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Thread: Quo vadis, LHC?

  1. #1
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    Default Quo vadis, LHC?

    I would like to open a respectful discussion about the future of TLHC.

    First, I would like to say that I am, indeed we all are, eternally grateful, to the founder, Stephanie, for the very existence of this wonderful place. I – as we all do – realize, that she has put considerable resources, financial and personal, into running this place and making it what it is.

    I would also like to thank all the moderators, past and present, who helped to maintain this "nicest little corner on the internet".

    But, as we are all aware, we are facing some major issues right now. And I would like to discuss them, properly address them, and also pose a question: what happens next? What will we do if it comes to the worst and LHC goes down? (Assuming that we all want to keep meeting, being friends and talking about hair.)

    --------------------

    Now to the points I would like to discuss:

    A) We – the members at least – do not know what happened to the owner of TLHC. We just hope that she is alive and well. I personally hope that nothing bad has happened to her. I completely understand if she no longer wishes to support the website. But it would be nice to know if there is someone else who can take on this responsibility?

    B) The security certificate expiration and possibly other issues as well have kept a sizeable portion of our members – friends - locked out for months. I also no longer feel safe logging in. TLHC might not be lucrative for hackers, but with security down, who can vouch for its safety? Just how can you be sure that the site won΄t be targeted by viruses and malware? It is already under a siege of bots. Those "lurkers" that seem to haunt the site in hundreds, are not even real people. Most of them are likely bots. Are you sure they are all benign?

    C) Bat said that the Bulletin subscription is about to expire. I do not know how they know, but I would very much like to know if this is true. I would like to know when exactly is this going to happen. I would like to know what exactly it means. What I imagine – and I might be wrong, please tell me – is that unless the Bulletin subscription is paid for and renewed, it means that TLHC will go down and disappear. What are we going to do about it? Who is going to do something about it?

    D) Now, even if I am wrong and the iminent demise of TLHC isn΄t in the cards, what about the more distant future? If the owner (or anyone else) is not going to take proper care of the current website, it is reasonable to expect that sooner or later it will stop functioning altogether and we will have to think of a new place. (Oh, how I wish I could say – I will pay for the newest Bulletin and we can keep rolling on – that is how much this community means to me – but I cannot afford it, I have no funds to spare.)

    E) What safe space to move into? There are numerous options out there. Everybody can express their opinion.
    My personal opinion is to move to some new, free forum-hosting site (e.g. MyBB, Flarum, phpBB, etc.), and have at least two administrators, so this kind of situation does not happen again. However, we would very likely loose all the valuable hair-related information content of TLHC. On the other hand, everyone would be able to meet again and no one would be left out. There is of course the question of how to contact those who already cannot log in here.
    There is also another option – to move en masse into a place already established. There are several, but personally I would not favor any Facebook or Reddit groups. I am aware only of one other existing and (still) functioning hair forum – The Long Hair Loom (moved to Tapatalk.com). Are there more?

    --------------------

    Over the years TLHC accumulated astonishing 80,000 members, but how many of them are really active now? My estimation is about two hundred, including people who drop by infrequently. Some of those "registered users" are probably not even real people any more.

    If you care as much as I do about preserving this community and its spirit, please, I beg you, let us talk about it. I do not bear thinking that I might never be able to see any of you again.



    Note: I am posting this on the "Mane forum" deliberately, so that also members who rarely frequent other parts of the discussion boards would see this.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Thank you for starting this and yeah the yearly subscription will need to be renewed soon, I've been here since 2020 and have seen the site go down twice when payment was probably late but it never lasted long before it was running again. ( unfortunately i dont remember when, possibly july ish?? )am definitely concerned that like the security certificate that when the site goes down again that it might be out for the count

    Depending on how much it costs I'd be willing to use my money IF it's updated to version v6 and images work (we are currently on v4 ) but I am no good at background admin work, I can do bits in pieces like permissions but not set up much else.

    V6 has a dark theme with amber font it's very nice if you look up vbulletin 6 dark
    Last edited by Bat; January 20th, 2025 at 05:23 AM.

  3. #3
    Goat Woman Amapola's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Thank you, Nefcerka, for starting this conversation, and thank you, Bat, for weighing in with what you know about the mechanics on the site.

    I too think it would be a darn shame to lose the LHC. If it helps any, I too am willing to pitch in and make a donation. I have not done that for a very long time, but have done so in the past. I’m concerned about Stephanie and really hope all is OK with her. I can sure understand life moving on, different goals, and not having the time to keep a website up and running; I had to unfortunately let my own website go due to those very reasons. But maybe there is someone who would be willing to step up to the plate on this? If money would help, like I say, I am willing to make a donation. Even a monthly subscription or something, to help keep the LHC up and running.

    What else do people think might help? I’m eager to hear what others have to say.
    ISO Large Cobalt Ficcare!



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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Nefcerka, Thank you for starting this discussion. We all love the Boards so much, and have so much history here, and so many friends here. This year is my 20th anniversary. It is indeed the nicest place on the internet, and I'd hate for us to lose it.

    Bat, Thank you for replying. It's nice to have someone with computer knowledge chime in. I think we can all work together to get things right.

    KNIT right?

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    Silverado EdG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Save these URLs:
    https://www.network54.com/Forum/227393
    https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/longhaircommunityboard

    This is a backup board where some members posted during LHC outages. I believe it is not affiliated with LHC. Network54 seems to have been bought by Tapatalk.

    A number of LHC'ers went to Facebook. I won't go near Facebook. :

    LHC seems to receive a similar amount of traffic to another forum that I am a member of, LinuxQuestions. The way to survive is to minimize cost.
    Ed
    If there's something strange with your long hair / Who you gonna call? / L-H-C! (sung to the tune of Ghostbusters)

  6. #6
    By a Hairsbreadth Shepherdess's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    All good questions. Will be following this thread!
    Final Goal: Terminal lengthLady Randiriel, Shepherdess of Tithenmamiwen




  7. #7
    Flapper Shell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Thanks for the links Ed. These are different backup boards than I remember! I did get the security warning on the network 54 link.

    I also hate FB. I know a lot of folks went that way.

    ETA: It looks like I've posted on these boards--as two different versions of myself.
    Last edited by Shell; January 20th, 2025 at 04:15 PM.

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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Quote Originally Posted by EdG View Post
    Save these URLs:
    https://www.network54.com/Forum/227393
    https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/longhaircommunityboard

    This is a backup board where some members posted during LHC outages. I believe it is not affiliated with LHC. Network54 seems to have been bought by Tapatalk.

    A number of LHC'ers went to Facebook. I won't go near Facebook. :

    LHC seems to receive a similar amount of traffic to another forum that I am a member of, LinuxQuestions. The way to survive is to minimize cost.
    Ed
    Thanks for the links but can't say I'm a fan of the layouts,I probably wouldn't go there

  9. #9
    Member Rainbouu's Avatar
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    I personally am uncomfortable using Facebook. Whereever the community migrates to aside from Facebook, I will try to follow. Although I'm a relatively new member, the sheer ammount of resources alone is staggering and I don't want them to be lost.

    I know that there are people of many different ages from many different countries on LHC, so my suggestion may not suit...but I would be willing to host a Discord server to help preserve the community of LHC. It isn't and can't be a replacement for the forum, because there wouldn't be threads and easily searchable information, but Discord is an easy to moderate app available in many places that could allow like-minded people to converse. I think it would also be a good option if there aren't thousands of incoming members at once, but rather a few hundred.

    I would appointment volunteers from well known users as mods, I think we all know here who is trustworthy. I have faith in you guys! We wouldnt have to worry about the server falling into disarray due to being managed by only one person. I would pay a little money monthly so that we could have custom emojis and other fun things.

    It will be absolutely sfw with no tolerance for er...the weirdos that we are all aware are out there on the internet. I'm open to discussing security and safety with anyone as it pertains to my idea because of that, too. That's one reason I think a lot of us avoid reddit as there are known hair f*tishist accounts on reddit...it is even an option to make Discord invite only or to only allow users to post in one channel until they build sufficient repor, and individual privileges can be granted or revoked.

    In any case, if these forums disappear without a solution, I may create a long hair Discord myself that you all will know to search for later as a lifeline.

    I may start to preserve the information from certain threads, like recipies and advice in a Google document. Progress would be slow though as I am currently working two jobs and it's a busy time in general.

    Let me know what you all think of that.

  10. #10
    Lullaby of Obliteration
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    Default Re: Quo vadis, LHC?

    Quote Originally Posted by Rainbouu View Post
    I personally am uncomfortable using Facebook. Whereever the community migrates to aside from Facebook, I will try to follow. Although I'm a relatively new member, the sheer ammount of resources alone is staggering and I don't want them to be lost.

    I know that there are people of many different ages from many different countries on LHC, so my suggestion may not suit...but I would be willing to host a Discord server to help preserve the community of LHC. It isn't and can't be a replacement for the forum, because there wouldn't be threads and easily searchable information, but Discord is an easy to moderate app available in many places that could allow like-minded people to converse. I think it would also be a good option if there aren't thousands of incoming members at once, but rather a few hundred.

    I would appointment volunteers from well known users as mods, I think we all know here who is trustworthy. I have faith in you guys! We wouldnt have to worry about the server falling into disarray due to being managed by only one person. I would pay a little money monthly so that we could have custom emojis and other fun things.

    It will be absolutely sfw with no tolerance for er...the weirdos that we are all aware are out there on the internet. I'm open to discussing security and safety with anyone as it pertains to my idea because of that, too. That's one reason I think a lot of us avoid reddit as there are known hair f*tishist accounts on reddit...it is even an option to make Discord invite only or to only allow users to post in one channel until they build sufficient repor, and individual privileges can be granted or revoked.

    In any case, if these forums disappear without a solution, I may create a long hair Discord myself that you all will know to search for later as a lifeline.

    I may start to preserve the information from certain threads, like recipies and advice in a Google document. Progress would be slow though as I am currently working two jobs and it's a busy time in general.

    Let me know what you all think of that.
    There is already one but it's not the same as here, when I was there , it had quite a few trolls so I left

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