The following is text paraphrased from an
active web support forum for Yuku (affiliated with EZ boards), our new home that we will move into by the end of the week. You know the old adage, 'if it
ain't broke, don't fix it' well, it is a little broken, but here is some more global insight from four expert, power board administrators that you
may, by the end of your read say, 'ah ha, now I kinda get why he wants to move!':
1.I know that there are many communities on ezboard (home of the UMGF) that are encouraging their members to take a peek at their YUKU test boards and to post and get familiar with the new system. I also see posts on many ezboard communities for YUKU discussions and the anticipation of when the boards will be imported. The big thing to remember: If people have their communities imported, they will still be able to post on their own original ezboards for a while. Their original ezboard's won't disappear overnight. I think that is quite fair.
Yes, there are communities that went to Invision, Vbulletin, etc. But, the comaraderie and the networking didn't follow many of these boards. They are in essence islands in cyberspace. Many people don't want to google for community boards to match their interests. They love the sense of community and the ability to find communities easily that the networking on YUKU and ezboard provides. None of the other hosted communities have near the ease of finding communities with like interests that these two sister networks provide. The only other one was the old BBoards, but they have since changed and don't offer the ease of networking any longer.
Part of the problem as I see it, is there have always been a vocal group of whiners and complainers. First, they whined about ezboard, now they are whining about YUKU. One might get the impression that the majority of those who are ranting about the two systems (or one or the other, take your pick) are the majority when in fact, a cruise through the active communities on ezboard shows the opposite. Sure, there are members of many if not most communities that are uneasy about the shift over to YUKU. I wouldn't call that opposition but I would call it what it is: Human Nature. People get comfortable and are opposed to change. Once they get into the system, with guidance from their administrators, etc., they start to get comfortable with it. That's been my experience both as a board owner and as a member of many other communities.
say that if a community doesn't wish to make the switch, I can respect that. Not everyone is going to like YUKU, that's a given. But, they should realize that sooner or later, they will need to make a decision about where their message board communities will be hosted or they will need to place a stand-alone bulletin board system in place.
2.I am willing to bet that the majority of ezboard communities who will switch over are really going to be impressed. And while there's nothing wrong with young people or adults, I am willing to bet that the membership base isn't' going to be mainly teenagers or college students, either. Yes, there are glitches, but once the majority of the bugs are worked out and everything is settled in place, it's going to be so much better. This system will be like driving a 2007 sports car compared with a 1958 Chevy which is what ezboard has become.
3.Personally I am quite familiar with phpbb, invisionfree and vbullitin. I even had an invisionfree board at one point in time. I'd be a hypocrit if I said that I like every single aspect of yuku because I don't, but when I look at the product as a whole and compare it to its competitors, I do believe that it surpasses them by far.
4.ezboard, and now yuku has always been about communites, and joining those communities up with each other.
There are other hosted systems, but they don't offer as good a global community feel.
Places like myspace seem more focussed on each person as an individual.
We want to keep the community aspect of ezboard going, and then add to it. You know the old ezRings - a list of other ezboards that you like? We'll I've got an idea that I am forming that takes an ezRing, and makes it into something far more powerful.
1.I know that there are many communities on ezboard (home of the UMGF) that are encouraging their members to take a peek at their YUKU test boards and to post and get familiar with the new system. I also see posts on many ezboard communities for YUKU discussions and the anticipation of when the boards will be imported. The big thing to remember: If people have their communities imported, they will still be able to post on their own original ezboards for a while. Their original ezboard's won't disappear overnight. I think that is quite fair.
Yes, there are communities that went to Invision, Vbulletin, etc. But, the comaraderie and the networking didn't follow many of these boards. They are in essence islands in cyberspace. Many people don't want to google for community boards to match their interests. They love the sense of community and the ability to find communities easily that the networking on YUKU and ezboard provides. None of the other hosted communities have near the ease of finding communities with like interests that these two sister networks provide. The only other one was the old BBoards, but they have since changed and don't offer the ease of networking any longer.
Part of the problem as I see it, is there have always been a vocal group of whiners and complainers. First, they whined about ezboard, now they are whining about YUKU. One might get the impression that the majority of those who are ranting about the two systems (or one or the other, take your pick) are the majority when in fact, a cruise through the active communities on ezboard shows the opposite. Sure, there are members of many if not most communities that are uneasy about the shift over to YUKU. I wouldn't call that opposition but I would call it what it is: Human Nature. People get comfortable and are opposed to change. Once they get into the system, with guidance from their administrators, etc., they start to get comfortable with it. That's been my experience both as a board owner and as a member of many other communities.
say that if a community doesn't wish to make the switch, I can respect that. Not everyone is going to like YUKU, that's a given. But, they should realize that sooner or later, they will need to make a decision about where their message board communities will be hosted or they will need to place a stand-alone bulletin board system in place.
2.I am willing to bet that the majority of ezboard communities who will switch over are really going to be impressed. And while there's nothing wrong with young people or adults, I am willing to bet that the membership base isn't' going to be mainly teenagers or college students, either. Yes, there are glitches, but once the majority of the bugs are worked out and everything is settled in place, it's going to be so much better. This system will be like driving a 2007 sports car compared with a 1958 Chevy which is what ezboard has become.
3.Personally I am quite familiar with phpbb, invisionfree and vbullitin. I even had an invisionfree board at one point in time. I'd be a hypocrit if I said that I like every single aspect of yuku because I don't, but when I look at the product as a whole and compare it to its competitors, I do believe that it surpasses them by far.
4.ezboard, and now yuku has always been about communites, and joining those communities up with each other.
There are other hosted systems, but they don't offer as good a global community feel.
Places like myspace seem more focussed on each person as an individual.
We want to keep the community aspect of ezboard going, and then add to it. You know the old ezRings - a list of other ezboards that you like? We'll I've got an idea that I am forming that takes an ezRing, and makes it into something far more powerful.
