The EverythingDulcimer website has returned. Whooopie!!!

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

Here is a link to the issue of DPN in which my article on Everything Dulcimer appears. It is on page 33.

https://issuu.com/dulcimerplayersnewsinc/docs/120823190208-24b1ef20f89d4e1e9cbb6004cdabb332

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,111 posts

Yep -- ken's right.  i joined Everything Dulcimer on the Ides of March 2002.  Wow!  Eighteen years ago...

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

I thought I had posted a response to Lisa's request for the exact year ED started. It was 2002. Bruce began running some tests as he built the website starting in January and went online full time in March 2002. I think KenH joined on March 15 and I I joined on March 18. I wrote a short article on Everything Dulcimer for Dulcimer Players News. I'll have to search for that article. I did some early testing of the site Bruce and he asked me to be a moderator. When Bruce was at sea Ron Zuckerman pretty much ran the website and I helped with some of the work. Now help me out, Did I respond to this request in some other discussion?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

ConnorC
ConnorC
@connorc
4 years ago
5 posts

That ED site has a lot of tab! Thanks for letting us know it exists. 

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

I'm sure the two Kens can tell us the exact year that Bruce created ED. I joined there after it had been online for maybe two years.
Jason's SweetMusicDigest listserve was (to the best of my knowledge) the first dedicated online 'discussion group' for dulcimers. That was before people could easily put up online forum software websites like ED. But remember that SweetMusic was a listserve- an email mailing list...it did not have a website where the discussions were threaded and browse-able, like what we are all used to today.

Ed was started more than ten years before FOTMD. Fotmd was started in July 2009, making it almost 11 years old now.

Yes, there is still an 'official' ED facebook page which was created by the folks involved with running the old ED site, when ED was still running.  That FB page is still quite active:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/165673533442748/

I 'think' Ron Zuckerman started that ED FB page- Ron had volunteered and helped Bruce a lot with the tech/admin duties of maintaining the ED main website during its last couple of years. I think Ron then relinquished the ownership of the ED facebook page to others as of last year. They run it now, but I don't know their names.

Feel free to correct me if I have any of this wrong.
There are many other dulcimer 'groups'/pages on Facebook as well these days.




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

updated by @strumelia: 05/16/20 03:12:34PM
Mill Branch Dulcimores
Mill Branch Dulcimores
@mill-branch-dulcimores
4 years ago
22 posts
TTAD started December 8 2018 from a small traditional dulcimore builders group that had been on Google+ since around 2012. When Google+ closed we decided to go with a website.
Banjimer
Banjimer
@greg-gunner
4 years ago
141 posts
Thank you for the correction, Lisa. Perhaps we need a chronology of online dulcimer discussion forums.

Was the Sweet Music Index that Jason started the first? Followed by Bruce Ford's Everything Dulcimer site? Or was it Lisa's (Strumelia's) FOTMD that came next? Now we have Bobby's TTAD (The Traditional Appalachian Dulcimer) and the new Everything Dulcimer site, not to mention the Everything Dulcimer Facebook group.
What is the correct sequence of these groups and what have I missed?
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

I did read your post about Jason, but did not realize that Steve and Dan had a played a role in ED. I know Ron Zuckerman did quite a bit of work with the ED website.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

Read my post below about who Jason was.




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

I agree with Ken Hulme as I joined ED just after he did. Bruce called me and we did some testing of ED together. I don't remember any Jason involved in the origin of the website.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

Greg:

Jason was the guy who started the SweetMusic Index, which was the early and long running  email NEWSGROUP/LISTSERVE for dulcimers. Not to be confused with Bruce Ford's EverythingDulcimer. Jason was not around on his SweetMusic newsgroup very often, and it sort of hummed along by itself until listserves mostly faded from use.

Bruce was quite busy with his military service career, and after many years of running ED he wanted a break. It was Stephen Seifert and Dan Landrum who took over from Bruce on ED for a year or two. But then Dan and Stephen wanted to move on to start Dulcimer School, and Bruce resumed managing the ED forum again for another few years. Bruce finally got too busy in other life activity, and decided to close it down.




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

updated by @strumelia: 05/16/20 11:07:17AM
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,111 posts

I was on ED the week that the site opened to the public.  There were a couple of 'bots that Bruce used for testing, and two or three humans other than Bruce.  But, I don't recall any Jason or mention of Bruce taking over from anyone.  

Banjimer
Banjimer
@greg-gunner
4 years ago
141 posts
Please remember, Bruce Ford provided a great service for all Appalachian dulcimer players. But he did not create/originate Everything Dulcimer. If I remember correctly ED was created by "Jason (?)" Bruce Ford stepped forward when someone was needed to keep the website up and running, and we should all be thankful that he did.
The new website moderator should be given every opportunity to get ED back up and running.
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

I continue to check in to ED every day and make comments there when appropriate. I also tell people to check it out. It is important to have as many resources as possible to promote the mountain dulcimer and encourage people to play it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

Definitely it's no competition. But because they assumed Bruce Ford's original site name, comparisons to his site are just unavoidable. ED was special, and beloved by many.  




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Corvus
Corvus
@corvus
4 years ago
18 posts

When I said it was was just like the old ED I was referring to the design & format of the discussion forum.

I think we should all remember it's not a competition. I believe we should all be inclusive of, and supportive of, all dulcimer websites & dulcimer Facebook sites etc.

Let's spread the dulcimer 'love'.

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

It takes dedicated effort to keep spammers and unpleasant offenders off a public site. Bruce did a great job running ED for so many years. When he closed down ED, he did in fact explain publicly why he chose not to turn the site over to someone else. I can respect that. 




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

updated by @strumelia: 05/15/20 08:36:31PM
Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,073 posts

Indeed, it is not the old ED site. I was a moderator on that site and know the frustrations Bruce Ford experienced keeping it a safe place to discuss all things dulcimer. While he was at sea, he gave me and another person administration rights. I was overwhelmed by how much time it took to eliminate spurious material and offensive members. After he retired from the Navy and started his own business, he just did not have the time to put into ED anymore. Rather than turn it over to someone else, Bruce decided to retire the site. At least, that is how I understand it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

PTL
PTL
@ptl
4 years ago
1 posts

I signed up for it but didn't find anything of interest on it. Sad, sad, sad :(

Now I no longer look at it.  After years of following the old ED site, it was quite a disappointment.  Does anyone know who the "administers" are who owns this new site?


updated by @ptl: 05/16/20 01:00:45PM
Mill Branch Dulcimores
Mill Branch Dulcimores
@mill-branch-dulcimores
4 years ago
22 posts
No thank you
Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
4 years ago
2,248 posts

Just to be clear... the old ED has not 'returned'.  It's a completely new site run by someone who doesn't identify themselves. They bought the domain name when it went up for grabs online, and they decided to use the same name of Bruce Ford's original site. They mimicked the structure of the old site's forum topics, and copied over the original site's tab collection as well.
It's a whole new and different site, using the same name Bruce Ford created. It is not the original EverythingDulcimer come back again.




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

updated by @strumelia: 05/14/20 10:51:45PM
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,111 posts

Not exactly the same as the old ED.  But the new, anonymous Admin copied the old discussion structure pretty closely,  Not much traffic yet.  But it took more than a year to get decent discussions rolling on the original ED, so there may be hope.

Corvus
Corvus
@corvus
4 years ago
18 posts

I've just discovered that the ED site is now back up and running again.The discussion forum there is just like the old discussion forum. It's been back on line for several months.

I'm very happy that it's back. It was my favorite dulcimer website for years. Just go to the usual www.everythingdulcimer.com  address.


updated by @corvus: 05/14/20 08:37:17AM