What to do if the owner passes away?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 49125
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Deleted member 49125

These forums are virtual worlds. More times than not we don’t know who the others are. I have seen on several forums where the owner has passed away. Then there are times there’s an active member who suddenly stops logging on. We never know if they just lost interest or something happened.

I have down my forum, emails, passwords, etc. for my husband & for my mom to have in case anything happens to me, the friends I made online will know. I have a detailed list of how to shut down my forum or put in Maintenance Mode as well as specific people to get a hold of.

I know this is a morbid topic lol but was wondering if others have thought along these lines & if you have a plan in place.
 
I've never thought about this... I'm 32 and I know age doesn't matter since we're all going to meet the same fate eventually. I suppose if I was close to dying, I'd make a list of my websites and instructions on what to do if I'm no longer around... Honestly I should probably do that now, you just never know when it's going to be your last day. I've seen this while lurking on the Proboards support forums a few times.
 
I was staff on a forum in the past where the owner suddenly disappeared. The server and domain lapsed eventually. I do wonder what happened to him, but hopefully it wasn't anything that serious.
 
Well, for BaysideGamers if I ended up not around anymore then the site will keep running until the hosting servers or domain expires then it will shut itself down. I mean I can get run over by a car today or get knifed anytime next week 😛 Or live to 90 years old. That being said I do not think we are running sites at that age.

I know a person who used to run Trucksim.org and the person that owns it passed away back in 2015 from a bike crash ;( Lucky enough they had more than one admin member who at the time managed with another site and they become one. So if you have people to take over you all good
 
I've been involved in forums since bulletin boards and acoustic couplers were a thing. That was during the 80's when the average age of like minded people was probably somewhere around 30 years old. Roll on 20 years and a close friend who was also an integral part of my server management team dropped dead due to sudden adult death syndrome. That bought into sharp focus all the potential issues death and the Internet can bring.

I'm now 63 and I've made a will but more importantly I've complied a letter of wishes which is basically a job sheet for the executors, detailing who to contact online and how they should go about it if I should die. I can't really emphasize enough how difficult it is to keep a forum running if the owner should suddenly die without leaving detailed instructions.

Unless it's carefully prearranged you won't get access to the database, the core files, the hosting, the domain or the commercial software. I've been in this situation more than once and failed every time to keep the forum on-line.

Going back to where I started, many forum owners are now my age and older and we are dropping like flies so if your forum means anything to you at all, think ahead, make a plan and keep it current.
 
I'd just leave and move on & try out some new communities. The forum will die with the owner since they're not around to pay for the site. I see little point in sticking around.
 
As a business and brand owner, I have things in place for this.

My significant others retains the property and businesses (she is co-owner now on my Articles of Incorporation)

My forums would probably just cease to exist after I quit paying for the hosting.
 
I have over 20 websites (blogs, forums, business websites, online stores, etc.) If I die, and if I do not give access to my sites to another person my websites will die once the domain and hosting expire.
 
nomad said:
I have over 20 websites (blogs, forums, business websites, online stores, etc.) If I die, and if I do not give access to my sites to another person my websites will die once the domain and hosting expire.
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If you know when you will die that helps to a point but otherwise might get killed in a road rage one day and that is something that we all can't do anything about
 
Demon_skeith said:
I'm curious if that what happened to @Sharon 🙁

I have a will written up asking for a family member that I trust to make sure my forum gets into good hands.
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So many active members suddenly vanish. We do make connections on these forums & do see when people are missing.
That's good you have a will.
 
I would always have someone on the forum that I own that could take over the forum if I were to pass away. It would be someone I could trust and who I know would be able to keep the forum going even after I had gone. I guess if I didn't have someone to take over the forum after I passed I would have family that would post that I had passed and that the forum was closing if I really had no other options.
 
I will leave in my will that any websites I own will go to @PGen98 so I am safe. 🙂

But I would just move to a new forum if an owner dies once I leave my condolences.
 
PGen98 said:
Agreed, not much to be done when the owner passed except leave
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Eventually the other staff will leave and if it's a one man show then no one left to moderate anything so the spam bots will start coming.
 
Maul said:
I will leave in my will that any websites I own will go to @PGen98 so I am safe. 🙂

But I would just move to a new forum if an owner dies once I leave my condolences.
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Yet will the site run for another 194 years time..? I mean you will live for another 194 years and the future can be so different by then 😛

I have 5 years left of my life and so who will take over
 
Gary The Snail said:
Yet will the site run for another 194 years time..? I mean you will live for another 194 years and the future can be so different by then 😛

I have 5 years left of my life and so who will take over
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If they have purchased 194 years of hosting I don't see why not.
 
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