Daycare.com Forum and its Future

[Michael]

A lot of change has been happening in my life lately. This forum over the las 11 years has become one of the best resources for childcare parents and providers. At its height, we were getting over 600 posts a day. We are down to less than 40 a day now.

The reason is simple. While it is a goldmine of information, it is an old program that is not "mobile ready". Google now penalizes websites that are not mobile ready. Over 50% of our traffic uses mobile devices. I get why this forum should be mobile ready but the database is so large that I can not get the database to transfer over to the newest program which has mobile ready benefits.

That's unfortunate. I have a few directions I can go forward with. I would appreciate your feedback.

1) Install the new program and basically start over. The new forum over time will get Google indexing rewards of mobile-ready searches

2) Keep the forum as is

3) Do 1) and link to the old forum as an archive

[Pandaluver21]

I would definitely love to see more traffic, and if mobile is the way to go that might be worth it... HOWEVER I would hate to loose all the history we have on here. My vote would definitely be more towards #3 to keep both at some level.
Thank you for all you do!!happyface

[Former Teacher]

I agree! Do 3!

I said a rhyme happyface

[Valerie928]

I would definitely love to see more traffic, and if mobile is the way to go that might be worth it... HOWEVER I would hate to loose all the history we have on here. My vote would definitely be more towards #3 to keep both at some level.
Thank you for all you do!!happyface

Yes! I agree with this.

[e.j.]

I'm not very tech savvy so while #3 seems to make the most sense to me, too, is there a downside to doing it this way?

[Michael]

I'm not very tech savvy so while #3 seems to make the most sense to me, too, is there a downside to doing it this way?

Yes, you would need to create a new account on the new system. Anything you had on this forum would be available to some degree. I guess my emphasis would be to play down the old forum to push the new one.

[Alwaysgreener]

#3...

[Michael]

I'm going to be in Florida for the next week or two. Thanks for the moderators and members who continue to keep this forum going. I'll make a decision when I get back. Thanks all

[Blackcat31]

I'm going to be in Florida for the next week or two. Thanks for the moderators and members who continue to keep this forum going. I'll make a decision when I get back. Thanks all

I vote #3.

I don't mind "starting over" at all.

In all honesty I don't post as often or reply sometimes because I think "why repeat something that has been typed out a ton of times already" so having the opportunity to reply and give advice on a new platform would be welcome in my opinion.

[littlefriends]

I vote #3 as well

[DaveA]

#3 sounds like the best option.

[Annalee]

I vote #3.

I don't mind "starting over" at all.

In all honesty I don't post as often or reply sometimes because I think "why repeat something that has been typed out a ton of times already" so having the opportunity to reply and give advice on a new platform would be welcome in my opinion.

Same here!

[momofsix]

I havent been on the forum for quite a while, after being an active for a long time. Mainly because I hardly use my laptop anymore and mostly use my phone-so I guess #3 would be my preference.

[CenterTeacher20]

Agree with #3!

[flying_babyb]

im newish here. I would say 3! I would hate to lose the ability to look back at this forum and be able to search it!