Bon voyage, feed! The feed is retiring today
A few months ago we announced we would no longer be spending time on the feed and the bugs associated. The day has come where we retire the feed for good and remove it from the platform. We know some love the feature and will be sad to see it go and we get that. Thank you for being understanding and realizing that sometimes we have to make tough decisions for the greater good of the site.
I loved feeds. 
@jill7cups what will happen to the "new listeners" and "badges recently awarded" that used to be on the feed page for listeners? Will those be moved to a different place?
@MidnightRaven999 Isn't the feed for members and listeners the same?
@AffyAvo it's very similar but there are some variations
Will miss 😔
Awwww you will be missed Feed
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
@Moon same fam same
@determinedSummer25 i'm so upset, i spent 4 years working on my feed, only for it to be deleted ):
@Moon I get that, I've been here for 2+ years and that was my only connection to some of the other members. I really wish they had made sure we all received the warning
@determinedSummer25 - me too, Summer. I fully agree with that statement - like a notification in hot bold red or something. (shrugs) Also was losing the feed altogether in some survey or ... maybe that was another post/notification that I didn't see? Hmm...
@cyanPlatypus6370 We got zero warning. The last notice we got was in May that they were going to stop fixing bugs or anything in the feed - they never said they would delete it. Then we got barely 24 hours notice, which sucks since there are people on self-care breaks who will find out later as well who are going to be upset. The site is going to lose more members than it will gain with this. I know I stopped recommending the site awhile back.
@Dawn04
I made a once-in-a-liftime friend here that I can't afford to lose and now with this I've lost all contact with them. The only reason I'm still here is because I refuse to abandon them.
@tluper6491 I hate to hear that. I keep getting tempted more day by day to leave - if it wasn't for my regulars, I definitely would.
@Dawn04 - I know, Dawn. That was my point. Did we get any sort of notification, etc etc.... because *I* did not read anything about the entire feed since, like you said, May. So now we just are all mad about it for awhile and then things find their new normal? @GlenM @7cupsCommunity
Glen, heather225, heather, Krink?, all other administration since I'm unsure who is there any longer - someone reply to me? As I am using the @7cupsCommunity I hope to get a reply. (sigh) (not being mean, stating my opinion, and therefore not afraid to 'sign' my statements & questions) ~ Platy
@cyanPlatypus6370
You are correct that this post is the announcement, there was not an earlier announcement. Back in May we annoucned that we were working on a feed replacement and would no longer be maintaining it. This is the next step in that progression. We are sorry for any sadness or distress that this change has caused
@7CupsCommunity The problem with that is that you removed the feed before the replacement was ready, and before people were given enough information and time to make the transition.
@stressBear
We understand that. We were unable to continue working on the replacement with the pre-existing infrastructure in place. I wish there had been more notice as well. We understand the frustration.
@7CupsCommunity Speaking as a professional software developer with over 40 years of experience in industry, I'm finding that a little hard to understand. I'll take your word for it, but I wish I didn't have to.
@stressBear
With due respect, 7 cups is a custom build and does not necessarily operate the same as other platforms you might have worked on.
@7CupsCommunity Intriguing! This "custom build" does not allow for any way to switch off one feature and simultaneously switch on another? Or, better, to run two similar features in parallel to allow users time to migrate?
Strategically, maintaining a very nonstandard "custom build" is very costly, and I suppose that could explain 7 Cups' financial difficulty. Moving to a more standard platform should be a priority now, but the community will have to be warned of changes in future.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Honestly the community management isn't informed on the specifics, so I can't say. All I know is features that *should* be easy often end up not being so easy due to the custom infrastructure. Re: feed, it might have been the infrastructure itself, it might have been the server costs (the feed was on its own server entirely), it might have been due to some other interaction. Whatever it was, it was impacting our plans, so removing it was decided as the way forward.
@RarelyCharlie There isn't a "standard platform" for this kind of site -- you couldn't build it on something like Wordpress, MediaWiki, GitLab, Discord, or Dreamwidth without doing a fair amount of work (though it would be much easier than starting from scratch). That said, every site I've worked on, including Disney and Amazon, is a "custom build", and Wordpress etc. started out as custom builds -- none of them was ever designed to be a "standard platform", they just evolved into one because they were open source and people found them easy to build on top of. 7cups isn't open source as far as I can tell, so they don't get the advantage of an active developer community.
@RarelyCharlie
Strategically, maintaining a very nonstandard "custom build" is very costly, and I suppose that could explain 7 Cups' financial difficulty. Moving to a more standard platform should be a priority now, but the community will have to be warned of changes in future.
Agreed Charlie, especially when it comes down to the features that are a common place online these days. I feel the best practices, or a variety of them, have been established. The functionalities themselves of a handful of standard platforms wouldnt or shouldnt even be tweaked too much. This should be the tech strategy here. Pick and choose low maintenance features that support the community. If one day the company swims in cash, everything can be hand made to whatever illmeasured whim may occur. (Reference to for example the month you joined cups icon next to your name.. sigh..)
Feed has always been hard to use, hard to find, and not very social. I wonder why the data driven from the use of it has ever even entered into any decision making. It should be obvious that the model works when executed well enough. You cant expect victory if UIX is built to fail.
I feel bad for the hard words. I also feel bad that on this platform having a real conversation with the team seems impossible. And by real conversation I mean research driven dev model.
@Jill7Cups
I'll be sad but I understand. I was trying to get habituated to it. Perhaps linking to an outside server like Discord could replace the feed? Just in case anyone is interested in seeing those kinds of images and posts.
@SynSavory hmm. That would count as off-site contact. From an technical point of view the forums would be a replacement,I guess.
@Jill7Cups
Whatevet you guys/galls do, I'm sure it's the best path forward. :)
@SynSavory
Yes I hope things will be ok, hugs.
@Jill7Cups
Being somewhat new here and not understanding much of how the whole thing worked I didnt understand what the feed was when it was announced it would go. I now do understand and I am very fed up. I had used it to get posts from people I followed. It has taken a level of interaction away. Because ordinary members cant message each other directly you have to go to each forum someone else might be intersted in to see what they are posting. And their interesting posts that I have put in my feed are not there to hand. They can be put in notes but that is very cumbersome. I have tried it. I find 7 cups convoluted processes difficult enough, this makes it not only more difficult but less satisfying.
@Jill7Cups
And I forgot, writing my inspirations and hopes and fears were a way of communicating with followers. It is very disappointing.
@Jill7Cups
And I didnt get to read this post until too late to download my stuff. Well our thoughts are just fletting images, snapshots. But that doesnt stiop grief at their loss.
