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| | From:  tudorgalusa (Original Message) | Sent: 10/17/2008 7:28 PM |
Hope all of you have heard that MSN groups will be closing down in February 2009. Supposedly MSN sold it off to some other site called Multiply here is some more info. It's not a surprise, as MSN Groups was one of the last vestiges of Microsoft's Web services strategy pre-Windows Live. MSN Groups will be closing on February 21, 2009. It'll be replaced with a new service, Windows Live Groups, which debuts on November 17. Here's the catch: The LiveSide post indicates MSN Groups will not be migrating to Windows Live Groups; the new Windows Live service will be different enough so that the transition wouldn't be a clean one. Instead, the LiveSide post says that existing MSN Groups will transition to community site Multiply--in other words, Multiply is effectively acquiring MSN Groups from Microsoft. Microsoft is planning to release a new service called Windows Live Groups in November, and apparently doesn’t want to compete with itself. Just wanted you all to know. Tudorgalusa |
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I HATE the forum format ....it has no whistles & bells to it. WetPaint is more of a "wiki" than a discussion area, so that won't work except as an "info" site. Also need to consider AMTs got almost 7 yrs' worth of boards chatter & do I want to sit here laboriously copying & pasting it all? Not really. The problem for most long-established or high-traffic groups is going to be that one. Ironic that one can c/p custom pages in a flash, yet doing same to boards would either leave a huge mess with MSNs notoriously unstable HTML codes dangling all over the place, or would take far too long to edit it all out. I bet we'll end up seeing a lot of the older & bigger groups over on Multiply for that reason alone, because starting from scratch is going to be too time-consuming, much as I'd like to give MSN the finger & toddle off ROFL What I'm going to do is mock up a dummy group (MSN in its infinite wisdom is still allowing groups to be created ) & migrate it to see what the glitches are (you know there will be if MSN picked this site) & work them out before sending AMT & SF over there. So far just cruising Multiply I'm not impressed (it looks like a Facebook wannabe ) but that may change once I commence playing with it. I will be quite perturbed with MSN if this migration thing eats cluhouse bits  For the members who rarely come on site & post from email (hopefully not too many as Greens frowns upon such with regularity ), do come check in here in person from time to time, as there's no guarantee the "announcement" function will continue to work. I've MSN flat out lie to me that I have no storage left when I have 7MB & have been unable to upload anything all week, & their "Contact Us" link redirects some folks to their own ISPs help page or returns emails with "this is an unmonitored mailbox" as a reply Basically MSN has shut off the lights & gone home & intends to offer zero assistance in this transitional time frame. I don't think Microsoft has taken into consideration just how many people they are ticking off all at once here; I've seen lots of MSN users stating they intend to dump MSN as ISP now that there's no longer any need for that 30MB storage space you get from that, install Linux because only IE plays nicely with MSN Groups so who needs it now, get a Mac instead. I'm wondering if this isn't going to backfire in their faces (especially with the total lack of support for the change they're offering) & create a PR nightmare. I kind of hope it does ROFL At any rate, right now there's a panicked stampede going on & MSN users are all refugeeing to Macon like the Yankees is coming ROFL There's time to breathe & not have the swoons like Miss Pittypat IMHO. At the moment AMTs sitting tight to let the glitches get worked out instead of jumping right out like a lot of groups are doing. We don't plan on being GWTW until after Christmas at the earliest, so until such occurs, carry on as usual. There will be ample notification of where we'll relocate & mgmt will get an AMT email addy to publish so that anyone who encounters issues with moving can contact us. We don't want anyone left in the dust who still wants to play Plantagenets & Tudors  Mark, don't you manage a history group as well? (or is it just that you belong to others? can't recall sorry) Is yours migrating or starting anew? I just really hate to lose everything from 2002 onwards, much as I am not amused with Multiply at them moment. Have you guys noticed their logo has wannabe MSN dudes  in it? I bet there's more going on behind the scenes than they're reluctantly letting out here. That reminds me....wanna save the emoticons to pc for future use |
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I poked at WP & they have a TTOS group there & methinks it IS possible to create discussions judging by that one  <wonders if 7 yrs' worth of AMT would make em explode> |
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A couple of my groups have gone to yahoo...we only scanned multiply and found it too hard to navigate, the same for yuku, I think yuku is a new group site, but it's impossible for someone with below average computer skills to figure out. |
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Ohhhh Yahoo is awful & with Microsoft wanting to buy them probably a waste of time to shift over to. ProBoards is a good basic I don't know nuffin bout birthin no websites place, tis very simple to operate, but there's no whistles n bells to it. FA is gonna tinker with some places to see how they work before we decide anything definite. |
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We knew it was smart not to run amuck & panic LOL This Yuku place a lot of the MSN peeps seem to be going to is now offering a migration tool for MSN Groups users. This means ALL of your content will remain intact, it looks like. So this may be AMTs ans with no tedious rebuilding. Will keep you peeps posted as mgmt is discussing such. Here's the link to the Yuku migration service if anyone else is interested in it: |
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I checked into this Yuku joint & I have some issues with it. One, it does NOT have photo albums. The pictures that migrate are assigned to the profile of the member who uploaded them. So it's going to be mighty annoying to tediously click on a member list to see who has pix, plus some of them were left behind by members who are no longer with us so I am assuming those will poof begone as those folk won't create a Yuku acct. Looks like there needs to be a Photobucket or Flickr link from the group to our lovely royal portraits & castles. Two, custom pages currently do NOT migrate & AMT has a plethora of them. I did however discover that if they're transferred to boards then they WILL go. Three, list pages & documents don't go either, so ta-ta to our sampling of Tudor music & our lists. Lists could go on a board, but not .wavs or midis. Four, MSN is dreadfully antiquated (probably one of the main reasons it's going, they don't want to upgrade the software) but it's all FA knows All the other places I've looked at use CSS not HTML in page designing, so ugh learning curve all over again. Five, the 1st post in every thread has an ad in it. They expect one to fork over $54/yr to prevent that, but there's a catch....if your group is high activity & gets more than 50,000 hits a yr, the ads come back, so it's kind of a gyp. So if you start a thread there, what folk seem to be doing is send a blank one 1at to get rid of the ad & then commence a discussion as a workaround. Despite that, I am heavily leaning toward them as Multiply SUCKS & makes a disorganized mess of the group from what I've seen of groups that have already migrated. At least it will move discussions intact & there's a workaround for the pages. Our other option is to "archive" at Aimoo (which moves the group but effectively kills it for further use as you cannot do anything to it) & start all over & link to the archive. I like WetPaint but the wiki format means mgmt has no control over who wanders in & EVERYONE who does can add or edit ANYTHING. Not that we're control freaks ROFL but you know there's always the potential for some malcontent to erase stuff just because they can. I know we have like 6 wks left here & we shall keep you informed of what the final decision is, as obviously it's imminent. This will inevitably mean members will have to create new accts elsewhere. Yuku says it emails existing membership with a "how to" guide & a link to the new joint, which may be a plus. Yup this whole thing SUCKS & sorry for the inconvenience of new accts & bookmarking & possibly having fragments in different sites, but it's MSNs fault |
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Any final decision here? Would love to stay connected. |
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Yesm FA has had us "in queue" @ Yuku (how jolly English of em) for weeks & they are now NOT guaranteeing they will have the time to migrate everyone in it prior to MSNs closure MSN is just screwing up everyone else now. To be safe FA tried to archive AMT @ Aimoo & start a group there but has been running into glitches. First there was no "submit" button LOL & now it keeps saying it's making the group & then comes back & says sorry go back & try again. They blame MSN for the increased traffic. Hopefully one or the other will pan out posthaste. I kind of like Aimoo better than Yuku myself. |
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scarletsfevered at hotmail.com is FAs extra addy. This is in case shite happens LOL so that no one gets left behind that wants to move & if anyone has issues logging in. Aimoo is still hiccuping from overload GRRRR we may have to give up the migrating archive thingy & start from scratch FYI if anyone wants any of the pix in our albums start saving like a maniac as there is no place else that we can create albums at save Flickr or Photobucket & link to em & FA is pulling her hair out enough at this time what with trying to pack & move so it won't be done posthaste. |
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| I don´t know how to express my concern abut this matter. I´m just expecting to know where are you going to be to join you as soon I knew. Anyway, I will be glad to acept you as friends in Facebook ([email protected]), where we can also create an alternate group. Thank you all. |
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