better reliability. Why would I agree to do that? Well, in addition to the first two items, it will be saving me money which is super important at this point. Our new reliable and faster server will be online by the end of this coming week. The new server host is actually Amazon which is one of the if not the largest player in the server arena. Until recently when they build their own infrastructure, Amazon was the host server for Dropbox. This is excellent news for us.
Next, as soon as I get together enough money, we will be moving our platform software away from vBulletin and to XenForo. Our new IT professional currently handles a forum that is approximately 100 times larger than ours and at least 30 times busier. He transferred that forum from vBulletin to XenForo and the admin and members could not be happier. I now have the information for Xenforo that I could not previously get and that allowed me to make the decision to change software platforms.
I, as an individual owner of this forum am completely and totally committed to not just maintaining this forum but growing it at a faster pace than we are currently experiencing. We, as a group have created an invaluable site for information concerning of all building codes. We will be moving forward and continuing to lead the building code industry in the capacity we serve. In a way, we are ambassadors of building codes by giving inspectors, plan reviewers, engineers, students, architects, developers, building owners and the manufacturing industry a safe place to inquire about the codes. I would like to personally thank each and every person, whether they have financially supported us or not, for posting, answering questions or simply lurking in the background for helping to grow this forum.
I wish I could make this big move to XenForo tomorrow but, unfortunately, even though we are growing, Google AdSense (where we generate some of our revenue through banners) continues to find ways to change their algorithm and we still continue to struggle as many of our Sawhorses and Supporters failed to renew their membership. Since inception I have basically funded the majority of the forum expenses and continue to put in a ton of sweat equity to ensure that we are a stable platform, safe from spam and maintain relevant content. Through the Sawhorse and Supporter programs, you have helped to ease my financial pain. For that I am grateful.
Whether you are a Sawhorse, Supporter, Registered Member or not, feel free to contribute additional funds so that we can change to XenForo soon. Let's continue to move forward with the growth of this forum. I have been steadily committed since I created in in 2009 and my plans have not changed. Help me to help you. Remember, you don't have to have a Paypal account to send money, just a credit or debit card. Send money to info@TheBuildingCodeForum.com after you go to this site: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/send-money-online
Thank you. I am looking forward to your assistance and thank you in advance.
Jeff
We are growing and our numbers are increasing. The activity on the site as verified with Google Analytics has been showing an upward trend since we began in October of 2009. At this point we have a rolling 30 day average of 42,000 sessions created by over 35,000 users. These are great numbers and during some days of the week we are almost passing the 2,000 session threshold. This is good news. We have more people registering and the registration process is scrutinized. I, or one of the other administrators must review and approve each person. There are spam controls in place. Unlike other forums, we don't let everyone in just to make it look like we have bigger numbers than we actually do.
Since our move to a new server a while back, we have enjoyed improved reliability, even though it came at an increased cost per month. We upgraded to a new vBulletin software version and have since performed 2 updates. Except for a few glitches, we are doing extremely well and everyone seems to be happy with the move overall.
After some long thought and a recent change of IT professionals that handle this site for me for those things that are way beyond my capability, we are now getting ready to move further even more and I have some good news to share.
First, we will be moving to an even faster server (10x) with equal or better reliability. Why would I agree to do that? Well, in addition to the first two items, it will be saving me money which is super important at this point. Our new reliable and faster server will be online by the end of this coming week. The new server host is actually Amazon which is one of the if not the largest player in the server arena. Until recently when they build their own infrastructure, Amazon was the host server for Dropbox. This is excellent news for us.
Next, as soon as I get together enough money, we will be moving our platform software away from vBulletin and to XenForo. Our new IT professional currently handles a forum that is approximately 100 times larger than ours and at least 30 times busier. He transferred that forum from vBulletin to XenForo and the admin and members could not be happier. I now have the information for Xenforo that I could not previously get and that allowed me to make the decision to change software platforms.
I, as an individual owner of this forum am completely and totally committed to not just maintaining this forum but growing it at a faster pace than we are currently experiencing. We, as a group have created an invaluable site for information concerning of all building codes. We will be moving forward and continuing to lead the building code industry in the capacity we serve. In a way, we are ambassadors of building codes by giving inspectors, plan reviewers, engineers, students, architects, developers, building owners and the manufacturing industry a safe place to inquire about the codes. I would like to personally thank each and every person, whether they have financially supported us or not, for posting, answering questions or simply lurking in the background for helping to grow this forum.
I wish I could make this big move to XenForo tomorrow but, unfortunately, even though we are growing, Google AdSense (where we generate some of our revenue through banners) continues to find ways to change their algorithm and we still continue to struggle as many of our Sawhorses and Supporters failed to renew their membership. Since inception I have basically funded the majority of the forum expenses and continue to put in a ton of sweat equity to ensure that we are a stable platform, safe from spam and maintain relevant content. Through the Sawhorse and Supporter programs, you have helped to ease my financial pain. For that I am grateful.
Whether you are a Sawhorse, Supporter, Registered Member or not, feel free to contribute additional funds so that we can change to XenForo soon. Let's continue to move forward with the growth of this forum. I have been steadily committed since I created in in 2009 and my plans have not changed. Help me to help you. Remember, you don't have to have a Paypal account to send money, just a credit or debit card. Send money to info@TheBuildingCodeForum.com after you go to this site: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/send-money-online
Thank you. I am looking forward to your assistance and thank you in advance.
Jeff
