UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums News and Releases Announcements Changelog Discussions New Owner

I get that you are not happy and why ZR-1. If I were paying under the expectation that a new version would be available at some point in time, I would not be happy either.

We have a slightly different POV and I will share it just in case it helps.

Next month is renewal time for us to buy support. We are going to pay the money. The reason is that support contracts support the availability of a tech to provide support and it is like an insurance policy. Without the cash flow from support contracts, there is no guarantee that someone will be available, simple as that.

Over the past year, we have had need for help. Last time, Rick responded within 15 minutes.

I would rather have a fixed amount to pay each year to tap into those who know more about UBB than do we, and who have had experience in what is likely wrong, if support is needed. This compared to paying someone who may or may not know what they are doing and even worse, paying them at hourly rates to figure it out. Yuck!

The Version 8 change log is full of stuff. I guess I don't get it why those changes are so important. Oh, there are some things we would LIKE, but I don't see anything we NEED to make our forum grow.

In reading through the suggestions, I note that some few say why some given feature would help make more money or serve more people and make their existing members happier, but not many. Perhaps there are secret thoughts or plans and nobody wants to give the ship away.

Anyway, we are gonna keep on using UBB. I have done a review of other products and see no reason to change versus the complete pain of changing. I could make a list of the issues with changing to another product and actually started one and then noticed that the first three items were enough to show the rocky road that I didn't want to drive down.

Frankly, if UBB folded, I would see if SirDude and/or Gizmo wanted to sell service contracts. Since the service contract is dirt cheap anyway, perhaps one or both of those gentlemen might want to offer AFLAC supplemental style insurance in which we could invest, just in case.

Simply put, our operation is too important to us not to take out insurance just in case something happens. And then hope we do not need to cash in the insurance policy because that means we had a problem we couldn't solve immediately.

Right now we are moving from one hosting provider to another one with better support. Support is very important to us, as I said.

Larry
www.marriageadvocates.com

Well good luck with your insurance mate.

If, one day, your maintenance guys don't like the nature of your problem (as has happened to me twice) you will be left with no answer.

You will have a totally non functional forum.
(Unless SD, Giz or some other kind soul helps you out.)

Yep, it's really reassuring to know that as a gold licence holder, you can be ignored completely!

Well I am biding my time driv. I am not assured given the lack of communication from the new ownership any more than anyone else. I understand they have to go through a lot of info over the past 10 years +. However, like many others have already said, and I have to agree, I am thinking about going ahead and paying for the license removal for mine and not advertise UBB until it is stable again. Everything on my forums is paid for by me, no one else, and I don't make an income from it. So that said, I feel wrong advertising for something that is in such a flux at the moment and may just decide that $199.00 is good enough to sleep at night knowing that I am not presenting someone with false hope that UBB is going to be what we all know it to be without Rick at the helm.

Dunny

Already do offer private support hehe...

Check this out...


Last online 10 June....

Speaks volumes doesn't it?

(UK dates)

Wow, not good. I feel guilty if I don't log onto my forum for a day.

Did Josh's new product ever go anywhere?

Somewhat floundered - been a while since the last release, which is a shame as it showed potential.

I know some converted from it to IPB.

Hey Ian
I see you've switched forums as well. Do you still use UBB?

of course

Only one forum was switched, as at the time the site was going to be sold, but that fell through.

Well I closed my forums in May and now I don't feel so bad any more.

If I'm on a roll I'm going to give the crystal ball another rub and see if it can come up with next weeks lottery numbers.

We've been with UBB for about 10 years now.
The forums have been THE major growth driver for our web site and our business.
We're fast approaching 60,000 members and 1.7 million posts.

Between Allen Ayres and Rick we've always had any glitches solved quickly. Other than the search function being a little too resource intensive we have no complaints.

I've known it was a small company all along (so are we), but the support was always there so I decided to stay with them.

I don't want to have to move to (and learn) another board.
Wishing Rick and his family all the best, and hoping the new owners can/will keep the UBB going and growing.

My club has two ubb7.x boards running now, One has been running since live with 2000 or so. (I've been admin since 2005)We've had a long commitment to UBB because of it's stability ease of use, it's good to see that there is some planning for a 7.6 version ahead of v8.

Dear Rick, I have been a long time user and value the products and services you have created. Best of luck with your new endeavor!

Andy

Meanwhile, how come we do not hear much, if anything from this new owner? From reading these threads, while it is nice to wish Rick well, what about our businesses and livelihoods tied to UBB? It seems that "Brooks" is a money man and not a programmer or developer. Where does UBB go from here or doesn't it?

I think enough time has passed and you should be communicating with us, your user base. I trust you have plans to move UBB forward or has UBB come to a halt?

Hi Larry, some background and info, UBB will be moving forward:

https://www.ubbcentral.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/244150/1.html

I read that post. You posted it a month ago on June 9. Is there an update to that post? The beauty of the business you bought (UBB) is that it is an interactive communications tool. Can you offer us any new and updated information?

Give up Larry.
I think they are just not ready for the type of customers we are yet.

What kind of customer is that?
The kind who care about their forums, pay their bills, and expect service? :-)

I'm trying to be patient here too, but not much longer.
My forums are too important for me to be wondering if the people behind them care about their customers, and intend to support them.

With 60,000 members and over 1.6 million posts, our forums aren't an accessory to our site, they are central to it.

Just being a little sarcastic.
I am getting a little impatient myself.

I know Ruben, sorry, my reply wasn't really directed at you.

Maybe when they get there act together we will sit back and say,
Wow I was so worried for nothing.

And maybe we won't. I depend on my forum to pay the mortgage, so I'm not interested in sitting around wondering for very long.

So why are you still sitting around and wondering?
You have only yourself to blame if you are still doing that, now that it is quite obvious what the 'situation' is.

The events of the last few month here, and thinking back on how long we were promised the 'soon-to-be-released' Version 8, is startling.

Well, I'm hanging out waiting for info and answers ...and hope...

And now I'm just wondering....why can't the community simply make an offer to buy the company as a "co-op"?

Some of the best run companies in the world are owned by the employees...who have a vested interest in the quality of the product and the future of the company. I mean...really...how much could it be worth? I'm a part time stock options trader...it's not beyond me to buy a few hundred "shares" in a co-op for a software that I depend on 24/7/365!

Frankly, Bud and I have been using this UBBT product for well over a decade - (that would include our foresight to purchase a W3T license back when W3T was the ONLY php/mysql forum software in the world) - and like many of you have posted, we still depend on this product as the foundation for our entire community development project.

Who among us would be interested in "owning the company"?

And why is the success of something like that so hard to believe?


*****

Before there were corporations, there were community co-ops...and when the co-ops proved highly successful and profitable, corporations were created to BUY the co-ops, privitize them, and control the access and profits. The internet - and communities like ours - actually have proven that a collective of individuals with a common goal has greater potential to change the world.

As much as I want to stay optimistic, this is BS.

Com'on man...Facebook is only...what?...five years old? Seriously...at the speed the web moves, and apps and software is outdated and passe, do any of us really have time to sit around waiting for six months...a year...or more?...for bug fixes?

Don't get me wrong - I'm no quitter on UBBT - but I've got over ten years of my life invested in this development. This isn't a "business" to me and my community...it's how we stay alive in a drop dead economy where discretionary income has dried up and our community members are looking for reasons not to drop out for the sake of their family budget.

After all, this is a "community building" software and it was in reality "built" by the co-op of live-site-developers and hacks and workarounds that is the UBBT Community...so WE are the best resource for keeping it alive, funding it's progress, promoting independent web developers to work in teams to kick the ass of every other forum software and CMS that has literally passed the "original" php/mysql based forum software.

Before we haul ass over to vB or IPB and "start a new life", I'm willing to fight to keep UBBT alive...but we can't afford to wait indefinitely for promises we're not going through another InfoPoop mindfunk experiment that will burn two more years of our lives and the progress, or survival, of our respective communities.

So...here I sit, brokenhearted, came to build and only farted...

And in the words of my mentor, Forrest Gump -
..."that's all I have to say about that"....

All I can say is I've deleted my UBB forum and returned to what I had been running. It has functioned well and to be honest, some of the functions are much easier to configure. I still have two ubb licenses and if, in the future, it comes back to life I will re-evaluate it and decide what to do then. But, right now I've very displeased with the lack of interaction from this "new" company and they almost total lack of communication with us. I've had my ubb licenses for around 10 years now and they will sit unused for awhile once again.

I have been working with another member who has the contact info for Brooks. The problem we're encountering is that brooks, the current owner is not returning calls or responding to emails.

I agree with you and it has been almost a week since I have tried to make contact with Brooks.

It is believed that brooks bought UBB at a fire-sale price in a private auction held on the flippa.com (?) website.

This all blows.

Someone please buy this guy out and take back over the reigns.

Kind of an invasion of privacy... I figure if he wanted us spam calling his house he'd have given us his number... Not to mention, the domain info is setup with a domain privacy function to not provide details lol.

Well, he does deserve a chance...

I think what we need to keep in focus is that UBB is a big ship. That can't just change direction at the whim at a few suggestions.
So even though V8 is shelved currently. The new direction to release a v7 update is still a big task.

But somebody should at least provide some update on the progress.
Timeline:
Feature Changes:
Bug fixes:
Items being addressed:

It isn't just a matter of what will get done when, it's the need to communicate with your customers and not leave them hanging.

Leaving a void means people will fill it with their own interpretations.

A quick outline from the new owner(s) of what the plan is for the future would be very helpful.

You're assuming that he wants to sell. I wouldn't make that assumption.

Would the last person out turn off the lights.

Well if you've left willing and moved onto IP Board why are you still here posting? I use IP Board on another site (not by choice) and believe me it BLOWS in many areas and they are just as slow at fixing things too.

As long as some new Web standard doesn't come along and break the software even if UBB did die out the software currently works just fine for me.


@Rick
Best wishes on the new job and move and hopefully you do take some time out for the wife and kids - time you'll never get back my friend.

Brooks did give us his number. It is posted on the ubbcentral.com home page in the upper right. It is (954) 871-2693. I guess he does want us to call!!

Wanting to sell and should sell are two different issues. When I buy a business I know what's going on and have people in place. Who is doing the support work, writing code, adding new features, and fixing the remaining bugs in the current version? I think as users and those have have paid for current support/upgraded their memberships they have a right to know.

I would also say that I am good...have had several bugs fixed and have had several modifications added that I needed. Brooks has published his number on the ubbcentral.com home page. if you have questions call him. (954) 871-2693

Since you ask.....

Because I want to. I'm interested. Until recent events I was also sitting around. I was strung along for such a long time waiting for the amazing 'Version 8' that of course never happened. So I am curious to know what happens next --- it's interesting.

I'd be interested to hear the many areas in which you claim that the other one 'blows'. Having used 3.1 for going on 2 months, and the new 3.2, I have to say that it makes this place look like some kind of museum relic from the 80's. Both in terms of looks and functionality. Sadly.

I was annoyed at the turn of events but all is good in the end because it got me up off my lazy backside to do something about it.

In as much as Sir Dude has been handling my site for a couple of years now, I never find myself needing to submit support tickets or even visiting this forum very often.

I am also surprised that Sir Dude was involved in any ownership change. Because as far as I am concerned, they don't come any better. Most of my problems are resolved by SD with in hours of me contacting him.

I wish Rick the best in his new endeavors and best of luck to the new owners of UBB. You got some big shoes to fill.

maybe it is just me, I am more interested in the front end, in the user features, than I am in the back end of the forums.

Things like showing in a forum who is having a membership anniversary today, and sending them an email saying so...

Overall V7 works fine, but feeling 'left behind with the features' that others are coming up with.

See, I like the back end, clean code, speed, and functionality...