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jorats

jorats

Loving rats since 2002.
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
45,196
Location
Northeastern Ontario
EDIT! This post is old, we had issues in the past but all has been resolved. Thank you to all the members here, you are all so special and make the Rat Shack an awesome forum!

The forum has been running now for almost 6 years. We’ve had our ups and downs but lately, it’s been painfully clear that the forum is not what it used to be. In the beginning it filled a need for a community, for support and advice. But with the new online social networks, forums no longer hold much value to people. We have watched our membership decline; some prefer other online services while others’ lives took a different path. Regardless of reasons, the forum is not sustainable anymore. It costs a great deal of money to keep a forum going. We rely heavily on the membership for this and we are truly grateful to those who do donate. Unfortunately, there are only about 20 members who donate regularly. We do understand that this forum, being a rescue forum probably caters to a group of people who find themselves financially bound by their rescues. But not only is sponsorship a necessity so is participation. The mods and admins have been working hard at trying to think of ways to entice the membership to post and become active once again. I have noticed a slight change in activity, but it’s mostly from the mods and a small handful of people. I know the forum means a great deal to some of you. It means a great deal to me… but I can’t keep asking the mods and admins to continue to put in the time and effort it takes for only a handful of people. Our tech admin spends hours upgrading the forum. He is constantly researching and finding new ways to make it better. But in the last year, it seems to be a waste of time… we are still missing our members. Without members, posting and sharing, the forum remains stagnant. I’ve decided to set a deadline. We are paid up for this year with our server. We will continue to do our best to make it a great forum with games, raffles, stories, and what we are best known for… support. But this time next year, we will close down the Rat Shack if there is no renewed interest. It breaks my heart to have to do this but I think this is a sign of the times. Changes are happening and we must flow with it.
 
This would be a terrible loss. There is a focus here, and an organization of topics, that cannot be matched by other social media. The Goosemoose forum can be good, but it felt too big and impersonal to me, so I haven't been there for a couple of years.

Lets hope that rat people come and then stay! I would hate to see FB be the only option for rat people. I would actually feel very nervous being a rat mama without the Forum for guidance on Heath issues. Where else would I have learned about Bromocriptine?
 
sadly it seems most forums and message boards are having the same problem

I belong to a couple of groups that have been in existence for over 10 yrs and there used to be a lot of participation but that has dropped off dramatically.

I am actually surprised that they are still continuing to run, since I know it's very expensive and time consuming.

But there is a wealth of information here that can't really be found elsewhere, if the forum must eventually shut down, is there a way to keep what is here as a "read only" kind of huge document?
that is what happened with one of the other message boards I belong to, they went to a new server and kept all the info they had in a read only format for ppl to access when needed. I have no idea how that is done nor what it costs, but it's a great resource that still gets a lot of use (this is the Feline Diabetics board, FDMB)
Their site is down now, due to some issues with the server and they are relying on the FB group, which just is NOT nearly as good. You can't search the posts, important stuff gets pushed to the bottom as other ppl post things, it's chaotic and hard to follow.
I think, and I hope, that people will realize that the social media format is NOT good for finding important info and that they will come back to the message board format,
I can't imagine that FB is going to fill the need unless it changes significantly.

and FB isn't totally free and everyone is seeing signs that there will be charges and fees for different things..........
I think FB is going to fizzle out
I don't know much about Twitter or any of the other formats but anyway, I am hopeful that ppl will come to their senses and realize what a fantastic resource a board like this is,
and that come this time next year, we'll be as busy as we were when I first joined

I have to hold onto that hope because right now I am deeply depressed and the thought of this group no longer being here, is just way too sad.
I've never met a more caring compassionate group of people with the common values we share here, I would hate to think we'd lose this place to gather.
 
I want to make it clear that this is really not about the money. It's more about it's value and seeing the forum being used. We need to see an active membership.
 
*Wails* You folks are the only ones who understand my love for rats. The only reason why I take photos and vids of my kiddos is so I can share them with all of you!

Plus, you folks have gently walked me through so many rattie problems: intros, weird ailments, where to source awesome hammocks, etc, etc, etc.

*Note to self: must take more pictures and post!*
 
I have not be very active lately (not that I was the most frequent poster before...) but I sure will make an effort to to share more. I would HATE to see the Shack die, this is the only community I belong to and you guys have changed my way of seeing and doing things much more than you can imagine. I somehow stopped posting because the activity was so low... but right now I do have lots of things going on that I need to report on, and unfinished threads/stories that I need to revive.

Let's get the Shack back where it should be!
 
:cry4:

I would hate for the Shack to shut down. Times certainly are changing. That doesn't mean we can't all jump on board to show a bit of renewed interest. I admit to spending little time here lately. Work has gotten much busier and most of my down time is now spent with school work. However, due to school, I'll be looking into getting internet at home soon (instead of just having access at work.) That will make it a lot easier to get back into the action with posting. In the meantime, I'll try to get by more often.
 
Ace8670 said:
Is it needing new members or more posts?
Click to expand...
We've got members, they just don't seem to post much. It appears that we have aprox 80 members log in but only a handful posts.

Like Unepuce mentioned, she stopped posting because there was no response. People were posting lovely pictures and nobody was saying anything, it's like they lost interest. It's no fun sharing pictures and stories when nobody bothers to reply. This really has no bearing on our new members. You guys are walking into this, unfortunately. I've been thinking about this for over a year now, hoping new members will perk up a slow forum. And it might! The closure is not written in stone. :D
 
Get rid of the fb forum then, force them all to come here! This is SUCH a friendlier place then fb. I despise fb actually. I think its getting too big and that its going to implode on itself. There is no search on fb where you can look up posts. I think if you need to shut something down, shut down the fb "forum" and have something directing them here.

I would be lost if this forum shut down. Its the first (ok second, gmail gets opened first) place I go to when I open my computer in the morning and usually its the last place I go at night before shutting down (plus a million visits in between). I don't post a whole lot, but when I can be helpful or something is adorable I will post. I for one will miss this place if it shuts down.

We should try and get those fb people back!
 
I really hope the forum doesnt shut down, im sure i will have many questions in the future as my guys get older. Hopefully we can keep this active! even if it means "moving" the rat shack to a free user. :(
 
I've been having computer issues, I type up a post but then I hit a key and it's gone
so I've been a bit discouraged by that but I'll try to do better!
 
Man that's super sad I've used this forum for helpful information for about two years through reading about other people's rat problems that were similar to mine and the advice that's given here is just so helpful so I just decided to sign up I know I shoulda signed up years ago but this is my favorite site my girlfriend says I'm addicted lol so whatever needs to be done I'd be more then happy to help :)
 
im in the same boat as crumbilina first this that gets opened! i have google chrome and the browser automatically opens a page with my most viewed pages. ratshack is first on the list! :mrgreen: and it gets opened first, then email lol its even like that on my boyfriened computer
and like unepuce like jo mentioned, not many people reply, and that's including me. i could try harder and i willl. if the closure is not set in stone WE CAN FIX IT!
 

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