Welding Web Down?

[mrmikey]

I'm willing to wait and see if things get sorted out with WW and something works eventually.

I used to visit there multiple times a day, it was easy to navigate, well laid out, pics would work etc., now....it's a POS unfortunately. I check in once a week maybe and that's it, even when I do, I don't go past the first page.. Funny, same as MTF, that was a good layout 'till they 'upgraded', now I hardly ever visit there.
To me TBN has the best layout, good colors, not a bunch or extraneous crap and fluff that does absolutely nothing, very easy to navigate and so on. Don't ever change....please ..................Mike

 

[BigBlue1]

I used to visit there multiple times a day, it was easy to navigate, well laid out, pics would work etc., now....it's a POS unfortunately. I check in once a week maybe and that's it, even when I do, I don't go past the first page.. Funny, same as MTF, that was a good layout 'till they 'upgraded', now I hardly ever visit there.
To me TBN has the best layout, good colors, not a bunch or extraneous crap and fluff that does absolutely nothing, very easy to navigate and so on. Don't ever change....please ..................Mike

Same here for me with MTF and GTT. They 'upgraded' and the new interface is all sorts of disaster. Now I barely use them. How long until TBN gets 'upgraded' unwillingly too? :-(

 

[California]

It's still a mess.

Yesterday I added a post about a 30% discount / 9 items coupon, to the HF forum. My thread about that is a big mess. My posts have links that go nowhere. Then with no preview function and no ability to edit a clunky post, what should have been two clean and elegant posts got to 8 jumbled, confusing posts. Sufficient information got posted to be useful, finally, but that thread is ugly.

 

[Big Barn]

It’s a mess alright. Full of glitches.

Unable to edit or cancel. I can quote using iPad but the option isn’t even displayed on iPhone.

I finally figured out a workaround to post photos but it is a nightmare getting them in order.

 

[BigBlue1]

So I shouldn't expect that my attempt to register will ever work or be acknowledged by the admins there?

 

[stuckmotor]

Same here for me with MTF and GTT. They 'upgraded' and the new interface is all sorts of disaster. Now I barely use them. How long until TBN gets 'upgraded' unwillingly too? :-(

All too often, when an entity claims it's making changes "to serve you better" their service seems to get worse.

 

[dstig1]

There is a thread in the Support subforum where Minn Dave posted a reply from the guy trying to make it all work. As of a day or two ago he was still waiting for some gigantic backup file to be delivered so he could restore the site. It appears that what you are seeing for now is temporary, but yes it is very crappy as is. I'll wait...

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

So I shouldn't expect that my attempt to register will ever work or be acknowledged by the admins there?

I wouldn't worry, I'm sure they'll get it sorted out.

There is a thread in the Support subforum where Minn Dave posted a reply from the guy trying to make it all work. As of a day or two ago he was still waiting for some gigantic backup file to be delivered so he could restore the site. It appears that what you are seeing for now is temporary, but yes it is very crappy as is. I'll wait...

That's still the general understanding. Tech guy is going to fix the HVAC website and WeldingWeb once the stuff he needs shows up.
Which will be great, the current state of the website is pretty basic and not easy for the user.

 

[Mark_D]

Hopefully Tapatalk functionality is on his radar.

 

[California]

... Tech guy is going to fix the HVAC website and WeldingWeb once the stuff he needs shows up.

Did it ever become clear who now owns WW? It sounds like it was a orphan for a while.

I still would like to see Muhammad buy it and run it as smoothly as TBN runs.

 

[Mark_D]

I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

 

[the old grind]

Did it ever become clear who now owns WW? It sounds like it was a orphan for a while.

I still would like to see Muhammad buy it and run it as smoothly as TBN runs.

I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

Already we have volunteers to moderate the WeldingByNet site, maybe fix it for tapatalk? That didn't take long.

I always thought spending another guy's $$ was rewarding. Can we find Muhammad even more things to do for us? Almost the same, right?

Mom won't do much anymore ..

 

[California]

I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

I would prefer to see somebody competent, resume WW where it left off.

There's a wealth of accumulated wisdom that will be lost if a new site replaces WW. My personal story - (and I expect others have comparable stories, mostly about restoring ancient welding gear) - :
I bought a used HF MIG 180 that the previous owner had extensively upgraded, based on his WW conversations with owners of the older blue HF welders who had modified theirs. My previous owner's posts and the many technical prior posts by others - about capacitor values, bleed resistor, upgraded relay, sources for parts etc, - that he relied on, are the documentation that tell me what I have. A new site wouldn't have this history.

Also when I had the Century 130 welder (30 years old??) I found a previous owner who had posted several years previous that he had its manual. He graciously sent me a copy. This history wouldn't be found on a new site.

I'm sure there are many comparable resources that will be lost if a new site starts from zero. Resuming WW with its rich history is a better choice. Lets hope the new owners do it in a manner that's easier to read than what we see at the moment!

 

[Big Barn]

I would prefer to see somebody competent, resume WW where it left off.

There's a wealth of accumulated wisdom that will be lost if a new site replaces WW. My personal story - (and I expect others have comparable stories, mostly about restoring ancient welding gear) - :
I bought a used HF MIG 180 that the previous owner had extensively upgraded, based on his WW conversations with owners of the older blue HF welders who had modified theirs. My previous owner's posts and the many technical prior posts by others - about capacitor values, bleed resistor, upgraded relay, sources for parts etc, - that he relied on, are the documentation that tell me what I have. A new site wouldn't have this history.

Also when I had the Century 130 welder (30 years old??) I found a previous owner who had posted several years previous that he had its manual. He graciously sent me a copy. This history wouldn't be found on a new site.

I'm sure there are many comparable resources that will be lost if a new site starts from zero. Resuming WW with its rich history is a better choice. Lets hope the new owners do it in a manner that's easier to read than what we see at the moment!

Agreed

 

[BigBlue1]

I finally received this e-mail when I tried to contact them about the failed registration message:

Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, Informa no longer owns or operates weldingweb.com. At this time we do not have contact information to provide to you for the site administrator. I am very sorry.

Jo Ann DeSmet
User Care Specialist
Informa
Usercare@informa.com

Which was sent by the company who manages the e-mail address that WeldingWeb currently displays on their main forum page:

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support (wdwebmaster@penton.com)

What a disaster they have going...

Rob

 

[California]

Looking at the 'Bugs' thread a member commented

As for RobbM being the sole administrator having to fix/repair/recover this forum... that is truely honorable for him to do...

One thing about "pay" that should no longer be an issue as far as funding this forum ... the 2020 copyright owner is one of the largest investment capitalist corporate raiders in the world. When digging past all the hidden layers of entities and LLCs, the 2020 copyright owner listed at the bottom of this page is MH Sub 1, LLC, which is owned by KKR. KKR is so big, when they want a cracker, they buy Nabisco. When they want a power tool, they buy Hitachi, and Metabo. When they want a toy, they buy (and shutter) Toys-R-Us. The list of brands and businesses that KKR currently owns, or has owned in the past, is a staggering collection of household names of products we use, stores we visit, and financial services we transact with every day.

... I have a hard time believing that KKR can't afford to fairly compensate RobbM for his personal time invested in restoring this forum. That's a BIG bug.

KKR has an interesting business model: They have a reputation for buying companies that have positive net worth, and mortgaging this new acquisition to get cash they take out for themselves. Some companies survive carrying this new debt load, some don't. They've already made their money by then. 'Leveraged buyout'.

Lets hope they don't consider restoring WW to be an unnecessary expense.

 

[Muhammad]

I'm not at all opposed to starting a welding forum, but the best option would be if we could take over WW and have the content and members. But my attempts to find and contact the owner have been fruitless so far and the only response from Rob S was that he would save my info.

Those who speculated that KKR owns WW, I don't believe that to be the case. KKR owns the vbulletin software and a default fresh install of the vbulletin software will include a copyright notice at the bottom of all pages, as in the copyright on the software.

 

[searcyfarms]

we would love that muhammad, maybe no one owns it now that is the problem - they dumped and ran.........

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I'm not at all opposed to starting a welding forum, but the best option would be if we could take over WW and have the content and members. But my attempts to find and contact the owner have been fruitless so far and the only response from Rob S was that he would save my info.

Those who speculated that KKR owns WW, I don't believe that to be the case. KKR owns the vbulletin software and a default fresh install of the vbulletin software will include a copyright notice at the bottom of all pages, as in the copyright on the software.

It does now Muhammad. Copyright © 2020 MH Sub I, LLC dba vBulletin.

 

[California]

Mark, do you have some way to go through Everlast and see if they have an advertising contract with WW? An advertising broker who pays WW to run ads, might have contact info.

As for that Copyright I think it just is over the VB software used by WW and many others (including TBN), that displays the content of WW's database. It doesn't mean MH Sub I owns the WW data.