Lost posts

Due to unforseen circumstances we have permanently and irretrievably lost a large percentage of the posts on the forums.

Whilst this is unfortunate it does,to a certain extent,mean we can start again with a clean sheet...so let's make the most of it.

Ade

Ade, i don't mean to intrude. But this forum is Furomotion. I have furomotion forum also. As forum owner and founder, i have access to the twice daily automatic back-up system. This will roll back the loss of the topics. Evne if someone has deleted them. Incase that has happened. Where it gets tricky is that it is usually only the founder woh has access to this special seperate back-up site. However, i've heard of such situations where sites have been passed to others, and this back-up needed accessed. I advise going into the forum support website link at the bottom of this forum page, and contacting typlo or some other main admin.

warmest wishes
Wayne

Ade,

Would it be possible to have a run down on what Brian did since we all seem to have lost posts and some of us have had our accounts deleted?
It would be useful to know what happened so we can understand what needs fixing and what might have been lost.

Cheers

DaveCollins wrote:Ade,

Would it be possible to have a run down on what Brian did ...

I seem to have ducked and missed all the lead-up to this, which may be fortunate, but I am keen for a brief update.

Also, thanks to those who will be putting the work in to keep the site alive.

Cheers

JKA

Wayne,thanks we will look into that

Dave,a run down...Brian's left the site,some posts have been deleted,and some accounts have been deleted(some of which may stay deleted)...that's it in a nutshell.

At the risk of sounding "positive" Pete and myself are keen to leave this behind and move forward,and we would ask that forum members respect this.

Thanks

Ade

Whilst we would like to be positive you must see that the members that have been coming in for years are quite interested in the story. If it doesn't come out now it will haunt the forum for a long while with rumour, speculation and what happened with Brian and Mick etc etc.

So in other ways a brief summary in a locked thread would stop us idle gossip mongers?

Ace Ventura wrote:Ade

Whilst we would like to be positive you must see that the members that have been coming in for years are quite interested in the story. If it doesn't come out now it will haunt the forum for a long while with rumour, speculation and what happened with Brian and Mick etc etc.

So in other ways a brief summary in a locked thread would stop us idle gossip mongers?

I think I should point out that my question above was not to stir things up, but rather to clear up things as Ace has indicated.
People will understandably want to know what happend out of curiosity as much as anything. They will also want to know why their posts and accounts were deleted.
It might be better to have a clear and specific statement on this so that those responsible are identified as much to ensure the innocent mods, etc are not implicated as anything else.

If we could do that then perhaps we could declare all further arguments about it as off-limits so we can all move on?

All,

I am afraid that myself and the others were just as shocked as you guys when we logged in and found the forum in this state. We had no idea this was coming and had received no warning. We did however get messages from Bri thanking us for being Admin and apologising for what he felt he had to do, stating "personal reasons" for it.

While this is all very reminiscent of the old days when GT shut his forum down but at least Bri has left us with the framework of the forum and the Archive section so we can move on. Myself and Ade are willing to do the admin side of things and we will soon have the forum rebuilt with some of the old sections, some new sections and hopefully some nice surprises. Even better news is that Nick Hughes is staying with us and we hope Dave Turton will be able to as well.

Whatever his reasons we hope Bri is well and while there those who loved him and those who didn't, Bri did do an awful lot of work to get us running when this forum started and has put so much of himself into it since. We wish him well and hope to hear from him soon.

So thats it, thats all we can tell you I'm afraid apart from we are still here and while we have been knocked we are not out.

Let's make this place good again.

Cheers all,

Pete

Anything I can do to help lads just let me know.

all the best
Chris

p.s. just my opinion but for whatever the reason those who had issues are now gone. It doesn't help anyone to have an autopsy and rake over the bones. Just lets old gripes and grudges carry on. Doesn't matter how you got here, just what you do next.

Nicely put Chris and thanks for the offer of help.

Pete

Thank you for keeping it going guys, I hope some of the better posts can be retrieved. How ironic that one of my new years resolutions was to contribute more to this site which I've learned from and enjoyed over the years

I watch with interest.
It's been my experience that the best and most lively forums are those that are quite happy to stray off topic and even to be controversial. Indeed the very best forums have hardly any moderation at all and so members are allowed to argue and air unpopular views and their disagreements in public, if that's what they want to do. It's no coincidence that the topics with the most views and replies are those that raise a few people's hackles. As a fairly infrequent visitor I had started to find the forum a little dull. I personally found the Brian/Mick spat, the Bob Spour and Geoff Thompson threads and so on, quite refreshing after reading endless exposition about how to deliver the perfect chinjab or slap or how TMA doesn't work and MMA is hopeless for the street and how instructor (insert name) walks the walk and is the greatest ever.
If this place becomes a rather po-faced discussion of techniques then I think the forum will die or, like so many others, be populated by a dwindling group of regulars talking about the same old things they've always talked about. For me technique is something you learn in the gym, church hall or dojo, but there's only so much you can say about a punch before it all becomes a bit tedious and repetitive, and repetition doesn't make for great reading or a great forum.
I think you need to be very careful how you move things forward, and I wish you all the luck in the world in doing so.

A suggestion - have a section where instructors and students can list their clubs, where they are, the timetable, the facilities and website, if any, the cost of what they teach (PLEASE include the cost of Private lessons as well, are their any discounts for buying a few - or for fellow forum members ) and anything else that might encourage someone to pop along and give it a go.

Nemo,rest assured that moderation will be kept to a minimum.Differences of opinion,unpopular views and arguments will be welcomed.Insulting behaviour and "hair pulling",however,will not.

It's always useful to keep moderating to a minimum. however, moderators doing little to stop animosity & agression are useless. Ade has got the right balance. It is true that arguments on forums attract a lot of activity. However, where staff permit it to get personal is where forums go wrong. Morbid excitement that is, definitely nothing that has any value in us learning from one another. Unless ego, being an asshole, and showing lack of professionalism is something looked for.

In combat teaching, we must teach a positive learning experience. A forum, is an expression of a collection of teachings, by the people whom post. A successful forum will ensure a safe environment where people are very comfortable posting. If people feel that they are going to be attacked personally for airing their view, they simply wont want to be a part of a forum. Many join forums and dont post, many stay unregistered. Not many of these would want to join and get involved, if there is constant fighting. Except, people who enjoy that anyway. And of course, this helps ruin a forum.

My forum is a spiritual forum. You'd think those kind of folks would be decent. Most are, well, all are. however when folks start debating things that they hold dear, it can quickly degenerate into playground slurs. Getting personal, even with innunedos. It greatly harm reputations. We went through much turmoil also. We've no care for being politically correct, no-one can advance unless they feel free to challenge long held beliefs. However, this willingness to be upfront can cause lots of greif. We created a set of guidelines in which we explained that illegal, or personal insults were not permitted. This was in addition to the sign up ToS.

Anyone can be free to challenge opinions, however this should always be done in a mature, responsible & professional way. A forum must be a fun place to be, a happy place, where folks can make freinds, share ideas, learn, and give advice. A forum that is quite happy to let arguements be rife, and not sort out members who simply want to create shit, is a forum doomed. A balance must be sought. however, members cannot police themselves, staff exist to create rules for the sole purpose of keeping forums attractive to as wide a population as possible. In this way, the forum grows, ergo - survives. Constant bickering, will kill it. It's not hard to put ones point across whilst remaining professional, acting with integrity.

My experience anyhow, .

Warmest wishes
Wayne

Surely an easy answer to avoid this happening again is to have a "flaming" section?

When i joined here, and saw 'The Pit' section where folks who disagree can go have it out there, i thought that was a great idea! Was it ever used?

Some old posts can be found here. You could have a look and see if there's any worth keeping. It's only snap shots of the site I'm afraid, but it might be better than nothing.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://selfprotection.forumotion.com/

CPP wrote:When i joined here, and saw 'The Pit' section where folks who disagree can go have it out there, i thought that was a great idea! Was it ever used?

This is a good idea, and after my call for hands off moderation the decision to move a thread into it would lie with the moderators. Much better than locking threads or deleting them altogether, as happens on some forums.

"The Pit" was never actually opened. We will open it for "unruly threads" as Ade calls them.

Just don't bring any "experts" on with an ego the size of NYC... should be good then...

Chris wrote:
Doesn't matter how you got here, just what you do next.

I must disagree with this. If you don't learn from the past then you will make the same mistakes again.

Thanks to Ade for the brief update.

Ace Ventura wrote:

Chris wrote:
Doesn't matter how you got here, just what you do next.

I must disagree with this. If you don't learn from the past then you will make the same mistakes again.

Thanks to Ade for the brief update.

Never said don't learn from the past. I think it's pretty clear I was saying that the future was where the emphasis should be, not dredging up the past for no other reason than people want to continue with old modes of behaviour.

Does anyone actually need to know what transpired between people who are no longer part of the new forum. The answer is NO. If they want to know then go to the source otherwise what happened in the last few days cannot impact the forum as the people involved are all gone. No cause present, no effect can result.

Chris wrote:

Ace Ventura wrote:

Chris wrote:
Doesn't matter how you got here, just what you do next.

I must disagree with this. If you don't learn from the past then you will make the same mistakes again.

Thanks to Ade for the brief update.

Never said don't learn from the past. I think it's pretty clear I was saying that the future was where the emphasis should be, not dredging up the past for no other reason than people want to continue with old modes of behaviour.

Does anyone actually need to know what transpired between people who are no longer part of the new forum. The answer is NO. If they want to know then go to the source otherwise what happened in the last few days cannot impact the forum as the people involved are all gone. No cause present, no effect can result.

Fair comment but I think we are all curious and most do like some juicy gossip when it doesn't include them, hehehhe. However you are right, we don't NEED to know. Perry

I resent the implication that those seeking to know what went on when there were enormous changes/losses to the posts and board is somehow seeking to carry on old issues.

If the board is intended to be the possession of a small group of people or of an individual who allow others to post then effectively telling 'members' to mind their own business is fair enough. If the forum is meant to be just that that, a forum - i.e a meeting place for people generally with an interest in self protection - then it is a communal thing and the community have a right to know what went on so we can understand events, prevent them from happening again and move on in a better way. It was clear what led up to these events so lets finish it off and provide closure on the matter.
It is not about recrimination but understanding.

DaveCollins wrote:I resent the implication that those seeking to know what went on when there were enormous changes/losses to the posts and board is somehow seeking to carry on old issues.

If the board is intended to be the possession of a small group of people or of an individual who allow others to post then effectively telling 'members' to mind their own business is fair enough. If the forum is meant to be just that that, a forum - i.e a meeting place for people generally with an interest in self protection - then it is a communal thing and the community have a right to know what went on so we can understand events, prevent them from happening again and move on in a better way. It was clear what led up to these events so lets finish it off and provide closure on the matter.
It is not about recrimination but understanding.

Oh please. The main problem is that people forget these places are NOT a democracy. They are at best a benign dictatorship. This isn't an episode of Oprah for God's sake... closure indeed!! Why not go and ask Mick at his new forum? Or mail Brian direct? It's not like either person is hard to get hold of!!

Anything else is just delving for gossip and shit stirring. Especially as neither person has any influence on the board anymore. Common sense would dictate a clean slate free from all of that nonsense.