Anyone else having problems with GoY?

I and some others I know of have had the same problem Shirley, but it's working for me again today (obviously!)
I wrote to Dave but I was told the message could not be delivered so I thought GoY had ended, and to be honest I'm so fed up with all the problems going on with it these days that I find it more trouble than its worth.

Thanks Hywel, I sometimes wonder if I should investigate other gardening forums but this one is so easy to navigate around ... not sure if I could be bothered to start again!

I belong to another two, they were difficult to get used to at first but I'm so used to them now it's like second nature.
They are very different to GoY, and to each other, but if they were the same there wouldn't be any point in them would there :)
I've made some nice 'friends' on them too, like I have on GoY.

Found 'Garden Stew' garden forum last night...not as good as GoY.

I had the same Shirley, but it's okay now. We're having a terrific storm right now with electric off and now back on.

I would really miss everyone if that was the end of GoY, so I sincerely hope not! You're all my friends and I couldn't do without you all...

I also had problems with GoY but I never saw the screen above. I just ended with a blank screen every time I tried to get in. Yesterday I tried 5 or 6 times not only using my usual bookmark but doing searches, even with different browsers & on the phone as well as here on the computer but I always got a blank page, even if the search engine took me to GoY.

I tried one last time this morning with the same results so I thought "That's the end of GoY!" I felt sad that GoY had come to such an "abrupt" end! So you can imagine my surprise on opening my usual bookmark for GoY this evening & the usual login screen appeared I hardly dared believe my eyes! Let's hope GoY's woes are over!

Yes, like Janey, I lost the site briefly. Glad it seems to be back and, for now at least, without annoying ads!

I did see a strange site that asked for money to join GrowsonYou but happily that has disappeared.

Perhaps the time has come when we should pay a small subscription to continue to the use of GoY - for as much as it pains us! I never see ads due to the various adblockers I have installed in my Firefox browser.

Without ads nowadays it's extremely difficult to keep a site free. We have had a fright seeing our favourite site vanishing into the ether so perhaps we should consider it. What does everyone think?

Janey, that's just how I feel, even though I may never physically meet up with members on GoY, I feel I know them so well over the years.

David, I had a text from one member saying it was back on, but when I tried logging on the screen in the photo was back.

I would happily pay an annual fee to keep the site running.

Sheila, I didn't see that one, seems like Gremlins are within the site once more, grrr!

Well I'm not paying to be a member of a rubbish forum that never works properly, and where the members have to monitor all the inappropriate photos and blogs that appear nearly every day.
And you needn't think it will improve if you pay, because that depends on the people who created it, and they are 'busy doing other things'.

I certainly agree with you Hywel...it was only 2 days when GoY wasn't accessible here..it certainly felt like a void.I wont be paying for it I'm afraid. It's a shame after all these years as a member.

Same here Shirley_tulip.

Yes it was down for me as well over here in Australia, for two days. All good now though.

I've only recently returned to this site after a number of years away from it, and it seems like a much smaller number of people using it regularly.

It used to be a very busy site with lots of photos being shared on a daily basis. It was hard to keep up sometimes. There were also loads of comments and interactions from so many people.

I do still see some familiar names, but the whole site has a much quieter feel and slower pace these days which seems a shame.

I've tried others, including GardenStew, but found most of them clunky and very time-consuming to use. I've always found this site quite simple to use with very few issues.

I'm another who saw the Error message, and pleased all seems back to normal now, so I'll continue as before

Like Hywel, I would not be willing to pay to use this site but happy enough to continue flagging spam etc as “payment”

This site is among the oldest . Because it was never changed it is simple to use. It is not managed and with so many changes to Internet's software, apps and algorithms it will be hard to keep it up because of its originality.
I was wondering if Dave (or someone) is moving it to “GoDaddy's Website Builder which does not require much of technical skills...just a thought.
Most people here today are the original members. Quite tight group of gardening friends.

I was much put out by that ‘go daddy thing ‘. saying that I must pay in future, then I was locked out &I thought that was the end ofGoY for me. Tried tonight & all ok again. I was wondering if it was a scam, one has to be aware of such these days. Anyway, it’s the only site I’m on & like Janey Iwould miss not hearing about other folks gardens & especially their visits to parts of the country which I’m not really ever going to see for myself. Keep posting about your doings. Best wishes to all.

A couple of years ago Hywel told us about a couple of gardening forums that he was a member of & posted links to both of them. Well I joined both. I was quite happy posting on both for a year or so that is until another gardening forum I'd never heard off went west! Then lots of its old members joined one of the 2 forums, Gardeners Corner, & flooded it with their comments & photos & made up little groups where the old members could find each other easily. After a month or so I felt so overwhelmed that I left off posting there & since then I've concentrated by posts on the smaller one called Garden Friends as well as on GoY. I did try to encourage people joining Gardeners Corner to join Garden Friends but very, very few few joined.

When I found that GoY was offline I almost went back to Gardeners Corner. But just before I clicked on the old bookmark I decided to give GoY another go & found that it was back up again so I didn't go back to Gardeners Corner.

I still log on to both of those sites, they don't have problems like GoY, and I find them easy to look at because I've persevered and got used to them.
They are both very old forums.

Gardeners Corner is busy with lots of threads, many not garden-related, but I just stick to a few and only read what I'm interested in.
There are lots of members on it, but they are quite friendly, and the new ones from Gardeners World forum (which closed down) have become part of the GC 'family' now. I would miss them just as I would miss my friends on GoY.

Having said all that, I'll still look at GoY and I'll still show photos and write blogs (when I can get around to it !) ... I'm not easy to get rid of :D
I just wish someone would look after GoY better !

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I had the same problem Shirley. I honestly thought that was the end of Goy. I was really glad that I recently made a paper note of all my plants. I’ve said this before, but GoY was a brilliant forum and I learned so very much from everyone on here. Goy made me into a much better gardener. I would be sad to lose it, even though we are such a small ‘band of brothers and sisters’ nowadays. Still, times change, and this site has been neglected for a long time although I am certain that Dave does his best for us. I find Instagram is a lot of fun with so many great gardeners. But it’s the garden catalogue and blogging facilities on here which make it special.

Maybe I aught to get instagram, my cousin, brother, and the people in the art group keep on at me about it.

We're all with you there, Hywel! We all wish GoY was better maintained! We are all thankful for the job Dave does of keeping this forum going. It would be a sad day that GoY closes down once & for all!:(

Hi Shirley, what a surprise, shock actually, I haven't been on here for such a long time, I never expected to see anything properly or be able to actually comment , I turned on a few weeks back and it wasn't working, I didn't receive the error message but honestly thought our goy was gone forever, sadly I admit I just gave up.... Out of curiosity I opened it up today, so pleased I did that, now I'm trying to catch up on the things I've missed.....I might even try doing a blog .....Hope all is well with you and the family ...xxx

It has become very slow again, and slower still today - what a shambles :( I'm bothering less and less with it - haven't got time for something like this, it's getting on my nerves :(

Hello Hywel, I honestly thought it had gone completely, I felt so sad as like you I've been here from the start, it was literally driving me up the wall and has done for a long time now, even today those adverts are still here and what few blogs I've seen and read today the darn things are now appearing in the middle of members comments...Haven't yet tried posting a blog as I've had a visitor but will give it a try, also have not tried putting any photographs on...We wait and see.xx

I never see adverts Sue, haven't you got an adblocker ?

Anyway it's obvious to me, as it has been from the start, that the people who created GoY only did so because it was something for them to play at - they're technical people, not gardeners, and creating GoY was more fun for them than continually looking after it. They haven't been around for ages, 'doing other things' apparently, ie found something else to play with, and dumped GoY and the members on Dave, who tries his best but is not able to 'mend' anything that goes wrong.
Actually I don't think they knew it was going to be such a success and needed looking after long term.

Poor Dave! I'm guessing that when he can't deal with it anymore the site will disappear which will be a shame. It's been a fabulous place for gardeners from all over the world.

Karen, sorry to be late replying to your comment, busy time of year eh? Anyway, I'm catching up this afternoon, and fully agree i's the gardening catalogue and blogging that keep me looking in. I DO have a note of all my garden plants on a computer file in case GoY vanishes one day.

I looked back just now on my 'Favourite' blogs and found one by Anchorman about taking cuttings. Take a look on it via my Favourites and just see how many GoY members took part back then!

Hi there Sue, I hope you are keeping safe and well, especially in this horrible cold weather. I was very sad to see the message from 'GoDaddy' saying the site had expired, hence the message to my daughter, but within a couple of days it seemed to have returned, hooray!

Sue, should you try posting a blog you will see that the format has changed a little. You write the text, click on 'Save and Preview' and then you will see on the bottom left it says 'Add photos' so that may help you. I shall be looking out for your blog!!

Sue, an Adblocker should prevent any adverts showing. I don't see any now, just the photos/blogs from companies across the world that somehow slip through and I, along with others, flag them on to Dave. They vanish eventually. Or you can just ignore those and scroll on by ... :o))

Bernie, when I asked my daughter what this 'Expired domain' thingy meant she reckons she and her even more tekky knowledgeable friend may be able to buy the site's domain at low cost ... watch this space!

Oh Shirley, that would fantastic. As an Australian gardener I've found very little in the way of a site like this for Aussies and I think that's a real shame. That hasn't changed for 20 years now!

When I originally found this site, I was overjoyed! It was a vibrant and interesting place for all gardeners and while it's quietened down considerably lately, I feel it could become that again easily with a little effort from people who have the knowledge and interest.

Will be even more overjoyed if it gets a re-vamp and a boost from some techies!

That would be wonderful Shirley ! :)

Update from my daughter re the site domain. She messaged Dave on my behalf, explained what she thought had happened and offered to help and he replied 'It was an issue with the domain which has been sorted and your mum should be able to access it now. Let me know if she still has a problem.'

She thinks if he's paid for the domain registration then it shouldn't be happening again.

We shall see how things go ... :o))

Fingers crossed. Thanks so much Shirley for checking in on everything. It sounds like Dave has done what's necessary.

Thanks for the info, Shirley! Let's hope Dave has got it sorted now!

Hi Shirley, sorry its taken a few days to get back to you, long story cut short, we've been occupied with very ill relatives so been travelling both to Addenbrooks and Leicester.....
It would be so good if we can stay here on Goy, I've tried other sites but just didn't get on with them at all.... As to the adblockers I did have one on my other laptop but its expired, reason I didn't renew my membership was because it never did work on Goy anyway, as my laptop was protected by Norton through Derek's subscription I wasn't unduly bothered, however now I'm trying to get a new subscription in my own name but they say there is already an account in that name so only need my password of which I don't know, won't give me option to reset it without administrators permission to change anything, that person was Derek, without divine intervention I am what you call "Up the Creek Without a Paddle Shirley," not teccie minded at all , I get confused as to which one is the best ....

Why don't you try these Sue, I've had them for years, they are totally free, no need to pay membership, and I NEVER see any ads on GoY or anywhere else.
Easy to download - even I could do it.

https://getadblock.com/en/

https://adblockplus.org/download

Sue, there are a number of free antiviruses as well. I've been using computers for over 20 years & have never had an infection, save once, & that was quickly sorted 20 years ago! I've never, ever shelled out a penny for them either!

You don't need to pay for Norton or any other. Besides Microsoft's "Defender" (installed on every Windows PC) is free & has improved no end in the last decade! It's the main antivirus on my computer. It updates automatically & runs scans often & I've yet to come across a virus on my computer.

I do also have another antivirus called "Malwarebytes". I have had the free version installed on my computer for several years &, in spite of the nagging to upgrade to the paid professional version, has worked really well for me. I do run a virus scan as soon as I can after the computer is turned on but it has never, ever found a virus!

Like Hywel I've several adblockers in my Firefox browser as well. Though the browser is pretty good also at keeping bad programmes away from our computers.

I also have Malwarebites free version, The chaps in the computer shop told me it's all you need. I never get infections from viruses either. (ie my computer never does lol)

Hywel and Balcony, thankyou so much for your advice, it was much appreciated, I've downloaded the adblockplus and flitted around the blogs for a quick look at them, the ads have gone and I can now read them properly, that includes the big one that kept popping up along the bottom of my page as soon as I logged in, that one was the worse and was literally doing my head in.. Hywel I should have asked for advice months ago shouldn't I, it was very straightforward as you said, now hopefully I can catch up on all I've been missing....x

That's good Sue, I'm pleased you've now got the adblockers :) xx

Oh Sue, that doesn't sound too good about your relatives being in hospital. Let's hope they make a good recovery.

Having read the comments from both Hywel and Balcony, it seems you're all sorted and are advert-free now, hooray!

Long may it stay that way ... :o)

Glad you have been able to see everything now without ads blocking things for you!

Once again Balcony its thanks to you and Hywel, I did it immediately and have even posted my own blog without any problems whatsoever....

So glad to hear that, Sue! I'm off now to read your blog! :)