I have some news that may come as a bit of a shock: after 16 years at the helm, I have passed the forum on to a new owner. They are not somebody you will know from the forum, or even the wider Star Wars collecting community, but they do have years of experience running online communities and will be somewhat of a 'silent owner', leaving the forum mostly as it is. Myself and the other moderators you already know will remain for the foreseeable future.
You will notice the forum software has been updated, apologies for the downtime. In fact it hasn't just been updated, it is brand new software. The previous forum software hadn't changed much for the best part of 20 years, and although it may not feel like long since the last upgrade I did a couple of years ago, the web changes quickly and it's important to keep up to date, especially for security. I know it will take a bit of getting used to, and a few things are yet to be fixed, but we intend to have all previous features restored soon, along with some new ones you may have noticed already. Please bear with us, and feel free to report anything you notice is broken in this thread.
I would like to explain the reasons for this change of ownership. Firstly, a large part of my decision was based on the agreement that the forum will remain largely the same. The intention is to grow and improve it. It has already had a software upgrade and been moved to faster hosting, so you should notice an immediate speed increase and less frequent downtime. As you may know, due to the large size of the forum this has been a regular headache for me over the years, as I ran this website as a hobby so have never had the resources to make it as fast and robust as I wanted to.
Secondly, I have had less time in recent years to dedicate to the forum due to now having a young family. I have struggled to find the time for the required maintenance, upgrades and admin. The old software was not quick or easy to upgrade.
And finally, after 16 years I feel I have taken the forum as far as I can on my own. Since the explosion of Facebook 10+ years ago the sales section has suffered, and although the forum has remained busy, I have struggled to grow it any further.
So I would like to say thanks to all of you who have supported the forum since 2005, and also be clear that this isn't the end of SWFUK, but a new chapter. So I hope you will all join me in welcoming the new management, and continue enjoying the forum!