24 Years of KarateForums.com!

[Patrick]

Hey all,

It was on this day, 24 years ago, that we launched this community. Last year, at this time, I opened up public testing for a new version of KarateForums.com on modern software. We were still on our (very) old software that eventually would have led to this community breaking and simply ceasing to exist. After months of testing (between the staff and member testing periods) and years of testing behind the scenes that I had completed with @Chrispian, we migrated to our new platform over an intense 4 days culminating in an opening on September 9, 2024.

Over 8 months later, it's clear to me that our combined efforts were a big success. Our slowly breaking platform is no longer breaking and, in fact, updates to the latest version of our software have been installed multiple times, helping to ensure our platform remains online and secure. All the work that @Chrispian and the folks at Invision Community did (along with my annoying insistence, ha) to ensure that passwords would work paid off. Whether you registered in 2001 or 2021, your password worked when our new site launched. It has all worked so well, and I'm grateful for your help and support.

24 years is such a long-time, and with it, there are so many people that have made a mark on this community over the years. I'd like to extend a thanks to all the members who made amazing contributions since our migration. This includes @ashworth, @aurik, @Bradlee, @bushido_man96, @Chuck, @crash, @DarthPenguin, @Drew, @Fat Cobra, @Himokiri Karate, @JazzKicker, @KarateKen, @Luther unleashed, @Montana, @Nidan Melbourne, @pandaGIRL, @Revario, @RJCKarate, @ryanryu, @sensei8, @Spartacus Maximus, @Wado Heretic, @Wastelander, @Wayofaswede, @Zaine, and others! Thank you!

I celebrated today by uploading an avatar for the first time in several years, since I tried to change my old Yankees logo into something else and realized avatars were 100% broken on the old site!  On that note, I'll continue to bring enhancements (mostly small, occasionally bigger than that) to this community, but the main thing I wanted to do was to get us on modern software that would be up-to-date, because that will naturally introduce new features over time, too! My ability to do things here always rests on the time I can squirrel away from chasing my toddler and other pursuits.

Thank you to everyone who has made KarateForums.com a special place to be and, if you're reading this, that's probably you! 

This also means that next year will mark 25 years! Which is a massive milestone. Which means we now need to think about ideas to celebrate that! Please feel free to let me know if you have any.  

Thanks again,

Patrick

[Patrick]

OH MY GOSH... I just realized that if you look closely at the URL of this thread:

https://karateforums.com/topic/52125-24-years-of-karateforumscom/

"52125" 5/21/2025. Today! That is wild! That number is simply an accumulating number that counts upward with each new topic posted here. 

I can't even begin to fathom the odds of that happening, like having the exact number of threads/topics here over 24 years to lead up to the day we turn 24 where the number of this topic matches the day we turn 24. 

[Zaine]

I joined August 31, 2005. It was my mother's birthday, as a matter of fact. I was 15. This year marks my 20th year with this website. I've had so many meaningful conversations here. I've grown as a person and a martial artist in these 20 years, and a portion of that positive growth I owe to my time here. In that time, I finished high school, college, grad school, got married, had a child, and so much more. This place has seen me through it all. I am so grateful that this place is still here. Thank you, Patrick, for creating it, and thank you everyone for making this a place worth coming back to. Y'all really are the best.

[ryanryu]

I love this site! I am so grateful that I rediscovered it after so many years away AND that all of you were still keeping the lights on. I think the forum format lends itself well to deeper conversations on topics (certainly deeper than other social media) and I’ve learned so much from the back and forth.

Seriously, I’ve been diving into the old posts on here and the accumulated knowledge is immense. We need to find an anthropology student to study this stuff. There’s probably a few PhD dissertations buried in there…

[KarateKen]

Thanks for the shout out and having the site.  I am enjoying my time here.