Unfortunately the time has come where I will no longer be able to support the site - I've been out of the Pulsar world for a long time now and as this site was never built to generate revenue, it isn't really self sufficient. Beyond the actual hard costs for maintaining the site, there is also a time requirement on my end. While I've been happy to keep the site running in the past I am now planning on taking some time away from the computer to travel and explore the country and will not have the time or connectivity necessary to maintain this (among other) sites. That being the case, I still really don't want to lose all of the great information that has been posted here over the years so I want to explore all available options rather than just shutting it down.
The site hosting costs $25USD/mo, though it could probably be moved to a cheaper host with a slight performance hit. In addition to the hosting it also needs security updates and bug fixes to the underlying cms (Drupal) performed on an ongoing basis, which involves some technical knowledge. Best case scenario one of our members might be interested in adopting the site and running it as-is. I am willing to transfer ownership of the site to any long standing active member for no cost with only the expectation that it be properly maintained, assuming such a person can be found.
Another option would be for the site members support the site by donation, and I hand off the ongoing maintenance to a Drupal shop. I have a feeling that our active userbase is too small to make this viable, but you never know.
A final option would be to convert the site to a static html site for archival purposes. This would kill all member functionality, but would at least retain the old posts so that the information would still be accessible to people searching Google and whatnot. The site could then be moved to one of the many free static web hosts, and would negate the need for ongoing updates. We could also look at migrating the active community to something like reddit or facebook.
Anyway I just thought I would get the conversation started. If anyone has any ideas beyond what I've listed above, please let me know. I'll need to make a decision around this in the next month or so. I'm hopeful we can figure out what's best for the community.
Shane
First of all thank you for all the work you have done, past present and future. Second I think that this was a conversation that was needed so thanks for bringing it to the forefront and being up front and honest about it. If I had the technical skills I would volunteer to take over the whole site but alas I do not. The easiest option that makes the most sense would be to port the community to another spot.
please archive the site no matter what.
my 2c
I would like to echo the sentiment of Lynx on this one. I am relatively new to the GTiR community (approx. 3 years), but would like to say many thanks to you for the time and effort put into this site. It has helped myself and others tremendously. Unfortunately, I also share the lack of technical skills in web hosting/maintenance, but please do not allow this wealth of information to be lost. All the best on your future endeavours.
alphadrex
I'm not really active on the site, but I definitely use it a lot for reference! It's been super helpful in learning about what makes our cars tick, and what keeps them ticking.
More active and long-standing members should decide what happens to the site, but I want to say that I would gladly provide financial support through a reasonable membership fee.
Finally have a GTI-R! :D
I understand where you're going with this and honestly if I wasn't stuck in Africa with a shitty ISP and no bandwidth, I'd totally take over. (yes, I know I'm not a Canadian)
There's just too much wealth on here to be lost. I would hate to lose member functionality. Anyone want to step up and take over?
Ah man... I'm super new to this site and I've constantly be using it as my reference to get this car road worth again.
Thanks alot for the your continued efforts and upkeep of this site. sadly i dont have the skills and know- how to help.
The more I think about this the more I think that the only choice is to go static and move the active discussion to another spot. I can't justify 30 bucks a month and learning how to maintain a forums backend for the low number of posts/discussions on here lately.
There is some great info on this site, but here we are.