I was going to announce this for December. But things often change faster then I had planned. But sometimes it is just important to make the jump, as I did originally with this blog. Over the past year the traffic increase on this blog has been large. Way larger then I did expect when I did start this blog. With this type of growth there is a need for different ways to deal with all manners of issues.
No subscription for this blog and forum planned forever
It is my firm believe that science should be free for betterment of mankind everywhere. For that reason I am not going to change this blog into subscription forum. I also believe that access to science data should be free and open to all. As that encourages progress and new ideas. While that I can only do that here and nowhere else, so be it.
Because of this policy I am going to survive on nothing else then donations of good people and advertisements. But after a long consideration I find that to be a better option then a subscription plan for this place.
The forum is on different domain
I am going to have the forum on a different domain that I have already bought (it is not yet active. I am waiting for that now). The reason for this is to prevent confusion between the two. But they are going to be hosted on the same server anyway. But if the forum grows like this blog. I am going to start buying bigger hosting package, as this one is already getting too small when the traffic is at its highest. But with that comes increased hosting cost. This forum is going to support live chat for up to 50 users at the same time. I am going to be using Invasion Power board for this task.
I am going add the domain name here once it becomes active and when I finish setting the forum up properly. It is going to take 1 to 2 days until it is all up and ready.
name-of-the-forum-domain-is-going-to-be-placed-here.eu (it is a .eu domain)
Cost of the forum + domain
The cost of the domain was $15.99 for one year and 179.99$ for the forum for 6 month licence (upgrades). A renewed licence costs $25 every 6 months (I might take it, since updates are important for security of the forum).
Why forum ?
The reason for the forum is simple. There is a need for it. As this blog grows there are dull times that people like to chat about other things then just volcanoes and earthquakes. This blog has limited space for that due to its nature (its a blog). A forum is a way better for that type of chat. This also gives people chance to share pictures, charts and other things more easy then on this blog. The forum is however fully integrated part of this blog, even if it is on a different domain.
It is going to take some to fully set-up and work on. But one thing is clear is that a forum needs a different strategy then a blog. So I am going have to add some moderators to it with time along with Administrators as the time goes on. But it is going to take time and work as everything else.
Thank you all for the patience in this matter. I also want to thank everyone for the support and understanding in all this.
Update 1: Even if I open up forum. This blog is not going anywhere. If you think that, you are wrong. This blog is not going to be part of the forum. But it is going to be part of the same whole thing. But the blog and forum are going to be separated in therms of what is going to be discussed.
I find that some people are to are to quick to judge this. Since the forum has not even opened up yet. But I know from other large web sites that this works and it seems to work well for them.
Blog post updated at 19:46 UTC on 13 November, 2011