Thanks very much jonn. That's extremely good advice.
Honestly, I've been postponing this out of sheer decision fatigue. Many personal and health concerns preoccupy me, too. I do know the time is coming soon simply to make a choice and move on.
I also know at this point in my life I'd much rather write and edit things than manage a web site or do programming, although both of those can still be rewarding. FWIW, I've always been a jack-of-all-trades working quickly and creatively but also "breaking the rules" to get quick solutions. That was valuable working for Keith and for earlier jobs.
For CFS, the Sex Listings are so much more active than the Message Board and take most of my daily work. Years ago Squirt was the oldest and biggest Sex Listings competitor and didn't position themselves so clearly in the hook-up market. Now they are a paid site with quite limited free options, but still our main competitor as a "directory of cruisy places." There are a few others, of course.
I know the future site, in whatever model, will work on phones. It would probably be without an App; Squirt doesn't have one, although they are more hook-up oriented now.
For those who want to stay "under the radar," not having an App can be beneficial. You can wipe out your browser history or browse InPrivate or Incognito, but you might not want a spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend picking up your phone and asking, "Hey, why do you have this App? What are you doing on Grindr?"
For the group I would sell to, CFS would be a good addition to their portfolio and competitiveness.
One of my concerns is to structure things to maintain the openness and anonymity that many CFS users need. I want to allow people to continue being able to use the Sex Listings - both reading and writing - without requiring registration. Most of the Reviews come from unregistered users. Perhaps this might be problematic for the buyer and their legal counsel, although we haven't discussed or negotiated anything yet.
I also want to keep the Message Board readable to unregistered users, although they are not allowed to post or see complete Profile information.
Another is to keep and expand the aspect of CFS as an archive of "living history." In a real sense, it's a legacy I've lived since the days of STEAM Magazine, the print precursor to CFS that Scott O'Hara had with Keith and others before 1995.
Many of the places on the Sex Listings show a 2001 date from when I implemented a database before the current one; most of these actually go back well into the '90s when no date was assigned. They shouldn't disappear simply because they have historical and not easily-realized commercial value.
I better wrap this up. The big deal for me is that in his last months, when he knew he was dying, Keith left me both an enormous gift and a responsibility:
CFS isn't just another web site, it's something special. CFS is a sort of digital historical landmark which still keeps going even though it's not thriving. The next steps have to be handled very carefully and thoughtfully.
All for now. ~ Bob S.
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