What the heck happened? The forum was impossible to access now it is okay?

[Kern Dog]

I'm glad that the site is still up and running. I do wish that more enthusiasts chimed in though.
I never claimed to know or understand what it takes to run a site like this from the managerial and financial side but I have chatted with forum moderators of other sites.
If a site is not advertising or charging any fees, then it must be fully paid for by someone. I do appreciate that Troy has kept the lights on. If one is self funding a site, it seems like a high traffic count may not be a top priority since no advertisers exist, clients that pay rates based on the site traffic.
It is great that we are not bombarded with ads. I've been on sites that do flood the pages with half page ads, Moparts is one that was infected with Infolinks, whatever the heck that was...
Being self funded can be good and bad though.
Sure, you are not held hostage to the standards and practices of the tech overlords but....some contributing members that stepped outside of the rules too many times get shut out as Troy mentioned above. Fewer members seems to have led to a downward spiral. It must be tough to balance as a site owner....tolerate a member that is sometimes annoying but otherwise an asset OR just ban the guy and watch others quit coming around since traffic has slowed down. I state that because I am fully aware that I can be abrasive and annoying but I am also quite willing and able to help where I can.  I suspect that I would have been locked out for good if not for Troy being forgiving while also seeing that I am not always a pain in the ass.
Birds and Bees is a member at FBBO and FABO under the screen name DadsBee. He is a solid contributor and a great asset to the hobby but some software glitch has him locked out. I have seen a few of the members here pop up at FBBO since the traffic slowed down. Why is it that those sites have not seen such a huge drop off in traffic? I am not blaming Troy for anything here, I just wonder what they are doing right if they thrive while other sites are fading.