[Morganluver]

I so relate to the frustrations you're having. I love how you describe the users who are instigating trouble. Conspiracy theorists. That's PERFECT !

I too, run a modest private forum of women only. Of 100 members at least 70 % log on daily or weekly and post often. There is approximately 10% who seem to thrive on conspiracy theories and mob mentality. It has disrupted the harmony on the site several times. Just recently it got so bad, I decided to take a step back and focus on site maintenance and technical development and stop participating on the front lines. I'll let you know if that alleviates the "theorists" BS threads.

My site is not a business, but I do have a PP donation link and a few have been generous in donating. I have six months of dedicated server fees paid, but after that if the donations don't continue I'm going back to a shared server and the theorists be damned if their traffic causes the site to shut down.

I'll look for your updates on the situation, and hope for your forum, you find the answer that works for you.