I get to make the first post - goodie!

For several years Ella and I were very active members of UK based Adoption and Fostering forum (http://familiesat.forumhope.com/). One of the best parts of the forum was the section for over 18s who had been adopted, fostered or in a Children's Home. The forum was a total lifesaver for Ella and I more than once!!

During the time we were members the forum slowly got quieter. Some long-time members moved on and the newbies seemed to happier lurking rather than posting. So the forum "owner" decided to relaunch the site but somehow she decided that relaunching meant deleting most of the massive archive of posts that members had made over the years!

When people complained she had a hissy fit, deleted all the rest of the posts and shut the forum down!!

hehehe  

forums seem to have thier ups and downs

I think it is becoming mega hard to keep a forum going. The pool of interested readers on most topics is quite small and now almost anybody knows how to set up a forum they do just that. So you get shed loads of duplication of provision and many almost lifeless forums.