Thread: eLightbars and LibertyPSE are merging

After a rocky few years for ELB members, and slow growth for LPSE members, we've decided to combine two of the premier sites for Public Safety Equipment and Personnel! For LibertyPSE members, there will be no loss of features or "community", and for eLightbars members, there will be more new features added to the recent upgrades.

Many of you have noticed that there has been a "tech account" running around recently. That has been Jman423 (Jimmy from LibertyPSE). He has been working extensively on eLightbars behind the scenes recently and is responsible for many of the recent updates.

What this means to eLightbars.org members:

*The site will continue in a very similar manner
*There will be a few new members that may not be 100% comfortable with the site. Please be kind and helpful.
*Jman423 (Jimmy from LibertyPSE) will be continuing to do the tech side of the site. He will be called the "Tech Admin"

What this means for LibertyPSE members:

* LibertyPSE.com will remain online, but will no longer accept new members or content. It will be maintained as an archive to preserve unique information.
* To make the transition smoother, there will be [strike]exclusive forums and a chatroom for LPSE members[/stike]
* Links to LPSE content will still be active
* All new content, moving forward from a date yet to be announced, will be exclusive to eLightbars
* Members of LPSE must have active accounts on ELB, or register for an account. LPSE credentials will not work on ELB
* Members under the age of 18 will have similar restrictions when it comes to the classifieds section and any inappropriate forum areas

As with LPSE, moderation is kept to a minimum on ELB to allow unbiased discussion and opinions. ELB and LPSE have always had a similar forum structure, but if there is something that you see on LPSE that is not on ELB, please request it.

The idea behind the consolidation is to bring the features of LPSE together with the overwhelming resources of ELB into one place. It is costly and time consuming to keep up with one forum, let alone two. We have agreed it is logical to combine our efforts and offer the community one single feature packed resource.

If you have questions or concerns, you may contact us via email or PM, either here or on LPSE.

Thank you,
John Marcson

I think it is a fine idea, I have accounts on both and saw how this forum was set-up similar to lpse.

Good Job Jman

Originally Posted by ryan

I think it is a fine idea, I have accounts on both and saw how this forum was set-up similar to lpse.

Good Job Jman

Every day the overlap became more and more.... it just doesn't make financial or logistic sense to have 2 sites, especially since Jman was doing tech for both.

I am a member there too but never posted. I always found this site more informative. The only thing I can see bad is that some of the " old regime" from the Lightbarn may be coming over and hopefully there arent any hard feelings still.

Great idea!

All i got to say john is don't give up too much power! I've only been around for about 3 boards or so, but I've always found this place to be very informative and well managed! Not sure what happened years ago but it doesn't sound good and me nor anyone else wants a repeat of that.

Originally Posted by Fast LT1

All i got to say john is don't give up too much power! I've only been around for about 3 boards or so, but I've always found this place to be very informative and well managed! Not sure what happened years ago but it doesn't sound good and me nor anyone else wants a repeat of that.

Nope, no power being transferred at all. LPSE founder Jman has been helping me with the site since I took it back, that's not changing. I'm still running it and have exclusive board ownership. This is really more of a change for LPSE members than it is you guys. It just doesn't make sense to have duplicated info and features being worked on by the same person. Very little changes on the ELB end.

Good luck with the merge.

Originally Posted by Fast LT1

All i got to say john is don't give up too much power! I've only been around for about 3 boards or so, but I've always found this place to be very informative and well managed! Not sure what happened years ago but it doesn't sound good and me nor anyone else wants a repeat of that.

Don't worry, no repeats of the previous power struggles. LPSE was started becuase of those problems, and now that John has all that worked out, we are teaming up to make this place even better. I have no desire to administer rules and/or members, so that removes the motives that caused the previous incidents.

That's great to hear! Congrats on the merge.

Old "Regime"?

Really?

Some folks really just wanted to do the job that was assigned to them, and nothing more.

Was it perfect? No- nothing is. The community that we have here is a great place to stop by on occasion. I spent alot of my personal time fixing forums, posts, moving things, and taking care of requests. If you've been a mod, you know what I mean. I wasn't paid.

I read some of the reaction to the merger over there.. The whiny crybabys there who are pouting that ELB sucks and this and that. They arent coming here. Fuck them who needs them.

And Yes Regime. Some moderators took the job way too serious. You no, I have seen you use common sense with regards to posts. On the other hand other mods used Gestapo moderation and when asked for clarification of a rule or posting. The answer was READ THE RULES. In big red letters. A simple explination would suffice. Some people think they have some big balls hiding behind a keyboard. Little power goes a long way and easy to think you are the king of the world on a simple message board.

I think what John has done is a great thing. It brings professionals and hobbyst from all different backrounds together in one place to enjoy a common thing we share.

I am still not fond of the age limits for buying/selling. I am a minor and i have made plenty and plenty of transactions with members from LPSE and ELB and not one has gone wrong and i have all 100% positive feedback on both sites. If we could arange a different way to do this, maybe a probationary time for minors when they first join i think that would be better.

KP

I hadn't heard about LPSE until this thread. So I went over there to check it out and I have to agree with Respondcode3, I saw some negative there as well. I just hope it doesn't carry over to here. I like the way John and the rest of the moderation team have been running ELB.

Originally Posted by HFD eng1ine

I am still not fond of the age limits for buying/selling. I am a minor and i have made plenty and plenty of transactions with members from LPSE and ELB and not one has gone wrong and i have all 100% positive feedback on both sites. If we could arange a different way to do this, maybe a probationary time for minors when they first join i think that would be better.

KP

The problem with minors selling stuff has nothing to do with trustworthiness and everything to do with legal liability. I'd be happy to further explain in a PM if you like.

What Jman and I are trying to do is pool resources to streamline operations. Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm sorry there is a group of 15 people that are unhappy, but they will either join the thousands that interact here w/o a problem, or they won't..... simple as that. Let's not turn this into a debate about the past history of any site. This is about the future of the community.

Originally Posted by JohnMarcson

The problem with minors selling stuff has nothing to do with trustworthiness and everything to do with legal liability. I'd be happy to further explain in a PM if you like.

John,

That'd be awesome! Thanks! I've come to terms with the sites merging I just wish I could still buy and sell.

Originally Posted by HFD eng1ine

John,

That'd be awesome! Thanks! I've come to terms with the sites merging I just wish I could still buy and sell.

I'm sure we can find a way to include you in sales, it's just a little more involved process since you are a minor.

A few things about this.

I wasn't happy about the merger when I first read it and although I am a regular at LPSE and on ELB, there is a bit of a different atmosphere over there as opposed to here. When people come into the chat or the site and were told that they are wannabes or whackers without people finding out info first, or when peoples threads are the reason why "the ring" forum was started, you have to expect bad tastes in peoples mouth. And then the comments on here about people on the site as being whiny, it isn't correct. They aren't being whiny, they are letting you know that they were left a bad taste from previous incarnations of this site, and whether you believe it or not, it is still hard to remove that taste. It is the same as trying the remove the taste you get from horrible food or drink.

With the increase in some moderation over here, you may find it won't be very long for most of us over there to transition over to here with our knowledge, but just a bit of understanding, for a little while an go a long way in removing that bitter taste most over there have.

I do admit, I was flamed on the previous version of the site, and that left a bad taste in my mouth, but the difference is I don't normally allow things to bother me like that one flame post did. It was a while though for me to remove that taste, but it has mostly left. But most of the ones over there never had the chance to remove that taste because they had a site (LPSE) that filled in for ELB. So until the taste and the experiences are removed, comments and misgivings are going to abound.

Just be patient with people, and try not to flame them unless they have proven they need to be flamed.

And John, I understand the like it or lump it idea. I didn't like it but have come to accept it. I like what you have done to the site here and although I believe in just a tad bit more of the moderation than you do, keep it up as you try to enhance the site.

There is a fine line between moderation and over moderation. I'd rather a few immature posts slip through than have the board return to excessive cencorship. Keeping a board of 300 people running smoothly is a totally different thing than keeping a boad of over 3000 running smoothly. As far as people whining on LSPE... they are comfortable there.... and worried about being part of a larger community. They will either become comfortable over time, or decide that the site isn't for them. I hope the do become part of our community, but calling them out for being concerned about the change isn't going to help.

Any update on this? Looks like there is still new content being posted on LPSE.

Originally Posted by FDNY 10-75

Any update on this? Looks like there is still new content being posted on LPSE.

Jman is spending all his time updating eLightbars and working on projects here. For now he simply left LPSE open but isn't doing any updates or spending any time on it. There are only a handful of people left there... I'm not sure what his long term plan for the site is.

I haven't really focused on this subject as I am still working out bugs and adding new things to this site. The few members that are active over there have asked to have the site left open, and until I can really dedicate the time to figure out what should be done, I'll just leave it alone. I've expressed my opinion about the fact the real resources are here on ELB, which is why I have directed my attention to this site in an attempt to benefit as many member as possible. Some members have expressed their unwillingness to engage on this board, so they continue to interact on LPSE, mostly in the chatroom as evident by the post statistics.