Alex waited until Wrong Planet was dead to fix it.

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Thank you Alex. I appreciate your website.

Oh? Only a kid? Then I take back what I said.

Yep, Alex. I thank you, too.

Just remember: nobody thought, in 32 AD, that some guy named Jesus would become so exalted.

Or that the Terminator turned good

& what about that Batman guy?

Ah so you operate out of ignorance. Well that explains a lot.

Considering how you boast about having big bucks and seem to worship Alex Plank as a demigod, then he should be expecting a nice fat offering from you.

This thread is becoming a sniping contest. Get it back on track please, on topic and civil. Continued derailment after this will be addressed.

Go ahead and lock it please.

Hopefully, I'll get this post in under the wire.

EzraS, I think you're a great kid and a shining example of the growth people can have even despite considerable disabilities. Sometimes you get too negative though, and sort of in a pissing match mentality. It's something for you to think about as time goes by - does this actually get you anywhere?

Fnord, I value your participation at WP and I agree with you that there is a lot here that is right. However - sometimes you come across more snide than you really need to. Does this actually get you anywhere?

Alex, thank you for providing this incredible resource to the autistic community. I don't know if you get thanked very often, but it really is a wonderful site. I have some inkling of how complex and costly it can be to run a website. You have my appreciation.

I've been on numerous forums that had more features and considerably fewer problems than Wrong Planet. A few of which were run by teenagers.

So needless to say that gets me thinking things like, why out of all these forums is WP the one that operates so poorly?

I could take into consideration that running a forum is a monumental task that costs huge amounts of money.

But then I think of all those other forums that are run by pretty ordinary people, even kids. I know the admin of each and none of them are Hercules or Bill Gates.

So perhaps I was under a naive notion that since all these others could do it, asking Alex for the same was not an unreasonable request. Or over demanding. Or ungrateful. Or some kind of sacrilege.

One thing you might be overlooking, Ezra, is that a lot of people here are very vulnerable. There is an ethical need for principled moderation, in view of that. So there is not only the technical aspect of running this site but also the social aspect.

A spinoff site from this one, started by a former member here, had big problems with insane moderators, two in particular with decent tech skills and a desire to be important but very poor people skills. So this is not an inconsiderable challenge with a population like this.

I don't know about these other, teenager-run forums you refer to, but possibly they are not an apt comparison.

Alex seems to have a lot of irons in the fire, and I mean that as neither a criticism nor a compliment, but just to point out that to run something like this takes a certain amount of mental focus and Alex has had plenty of other things going on. I know I could not do all that he does. You probably couldn't, either.

The social structure and staff infrastructure of WP has always been great. That's why it has done so well all these years. It has already gone through a lot of hands since I have been here. A lot of moderators have come and gone since I registered. So I don't get this attitude that if anyone new came on board staff it would put WP in jeopardy.

All other forums I've been on are all basically the same BBS (bulletin board system) format. And all of the forums I've been on have been support forums. My total post count on all of them combined is at least 85,000 posts, so I've been around. I can compare one to another reasonably.

I understand Alex's situation. He started this thing a long time ago. But if he's going to keep a forum going, why not have one that doesn't have so many problems? Not problems with how it's structured socially. Or even problems with the overall BBS format. Just problems with things like a bad server combined with Cloudflair and such. And with no one but him being able to fix or even tweak anything whatsoever.

And not putting off making a few changes, that will finally end up having to be made anyways, for months or even years, before finally doing something.

I said what I had to say and Alex responded as I hoped he would. What I did, I did in your best interest, and Fnord's and Claradroon's and everyone else here. I was trying to get some actions put in place for everyone's benefit.

Not to be an a**hole. Or to attack Alex. Or get into pissing contests. But simply an effort to make WP a better safer operating forum for all of us.

Well said.

I seldom post on WP any more(most of you probably forgot me, I was quite active here from '13-'15 when I was first learning about myself at age 13), but I have read this thread with a keen interest and share opinions with both sides. This site certainly has freedom, the simple fact that EzraS was able to make this thread w/o being given the boot speaks quite well to that. The site culture is as fine as it ever was, I still see "anchor members" like many here in this thread; EzraS, Fnord, BeaArthur, KraftieKortie, RedRobin62, ASPartOfMe, and B19 who is now a moderator, too. I feel reassured that they will keep this place a welcoming place for autistic people and NTs who want to learn from primary sources, namely us. Moderation seems, despite a rough few years to be nearly as good as the TallyMan & Cornflake days.

The site itself has been a matter of contention for nearly 6 years, now. I found this thread after scrolling this sub-forum when I couldn't figure out why it didn't want to let me update my e-mail address. It doesn't seem too crash happy and down, as of late, though. I commend that improvement; thank you Mr. Plank.

-Richardj / richard3700hz

What I find on forum sites, up until now, is that nowhere has site culture, as you would have to trespass through all the prudent boundaries to acquire 'Freedom'. There is no such thing it seems when you are on an uninhibited forum, even though I have seen the site owner flare up a few times, its clearly because he cares and gets offended by anything if he does something wrong. We're all human. If someone can face up to the truth, that nowhere is sacred until proven decent, then they'll be admired a lot more, than waiting on only a few opinions of the hidden or self righteous.
If people want their new found freedom attached with a particular namesake, they have to unselflessly acquire it and that is by no means a feat in itself.

So I see things are just as bad as ever, based on the numerous server errors I've gotten in just a 24 hr period. Plus operating incredibly slowly even when posts manage to get through. Oh well.