I am happy to say that our initial request for assistance (see original message below from last November), was partially successful.

I admit that our earlier request was not entirely clear, and I provided some additional information at the Braille Scale Discussion Board. I made it clear that we are not asking for money to support the site. What we need is essentially two things: first, new submissions for posting here at OTW, either kit reviews, research articles, whatever anyone feels like contributing. And second, assistance with managing the site to edit and post newly contributed material. Thankfully, we had several site viewers step forth and offer their assistance with managing the site.

However, the bad news is that we have not had any new contributed material of any sort since last fall. Thus, our new editors have no work to do.

As I alluded to below, our plan is for our current editing team to continue to produce and post our own material as we have time for, but this will result in only a very slow rate of growth of the site. If we are ever going to return to the heyday of OTW's massive growth, we still need to rely on material sent in from the site viewers. Please consider contributing to one of the oldest and most comprehensive review sites on the web. You can find complete instructions on how to do so right here.

Original Message:

Let's get right to it: the future of this website is uncertain.

On The Way! has provided modelers around the world with a wealth of small scale armor modeling information and inspiration for over 25 years. It has waxed and waned over the years as the administrators behind the site have lived their respective lives, sometimes being able to devote much time and resources into regular updates, and at other times having to go long periods between being able to write and publish articles. I recall taking the site offline at one point, back in 2003, I believe, and at that time, there was a groundswell of support provided by the international modeling community so that the site was restored, and even experienced a renaissance of a sort in later years under successor administrators. Is it possible for history to repeat itself?

I truly wish I had kept records of site visitation over the life of the site, but I had not. All that I have available to me are the data from the past three years with its current webhost. Looking at the numbers, it is apparent that interest in the site is not fading, and in fact, seems to be on an incline, even without the unexplained spike in visitation in July of this year (anyone know what that was all about?).

So here is the problem in a nutshell:

Those of us who currently manage OTW no longer have the time and resources necessary to maintain the amount of growth that keeps a site like this in the forefront of model review websites. Anybody who has ever written reviews for publishing on the internet will know how much of a time commitment it is to prepare a well-written, well-illustrated, and well-researched article that is worth sharing with others. Al, Rob and I all have other priorities in life, and like the others who have contributed to maintaining this site over past years, we feel as though perhaps it is time to step away and focus more on other aspects of our lives.

But here's the thing... we love this site and we don't want to see it go away. It would be great if we were able to write new material for posting on OTW only when the mood strikes, rather than feeling the constant sense of obligation to provide regular site updates with new product reviews, vehicle research, or full build articles. You can see simply by browsing the What's New page that this is pretty much the mode in which we've been operating for quite a while now.

What are the options available to us? I can think of a few:

• We can simply continue as we currently have been operating for the foreseeable future with only a smattering of small updates throughout the year. While this is certainly one path forward, it is not our preferred choice, because frankly, the expense of running the site (website hosting, domain name registration, etc.) simply no longer feels worthwhile for something that we update so infrequently.
• We can officially retire the site and take if offline. But what would happen with all the material that is already here? It would be a shame for it all to simply go away and no longer be available as a premier reference source for small scale modelers worldwide.
• We can offer up the content of the site to some other entity who may have a way to keep it available for access, either on a new website, or some other archived location. I admit to not knowing what options may be available for such an endeavor.
• Perhaps there is a web designer amongst our viewers who may have the ability to migrate the current, very obsolete HTML website into a newer format, one that would make the maintenance and updating far easier and less time-consuming?
• We can seek the assistance of new administrators. I would be willing to keep paying for the upkeep of the site if there would be a commitment by new people to help OTW continue to grow at a pace that exceeds its current trend.

If any viewers to this site have any thoughts, or suggestions on how to keep the site alive and well, please contact us at: OnTheWayModels(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Please help save On The Way!