Good morning fellow Atarians I did mean to post this earlier but am still in bed with the flu and just taking things very slowly as have little energy at the moment. Last week I received the below reply from Tim, the master of this domain in response to an email I had sent him about new registrations, private threads and how we can extra support the site. I realise we are a very small part of the internet here but we have a great atmosphere and Atari Owner came to the rescue when the previous site ceased. Yes, it has been a bit neglected by us of late, what with life and health etc, but it is still our place, our corner of the world wide web that we can come to and post about some of the things we love and speak to friends. It would be such a shame to lose that or take it too much for granted. So please, read the reply in bold below from Tim and add your comments on it. And Tim, what a signature that is. Atarian Always. Says everything about the ethos of this community. Thanks for reading MAGA (Make Atari Great Again) - was thinking of getting hats done up I haven't received a registration request in a long time; I would see it, as I get immediately notified by email. But yes, the forum is public-facing, but if there is a consensus among you all to set it to private, I'm here for you to support you all and can do as needed. RE: the day to day moderation— absolutely! Again, I'm hosting the site for all of you. I remember the bad taste left in our mouths from the board whats-his-name ran and then shut down on us. Not me, even if I don't have time right now, I'm keeping it available for everyone that DOES participate there. If there is some sort of consensus on who should be given moderator access, let me know. Maybe as a group email? I wouldn't want any hard feelings to ruin a good thing. You all have put in too many years for that to happen!!! —Tim, an Atarian always. From: A Sent: Monday, September 21, 2026 5:32 PM Subject: ATARI OWNERS WEBSITE Hello Timothy Thanks for continuing to keep the website up and running for us old Atarians We have had some questions asking if people can still register to join? Also a couple of concerns that the forum posts are visible to anyone who looks at the site, not just members. A few of us are hesitant about posting too much info on such an open forum. Would it be possible to block people from seeing posts unless they join? I know you don't have a lot of time at the moment, but if you need any help day to day in moderating or accepting new members, please give me a shout. Happy to help in any way I can.
Its a good idea to have a floating admin, not for me tho, I'm up to my neck in Dementia and my own nonsense..
Likewise, be happy to help out alongside Richie. Us core users are pretty self moderating anyway lol.
Thank you, everyone! Absolutely, I have no qualms about the site/forum being managed by those who have invested the years that you have. You probably remember how things went sour on the previous Atari forum that was offered that let me meet all of you (well, except Paul, whom I first met on the big Atari forum), and then had the forum vanished on us because I-can't-recall-his-name-at-the-moment had just decided to do so, losing all of that wonderful information that had been shared during its duration. Even though I haven't personally participated here, it's been of the utmost importance to keep the place going, keeping the domain renewed annually, keeping the server up and going. The software platform itself could probably use some security updates, but the cost of renewing that every year wasn't in the budget for me, sorry. And moving to the newer Xenforo platform would require a substantial rebuild to try to keep our unique look, as well, so that wasn't really an option. All that remained was for the forum to continue to be used and enjoyed, which it has been. That's payment, in my book. In any case, I can certain give out access that would allow for moderator-level access. Registrations do require administrator-level access, so I would need to have full confidence that granting that level of access would not later come back to bite anyone in the rear quarters, because they really will have access to pretty much everything that controls the forum. I don't think a moderator-level user can approve registrations, but I can still double-check to be sure. Regardless, if there is anyone the forum would like to have serve in Admin role, what I would do is create a secondary Admin account for that person to log into as needed. Or, people to log into, if the responsibility is to be shared. That way the admin role is kept separate from your active account. As for setting the forum private: again, very doable, if that is the preference of you. I need only to be asked once it has been agreed. Whomever has admin-level clearance can always set it to public at a later time, too. Keep me posted. —Timothy, a fellow Atarian (who still has his 6 or 7 1200XLs, a bunch of fully working Atari 8-bit equipment, and probably the biggest Atari library of books and references in physical form as anyone out there, lol!)
Timothy, you are a legend for keeping this forum online. We are small but mighty! We'll see what other replies and votes we get then take things forward. As long as we have your blessing
Thinking about this the past couple days, it does make the most sense to simply set up a secondary Admin account that any of you can log into to handle something. I'd of course, set the permissions so that the site isn't accidentally broken in the process. Just a private admin account for housekeeping, or even approving registrations that happen. Again, let me know One more thing that might be worth considering: I don't know if this older version of Xenforo is cellphone or tablet friendly— if any of you access it that way anyhow. But if you do, the newer release of Xenforo might actually be worth considering— but also require planning. As I mentioned before, the current classic Atari look is largely made possible using a template friendly to this older Xenforo version. The newer Xenforo does things VERY differently, so an update would render the template dead in the water. It doesn't mean that the newer Xenforo version should be dismissed, though. It offers far more modern options, and is cellphone and tablet friendly, as well. What would be required is that it also be fully customized to let the newer software to let the site look like it already does now. I just did this with another Xenforo site and the process takes around 15-20 hours, start to finish. Not a dealbreaker by any stretch of the imagination, that's for sure. But is such a modernization of the site worth the time investment? Or, is it doing just what you all need it to do? THAT is a question only you can answer. And if we did move to the newer software, nothing is lost as far as content. I would strongly suggest, however, that if we went to the newer software version for the site, that we pay Xenforo's 1-year update fee when we did. I don't see any need to do so annually after that: we just want the latest version and security updates with it if it was decided to move to the newer version, is all. Heck, the current software version hasn't seen a security update since the initial 1-year fee was paid, and we're still here. Just more to consider, in addition to deciding whether having a secondary admin account should go to ONE person, or just make it something any of you who want the access can get into for housekeeping and such. —Timothy, a fellow Atarian.
Hi Tim. Hope you're keeping well. Nothing else to add as I'm just out of hospital with blocked gallstones. I'd make Rich and Al as your secondary admins. I am amazed though that we haven't had more requests for membership or can we not trust the visitor figures anymore as displayed on site? It's regularly claiming we are being visited by 1000s of guests - sometimes around 20,000... or is this just "fake news"?! This one's from August - I'd be expecting at least dozens of new enquiries every week. Take care, onwards and upwards and it's great that Atari Owners still care about the site and keeping Atari news relevant as ever as well as celebrating the great Atari heritage. Best wishes. Andy
A speedy recovery to you, Andy!! Yeah, we had something like 10,000 last night. From what I can tell based on the IPs, these are AI-drive and search engines all collecting information. But, no, there hasn't been a registration request in a very long time. Keep in mind that I DO make it a two-step process to hinder spam registrations so common nowadays: they register, then are to drop me an email and I will activate their accounts. Sort of a 2-factor authorization. And yes, I check my spam folder regularly. Automated registrations easily handle the first step, but don't understand that they also need to do the second step. Another issue is that the site really isn't been advertised anywhere, I suspect. I don't know if we're being mentioned on Atari sites and groups by anyone here. RE: Rich and Al, I'll check in with them a little later on, then. Again, get well soon, Andy! /hug
By the way, currently 17,000 plus visiting this site. Only 10 are identified as robots but the rest are, as well... they just are not in the platforms list of identified bots.
Rich and Al... drop me a direct message on here if you agree to accepting administrative access. Thanks!
Very kind and helpful words there, Tim. Many thanks - it's the consideration and compassion folks have on this forum which is often the endearing difference why we're always around for one another. Wishing Rich and Al success with their dual admin role - perfect candidates - Batman and Robin, the caped retro crusaders! Top lads and top retro site - hoping you and your family are keeping well and out of medical care, Tim. All the best, fellas. ANDY
Good evening Timothy Just my own voice here, but I tend to only use most sites on a desktop machine so more than happy with the software as it is. In fact I quite like the current style, it's easy enough to navigate your way round. With regards to Forums being locked so you have to register to view them, I see we are currently sitting at 100% (4 out of 4 members) in favour of this. If it is something you are happy to do then it looks like there is a mandate for it. Best wishes Allen
