RIP Yahoo Groups

[doranwen]

For anyone who hasn't heard, Yahoo Groups is closing; in less than two weeks all ability to add/post new content will be locked and in December all data will be deleted. (Groups will be converted to mailing lists only, ugh.) If you were a member of any Yahoo Groups and want to back up your groups' messages, files, or other content, take a look at some of the options and discussion mentioned here.

I'm using this Windows program (on a computer I rarely use, but I didn't have the time or want to deal with trying to create a VM that would have the requisite NET framework, so working on native Windows was the best option here) to back up all of the groups I'm a part of. After that I plan on joining as many fandom-related groups (particularly fanfic ones) as possible before the deadline and backing them up.

Unfortunately, I don't currently have the $$ to pay to register the program in order to be able to export the backups into human-readable HTML, but it looks like SQLiteStudio should do the job - and for free! (Plus, it's got a Linux version, so I can move the database to my main computer and export there if I want.)

I hate it when sites close like this! I wasn't in the position to do anything about archival when Geocities went poof, but at least this time I can do something.

LINKS TO MORE INFO:
https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/14117
https://morgandawn.dreamwidth.org/1678027.html

The step-by-step guide under the second link contains a link to a spreadsheet and Google Form coordinating group archival for fandom-related groups.

Comments

[xriverxjoix]

i assume this is the post you wanted me to see? i deleted my yahoo account almost a decade ago. thanks for the heads up tho, and i hope you’re able to save the good stuff!

[xriverxjoix]

(jaci says that there is fanfic from the 80s on there that got backed up to yahoo groups when bbs went down! i definitely hope people are moving this stuff somewhere, but i’m not really in a position to help right now unfortunately.)

[doranwen]

Aww, yeah, there's stuff like that. I've backed up a Mary Russell fanfic group, an X-Men fanfic one (along with its discussion companion), am working one that has X-Men along with a bunch of other fandoms, and then I'm going to Tolkien, etc. Spread the word far and wide - along with the link to that program (and SQLiteStudio for later exporting), if you can. That way hopefully the people who still have accounts and memberships can download. Some groups were moderated and the moderator vanished but any current members would still be able to back up the content.

[xriverxjoix]

i shared your backup programs on tumblr, so hopefully it’ll be helpful to others.