i think she sold it in time while it worth something. it seems it is heading to the same place AOL. and myspace went. unless new owner does something radical, like getting rid of some mods who drive members away, thou it maybe too late, the forum is permanently contaminated by those few,
I had found it hard to be a member there, they have so many rules that just getting approved to post was like applying for a new job and hoping you met the requirements and didn’t get booted for some arbitrary reason.
The mods would boot you for posts that didn’t meet their high standards for quality.
BLF is much more welcoming, i can ask questions with no sword of Damocles hovering over my head.
When i joined they had to preapprove posts, i got through that then i got hammered for low quality posts. I think i asked a few questions in those posts so i guess the low quality was that i didn’t add to the community but was taking from it.
I stopped bothering, if CPF posts come up in google search results thats great and i have enjoyed reading some of the technical reviews and used that information in this hobby but i never again tried to register for an account.
Wow. That's like the end of an era or something. I rarely browse there anymore but they were instrumental in kicking off my interest in lights, long long time ago. Honestly I was much happier and more jazzed about lights when BLF started up and I found it I guess a year or so afterwards. Looks like CPF is still pretty low volume on threads and comments but the new look is a bit nicer. I never thought about selling a forum/site. I'm sure after almost two decades she's ready for a break!
There are a few people who are active on both. Each one has its positive attributes. How many different types and styles of everything are there? I am glad that I only have to surf two English language flashlight forums, instead eight. Instead of being born with two BLF genes, or two CPF genes, I was born with one BLF gene, and one CPF gene.
I’m more curious as to what loss Greta took on the sale.
4 years ago, when a lot of software problems were plaguing them, but they were still pretty vibrant, she might have banked some coin, but not right now, IMO.
Toykeeper was tracking traffic as of a year ago and they were dropping quite a bit, so I’m sure that it was a ‘fire sale,’ of sorts?
Interesting. Well, I wish them the best. Everyone please avoid CPF bashing, I think we can turn that page now. And of course, huge thanks to all of our friendly and active BLF members that make this an enjoyable place to hang out (most of the time ).
a couple of years ago, the valuation for BLF was 241K and CPF was 242K
I think Reddit, and especially Facebook and Instagram, have captured a lot of flashlight traffic too…
CPF is sort of the Surefire lovers relic site.
BLF is modders heaven
Insta and Face are $$$ sources for people selling expensive “customs”
(just my opinion, I dont actually use social media myself)
Reddit has a lot of newbie traffic, but the UI of the site is archaic and makes posting pics difficult
if you have an expensive light to sell, CPF has more high end buyers than BudgetLF