Discussion Forum

As you are checking out the new website, there is one special place I want to direct you while I'm delivering an important message to our key supporters.

We've really struggled with what to do for a discussion forum since it became apparent that the Ning site (the old Strong Towns Network) wasn't going to work. We knew that the membership site forum would suffice temporarily but that a permanent, long term solution was needed.

Today we launched our updated website at www.StrongTowns.org. There we have embedded a permanent, robust discussion board. This is a priority for us -- and you -- so we are paying for a really good service that will serve us for a long, long time.

You can also get there in a native (non-embedded) format directly at www.StrongTowns.net. 

A couple of things to note:

• We opted to go with a separate service (not affiliated with our web provider). This means you will have a separate non-Strong Towns login and password for the new forum. That was the downside to having a very robust platform that had 24:7 support and an interface that would be up to what we wanted to see. A separate login will allow people who aren't signed up with Strong Towns to participate, a positive thing.
• We have backed up all of the conversations from Ning and are trying to find a way to import them into this system. Ditto with the conversations on the member site. There is a lot of good work there.
• As we get going, we are going to need a handful of forum editors, people to help us keep out the trolls and the spam and make the Strong Towns Network a worthy destination. Let us know if you are interested.
• This is the last move. We promise. The Ning site (the old Strong Towns Network) was a worthy experiment that didn't pan out. The member site was a temporary fix. We have every expectation that this is a permanent move; that is our intention.

Thanks everyone.