jorats
Loving rats since 2002.
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. Weâve had our ups and downs but lately, itâs 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 othersâ 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 itâs 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 canât 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. Iâve 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.
The forum has been running now for almost 6 years. Weâve had our ups and downs but lately, itâs 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 othersâ 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 itâs 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 canât 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. Iâve 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.