For the remainder of this week, I’ll be doing very light blogging. I have to find some time during the year to get a break from this bullshit, and late August is usually pretty slow as far as political news goes. So, if I’m blogging like crazy on Thursday and Friday, you can be pretty sure that something has gone wrong and also that CabinGirl is contemplating murder.
When I get back to the normal routine, I am going to have to make some difficult decisions about what to do with Booman Tribune. The site was designed in 2004-5 and it is hopelessly obsolete. It had about a three year run as an actual revenue generator before a variety of factors caused most blogs to go completely broke. Since that time, the site barely pays for itself. I’ve kept it going out of love and a bit of stubbornness, not because it pays the bills. Over the years, many generous donors/readers have helped me sustain Booman Tribune, and for that I am incredibly grateful.
We now have thirteen and a half years of material, both from the front-pagers and from the diaries. Unfortunately, all of it is at risk. The server is old and the management company keeps warning me that if anything breaks they cannot guarantee that they’ll have the parts to fix it. That means I have to migrate the site again and that is always an expensive proposition. I’m not really interested in laying out the money to do it because I won’t recoup it, but I also don’t want to lose everything we’ve created together.
Maybe what is called for is a complete site redesign. I’m thinking of something that will preserve the archives but be modern and fresh and fun. I had a false start on doing something like this back in 2014 with Progress Pond, but I lost my programmer, ran out of money, landed a different job, and basically sidelined that project.
Another factor that has been troubling me is the increase in malicious attacks on the site which caused me to have to hire at a significant monthly expense an outside company to protect us from denial of service and other hacking attempts. You may have noticed that the front-page went down this summer for about a week. Of course I don’t know who is responsible for these things but dealing with it isn’t free. I think I spent about $600 bucks solving that problem and there’s a limit to how often I can put up with that kind of unanticipated expense and aggravation.
Anyway, there’s a lot for me to think about, and of course you might influence my decision making. I guess the most important thing is that I have to figure out is how to secure what we already have produced, both the posts and the comments. That alone will be a project. But I don’t see the point of investing that time and money and then coming out the other side with nothing but what we have now, which is an old site that badly needs updating and that doesn’t generate almost anything in the way of revenue.
I’m going to leave up the donation button this week, and if you’d like to help support the effort to preserve the site, maybe you can make a contribution. Your thoughts and comments will also be welcome. I think I can steal some time to read them without too much risk of CabinGirl’s wrath.
Thanks, and I’ll be back one way or the other at full swing next Monday.
Have a good vacation, Martin.
If I were not engaged 24/7 with making a living playing real music, I would lay as much money on you as you need to maintain his blog. But…as is the case with the entire culture…the real shit is less profitable with every passing week. I take every gig I can take that promotes some sort of musical reality, and living in NYC costs more and more every day.
So it goes.
If we eventually lose?
They lose too.
They’re just not smart enough to realize the truth of the matter.
One way or another…bon voyage.
It’s getting there…or even not getting there…that’s most of the fun.
Later…
AG
Glad to see the site now has the option for a monthly recurring donation! I just set one up and hope that enough people do that so you’ll have the recurring funds for maintenance and improvements to this or the next iteration.
I certainly hope you’ll keep at. Your framing and analysis of the issues along with your clear writing, generosity of spirit, dry sense humor, and dedication to political and social progress are much appreciated by me.
In the meantime, enjoy your time off and mahalo!
As you know, Boo, the European Tribune has had it’s problems too, including a semi-abortive attempt to update the platform some years back. We too need a more up to date look and feel together with multi-lingual capabilities without losing any of the existing content and functionality.
I don’t know how much we can bring to the party – probably not very much – but would welcome a joint approach to developing a global blogging platform which can have US, European, and other off-shoots meeting local needs but sharing the overall costs and functionality.
I think there can be too much of a “silo mentality” where each of us tries to survive in our own little worlds without broadening the enterprise to include much wider potential sponsors, readerships, contributors, and funders.
Perhaps the more interesting potentials for progressive world politics and blogging are not within existing polities, but between them. Trump (and his neo-conservative predecessors) is not a problem restricted to the USA, and the EU, too, is in trouble.
Having lost out to social media initially, there is a growing disillusion with the commercial platforms – Facebook, Twitter etc. – and perhaps an opportunity for community blogging to make a comeback.
One generation of bloggers is getting old and tired, but the challenge is to inspire a new one perhaps with a greater emphasis on video-blogging, the arts, music, culture and science.
My ideal would be a multi-threaded, multi-lingual, community blogging platform with many different themes and communities dedicated to sharing their ideas, news, and experiences. A sort of Wikipedia of the present moment.
Perhaps the days of one person trying to keep the show on the road are over, but that means we would need an agreed governance structure, funding mechanisms and editorial controls. A lot of people would have to buy in and contribute in one way or another.
Unfortunately many bloggers are more focused on talking than doing, creating rather than managing – and we need a bit of both. I’m not in favour of an interminable talk shop on the subject, but if there is a genuine will and capability to make it happen, I would be willing to make my contribution.
have fun, man – enjoy the downtime. it’s still summer!
Enjoy the break, Martin. You deserve it, you’ve more than earned it, and your family needs it.
On the longterm, I’m going to admit my selfishness. I come to this blog first thing in the morning and check it during the day. You deliver key issues in understandable terms and you provide information that is relevant and important. I may not always agree with you, but most of the time I do, and I appreciate being able to compare notes with you and fellow Tribuners.
Going forward, you will have to decide if it’s worth the time, stress, and dollars to keep the blog. I will plead my case as a loyal reader: the climate of politics now is at its most volatile and big news breaks every day. I can barely process this New Reality and Trumpworld. As a lifelong political junkie, you must feel like we’ve gone theough the Looking Glass and live in the Upside Down. That’s why I come here. You provide some stability in an unstable world.
Anyhoo, take the week to size things up. I’m going to make a donation toward whatever you need.
Above all, thank you for everything!
Donna
Stay please. We need you.
Hi Martin–multiple times daily reader, very infrequent poster. Just dropped some money in the kitty, as much as I can manage now, in hope that you can continue the site somehow.
I also read you on the Washington Monthly site, but always come here first–partly because your posts show up here sooner, partly for the commentariat here, who almost always add to my perspective in some way that I don’t necessarily find in the comment threads at WM.
You have a wonderful (and deeply informed) way of blowing away lefty BS fetishes of the moment, and I really value your perspective.
Rest well! You have more than earned. it.
Respectfully
dimmsdale
Enjoy your much needed vacation. I just kicked in a monthly donation. I’ve been coming here over 10 years and appreciate all the commentary. Hope you keep the site going. You provide a unique and rational perspective on politics.
Boo, I feel bad visiting every day and not thinking to kick something in now and then. You should have regular fund raising periods to remind your readers. Adverts?
I have a somewhat similar situation, where I’ve been regularly posting the fruits of my research for years now, for no reimbursement, and to whoever will listen, though the site is hosted by someone else (and I’m hoping to aggregate it all into a book or two someday). Perhaps you could move to a community of bloggers on a single site?
What’s always scary is changes to the comment system, usually older blogs lose all their old comments at some point, a terrible loss.
For me at least, the somewhat old school look here is a huge feature – I pretty much hate new overly mobile-friendly web sites that take forever to load and have gigantic useless pix, drop-downs, pop-ups, etc.
I also actually like the “old school” look here. I particularly like the fact that when I load the site, which I do every day, it doesn’t start jumping/reloading to accommodate ads, etc. I hate herky-jerky. Cannot afford a regular monthly contribution just now, but will kick in a non-recurring one.
Thoughtful, nuanced (IMHO) piece in TPM by Josh Marshall on the political life and “myth” of John McCain:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/why-did-we-care-about-john-mccain
Count me among the rueful for not having kicked in more, and more frequently, over the years. I took a long break from the site a couple of years ago but have been a near-daily reader since returning, and I find that you bring a level of focus and granularity to a combination of specializations–history, electoral politics, governmental procedure (especially in Congress), polling, and a fair bit of legal process and history–that if not unique, is not a combination I’ve yet found elsewhere on the web.
You’re also remarkably prolific, considering that this isn’t your full-time gig. When I consider how much time it’s taking me just to write this negligible little comment, it’s little short of amazing to me that you even have time to keep this site up like you have. So I deeply appreciate that.
I’m happy to make a one-time (or so) contribution to be put towards a site migration/overhaul if you deem such to be worth doing, and to commit to a modest monthly contribution going forward for things like…, well, things. Security, an emergency fund, and just general appreciation. I’ve had trouble in the past getting PayPal to cooperate with my bank (or vice-versa) for recurring payments (one-offs are no problem, oddly) but I’ll figure it out.
The only caveat is that I have to wait a little while. I broke my leg about 3 months ago and since my work is gig-based and pays monthly, I won’t be drawing a paycheck until the middle of October. I’ll kick in something today anyhow (and it won’t break the bank or anything, no worries), but I’ll need to keep my powder dry for about the next 6 weeks.
Anyhow, enjoy your break, although I harbor a selfish hope that Trump will suffer some blow significant enough to pull you back to the keyboard sooner rather than later.
I’ll add to the accolades, I found this place back during the election via a friend who shared it on his Facebook wall a lot. While I do not share the disdain of the MSM many here do (maybe because I do not read a lot of what might be considered MS) I very much appreciate the deep dives that you provide and it seems so few others do — even if they are so deep I find I have nothing to add in the comments! LOL.
As a practical matter (and this might be my ignorance showing itself), but what of the “site in a box” outfits like Squarespace and WordPress? I would think they would have some sort of overarching umbrella of security that might help you with these attacks.
This is my go-to blog. I come here primarily for your insights, Martin, but also for the dialogue that happens in the comments. Will drop some bills through the slot later in the day when I’ve access to my wallet. For now, just know that it would be a big adjustment to lose your insights and this blog. I know I could read your articles elsewhere but I’d miss this little puddle of a frog pond.
Though Josh Marshall produces a fine product, I haven’t joined that community and won’t (for reasons I need not get into here). I would, however, pay for a subscription to this place. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
It would be a true win-win if we could build this place up enough that it became your main focus. We’d have more incredible content and you’d have a reliable stream of income from doing what you love most.
Donation made. Just a quick thought. Really more of a vote. For what it’s worth, I think archiving old entries is far less important than continuing to post new ones.
I wish I had money to give to BT. I’ve read it for years and think Martin has some the most astute political analysis available without high fees (I’ve never seen the analysis available for high fees, so just guessing!).
Not having the benefit of Martin’s take on things would leave me much less informed about the history and political gyrations behind current events, much less the projected results. I hope that some reasonable solution can be found to make Martin’s contributions not such a strain on him, and available for the foreseeable future.
Dropping you some money for this worthwhile cause. Have you thought of migrating the site to the Drupal platform. It is very accessible, lots of different functionality and can support blogs and community uses. Just a thought.
There’s got to be a way that you can retrieve and backup all the current data, in whatever arcane format, so that the immediate risk to the precious archives is forestalled.
Right? I mean some new “cloud-based” solution, or some kind of archiving tool that might create something difficult to unpack later, but at least this way you’ve got it and you’re free to explore whatever options going forward without that data-loss fear hanging over you.
I’ll contribute a bit once I get my next paycheck. Will have to wait a few days. I deeply appreciate what you write, and as others have already noted, this is my go-to blog. Especially last year, I think this was one of the places I could go to keep sane while the ACA repeal effort was unfolding.
I suspect some sort of migration to a more contemporary platform is the way to go, if the object is to maintain the frogpond in some reasonable semblance of its current form. I don’t have a lot to contribute on the financial side of the equation, but will do what I can in a pinch. In the meantime, don’t be shy about periodically doing a fundraising drive.
Martin, take care of yourself first and foremost. Yours is the only political blog I read. Your insight into Congress is extremely valuable to me. I have zero extra money, so can only offer my gratitude. Your work is critical. I wish it paid better.
BooMan, thanks for all you’ve done over the many years. I know that you will make the right choice. Have a good break. We’ll take care of the place in the meantime. Will make a donation in the near future.
Thank you for your insight on these troubling times… been lurking for years. I have chipped in to help. Take care and have a good break.
I tried to donate and entered my credit card info 3 times, and it was rejected. No reason for my credit card to be rejected and hasn’t been elsewhere today.
Used a different button, and it works.
I’ll be honest that I thought the site paid for itself with the ads, so that’s my bad.
I gave a donation for the first time, if you decide to keep the site moving forward with all that entails maybe there are other ways to generate revenue for you so at least the site only costs you time and not any money.
Josh Marshall went to a partial subscriber model for TPM. Those who subscribe get additional high quality content. He has said that you cannot maintain a site (or even hope to increase its reach) if you depend only on advertisements. Since he started, he has hired a substantial staff, so the situation is a bit different than Boo’s, but Booman needs to ask for people to subscribe. Personally, I don’t need any enticement other than it enabling him to keep blogging.
I really don’t understand how any of the money works on these blogs, I just figured it somehow worked itself out in the end
Josh Marshall has written extensively about the inability of advertising to sustain a blog site, especially his now that he has staff. For a year or more he has been studying the economics of maintaining a blog and settle on the subscription model as most viable.
I sent in a contribution a couple of days ago.
Obviously the archives have to be preserved. (It would be great if there was a way to search them, too.)
But there’s something else I’m very concerned about. I’ve noticed that the character of blog discussions is greatly influenced by the format of a given blog. BT is my favorite not only for the content, but also because the format encourages dialogue. And of course, the two factors interact in a positive way — multiple exchanges usually lead to better understanding of the issues, rather than (as on many other blogs), trolling, long chains of screaming at each other, or the Godwin effect.
I would hate to see that quality lost in a new format (as it would be, for example, with Progress Pond, which had to take over for BT during a short period after the big attack). So please take this into account, Booman.
I really think the best option would be to keep the blog pretty much the way it is, except with everything fixed that needs to be fixed, heightened security, and maybe a few other minor technical improvements like (if possible) better access to the archives.
As it is, but with a subscription fee. Josh Marshall has another post up about the subscription model vs the advertisement model. He’s gone for the former and decided some time ago it was the only way to keep the site viable.
I’d subscribe If Booman went that route. This site means a lot to me.
So would I.
Curious why you think the Progress Pond comment format would be inferior.
I have my own ideas but want to hear yours.
One way to eliminate the attacks on the site might be frequent diaries describing the positive influence of Putin on world affairs. Sure, he is dictatorial and avaricious, but I hear he loves dogs. Maybe more on his love of dogs? Another tack might be how good he looks without his shirt. He obviously takes pride in his looks, because he sheds his shirt when ever he can. Compliment him, like I do my boss…”You look great, you been working out?”
.
Some suggestions based on another forum I frequent, the Straight Dope Message Board (I’m EddyTeddyFreddy there, by the way):
Two tiers of membership: free (“Guest”) and subscription (“Charter Member”). Free members see ads; subscribers don’t. They’ve followed that model for about 14 years and it seems to work reasonably well for them. The cost is $10.00 for one year, $17.50 for two. You can add a custom title under your user name for a buck or two for a day or two, eight bucks for a year, $14.00 for two years.
Edit function: Yes, you can edit your post — for the first five minutes after it’s posted, then it’s set with no changes. It’s great for fixing typos, adding an afterthought, deleting part, or retracting the whole thing.
Search function: You can search the archives by key word or poster name, with time parameters for how far back. You have to wait X amount of time (a couple of minutes, I think) between searches.
Moderation: Certain members who’ve shown their responsible character over time act as moderators, generally covering only one of the SDMB’s multiple forums (although they can act in any forum if necessary), smiting trolls and enforcing the “Don’t be a jerk” ethos of the place without stifling free-wheeling discussion.
The Pit: The one forum where posters can flame each other is the Barbecue Pit, also the place for rants in general and inventive invective. Higher standards of decorum are enforced in the other forums — you can argue your point passionately, disagree strongly, but must refrain from ad hominems outside the Pit.
No post rating or like buttons. Agree or disagree? Say so, say why.
Very limited palette of emojis, and board culture is to use them sparingly. Just in the last month or so tiny avatars (50×50 pixels) have become an option, but images and videos embed as links only.
I have no idea how if at all these things from a message board structure can be applied in a blog context, but I throw them out there for consideration.
If Booman wants to try a subscription model of some sort, I am in. This is my virtual home away from home. There just is no place on the internet tubes quite like this.
And yeah, the rest of your ideas strike me as well worth considering. Editing posts for a limited period seems worthwhile, if that kind of functionality is feasible. Mods make sense. Need a good stable of those, as we don’t want burnout. Maybe a pit would be a way of containing a lot of the vitriol and whatnot. I’ll avoid that place. I would add that bringing back the old Froggy Bottom Cafe would be nice. Some of us really need a space to cool our heels.
The Pit is actually more than just a flamefest. People post superbly composed and inventive (or angrily pedestrian) rants on whatever topic they choose. Some threads are omnibus collections of posts on a single topic deserving of venting but not needing their own separate thread. For example, there’s a Stupid Gun News thread; a Stupid Republican Idea of the Day thread (the Stupid Liberal IOTD thread limped along for a while but sputtered out), a Butthurt Trump Takes to Twitter Again thread; there’s a new-each-month thread for assorted petty rants and grievances like, oh, workman screwups, bad drivers, leafblowers, etc.
While it’s a forum allowing rougher language and more personal confrontations than the others, it’s also a place where intelligent discussions, incisive comments, and wicked humor also are frequent. I don’t read everything posted there and skim over annoying stuff but there’s also a heckuva lot of really good stuff to be found there.
If you have never visited the SDMB, I recommend a stroll through their forums, particularly Elections and Great Debates but also the Pit and even the more frivolous fora, to get a feel for how it all works and what it has to offer. It’s been around since hamsters powered the Commodores, as an offshoot of the Chicago Reader’s Straight Dope column, and has developed a strong, distinctive culture with a wide range of interests one can pursue. Including political discussions.
Booman Tribune continues to be (with No More Mister Nice Blog) my every-day go-to for politics, but the SDMB is also a frequent fly-in.
Oh, yeh — below is a link to a very old (2005) BBQ Pit thread that illustrates the creative brilliance one can find in a Doper’s rant:
https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=326481
I was busy all weekend, so I didn’t get a chance to make a donation until just now.
Your commentary and analysis are extraordinarily valuable. I hope you find a way to make the site work.
What about selling subscriptions? That way you’d have a regular income source.
Thank you, sir.