Welcome to ses-forums.org!
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:38 pm
Welcome to the new home of the SES discussion forums - previously at whyaretheydead.net (WATD).
I'm new to this site and don't know where to start reading. What do you recommend?
The best place to start is where the forum began: 'Experiences at St Vedast (now St. James) and the S.E.S'
Why has the board moved?
Mike Gormez, owner of the old site, has retired from campaigning against cults so the SES discussion forums needed a new home. Mike has supported this move by providing a database backup that enables the forum to be moved with all existing posts intact.
What has changed?
New members are now welcome! New registrations were disabled on WATD in early 2007 due to massive numbers of spammer registrations (dozens a day) clogging up the database. The new version of the software makes spammer registration more difficult so new registrations have been enabled again. Around 5,000 spammer accounts made on the old site have been terminated. The criteria used to delete spammer accounts should not have resulted in any genuine registrations being deleted, but in the unlikely event you find your account has accidentally been purged, apologies - you can re-register.
New software: The board has been upgraded to the latest version of the phpBB software (version 3). This has better functionality, and behind-the-scenes administration should not be as time-consuming. It also has a new, cleaner style. We hope you like it!
Scientology content: The anti-Scientology content of the old forums has not moved to this site. ses-forums.org is exclusively about the School of Economic Science (SES) and its satellite schools for adults and children around the world, though we welcome discussion of any cults or cult-like behaviour where it has relevance to the SES.
Reference Material: The reference material section previously on the old site has been merged into the General Discussion on SES forum. I am in the process of setting up a separate section on this website where users will be able to place reference material. [UPDATE: now available at http://reference.ses-forums.org]
Emoticons: Emoticons haven't yet been installed - they are not part of the standard software used for these forums but I will see if I can install them.
Avatars: Any avatars on the old site have not been moved across as these are held separately from the database. If you had an avatar on WATD feel free to move it over yourself.
Improved search: the search function has been improved. If you are looking for something among the thousands of existing posts you should find it more easily.
Please report anything else you may have noticed that has changed unexpectedly.
What hasn't changed?
Existing posts: All the 400+ threads and 8,000+ posts in the old 'General Discussion of SES' forum made prior to 29 September 2008 should have been moved across unchanged.
Private Messages: All Private Messages made before 29 September 2008 should also have been moved.
Moderation policy: Moderation policy remains unchanged. The board is unashamedly anti-SES but we welcome contributions from users sympathetic to the SES who are willing to argue their case and accept the brickbats that will obviously follow. Note: former moderator Goblinboy has decided to retire from moderating but we will hopefully continue to see him post from time to time. Thanks GB for your great work when the old board was active. I am hoping to recruit a new moderator soon.
Links to the old whyaretheydead.net site: The site contains numerous links to posts on the old WATD site. I may at some future date convert these links to point to the equivalent post on this site, but for now they remain unchanged.
Any comments on and suggestions for the new site are welcome. This is your site - please let me know how you want to use it.
If you are aware of any sites that link to the old WATD forums, please do what you can to redirect them to http://www.ses-forums.org.
Please spread the word that the discussion forums are back in business!
Regards
Daffy
Administrator, ses-forums.org
I'm new to this site and don't know where to start reading. What do you recommend?
The best place to start is where the forum began: 'Experiences at St Vedast (now St. James) and the S.E.S'
Why has the board moved?
Mike Gormez, owner of the old site, has retired from campaigning against cults so the SES discussion forums needed a new home. Mike has supported this move by providing a database backup that enables the forum to be moved with all existing posts intact.
What has changed?
New members are now welcome! New registrations were disabled on WATD in early 2007 due to massive numbers of spammer registrations (dozens a day) clogging up the database. The new version of the software makes spammer registration more difficult so new registrations have been enabled again. Around 5,000 spammer accounts made on the old site have been terminated. The criteria used to delete spammer accounts should not have resulted in any genuine registrations being deleted, but in the unlikely event you find your account has accidentally been purged, apologies - you can re-register.
New software: The board has been upgraded to the latest version of the phpBB software (version 3). This has better functionality, and behind-the-scenes administration should not be as time-consuming. It also has a new, cleaner style. We hope you like it!
Scientology content: The anti-Scientology content of the old forums has not moved to this site. ses-forums.org is exclusively about the School of Economic Science (SES) and its satellite schools for adults and children around the world, though we welcome discussion of any cults or cult-like behaviour where it has relevance to the SES.
Reference Material: The reference material section previously on the old site has been merged into the General Discussion on SES forum. I am in the process of setting up a separate section on this website where users will be able to place reference material. [UPDATE: now available at http://reference.ses-forums.org]
Emoticons: Emoticons haven't yet been installed - they are not part of the standard software used for these forums but I will see if I can install them.
Avatars: Any avatars on the old site have not been moved across as these are held separately from the database. If you had an avatar on WATD feel free to move it over yourself.
Improved search: the search function has been improved. If you are looking for something among the thousands of existing posts you should find it more easily.
Please report anything else you may have noticed that has changed unexpectedly.
What hasn't changed?
Existing posts: All the 400+ threads and 8,000+ posts in the old 'General Discussion of SES' forum made prior to 29 September 2008 should have been moved across unchanged.
Private Messages: All Private Messages made before 29 September 2008 should also have been moved.
Moderation policy: Moderation policy remains unchanged. The board is unashamedly anti-SES but we welcome contributions from users sympathetic to the SES who are willing to argue their case and accept the brickbats that will obviously follow. Note: former moderator Goblinboy has decided to retire from moderating but we will hopefully continue to see him post from time to time. Thanks GB for your great work when the old board was active. I am hoping to recruit a new moderator soon.
Links to the old whyaretheydead.net site: The site contains numerous links to posts on the old WATD site. I may at some future date convert these links to point to the equivalent post on this site, but for now they remain unchanged.
Any comments on and suggestions for the new site are welcome. This is your site - please let me know how you want to use it.
If you are aware of any sites that link to the old WATD forums, please do what you can to redirect them to http://www.ses-forums.org.
Please spread the word that the discussion forums are back in business!
Regards
Daffy
Administrator, ses-forums.org