As above, I think the loss of the content from technical, historic and dare I say humour points of view, would be shameful. 


I'd like to think that readers would gain knowledge and help them in their careers and professionalism. It has certainly helped me beyond the Ladybird book "Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries" I had at 7 years old (some may dispute that though!).


Regards


BOD

Yup - I'm in too - lets find a way to keep the old forum - even if just to refer to - but mostly because I put in 1000 posts there, most of which were rather thought out.


I know they're not all relevant but lots still is..........I periodically go back on some of my answers and reason how I might have changed my answer now time has gone on and also I enjoy a well reasoned written argument for or against something - like a photograph - its a reminder of why/when/where etc.


Also I think we've probably lost something in the transition that made the old platform so user friendly - specifically the presentation of the front page and possibly the style of the search function, by author, topic, specific word etc........

Thank you all for your contributions on this. We are looking at what the best option is to retain the older content - I'll provide an update when we've agreed this.

davidwalker2:

There are some conversations that I would like to keep copies of.  Is there a means of copying entries, or are we left to our own devices?

Hi David


There is an easy way of keeping a copy of a topic thread. If you visit the old forum and open up a topic, under 'Topic Tools' in the top section you'll find an item in the pop up menu of 'Print this Topic'. Selecting that will open a pop up window where the full topic along with the replies are displayed. At the top of that window you'll see another 'Print this topic' link which will open up your printing options. From there you can either print a hard copy to your printer or chose to save as a PDF file. 


For everyone - our IT team have downloaded the content database for the old forum so we do have it for safekeeping. We are able to query the database (it's huge as you can imagine) to extract specific data if required, for example all content posted by a specific individual.


We have done a quick extract of the top 100 topics (by page views) and our Marketing team are looking at ways to re-purpose that content so that it retains its value.


Whether or not we are able to present the content of the database in a viewable and searchable format for the public still needs to be decided upon as Amanda says above. ?

Thank you Lisa, I have done that successfully


David

Yes there is a weatlh of info on this old forum derived from qualifications, skill and practice down the ages. Taught not in a textbook way but from experience. Much of it is relevant and the 18th does not alter it`s overall relevance. A lot is given by the giants of this forum whose shoulders we stand on. Please do not remove this excellent source of reference

Lisa Miles‍, Amanda Weaver‍, Leon Markwell,‍ Mark Coles‍,

Please review the deletion of the information on the old forum, whilst the view on information being current is important, surely the charitable remit of the IET is to educate, and there is much information there to educate many.

After all, the laws of physics are unchanged...

It would be a devastating loss for the industry to lose this volume of information, whilst there is clearly information on there which is no longer relevant it remains a huge educational and reference tool for both new industry entrants and existing members with depleting brain cells and capacity!


Please reconsider this decision.


Thanks


Martyn

Hi All


Just a quick reminder that the old Fusetalk powered forum may suddenly disappear as of tomorrow and to reassure you that we do have a copy of the content database with all of the topics and threads etc.


There are still discussions being had as to what format the archive will take and how far back the content in the archive will go but rest assured that we do have a full copy of the 45,000 or so topics that the old forum contained. ?