So, what happened and why are we here?

[BWG]

I've been away for a while and come back to many changes. What sparked the need to leave and do this?

[ENTERPRISE]

Hey bud,

 

Welcome to EHW. So there was no "Leaving" so to speak as still present "elsewhere". ExtremeHW was born out of frustration of not having the creative control to fully direct a community/tech site in the way I wanted and not being in agreement with money over community. Having been in the community business for a good long while, I figured it was time to start my own venture.

 

Lots still to come so far as platform features etc. Really looking forward to it and bringing back some of the good old days.

 

 

[speed_demon]

Lots of us long time members from the other board hopped on here as well. And we are quite happy with E's creative vision/work so far. I'm betting that in a few years there will be no better tech forum on the web than this one.

[UltraMega]

That other place has no news sections. Seems like it's flying blind over there, just a left over URL thats controlled by a larger company now. Seems like there is less and less intelligent thought over there too. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by UltraMega

[reflex99]

thank you for this thread i was confused too.

[BWG]

I think we're in good hands. So, this move takes out the monetarily motivated owners and puts it back into the enthusiasts control. That's where it once was. That's where it needs to be. Thanks for taking it on your shoulders. 

 

Are the prize payouts instant now? 

[ENTERPRISE]

4 hours ago, BWG said:

I think we're in good hands. So, this move takes out the monetarily motivated owners and puts it back into the enthusiasts control. That's where it once was. That's where it needs to be. Thanks for taking it on your shoulders. 

 

Are the prize payouts instant now? 

 

Exactly, it is about the community and that is where the main focus should always be. This is a place born out of passion, just like how certain other places were originally. However you will never be able to retain all of that if the all seeing eye is corporate. Private ownership with a passion for the subject matter and community is where it is at.

 

It has been a bumpy road at the start for EHW with some technical hiccups but we are in a great place now and looking forward to bringing the new features online which are being worked on as we speak.

 

Haha, well "Instant" sure would be nice BUT we get things processed a little more quickly here lol.

[BWG]

My prize will be paid instantly after the folding contest. 

[axipher]

Yeah, this place has been a welcome breath of fresh of air.  Hope to see more of you in the coming months and years again, was always happy to work with you on stuff.

[BWG]

I plan to. I really believe what you're finally getting away from is one of the reasons I haven't been very active there. I know my multiple retirements were frustrating too, but I'm in a much better place today. I kinda spelled that all out in the folding section over there this morning.

 

So, what's the current staff hierarchy here? Just looking for those familiar names.

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, BWG said:

I plan to. I really believe what you're finally getting away from is one of the reasons I haven't been very active there. I know my multiple retirements were frustrating too, but I'm in a much better place today. I kinda spelled that all out in the folding section over there this morning.

 

So, what's the current staff hierarchy here? Just looking for those familiar names.

 

So far as any hierarchy 

 

Owner = Me 

EHW Content Creators (This includes our Podcast crew/Folding guys & Product reviewers) = @mllrkllr88 @Sgt_Swanny @Steven @Jedson3614 @Christopher H @GtiJason @Dr. Unicorn @axipher @Alex @Simmons @Andrew

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

So far as any hierarchy 

 

Owner = Me 

EHW Content Creators (This includes our Podcast crew/Folding guys & Product reviewers) = @mllrkllr88 @Sgt_Swanny @Steven @Jedson3614 @Christopher H @GtiJason @Dr. Unicorn @axipher @Alex @Simmons @Andrew

A little off topic but I'm curious if there is any plan to grow the sites user base other than word of mouth? The layout here is so perfect, a little more traffic should send this site over the moon. 

[ENTERPRISE]

10 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

A little off topic but I'm curious if there is any plan to grow the sites user base other than word of mouth? The layout here is so perfect, a little more traffic should send this site over the moon. 

There are plans for a marketing campaign in the future I'm waiting on a couple of bits to complete prior to moving forward with this.

[axipher]

10 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

A little off topic but I'm curious if there is any plan to grow the sites user base other than word of mouth? The layout here is so perfect, a little more traffic should send this site over the moon. 

 

Even with the Phased approach and still missing features on ENTERPISES's with-list, I do agree.  This site is already far and above what other sites have to offer in terms of layout and atmosphere.  It's a delicate balance of growing slowly enough until all the features are complete, but growing fast enough to stay interesting and increase the reach.

 

Right now I think it's mostly been social media or people coming from across the board, but some new faces I don't recognize have found this place as well.

[ENTERPRISE]

1 minute ago, axipher said:

 

Even with the Phased approach and still missing features on ENTERPISES's with-list, I do agree.  This site is already far and above what other sites have to offer in terms of layout and atmosphere.  It's a delicate balance of growing slowly enough until all the features are complete, but growing fast enough to stay interesting and increase the reach.

 

Right now I think it's mostly been social media or people coming from across the board, but some new faces I don't recognize have found this place as well.

Right now my priority is finishing the backdated features for the site as well as growing our portfolio with manufacturers with respect to product reviews, sponsorships etc.

 

Much of the Sign ups here are from across the other board and through word of mouth and content exposure (our reviews).

 

Right now I have not gone mental on marketing and promotions as I personally am not happy with the missing features. My aim is to promote when the site has reached a certain "maturity" level.

 

Essentially, when I go full promo mode, I want signups captured by that promo to be like "WOAH, true next gen forum experience with awesome features". Right now it is not there, but once I have a few items completed (already underway), we will be ready. Even after that, there are far more things I have planned lol.

[UltraMega]

8 minutes ago, ENTERPRISE said:

Right now my priority is finishing the backdated features for the site as well as growing our portfolio with manufacturers with respect to product reviews, sponsorships etc.

 

Much of the Sign ups here are from across the other board and through word of mouth and content exposure (our reviews).

 

Right now I have not gone mental on marketing and promotions as I personally am not happy with the missing features. My aim is to promote when the site has reached a certain "maturity" level.

 

Essentially, when I go full promo mode, I want signups captured by that promo to be like "WOAH, true next gen forum experience with awesome features". Right now it is not there, but once I have a few items completed (already underway), we will be ready. Even after that, there are far more things I have planned lol.

In your view what features are missing? 

Edited February 5, 2021 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

48 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

In your view what features are missing? 

 

Rig Creator

Web Content Embed Wizard 

Premium Settings Section

Dark Theme

Custom User Status

Social Icons 

 

These are the features that are up and coming. For me however the ones I would like to get on as a minimum would be: 

 

Rig Creator

Web Content Embed Wizard 

Dark Theme 

The rest are on their way but not as critical. After that there are other features in the pipeline, again not critical but things like the Folding@Home stats section.

[UltraMega]

1 hour ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

Rig Creator

Web Content Embed Wizard 

Premium Settings Section

Dark Theme

Custom User Status

Social Icons 

 

These are the features that are up and coming. For me however the ones I would like to get on as a minimum would be: 

 

Rig Creator

Web Content Embed Wizard 

Dark Theme 

The rest are on their way but not as critical. After that there are other features in the pipeline, again not critical but things like the Folding@Home stats section.

 

Word, so not too long of a list. IMO the only thing that sounds semi crucial is the web content embed wizard. If you ask me this site is already ahead of the competition in terms of layout and functionality and if you were to start marketing before that list was knocked out, I doubt it would make any difference. I can't imagine hardly anyone who would come across this site would leave because any of those things are still pending. The important stuff is already here. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by UltraMega

[Andrew]

4 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

 

So far as any hierarchy 

 

Owner = Me 

EHW Content Creators (This includes our Podcast crew/Folding guys & Product reviewers) = @mllrkllr88 @Sgt_Swanny @Steven @Jedson3614 @Christopher H @GtiJason @Dr. Unicorn @axipher @Alex @Simmons @Andrew

No moderators on this list

 

BREAK ALL THE RULES!*

 

*Don't actually break the rules.

[The Pook]

9 minutes ago, Andrew said:

BREAK ALL THE RULES!*

 

*Don't actually break the rules.

 

but it's Friday

 

plz

[Minotaurtoo]

I know I love this site compared to how the other one went... they refused to listen to anyone and just made it like 100's of their other forums.  Coming here for me was out of frustration as well... The only feature I really miss... dark theme lol.. but as you already have seen @ENTERPRISE is already on it.

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

 

Word, so not too long of a list. IMO the only thing that sounds semi crucial is the web content embed wizard. If you ask me this site is already ahead of the competition in terms of layout and functionality and if you were to start marketing before that list was knocked out, I doubt it would make any difference. I can't imagine hardly anyone who would come across this site would leave because any of those things are still pending. The important stuff is already here. 

Arguably from a base forum standpoint, you would be right. However my goal is to differentiate the forum experience from others with key features, granted some of them are not unique only to this site but they are important. While we have tweaked this platform a little and put into place some features that are not a stock feature of the base software, the  REAL enhancements are to come that will complete the experience so far as to what I expect from a tech enthusiast forum and not just "some forum" lol.

 

I guess I am a stickler with my vision haha.

1 hour ago, Andrew said:

No moderators on this list

 

BREAK ALL THE RULES!*

 

*Don't actually break the rules.

I am for the moment also the moderator haha.

1 hour ago, Minotaurtoo said:

I know I love this site compared to how the other one went... they refused to listen to anyone and just made it like 100's of their other forums.  Coming here for me was out of frustration as well... The only feature I really miss... dark theme lol.. but as you already have seen @ENTERPRISE is already on it.

 It is indeed on the way, it is something I will be pressing on after the next Dev release which I'm hoping is this weekend ! Assuming there are no obstacles.

[axipher]

Hey @ENTERPRISE, don't forget about the future Marketplace...  I can't find the link to that donation page.

[ENTERPRISE]

5 minutes ago, axipher said:

Hey @ENTERPRISE, don't forget about the future Marketplace...  I can't find the link to that donation page.

 

It's in the Store > Donations

 

https://forums.extremehw.net/clients/donations/

 

[BWG]

Yeah, without a dark theme, I just can't stay here.

 

Goodbye...