The origins of RF?

[Metalic Wings]

Alright. Well I was talking with Xiao_Shu and suddenly we were like "hmm, who STARTED RF? Who is in charge for making payments? Who were the original mods?"

So I decided to do some research in the "Know Your Moderators" section. But after reading through several threads and realizing that there were four pages of mods... I admit it, I gave up.

So! Can anyone answer this? Is anyone willing to answer this? Has the answer been lost in the sands of time?

And maybe even more importantly: This question hasn't been asked already has it? I attempted to search for a similar thread and either came up with every thread on the whole site or nothing at all. So I'm taking my chances here.

Thanks!

 

[Jackytar]

I would also like to know what software was used to create RF. Excellent and stable format.

Jackytar

 

[Just_me_Mike]

I would also like to know what software was used to create RF. Excellent and stable format.

Jackytar

I would suspect a standard Open Source forum, most likely PHP driven

 

[MissAlice]

I don't know but I heard some rumors about some atheist/s creating it.

"gasp"

 

[Nepenthe]

I heard someone tried to get a cat and a dog to mate and they made babies and the babies were RF.
Just a rumor I heard.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

I heard it has been around since 1920, and in 1929 it was opened to the public. During the depression, people didn't have much to do, so they got on their laptops to pass the time buy... That's just what I heard though...

 

[monta]

I heard that it wasn't created at all that it just blinked into existence one day, then the rules got added later by a group of power hungry mystics that wanted to control the internet, I don't know if it's true but that's what I heard :yes:

 

[cardero]

I heard it has been around since 1920, and in 1929 it was opened to the public. ...

I heard the same story but it was the Pony Express that fueled our ancestor's debates.

itwillend writes: During the depression, people didn't have much to do, so they got on their laptops to pass the time buy... That's just what I heard though.

I heard the Eros Room only allowed male members because women weren't supposed to enjoy sex.

 

[Smoke]

Rex is the founder and original owner of RF. His join date is 15 March 2004. He registered the domain name on 13 March 2004, which -- I know you want to know -- was a Saturday, not a Friday.

Green Gaia was one of the very early members when it was just getting started; her join date is 27 March 2004. I couldn't tell you who else was here at the very beginning, but GG could. I know Sunstone and Cardero have both been here since 2004.

Rex sold RF to Todd in 2005. Todd sold RF to Advameg, Inc., in 2007. Advameg owns a large number of forums and websites.

The owner, of course, pays the bills. When members become supporters that helps. There is also some income from advertising. Historically, once Rex got it up and running, RF has been run at a slight profit. That is, what the owner takes in from supporters and advertising is usually a bit more than the cost of running the forums, but not a lot more.

I would also like to know what software was used to create RF. Excellent and stable format.

I used to know, but I've forgotten.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

It's all a cover up. This is a CIA run operation to keep tabs on the sneaky religious curious type. Now don't share this information with anyone or I will have to sting you.

 

[Mister_T]

Rex is the founder and original owner of RF. His join date is 15 March 2004. He registered the domain name on 13 March 2004, which -- I know you want to know -- was a Saturday, not a Friday.

Green Gaia was one of the very early members when it was just getting started; her join date is 27 March 2004. I couldn't tell you who else was here at the very beginning, but GG could. I know Sunstone and Cardero have both been here since 2004.

Rex sold RF to Todd in 2005. Todd sold RF to Advameg, Inc., in 2007. Advameg owns a large number of forums and websites.

The owner, of course, pays the bills. When members become supporters that helps. There is also some income from advertising. Historically, once Rex got it up and running, RF has been run at a slight profit. That is, what the owner takes in from supporters and advertising is usually a bit more than the cost of running the forums, but not a lot more.


I used to know, but I've forgotten.

Smoke pretty much summed it up. I don't think I could do much better than him.

I would like to expand on the Supporter membership that was brought up though, and go on record stating that Supporter Status is no longer available for anybody. There are still some members that have supporter status colors (green colored names), but they do not pay anything (even if they wanted to) and those colors should dissapear once their old membership is up.

 

[Jackytar]

Advertising? I don't see any. Perhaps soon. I have been on a yahoo group forum for 10 years that added advertising about 5-6 years ago. Really messed up the feel of the forum. We had the option of paying for a ad free experience but even with over 2000 members, about half of that active, it was a no-starter.

I am really impressed with the format here, the frubals and other touches. The search feature is kinda weak, though.

Jackytar

 

[Twilight Hue]

I would also like to know what software was used to create RF. Excellent and stable format.

Jackytar

I would guess V-Bulletin by Jelsoft Enterprises or similer.
If not VB, its pretty identical in its format and layout. Very user friendly.

 

[BucephalusBB]

I would guess V-Bulletin by Jelsoft Enterprises or similer.

:yes:

They removed the software's name pretty much everywhere, but you can still see it in the title of our Vbulletin FAQ

 

[Metalic Wings]

Rex is the founder and original owner of RF. His join date is 15 March 2004. He registered the domain name on 13 March 2004, which -- I know you want to know -- was a Saturday, not a Friday.

Green Gaia was one of the very early members when it was just getting started; her join date is 27 March 2004. I couldn't tell you who else was here at the very beginning, but GG could. I know Sunstone and Cardero have both been here since 2004.

Rex sold RF to Todd in 2005. Todd sold RF to Advameg, Inc., in 2007. Advameg owns a large number of forums and websites.

The owner, of course, pays the bills. When members become supporters that helps. There is also some income from advertising. Historically, once Rex got it up and running, RF has been run at a slight profit. That is, what the owner takes in from supporters and advertising is usually a bit more than the cost of running the forums, but not a lot more.

Thank you very much! A history in a nutshell is the best kind of history.

 

[Quagmire]

"In the early years of the information age, the mysterious webmasters forged message boards;

9 were given to the atheists; beings convinced of their own mortality.

7 to the theists; those diggers of dogma that dwelt deep within the ancient texts.

3 to the agnostics; (because there wasn't much bandwidth left)

But, unbeknownst to these beings, the Dark Webmaster, Rex, forged in secret another message board; one with which he could rule all the races of Muddled Earth; Atheists, Theists, Agnostics, and even trolls.

With this message board he brought them together;

One site to bring them all, one site to bind them,
One site to rule them all and constantly remind them,
That;

RF is As a community of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, our aim is to provide a civil environment, informative, respectful and welcoming where people of diverse beliefs can discuss, compare and debate religion while engaging in fellowship with one another.

Yeah, it doesn't ryhme, but all in all it was a good start.

 

[Smoke]

I would like to expand on the Supporter membership that was brought up though, and go on record stating that Supporter Status is no longer available for anybody. There are still some members that have supporter status colors (green colored names), but they do not pay anything (even if they wanted to) and those colors should dissapear once their old membership is up.

Thanks, Nick. I didn't even know that.

Advertising? I don't see any.

You don't see any if you're a registered member and logged in, and even otherwise it's not very obtrusive. A few text ads by Google Ads.

 

[Renji]

Rex is the founder and original owner of RF. His join date is 15 March 2004. He registered the domain name on 13 March 2004, which -- I know you want to know -- was a Saturday, not a Friday.

Green Gaia was one of the very early members when it was just getting started; her join date is 27 March 2004. I couldn't tell you who else was here at the very beginning, but GG could. I know Sunstone and Cardero have both been here since 2004.

Rex sold RF to Todd in 2005. Todd sold RF to Advameg, Inc., in 2007. Advameg owns a large number of forums and websites.

The owner, of course, pays the bills. When members become supporters that helps. There is also some income from advertising. Historically, once Rex got it up and running, RF has been run at a slight profit. That is, what the owner takes in from supporters and advertising is usually a bit more than the cost of running the forums, but not a lot more.


I used to know, but I've forgotten.

Such a beautiful history. And I hope RF keeps on going for many years.