after finding myself a decent seller to make some money back, I would make the appropriate announcements to my long time members.

I would at least give my members a month or two notice to let them know of the change. I would also try and find someone to either take over before all that crazy decisions or even redirect them to another site.

What if the forum is dead?  Do you bother to tell anyone at all if they are visiting the site?  If the forum is dead, some people may not see a reason to notify anyone who isn't visiting their forum in the first place and that may be the reason they are getting rid of the forum in the first place.

Posted by: marteebe

If the time had come and you were ready to call it quits and shut down your forum, what would be your game-plan in going about that shutdown? Too often I've gone off the internet for a while and come back to find a forum I once frequented had just shut down and vanished without a trace. It's actually quite irritating, especially if it's a forum I've put some 'effort' into. 

So what would you do? Redirect your forum to another place which might offer them the same vibe? At least let people know you're shutting up shop or maybe you might even look at offering people on the forum a chance to take it over?  

I sent out a mass e-mail (34 members) and left a message in place at the domain with links to my other active projects...

Just put a thank you note, thanking all the users and their contribution. Plus the date when the forum will be closed. I did it for the first time with my forum but changed mind within a day (thank god i didn't send any email).

May be the month of May will be my last month for my project. Yet to decide

If Christianity Haven were to close I think that it would not happen suddenly...but I am not the official owner of it, I just run the place, so I don't have that authority to say really. I know that I would have a list of forums that I trust to send my members to if they were interested. Most are on multiple forums already and what would make us close would be lack of activity.

I do know this...if we were to close I would grab all the emails and keep just in case I make another forum in the future and want to reach out to them to invite them to it.

Posted by: JennyorAlice

What if the forum is dead?  Do you bother to tell anyone at all if they are visiting the site?  If the forum is dead, some people may not see a reason to notify anyone who isn't visiting their forum in the first place and that may be the reason they are getting rid of the forum in the first place.

It's still polite to say something. I mean, if you only have one or two active members, how are they going to feel if they come in your forum and finds it gone?

I’d cry... noo but I would make sure to save every file so that if in the future I want to bring it back it’s always there. 

I have come across such forums that made me felt like I was on a barren island but I never said a word to anyone or stopped going there unless of course the owner decided to shut it down.

If I was closing any of my sites, I would make a announcement beforehand and not leave my members in the dust. I would also make a database backup just in case if I wanted to revive it in the future.

Why don't you leave it for some weeks or months and back to develop it again.

I think closing a forum is not a good idea. Just do some activities on it if possible daily, that will maintain your forum without closing it.

Posted by: Ravenfreak

If I was closing any of my sites, I would make a announcement beforehand and not leave my members in the dust. I would also make a database backup just in case if I wanted to revive it in the future.

That's the difference in between an ethical owner and a scammer. I also think that some people start their forums with good intention but when fail to earn then leave their site without informing their members.

I've shut down a site before (but it was on a free forum host so a bit different situation) and when I did I announced the closing date long in advance (like a month or better) to give people time to collect what they wanted. Then about a week before the close date I turned off registrations just so new people wouldn't stumble onto the site, try to register and end up getting burned. On the day of closure I put the site into maintenance mode with a note saying we'd closed. I made it so members could still log in and read any posts they made but not make any new ones.  And I took a final backup of the database in case the site ever got deleted or something I still had a copy. So if someone needed something they could contact me and I'd likely be able to give them what they needed. Though, as of writing this, the site is still there (in maintenance mode) so people can still get their stuff.

Though I've been considering shutting down my current site. I've been running it for over 9 years now. And in the last year it's been pretty much only me signing on and posting. Everyone has gotten too busy and never signs on. So when I posted the 9th anniversary topic I included a note that pretty much said the same thing and that I'm not going to give up yet, but it can't be just me. So if people care they need to essentially step up and show it. Otherwise I'm closing the site on the 10th anniversary. Basically give people a whole year. So far it's been 4 months since the topic went up and things haven't boded well.  I'm still posting when I can but I work a lot too and it kinda feels like "what's the point, no one's replying anyway."

So at this point the plan is pretty much the same as on the free forum host version.  I'll probably mention in the discord chat something too in advance just so people know what's going on. But I've never really made a secret of it since I'd posted links to new topics in the discord too. (Especially for important things.) So if people haven't read it then it's their own fault at this point.  About a month before I'm going to make a new announcement indicating the closure (I mean if things haven't changed in 11 months, they likely won't in 12). Day of closure I'll maintenance mode the site. 

Posted by: VirusZero

I've shut down a site before (but it was on a free forum host so a bit different situation) and when I did I announced the closing date long in advance (like a month or better) to give people time to collect what they wanted. Then about a week before the close date I turned off registrations just so new people wouldn't stumble onto the site, try to register and end up getting burned. On the day of closure I put the site into maintenance mode with a note saying we'd closed. I made it so members could still log in and read any posts they made but not make any new ones.  And I took a final backup of the database in case the site ever got deleted or something I still had a copy. So if someone needed something they could contact me and I'd likely be able to give them what they needed. Though, as of writing this, the site is still there (in maintenance mode) so people can still get their stuff.

Though I've been considering shutting down my current site. I've been running it for over 9 years now. And in the last year it's been pretty much only me signing on and posting. Everyone has gotten too busy and never signs on. So when I posted the 9th anniversary topic I included a note that pretty much said the same thing and that I'm not going to give up yet, but it can't be just me. So if people care they need to essentially step up and show it. Otherwise I'm closing the site on the 10th anniversary. Basically give people a whole year. So far it's been 4 months since the topic went up and things haven't boded well.  I'm still posting when I can but I work a lot too and it kinda feels like "what's the point, no one's replying anyway."

So at this point the plan is pretty much the same as on the free forum host version.  I'll probably mention in the discord chat something too in advance just so people know what's going on. But I've never really made a secret of it since I'd posted links to new topics in the discord too. (Especially for important things.) So if people haven't read it then it's their own fault at this point.  About a month before I'm going to make a new announcement indicating the closure (I mean if things haven't changed in 11 months, they likely won't in 12). Day of closure I'll maintenance mode the site. 

ahh crap, I actually kind of forgot about your site. I'll be sure to pop on by.