ANNOUNCEMENT: New Forum Software Coming to blowgunforum.com

Dear Community Members,

Over the past year or two, there have been updates to the environment that have introduced challenges in usability and performance. Efforts to improve the technology, user interface, and site performance has revealed weaknesses in the platform and outdated software this site uses. This has made it increasingly difficult and frustrating to support and upgrade to more modern reliable standards that users deserve. Our advertising experience and certain ad partners have further degraded the functionality of the site. This is not the experience we want for the members of this community.

Members want a fast site that performs well across all devices, to be able to find relevant and interesting content, and easily share through text, images, video and messaging on a secure platform. Our goal is to provide this ultimate user experience to all members.

We will be implementing a new platform to better meet the needs of this community and allow us to provide support more efficiently. Our focus is to create a sustainable platform that performs well, and loads faster on all devices, while offering seamless ways to search and connect. Technology is constantly innovating - by creating an environment that we control we can maintain the site with more frequent improvements and maintenance updates.

Although change can be difficult, we are here to support you through the process. We make every effort to review existing settings and make the changes needed so the migration goes smoothly. If you notice something doesn't seem correct once the site goes live, don't panic! We'll have a dedicated person monitoring as the site goes live to answer any questions and provide support through this change.

What's next?

I bet you're thinking, "What does this mean for me and the community?" It does mean change, but it will help solve a large majority of the issues that this site may have been experiencing. We have reviewed reported issues, site statistics, traffic data, and user feedback to help us prioritize the changes and improvements. Uploading an image or video will be easier and streamlined. Ad formatting will change with a new site layout. The site will be more responsive - there is no need to use a mobile skin or special app! Security and user privacy will continue to be a top priority.

When will this be happening? Soon! We recognize the user experience is slow and there are bugs from the outdated software. The sooner we can change that the better we can make the experience for you. You'll start to see activity related to cleanup in preparation for migration very shortly. We will post an announcement to the community prior to starting the actual data migration. Once the migration begins, the site will go into maintenance mode and will be read-only while data is being migrated.

We appreciate each member's contribution to this community and look forward to an improved experience for you all.

- Community Support