Winding down DonationCoder after 20 years

[mouser]

It's painfully hard to write this, but I think it's important that I get the ball rolling and give everyone as much advance notice as I can.
I have decided that we will close up operations here on Donationcoder at the end of the 2026.

It's been clear to us all for a while that the site is not very active and is painful to use. So it's time to say goodbye.  Both because the server costs are unsustainable, but also because maintenance of the site is just not feasible going forward and it's better to close things up gracefully rather than wait for a catastrophic problem or hack.

What I will try to do is find a way to archive all the forum and web page content and keep it available in read-only form online.  No reason that can't still be at the donationcoder.com url indefinitely.
I have removed the Donation links to paypal and replaced them with a permanent license key.  The software I wrote will all continue to work of course.

I will try to write more about how much you all have meant to me in the coming weeks, and how much DonationCoder has meant to me over the years.  It all feels very raw trying to write this and I'm having a hard time finding the right words.  I have met some wonderful people here, and I'm finding it hard to express my thoughts about the whole project without breaking down.

UPDATE:
1. You can now export all of your received and sent personal messages; just go to the My Messages inbox, and from the action menu you should see an option to Export all personal messages (sent and received).
2. Please feel free to request a cashout of any donationcredits in your account from now until the end of the year; just go to the DonationCredits page and choose to request a cashout, and no need to feel any weird way about it!
3. As I said, we are going to archive the site in read only mode and move it to a cheap server where it should be able to outlive all of us as a record of a different time.
4. I'm still on Discord every day and you can find me in the DonationCoder discord server: https://discord.gg/BV8rRWx6vz

-jesse (mouser)

We did have fun didn't we?

[skwire]

We did have fun didn't we?

-mouser (April 13, 2026, 04:54 PM)

Damn right, we had fun.   

[Ath]

I'm having a hard time finding the right words.

-mouser (April 13, 2026, 04:54 PM)

Aw, I feel the pain, and it's somewhat unsettling, but it feels as the best way to proceed, seeing the traffic dwindle, the  last couple of years.

We sure did have fun, and you've been of great comfort to me personally, when I went through a harsh time, some (13) years ago.

Thanks Jesse, and all other regulars, for providing this; the best forum in the world .

[anandcoral]

I became famous due to Donation Coder 

I will remain grateful to Mouser and all members of DC for helping me to put my knowledge and create useful apps, as NANY apps.
This has helped me to become a known face in the world.

Though it looks very sad to me as my own home is closing, but I agree we must move with time.
Hope we can keep in touch in some way in coming years.

I will try to make some more apps, if possible, as happy closing. I will request members here too to put more apps with DC name.

[kunkel321]

It is indeed sad to see it end.  I agree, though; better to end gracefully than with some catastrophic event.   

[xesenif]

I'm not a coder but I've found, and use, so many useful programs from here.  Really sad to see it go.  I hope access to the programs remain, and as much as everything else.  Thanks so much for a great site!

[rjbull]

I have decided that we will close up operations here on Donationcoder at the end of the 2026.
It's been clear to us all for a while that the site is not very active and is painful to use. So it's time to say goodbye.  Both because the server costs are unsustainable, but also because maintenance of the site is just not feasible going forward and it's better to close things up gracefully rather than wait for a catastrophic problem or hack.

-mouser (April 13, 2026, 04:54 PM)

That's a shame and a great loss, though I've noticed the drop in traffic myself.  But while maintaining the site may be painful to you and the other admins, it isn't painful to use.  It's the nicest place on the Internet 

I've not been active here lately for various reasons, but I check the front page of the forum every day (on a tablet).  I don't know of anywhere else with such a broad range of software discussion held in such a civilized manner.  The reasons for closing are cogent, but DC will be missed 

[Target]

Will be a sad day indeed...

FWIW DC is a testament to Mouser/Jesse's vision for what the net could/should be.  The community he's built here is a rare thing and I'll miss it greatly (as I'm sure will many many others).

[worstje]

I've been lurking for ages, but I feel very responsible for not taking part in NANY in recent years and 'contributing' to the level of decay . Things just kept getting in the way. I will very much miss DonationCoder, and want to thank Jesse and everyone else for keeping this community afloat for as long as it has been.

I hope it will continue to exist in some form or another!

[Deozaan]

I've been a member of this site for almost half my life. To say that it has been an influence on me would be an understatement. So many fond memories. So many friendships. So many good people. It has been a net positive in my life.

Thank you, Jesse, for DonationCoder. And thank you to everyone here who has been a part of what made it great.

[Shades]

Mouser's efforts, as well as the members, make DonationCoder a beacon of civility. Haven't found anything like it, don't expect I ever will.

The site was a daily visit for many years, but my life got so busy, that it slipped into the background more and more.

But I can say that my time here was great, trying to help where I could, as did many others, in the best way we could. Mouser does deserve so much gratitude for creating and maintaining a forum like no other. Others already mentioned that DC will be missed. I'll add my +1 to that.

[x16wda]

All the folks who have posted have basically said all the things. This is an incredible place, filled with inventive and well-spoken people, and like cats we've been herded gently by Mouser for years. I had to look back at my profile - it was 2007 when I signed up!

DC has been the Teletubbies sunrise of my day. Reliable, happy, smiling, and welcoming. Jesse, here's hoping your days continue in that vein.

[hamradio]

It's painfully hard to write this, but I think it's important that I get the ball rolling and give everyone as much advance notice as I can.
I have decided that we will close up operations here on Donationcoder at the end of the 2026.

It's been clear to us all for a while that the site is not very active and is painful to use. So it's time to say goodbye.  Both because the server costs are unsustainable, but also because maintenance of the site is just not feasible going forward and it's better to close things up gracefully rather than wait for a catastrophic problem or hack.

What I will try to do is find a way to archive all the forum and web page content and keep it available in read-only form online.  No reason that can't still be at the donationcoder.com url indefinitely.
I have removed the Donation links to paypal and replaced them with a permanent license key.  The software I wrote will all continue to work of course.

I will try to write more about how much you all have meant to me in the coming weeks, and how much DonationCoder has meant to me over the years.  It all feels very raw trying to write this and I'm having a hard time finding the right words.  I have met some wonderful people here, and I'm finding it hard to express my thoughts about the whole project without breaking down.

-jesse (mouser)

We did have fun didn't we?

-mouser (April 13, 2026, 04:54 PM)

Thanks for all the memories everyone not just mouser but everyone. We've been through some times and everyone I have met has been awesome and more. I will still keep in touch on donationcoder discord (my understanding discord channel isn't leaving) as much as possible. This applies to others as well for any of you that may have issues with my applications as I will be there as always just I might not be around much myself if I end up finding a job away from freelance work for more stable income as things in real life is closer to dictating.

[rgdot]

Sad to see this. Grateful to jesse and everyone over the years.

I think these words are unfortunately appropriate:
Being in the forum "business" myself the more recent bots onslaught has been disastrous and the pain of maintaining and relying on cloudflare and the likes is just too much. A forum has a big attack vector with threads and posts and from my perspective any forum is barely worth the effort unless the web changes somehow.

[rgdot]

Sad to see this. Grateful to jesse and everyone over the years.

I think these words are unfortunately appropriate:
Being in the forum "business" myself the more recent bots onslaught has been disastrous and the pain of maintaining and relying on cloudflare and the likes is just too much. A forum has a big attack vector with threads and posts and from my perspective any forum is barely worth the effort unless the web changes somehow.

-rgdot (April 16, 2026, 01:26 AM)

[mouser]

Thank you all for your generous and kind words.. It's so wonderful to see some of the regulars posting.
I have updated the first post with a little bit more information regarding how to download all of your personal messages to archive them, and with a note that you should feel free to request a cash out of your donationcredits, etc.

[Dormouse]

This leaves me with a sense of sadness and huge loss.
Not quite a surprise, but nevertheless a shock.

Like every other comment, I will miss the community that gathered here - the range and depth of knowledge and experience, the willingness to share and help, and the civility. I trust everyone here.

But I also acknowledge that the world has moved on since I first joined. The computing, media and digital landscape has changed. Bots and bad actors have multiplied exponentially. The need for the community is as strong as ever; stronger probably.
If it were being set up now would it be a forum? Somehow I doubt it, or at least not exclusively. I'd see it as being multichannel - YT, Medium, Discord etc - taking advantage of the infrastructure they provide. And probably not quite so focused on PCs and Windows. But that would take a lot of energy and drive, as I'm sure this site did originally, and over time everyone becomes stretched further and thinner.

Still, I'm truly very grateful to Mouser and everyone in the community. It has been a wonderful restful oasis for the last twenty years.

[nogojoe]

Another sad to see the end of an era .

Many thanks for the opportunity to be able to access coders on this forum
Have enjoyed the many small programs that have come to life on here.

Regards nogojoe