Sunday, 27 November 2022

The Forum is Dead, Long Live the Forum!

 
See here for essential background: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/11/hpanwo-forum-down.html.
Eleven days ago I finally received a reply on the Tapatalk support group saying: "That group was disabled due TOS (terms of service) violations. Sorry." It's unusual for people like that to be apologetic! I replied: "Having checked the TOS I'm not aware of what those violations are. Is it possible to remove the material you regard as violations and restore the group?" I have received no response so I assume the answer is no. That's annoying and all too common on social media. You do something supposedly wrong, they punish you and when you try to find out what it is, you are met with silence in true Kafka style. In those situations the only response is onwards and upwards! So I have abandoned the task of restoring the HPANWO Forum and started a new one. It is also called the HPANWO Forum because I can't think of a better name; and I have chosen another host because I'm not at all happy with Tapatalk's service. This has been a good opportunity actually because it gives me a chance to redesign. I have come up with a simpler and more comprehensive structure. Rather than having multiple arrays of boards, I have combined many of them into one. "The Lodge" is for off-topic discussion and humour. "HPANWO Blogs", "Ben's Bookcase" and "Hospital Portering" are self-explanatory; and "The Rantory" is for any discussion that gets very heated without stepping over the line of flaming. Membership is open to anybody, skeptic, believer or in between. However I might need to check members' identity if I am unsure of who they are. I really would rather not do that, but it is unavoidable. If I don't, trolls will move in and destroy the board. All new members will be expected to make welcome posts introducing themselves. Identity checks could involve PM's or emails, or even live conversations by telephone. The new HPANWO Forum is still in "alpha" at the moment, but I will be working on the theme and layout of the board, and maybe improving the structure. Hope to see you over there soon!
See here for the new HPANWO Forum: https://hpanwoforum.freeforums.net.

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