It is not too often that I have bad experiences with hosting companies, but I remember one time, I was with a hosting company and they were sharing servers with around 300 people or more, which was causing the speed of websites to be slow and even excessive downtime.
What was your last bad experience with a hosting company?
When it comes to domain registration, I have been using NameCheap for quite a few years now and can not fault them at all. At the moment I have two domain names registered with them and have been super happy with the service.
What domain registrar do you use?
I tend to use a different avatar depending on the forum I am on and the reason for me being on that forum. For example, on general discussion forums, I tend to use avatars that shows something I have an interest in or something that I enjoy. For forums that are a little more serious, I tend to use the one I have here or even one of my own pictures.
I recently installed GIMP again after having to redo Windows on my laptop and so GIMP 3.0 was the one that I installed. I am super happy with it so far from what I have used it and it seems to be quite stable.
What is your go to solution for AI? Is it Gemini, Grok or ChatGPT?
I used to use Llama for a while to test it.
ChatGPT has been my go-to for a while now. I had heard of Gemini, and being that I use Twitter or X as it is now known, Grok is another I am aware of but have not used yet.
Llama is one I had not heard of, but I am now curious, so I will be checking it out.
Surely step 1 for me. Images can do more damage than good if not handled correctly
This is very true, and I am always shocked at how many people are not aware of this. I have in the past been on forums that have had so many GIFS, including GIFS used within the theme for their forum and even I, with a fast internet speed and a decent laptop, it ends up lagging and slowing the site down.
I have not fallen into this trap again, but I am a lot more cautious now when I don't renew domain names.
I often look into domain names now for things I feel will be popular or even trending, but I don't feel I am quick enough with it; some end up going for a lot.
I always thought that descriptive titles were the way to go, so I try and make any titles I use as descriptive as possible.
If you have a small, basic title that does not really explain what the thread or even blog post or webpage is about, most I have found tend to not bother.
I remember when I first started creating websites and forums, I had no clue about sitemaps and they were very new to me. Over the years, I have been able to learn so much more, and sitemaps are the one thing that I have learned.
They are so easy to add and they help a great deal. I would recommend that everyone have a sitemap and let Google know about it.
As someone who gets frustrated when it comes to slow websites and forums, I am always ensuring that mine runs smoothly and fast enough that it does not frustrate me and then in which case, would not frustrate others.
I find having a lot of things going on and a lot of images can cause slow loading for some.
At the moment, I only have hidden staff forums as I am slowly building up my forum as and when I feel certain forums are needed, to not overcrowd the forum.
I don't think they have done this yet, but if they are still considering, I wouldn't mind as long as they are not intrusive and they make it an option for those with Nitro to not receive ads on the platform.
I was sad to hear about this, and it seems they have now completely closed down.
I was using Skype daily, and now having to find an alternative that works just as well as Skype did, but doesn't seem to be anything as of yet.
I have article sections on my forum that I feel help with content. As many community leaders and webmasters know, content is king, so as much high-quality content you can get on your forum, the better.
I do offer blogs for VIP members and staff.
I have found that selling forum posts, blog posts, articles, community management services and promotion services have worked well for me.
They are quite slow but sticking at it has gotten be regular work and clients.
I have badges on my forum and also a few other things such as shop items that members can purchase with their forum currency, but I wouldn't say I go all out as I know it can cause issues and slow down the forum for some.
I wouldn't say that it is a bad thing but if it is relied on for content, that could prove issues for the forum in the long run.
I have used AI in the past for many reasons, but I would never solely rely on it.
Threads is adding a new Auto Delete feature. Saw this on the news today.
I did not know this and must have missed it. I have not logged into Threads for some months now but I do need to just to see how things are going over there and what has been changed.
The death of forum is mainly due to the lack of reliable free forums. Hosting forums is costly and the returns are not great.
This is true, as much as there are services to host a free forum, a lot of the time they are either not reliable or do not offer what those wanting to host free are looking for.
Unfortunately, hosting and domain name costs are increasing and this will only build the decline.
Will phpBB 4.0 be available in 2024? I am not sure. Are you?
This is a good question, we have not seen anything yet I do not believe but that is not to say we may never see something.
I personally don't use phpBB anymore but for those who do, I would imagine an update would be welcomed.
