An SDMB Timeline

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21

Thanks!

Others?

22

Want to give that a try? Or explain a method?

If they ever knew.

==================

I’ve had an idea to try to narrow down the “first post of the year” for the 13 (is it?) years we have records in the current format.

Simply take the current counts

…and do third grade arithmetic to get

Posts: 14,951,426 = 1,150,109 per year for 13 years

and then just bump the post ID by 1150000 and see where that lands. Fine tune from there.

I’ll be wasting part of the day on that exercise. Also I’ll be attaching ID data to those past Mods for “complete as best I can tell” sake.

23

The “first posts” are definitely wrong. The very first posts noted are ATMB and Comments, followed almost immediately by The Pit, GQ and MPSIMS.

Now look at the join dates for the Admins. Ed “joined” three weeks before there were any forums and TubaDiva joined the first day. And Tuba is only member #32.

So, much like evolution, we have to determine when exactly the Board migrated from AOL to the independent Internet. Also, IIRC, didn’t the AOL version stay live for a few months after this version begin?

24

I’ve had an idea to try to narrow down the “first post of the year” for the 13 (is it?) years we have records in the current format.

Simply take the current counts and do third grade arithmetic to get

Posts: 14,951,426 = 1,150,109 per year for 13 years

and then just bump the post ID by 1150000 and see where that lands. Fine tune from there.

I’ll be wasting part of the day on that exercise. Also I’ll be attaching ID data to those past Mods for “complete as best I can tell” sake.

Here’s what a first pass (rough draft) looks like:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2
03-12-1999, 06:58 PM

02-22-2001, 08:24 PM

07-23-2002, 02:03 PM

05-21-2003, 01:46 PM

03-02-2004, 08:36 AM

01-22-2005, 09:03 AM

12-14-2005, 04:10 PM

12-12-2006, 05:31 PM

11-21-2007, 12:32 PM

10-23-2008, 08:59 AM

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11500000
08-29-2009, 08:17 PM

07-05-2010, 02:21 AM

05-14-2011, 10:38 AM

04-09-2012, 05:28 PM

Now the search for Jan 1’s first post of each year.

25

Just to report on how much “fun” this task may be, notice:

12-20-1999, 08:49 AM

01-03-2000, 09:25 PM

It would appear that my “no brainer” scheme may have its own issues to cope with.

26

The next year:

12-31-2000, 11:58 PM

01-01-2001, 12:00 AM

27

And if this is not THE Winter of our Missed Content, it is at least A Winter of that sort:

12-07-2001, 03:29 AM

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=1895823
03-10-2002, 08:02 PM

28

2003-2005:

12-31-2002, 11:59 PM

01-01-2003, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2003, 11:59 PM

01-01-2004, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2004, 11:59 PM

01-01-2005, 12:01 AM

29

Well, my idea was to try finding the earliest mention of the forum’s full name, either in the forum itself or ATMB. Doesn’t seem to work.

However, based on these two threads, CS would have appeared to start between 4-12-2002 and 4-16.

30

Good thinking! Hard to argue with the logic.

Here are the next years’ first posts:

=====

12-31-2005, 11:59 PM

01-01-2006, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2006, 11:59 PM

01-01-2007, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2007, 11:59 PM

01-01-2008, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2008, 11:59 PM

01-01-2009, 12:00 AM

=====

31

2010-2012

12-31-2009, 11:59 PM

01-01-2010, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2010, 11:59 PM

01-01-2011, 12:00 AM

=====

12-31-2011, 11:59 PM

01-01-2012, 12:00 AM

=====

32

If you’re going for a complete timeline of forums, don’t forget that Comments on Cecil’s Columns and Comments on Staff Reports were separate at one point.

33

Thanks. Weren’t there some other now-defunct fora along the way, too?

Is there a simple way to locate when the various Mods got to be Mods and when they (those that have) quit those tasks?

34

I did a search on “forum” in thread titles. A quick look through the title for anything like “new forum” found:

“2010 U.S. Election” 6/1/2010 changed to “Elections” 6/2/2010
The Barn House 9/4/2008
Happy Thoughts 4/1/2011
Marketplace 12/7/2010
The Game Room 2/21/2008

There’s not an option on our end to search for all Announcements, which might find others.

35

At least one – the Boo! forum. I think it opened on Halloween 10/31/2011 and threads relocated in March 2012.

36

Another old thread about the subject: When were the various forums started?

37

I could go either way about those one-day only or short-term things. I can see how a thorough timeline would need them, but there seem to me to be major events worth the searching for where ad hoc fora may not be.

But I’m all for input of all kinds and I don’t suggest we dismiss things that others find worthwhile to include.

That’s some good stuff! More like that would be great to have for confirmation and clues to other events.

38

======================

This is what I found for the used-to-be Mods:

bibliophage Maine. Comments on Cecil’s Columns
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=5496
bibliophage
Total Posts: 8,883
Join Date: 04-07-2000

Cajun Man New York State of Mind. Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=4803
Cajun Man
Total Posts: 2,451
Join Date: 03-05-2000

Czarcasm Earth Prime, Pre-Crisis In My Humble Opinion
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=774
Czarcasm
Total Posts: 24,597
Join Date: 04-24-1999

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=2109
Spectre of Pithecanthropus
Total Posts: 16,010
Join Date: 08-11-1999

DrMatrix New York State of Mind. General Questions
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=3128
DrMatrix
Total Posts: 3,299
Join Date: 11-05-1999

fluiddruid Des Moines, IA.Cafe Society, The BBQ Pit
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=19467
fluiddruid
Total Posts: 5,715
Join Date: 11-26-2001

Frank Denver, Colorado. In My Humble Opinion
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=23639
Frank
Total Posts: 16,835
Join Date: 07-11-2002

Giraffe San Jose, California. The BBQ Pit
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=8812
Giraffe
Total Posts: 9,336
Join Date: 08-13-2000

MEBuckner Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Great Debates
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=8547
MEBuckner
Total Posts: 9,307
Join Date: 08-03-2000

SkipMagic In Yon Twee. Cafe Society, Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=547
SkipMagic
Total Posts: 6,768
Join Date: 04-08-1999

TVeblen Cecil’s dungeon.The BBQ Pit
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=2510
TVeblen
Total Posts: 6,610
Join Date: 09-11-1999

Ukulele Ike Brooklyn.Cafe Society
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=1717
Ukulele Ike
Total Posts: 10,629
Join Date: 07-07-1999

xash Santa Clara, CA.General Questions
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=12220
xash
Total Posts: 4,091
Join Date: 01-15-2001

Manhattan
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=2025
manhattan
Total Posts: 9,127
Join Date: 08-03-1999

Coldfire
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=1957
Coldfire
Total Posts: 15,943
Join Date: 07-27-1999

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=22
Eutychus
Total Posts: 5,410
Join Date: 02-20-1999

Melin – must be spelled wrong. No data!

======================

I know there are others but I’m drawing blanks as to names. Please add to the list, with User ID, Number of Posts, Join Date and anything else we ought to know.

39

For almost all of the last 12 years at least.

40

What about DavidB who was moderator of GD for some years?

There was also a GQ mod named “Knickers” or “Kn*ckers.”

Jill was a Moderator for some time.

I’m not certain if Melin was a moderator on the vBulletin board, or before that.