new post: discord-not-a-forum

gemlog/bad-domain-registrars.gmi

@@ -11,12 +11,19 @@ Assembling this collection has taken me through many different domain registrars
 
 Every step of the transfer process at these sorts of registrars is deliberately designed to make it as annoying as possible so that customers will give up and just stay with the shitty registrar. It's gross.
 
-Fortunately, we don't have to do business with shady registrars like that. I've been using Porkbun for more and more of my domains over the past year or so and have been positively delighted by the experience at every step of the way. I've also had a great experience registering domains (and transferring them to/from) Cloudflare. I'm sure there are many other reputable registrars to consider, but I think Porkbun should be at the top of anyone's list. Registering, managing, and transferring domains shouldn't be painful.
+Fortunately, we don't have to do business with shady registrars like that, though it can often be difficult to determine how good/evil a registrar will be until you've already signed up with them - and by that point, shitty registrars will make you fight your way out. Something that can help is to look through the registrar's *publicly available* support docs to see what their policy is for transferring domains out of their registrar. Good registrars will make it easy:
 
-=> https://porkbun.com/ Porkbun: An Oddly Satisfying Experience
+=> https://kb.porkbun.com/article/27-how-to-transfer-domain-from-porkbun-to-another-registrar Porkbun: How to Transfer a Domain From Porkbun to Another Registrar
-=> https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/ Cloudflare Registrar: Domain registrar with no-markup pricing
+=> https://developers.cloudflare.com/registrar/account-options/transfer-out-from-cloudflare/ Cloudflare: Transfer domain from Cloudflare to another registrar
+=> https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/258/84/what-should-i-do-to-transfer-a-domain-from-namecheap/ Namecheap: What should I do to transfer a domain from Namecheap?
 
-On the other hand, if you want a registrar that ticks all the shitty boxes above, gen.xyz is an option.
+On the other hand, bad registrars might hide the instructions behind a login and/or insist that you contact support to obtain the auth code:
+=> https://gen.xyz/account/knowledgebase/5/Domain-Management gen.xyz: Can I transfer my domain to another registrar?
+> Submit a ticket to support, requesting your EPP/authorization code
+
+I've been using Porkbun for more and more of my domains over the past year or so and have been positively delighted by the experience at every step of the way. I've also had a great experience registering domains (and transferring them to/from) Cloudflare. I'm sure there are many other reputable registrars to consider, but I think Porkbun should be at the top of anyone's list. Registering, managing, and transferring domains shouldn't be painful.
+
+But if you really want a registrar that ticks all the shitty boxes above, gen.xyz is an option.
 
 ===
 

gemlog/bad-domain-registrars.yaml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 id: "urn:uuid:7ba24cd6-a430-4234-9210-2cc6bec668f2"
 title: "Habits of Bad Domain Registrars"
 published: "2024-03-18T23:44:56Z"
-updated: "2024-03-18T23:44:56Z"
+updated: "2024-03-25T13:52:01Z"
 summary: |-
   If you, as a registrar, do any of (let alone *all* of) the following, know that your business model is hot+wet garbage.

gemlog/discord-not-a-forum.gmi

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+> And get off my lawn.
+
+Over the past several years, there's been this trend for new companies to stand up a Discord server instead of hosting a discussion forum where users can exchange ideas, offer feedback, and provide support to each other.
+
+And I hate it.
+
+For decades, if I had a problem with a software product I could search the internet for the symptoms/errors and could generally find someone else who had encountered the same issue. Often, the results would lead me to a thread on a company's community forum, and that thread would include helpful troubleshooting tips, workarounds, and (often) an official response from the company.
+
+If the issue remained unresolved, I could add any additional details or observations to the thread and subscribe to it to be notified of updates. And because the thread was indexed by popular search engines, it was likely that other users encountering the same problem would be able to find the same thread to figure out the status of the issue.
+
+While Discord does have a search capability, Discord conversations are not typically indexed by external search engines. Users aren't able to find threads discussing their issue without logging in to Discord and searching there, and that leads to new users asking the same questions or raising the same issues over and over again. In larger communities, it can be impossible to keep up with the conversations unless you do nothing but hang out in Discord all day - and if you don't do that, it's easy to miss out on potentially-important information.
+
+And that's not even getting into the toxic behavior and attitudes that seem so prevalant in many Discord communities. The rapid-fire synchronous communication style can make misunderstandings all too easy, and some individuals are so keen to jump on others who don't seem to know as much as they do. Sure, that happens on forums on other communities too, but Discord users seem to get so wrapped up in the moment and devoted to escalating any potential conflicts rather than taking a beat to think through an appropriate response.
+
+Don't get me wrong: I don't hate Discord itself. It can be a great way to keep in touch with a smallish group of friends, or to promote comraderie and socializing within a user group _in addition_ to a more stateful forum.
+
+I just think Discord sucks as a _replacement_ for a forum.

gemlog/discord-not-a-forum.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+id: "urn:uuid:87ecfbd4-0710-4f47-b9a7-681f5b9c6bb2"
+title: "Discord Is Not A Forum"
+published: "2024-03-25T08:07:12-05:00"
+updated: "2024-03-25T08:07:12-05:00"
+summary: |-
+  Companies keep insisting on using Discord as a forum replacement, and it's a terrible idea.