[gcgMurphy]

I have 200 members and 35k posts. About 30 members log in daily. I have some very good members and some not so good users. Some will turn on you in an instant if you don't give them their way. They will try and poison your forum because when they are mad they want everyone else mad at you and will do everything they can to make you feel like pulling the plug.

If you pull the plug they win. Think about the good members before making any drastic decisions like shutting down. Good members have invested their thoughts and time in the forum as you have invested your time and money.

Being open and including your users is very noble but in my opinion you are only asking for trouble in the long run. It's your forum. You are the boss and do not have to explain your decisions to anybody. The more you tell them, the more you give them to pick you apart. They don't need to know what goes on behind the curtain, so keep them in the dark because it is not their concern.

If you want to place ads or sell merchandise on your site go for it. It's nobody's business but yours. If they don't like the ads, sell them a subscription and disable ads for the ones who pay for the privilege.

If someone starts getting out of line with you but they haven't crossed the ban line, discourage them from visiting your site by installing and using the miserable user mod.

I used to have moderators and tried to run a democratic site. When problems arose with certain members I had moderators that sided with them and that made matters even more complicated. I have since dropped all mods and I am the only one that has any authority on the forum, everyone else is equal.