I emailed Steve and asked him when and how he came to set up this wonderful discussion forum for Catholic Converts. Here is his reply:


Hello Siggy:

You caught me off guard -- I don't remember. I think the whole thing started when I began to teach the Bible in our parish and I put up the website so they could download the Bible study notes.

There was a young man in our parish named Tim Wagner who offered to build a website for me. I didn't know anything about them back then and still don't understand how they work. But he set up a simple website which allowed me to keep a schedule, put up my articles and share my favorite links.

I never asked him to set up a Discussion Forum -- I didn't even know what such a thing was. But when he was done setting up my website BINGO -- it had the Discussion Forum. It had to have been about 1996 since we came into the Church in 1994 and the website started shortly after our conversion.

It started out quickly and I don't know where all the first members came from or why they joined but it got big fast. I was the only moderator but at that time there was no registration or controls. It was completely uncontrolled. I didn't add registration until it was getting slammed every week by people that hated me and my Catholicism. They crashed the board over and over again and Tim Wagner was busy getting it going again. I remember at times getting up every hour with my alarm clock to check the board to see if it was attacked.

Finally we set up a registration process to keep it somewhat safe and to know who was doing what. They my whole website got too big so I asked Adam Henriksen to re-design the whole thing. That was about 2001. I met Adam in Phoenix when he was the sound man for our video project. He went to the Middle East with us to handle all the sound and help with lights.

About three years ago the website got too big again so we bought our own server which is kept in a bomb-proof facility in Arizona. Adam takes care of it. It has to ghost backup hard drives, is backed up daily with multiple backups and I have a friend in Michigan who makes a monthly redundancy backup too just in case Arizona gets bombed and the bombproof building isn't really bomb-proof.

So, that is a short history -- recalling the best I can how it all happened.

It has been a great adventure and I love having the website and Message Board. I will continue to keep it up and running and keep it on the cutting edge. Thanks to you and all the others that make it a wonderful thing.

If you are an original member of DCF, please sign in below.

I registered in late '97 or early '98. Mark Shea, Jimmy Akin, et al were already board members. Doom was here before I was, as well.

What do you mean by "original memberr?" I was a member on the old board but I don't think I was a charter member.

Learner

Original = anyone on the board before the switch in 2002.

nesseca was on the old board...just in case he misses this thread. His username was different.

I'm not... but I wish I was!!

"different" is a very unusual username

I was there, Occasionally posting as Brian Thomas.

I was there in 1998-99. My username was originally my own name: Ann. I switched to Sparky when MaryH said it would fit me.

I've calmed down a lot. Too tired, I guess.
--Ann

I can't remember when I started on the old board... I want to say it was 98 or 99, but I'm not sure. I wasn't a prolific poster very much there (primarily because I didn't like the layout/format)...

my initial username was "beaudrot"

I joined around 98 on the original board, Siggy was already here, Mark Shea, Jimmy Akin, Dave Armstrong all posted and James White popped in a time or two....but I used my real name (LaRae) then...I didn't start using SV until the new board was set up.


SV

I was on the old board, maybe around 2000, if not before.

GKC

I was on the old board too but posted very little.

Bit like now, then.... (kidding!)

And here i thought this was going to be a Creation version of the DCF fora.

What a let down. I had this whole "And Steve saw it, and it was good" thing running through my head...

Oh well.

Rachel

Well I was on the old board posting as tryan but I don't remember when I started posting there.

Not a bit like now! I had to threaten him with all sorts of hurtful things to get him to post more here than on the old board. If the old board had had post counting, he'd be at the bottom of the list.

You used TomRyan when you first started on here, didn't you?

I remember that name.

Come to think of it, yeah! I did use that pseudonym. It's a perfect alias since it's my real name. Throws people off when you use your real name as an alias.