Greetings, Fellow Glibs.

I hope that this New Year brings us all some much-needed deliverance from the jackbooted thugs pretending to be our “leaders.” Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst is my time-tested motto.

However, as Banjos pointed out this morning, OMWC and I have had a better year than many. Our kids are alive and well, neither of us lost our one remaining parent this year, the Wonder Dog is managing to stay with us even though slowing down in her old age, we have a home, employment, interesting and varied pursuits, great food and drink, and friends near and far. (I’m including most of you in that.)

The community here at Glibs has been a continuing surprise. We will have our fourth anniversary in February. Thanks to everyone who adds to the community whether by donating to the server fund, writing articles, commenting, running video happy hours (thanks Neph and Tulip!), or hanging with other Glibs on Discord.

As you know, we’ve had an ongoing evolution responding to our enduring popularity. We’ve tried to maintain a balance between voluntary sponsorship (without resorting to ads) and meeting server capacity needs. While TPTB initially fronted the money for this enterprise, you all have so far succeeded in keeping the lights on by your much-appreciated monetary gifts.

To help maintain the best performance at a reasonable cost, without requiring me to take on this project as a full-time volunteer endeavor, I’ve moved the previous year’s posts and comments to yearly archives, as mentioned before and linked from the front page. 2020’s posts and comments will shortly be archived, as well. These archive sites are not increasing our costs.

In the midst of all the server shuffling about, we had a very short-lived experiment in adding a discussion forum. Suffice it to say, some people love the forum format, and others are content to never darken a forum login page.

For those who like a forum as a way to connect with other community members, have longer-form conversations, and build relationships, you’ll be pleased to receive my New Year’s gift to Glibs:

The Forum Returns!

Now located on a separate server, I have ported your Glib login details over, to make signing in as simple as possible. If you’ve changed your password or are new here in the last week or so, you may need to re-set it. Your Glib registered email address will allow you to do so.

The forum has additional possibilities for your profile, but please be aware that while the forum requires Glib membership, anything you add to the profile will be visible to the other forum members. You also need to remember that any posts you make are visible to the rest of the community. Additionally, you can “mention” someone by looking up their @ in the Member Directory.

And, yes, you have an edit button! This is a feature that I can turn off and on at my whim, so behave and don’t make me use that power as a digital rusty tin can lid. 😉

I’ve set up some preliminary forum categories under which you can Add Topics. If there is something you feel needs a separate category, feel free to leave me a message in the appropriate category near the top of the Forum index and I’ll take it under advisement.

There is an additional cost for this new server, but what that will ultimately turn out to be will depend on usage. As time and money allow, I’d like to add private messaging next. Donations are always appreciated, of course.

I hope you enjoy your gift! (Because you can’t return it.)

 

Consider this your New Year’s Eve Open Post!

Happy New Year!