Aussie Pinball 10,000 posts reviewand a little bit of History..
I DID write this last week, and I've just been reminded that we in fact have 11,000 posts - But here it is anyway ;
A while ago, Creech set up small Pinball forum on the inventforums Forum hosting site. It was very thin with security and updates, but it provided pinheads with a forum that catered for all Pinheads. The site was going along fine until the Spambots found us and then we were heavily spammed with porn. It was a huge problem for us, as we had spent a fair bit of time working on the site. No matter what we did, we were continually targeted. It really spoiled the experience. However, both Creech and I enjoyed the experience of running the site, even if it was for a short period of time.
After closing down the inventforum site, and moving on, we were often asked if we would ever open the site up again, or start a new Forum. It seemed that inventforum had the content, but not the functions of a commercially hosted site. Creech looked into organizing a new site, with all the "bells and whistles" and security of a commercial Forum. After sending me links of the two forum platforms, we decided on "Simple Machines".
We discussed the costings of the site - which was surprising cheaper than we had thought, and figured that we would try it out for the first year - out of our own pockets. So that's what we did ! Effectively, the concept, direction and ownership were in our hands for the first year, and if it did not work out - we would bear the costs and the criticism. But it is the Aussie Way - Have a go !
The site started slowly, but the intent was always to have QUALITY members and content, not 6000 members with 20 active posters. The content was to be more technical, and the direction was to be decided by the members. So we figured that we were unique, and hopefully, that would be our ticket to having an informative site of like minded pinheads. Sharing information - whether it be Restorations, repairs, tips or just discussion between the seasoned pinheads and Newbies alike.
The addition of the Coconut Island project to our site was the first of many benefits to us. Hosting their forum on AP has been fantastic for both of us and we eagerly await the premier of the game in the not too distant future. Nucore also jumped on board with weekly updates on their ground breaking project, and we were honored with our website featured on the credits of their software.
The sponsorship idea was to promote industry and help our membership with product and services. Naturally, it will assist with the costs, and it will enable us to continue the site for years past the first year that Creech and I covered. Having a look at our Sponsors, we have the industry leaders behind us ; Child's Amusements, PSP, RTBB, Pinball-Fixers, Neon Planet and Fipper Rescue. We also have some very talented restorers, artists and repairers. There are surprises in the pipeline that we are working on - Like the Pinball Expo amongst other things.
Looking back to when we started, and now that we have our 10,000 post - We can safely say that we are achieving our goals of having quality members and a friendly pinball forum.
From Tony and I - We would like to thank every contributing member (lurkers - start posting!), our Development guys and our Sponsors for making our site grow from a small idea into Australia's leading Pinball forum !
"Our site is only as good as it's members and their contributions"
The Admin Team
