So they're the bas**rds?

Now, where's all those pr0n sites...

Don’t inflame them - or they’ll think we really are retards. I think it’s better to tell them that this will hurt them from a business perspective. Lost audience = lost ad revenue. Could also mean lost subs revenue too. That}s what they need to know. Not what ladyboys look like.

Just remember it's not the relevent magazine editors fault.
It's whoever is in charge of the online side of Dennis.

We got over 155000 hits in our first 24 hours of being online. That's a lot of potential add revenue.

Dear Pete Wootton,

I am writing to you because I understand that you are the managing Director of Dennis Interactive. I take it that your work includes overseeing the websites.

I am a regular user of the MacUser web site - I have visited the site pretty much daily for many years. I am an active member of the online forums that the MacUser site offered, and I made in excess of 3,500 posts over two or three years (I can not confirm this as the board is now closed).

As you will be aware, the MacUser forum shared content with other Dennis magazines - PCPro, Computer Shopper, etc.. The forum brought together a wide range of people, with different careers, backgrounds and, or course, varying levels of IT experience. Debates in the Meeting Place and News Comments forums were lively, exciting and educational. I found that having the cross platform approach to the boards was one of the best things about the forum. I have learnt about software and IT subjects outside of my own experience, and I hope that others have benefited from my input. By doing this, Dennis Interactive has created something rather special - a community , and a damn fine friendly one at that - a rarity on the internet.

Last week, I learnt that there will be major changes to the MacUser forum. These changes involve separating each magazine out to it’s own portal, and ensuring that the forums for each site do not cross into others. The reason for this given to us is that it will allow better targeted news and stories. However, in doing this, the exciting mix of people I would come across will be severely diminished. Just because I use a Mac, does not mean that I want to be segregated from Windows or PC users - verymuch the opposite. If I comment on a news story in the MacUser site (which is where I would find myself, being a long time subscriber), my thoughts will only be read by other MacUser visitors. If the same news story appears on the PCPro site, I will not see any comments. As you can guess, the comments posted on each story will cease to be as diverse they they used to be.

I find this saddening - surely it is not beyond the wit of man to ensure that the Meeting Place, and News Comments are shared between the publications as they were before? This close-knit group of people is a serious asset to you - both in terms of reader loyalty, but also in terms of revenue from advertising.

You may be aware that there is now an independent forum set up by one of the members of the forum to allow us all to continue contact. At time of writing this message (6pm 25th April 2009), 143 former Dennis Interactive members have joined it. The forum was set up Thursday evening. You will find that those people are the mainstays of the old Dennis forums - they are PC Pro readers, MacUser Readers, CustomPC readers, ComputerShopper readers... and they value the community and friendships they have formed so much, that they deem the new forum to be a far better development than those proposed by Dennis Interactive. Indeed, the forum administrator informs me that so far, the site has had over 155000 hits. That is a lot of page serves, and crucially for Dennis Interactive, 155000 pages worth of advertising that you will never see.

There is a lot of poor feeling about how the community has been treated by Dennis Interactive. While I accept that you are free to do with your sites as you wish, you have to remember that one of its biggest assets is the visitors to the site. Without those, any site becomes a meaningless exercise. Many forum members have expressed a desire to cancel their magazine subscriptions as result of this harsh treatment. Others have sworn never to return to the site. The strength of feeling is very strong. If I were to take an average, I would class it as "betrayal".

I strongly urge you to reconsider this fragmenting of the Dennis forums. I am not sure if the damage is permanent, but I am sure that by the time the new sites are up, loyalties may very well be with the new forum, and that the strong membership you once had will no longer exist.

I invite you to visit the independent forum (http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/), and to see how it is thriving. You should then ask yourself how you can repeat this success for Dennis - if one person can create this in such little time, then surely you can do better?

If you do visit the site, please add your thoughts on this matter - we are keen to discuss the Dennis forums with you and to learn your reasons for breaking them up. A number of forum members have said that it IS possible to maintain the forums as a shared resource whilst maintining a more defines separation of other content. There is no shame in asking on the forum if your team can not do this.

In closing, I would like to add my disappointment to the many voices. I am disappointed that Dennis Interactive has taken such a cavalier approach to such a valuable asset. I am disappointed that contact with others non MacUser will no longer be possible in the way that it was. I hope you have the time to reply to this, either to me directly or on the new forum.

Just remember it's not the relevent magazine editors fault.
It's whoever is in charge of the online side of Dennis.

We got over 155000 hits in our first 24 hours of being online. That's a lot of potential add revenue.

I like it, I like it a lot!

Indeed, it isn't bad at all. One thing I would say is, maybe a petition of people would have an affect also. Saying that, I guess you could count X404 as one big petition lol.