Rick wishing you good luck on your new job and I do hope this is a good thing for your family.

Now, I want to say that it was bad form to not even ask SD or Gizmo and maybe one or two more if they wanted to purchase UBB singularly or collectively. These guys have done a lot for the success of UBB in keeping current license holders happy.

I am sure Forum software sales isn't any where near what it was 5 - 10 years ago. Facebook has made a dent in forum use, but I think people are starting to see the short comings of Facebook.

I will be watching to see how things are going. Right now I am suing V 7.5.? with some SD tweaks to give some options I wanted. It is stable and running well, so I am in no rush to change.

First of all, as a person who has his share of running companies that provide software and hardware for specific purpose, I think you have likely made the right decision to insure both the forward success of UBB and of your obligations to your family.

For those now looking to jump ship, I have this to say.

I know what VB looks like in operation. I am not impressed. Our own forum has jumped from no place to tied for the most active in our genre in less than 8 months. Part of this success is based on the look and feel of UBB compared to the look and feel of other and competing forum software bundles.

Except for our own mistakes, UBB has been rock solid even in the face of hacker attacks.

Look and feel is important. And UBB is king of the hill in terms of the ability to project a look and feel. We have a professional graphics artist as one of our founding members, and she has very specific requirements on the software package, requirements we were unable to find in other packages.

We do need more features and I have listed them in the suggestion box. I am perfectly happy contracting to SD or Gizmo to provide those features and was simply waiting until v8 to see what was still needed.

We currently average over 600 posts a day and during the busy season, we handled more than a thousand. This make us a player by any measure especially considering that we went live in September of last year, (at least in our genre). Even during the off season, we continue to grow and we credit part of that success to our rock solid forum package and the look and feel.

We just had a record time when more than 90 members and guests were active at the same time.

For whatever it is worth, we just ran out of disk space with our current hosting provider and posted a trouble ticket. Rick answered within 15 minutes with a suggestion which we have turned on. I dunno how you get better service than that.

Guess you could say we are sticking with UBB because it is our best interest to do so. The task of switching forum packages is also a consideration that has to be answered. It is not that simple as to just make a decision and do it.

Larry

Wow! I turn my back for a little while and everything changes, first congrats on a new job Rick, I hope it goes well for you. Second, Good luck to the new owners, I hope UBB continues to prosper.

Rick,

Grats on the new gig and I hope it works out well for you and your family.

We've never met and likely never will, but I feel I know you at least a little. Glad to read that you will still be a member of the community.

Brooks,

Looking forward to learning the plan. Keeping an open mind.

I wish you all the best Rick and thanks for all the work you have done over the years. You had to make the decision that makes most sense for you and your family.

And as for someone with just a room full of computers taking over. Hey, that is not in itself a problem. Many great software businesses have grown from that environment. And when a software business isn't able to support a full time team this is often how they need to work. All I ask is that it is a room containing a few talented PHP programmers.

Congratulations on the new job Rick, wish you all the best! Looking forward to hear about the future of UBB.threads as well. I hope the new management will be just as good and friendly as Rick has been through the years.

Well, that was part of my comment, in that we still don't know. No official announcement as there should have been from the beginning so all of us know where we stand. Not the best way to instill confidence.

Surely. Surely... you cannot be serious with those comments. I find it extremely difficult to believe that.

I have spent the last 5 days, for the first time really, looking at alternatives.
And I am frankly very shocked at what I have seen.
And also kind of angry at myself for being complacent and not looking sooner.

let's relax folks. i agree the new person is incredibly invisible considering the worry by folks, many whose business depends on this software.

but let's go on Belize time, kick back, let the forums run for a couple weeks and then see what comes up. we tend to want things NOW, when its more like all things in their time.

you smart guys like the Giz gotta keep the shop running while this new person digs their head out of the sand.

Yeah folks chill out. Sheesh. You can't expect the new owner(s) to make any kind of announcement yet.... give them until December 2011. Or maybe June 2012.

Everyones always wanting things NOW.