Welding Web Down?

Mark_D · Feb 29, 2020

I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

the old grind · Feb 29, 2020

California said:
Did it ever become clear who now owns WW? It sounds like it was a orphan for a while.

I still would like to see Muhammad buy it and run it as smoothly as TBN runs.

Mark_D said:
I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

Already we have volunteers to moderate the WeldingByNet site, maybe fix it for tapatalk? That didn't take long.

I always thought spending another guy's $$ was rewarding. Can we find Muhammad even more things to do for us? Almost the same, right?

Mom won't do much anymore ..

California · Feb 29, 2020

Mark_D said:
I think as many problems as WW has had, TBN should set up a whole group of welding forums and we just resume business there.

I would prefer to see somebody competent, resume WW where it left off.

There's a wealth of accumulated wisdom that will be lost if a new site replaces WW. My personal story - (and I expect others have comparable stories, mostly about restoring ancient welding gear) - :
I bought a used HF MIG 180 that the previous owner had extensively upgraded, based on his WW conversations with owners of the older blue HF welders who had modified theirs. My previous owner's posts and the many technical prior posts by others - about capacitor values, bleed resistor, upgraded relay, sources for parts etc, - that he relied on, are the documentation that tell me what I have. A new site wouldn't have this history.

Also when I had the Century 130 welder (30 years old??) I found a previous owner who had posted several years previous that he had its manual. He graciously sent me a copy. This history wouldn't be found on a new site.

I'm sure there are many comparable resources that will be lost if a new site starts from zero. Resuming WW with its rich history is a better choice. Lets hope the new owners do it in a manner that's easier to read than what we see at the moment!

Big Barn · Feb 29, 2020

California said:
I would prefer to see somebody competent, resume WW where it left off.

There's a wealth of accumulated wisdom that will be lost if a new site replaces WW. My personal story - (and I expect others have comparable stories, mostly about restoring ancient welding gear) - :
I bought a used HF MIG 180 that the previous owner had extensively upgraded, based on his WW conversations with owners of the older blue HF welders who had modified theirs. My previous owner's posts and the many technical prior posts by others - about capacitor values, bleed resistor, upgraded relay, sources for parts etc, - that he relied on, are the documentation that tell me what I have. A new site wouldn't have this history.

Also when I had the Century 130 welder (30 years old??) I found a previous owner who had posted several years previous that he had its manual. He graciously sent me a copy. This history wouldn't be found on a new site.

I'm sure there are many comparable resources that will be lost if a new site starts from zero. Resuming WW with its rich history is a better choice. Lets hope the new owners do it in a manner that's easier to read than what we see at the moment!

Agreed

BigBlue1 · Mar 2, 2020

I finally received this e-mail when I tried to contact them about the failed registration message:

Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, Informa no longer owns or operates weldingweb.com. At this time we do not have contact information to provide to you for the site administrator. I am very sorry.

Jo Ann DeSmet
User Care Specialist
Informa
Usercare@informa.com

Which was sent by the company who manages the e-mail address that WeldingWeb currently displays on their main forum page:

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support (wdwebmaster@penton.com)

What a disaster they have going...

Rob

California · Mar 2, 2020

Looking at the 'Bugs' thread a member commented

As for RobbM being the sole administrator having to fix/repair/recover this forum... that is truely honorable for him to do...

One thing about "pay" that should no longer be an issue as far as funding this forum ... the 2020 copyright owner is one of the largest investment capitalist corporate raiders in the world. When digging past all the hidden layers of entities and LLCs, the 2020 copyright owner listed at the bottom of this page is MH Sub 1, LLC, which is owned by KKR. KKR is so big, when they want a cracker, they buy Nabisco. When they want a power tool, they buy Hitachi, and Metabo. When they want a toy, they buy (and shutter) Toys-R-Us. The list of brands and businesses that KKR currently owns, or has owned in the past, is a staggering collection of household names of products we use, stores we visit, and financial services we transact with every day.

... I have a hard time believing that KKR can't afford to fairly compensate RobbM for his personal time invested in restoring this forum. That's a BIG bug.

KKR has an interesting business model: They have a reputation for buying companies that have positive net worth, and mortgaging this new acquisition to get cash they take out for themselves. Some companies survive carrying this new debt load, some don't. They've already made their money by then. 'Leveraged buyout'.

Lets hope they don't consider restoring WW to be an unnecessary expense.

Muhammad · Mar 5, 2020

I'm not at all opposed to starting a welding forum, but the best option would be if we could take over WW and have the content and members. But my attempts to find and contact the owner have been fruitless so far and the only response from Rob S was that he would save my info.

Those who speculated that KKR owns WW, I don't believe that to be the case. KKR owns the vbulletin software and a default fresh install of the vbulletin software will include a copyright notice at the bottom of all pages, as in the copyright on the software.

searcyfarms · Mar 5, 2020

we would love that muhammad, maybe no one owns it now that is the problem - they dumped and ran.........

Mark @ Everlast · Mar 5, 2020

Muhammad said:
I'm not at all opposed to starting a welding forum, but the best option would be if we could take over WW and have the content and members. But my attempts to find and contact the owner have been fruitless so far and the only response from Rob S was that he would save my info.

Those who speculated that KKR owns WW, I don't believe that to be the case. KKR owns the vbulletin software and a default fresh install of the vbulletin software will include a copyright notice at the bottom of all pages, as in the copyright on the software.

California · Mar 5, 2020

Mark, do you have some way to go through Everlast and see if they have an advertising contract with WW? An advertising broker who pays WW to run ads, might have contact info.

As for that Copyright I think it just is over the VB software used by WW and many others (including TBN), that displays the content of WW's database. It doesn't mean MH Sub I owns the WW data.