Open Diary to be shut down in next two weeks

This is sad, there’s no other site quite like OD.

I am truly sad. I will miss this place dearly.

This sucks but if it’s taking over your life, you have to make a decision.

Keep a close eye out for my new diary site Easy Diary (http://easydiary.ewsentinel.com/). I plan on have a beta release for it at the end of February. (hopefully lol) Eric

Sad to see it go out like this.

This is awful. There IS NO OTHER SITE like OD. We’ve all tried. (2000-2013) <:3~

^^Agreed. Sad. It would be nice if you gave all members the option to download in PDF as a going away present, not just OD+. Cheers.

Is there any way to make the PDF option available for full chapter or diary download before the site goes offline?

Very sad, I wish you the best DM, and I will miss this part of my life. Thanks for everything, and I hope to cross paths again

Crushing. OD has been my best friend for 13 years. How am I ever going to remember what happened in my life without the Diary search option??? I will miss you OD.

Thanks for keeping it around this long. I have great memories here!

Thank you for so much. OD will be missed. Take care!

Saw this coming a mile away. Doesn’t mean I’m happy. Less than a week notice? I guess it’s better than the nothing we usually get from you.

We had a good run. I’m happy and proud to have been part of it.

Why is a shut down necessary? Why not just turf the non-paying accounts and lower the size of the site if it’s too big to manage? I don’t see the point of scrapping the whole thing if some people are paying for the service. Why not sell it? I’m sure there might be someone out there who might want to pay good money fora site with a following this big? And I paid for this service! You going to refund all the paying members? Dude, you’re taking the wrong way out…

Suck it. You live in Basking Ridge. You have money. You neglected us and scammed people into ‘Life Time’ memberships. Good luck, now that your word is worth nothing.

Thank you Dm. You have always been supportive, and I appreciate it.

Thanks to you and your team for everything.

Disgraceful, but indicative of the way it’s been run for so long. So many tried to help. Your words here ring hollow for those of us who know what could have been had you just let go sooner. Such a pity. Such squandered potential. Such a disappointment. So long, Bruce.

Is there any change of archieving the diaries on one site? This is a big loss in many ways. Thank you though for all you’ve given us.

A lot of hate from some.. But, that’s the way the cookie crumbles! I have loved Od for years.. Met and made some good friends.. Thanks for the memories.. Good and bad!

Sometime in the next two weeks? Sometime? That means about as much as “Lifetime” membership. This is sad. I really do understand the feeling of having reached the end, of having had enough. I’ve felt that way myself at other site. Not here, though. I have connections here that go back to 1999. Well, enough said. Good luck.

I honestly can’t accept that this is the only way to go… I feel like there’s more you can do to keep this site running. I’m pissed, I’ve been on this site for 13 years, are you really gonna give it up just like that? Can you really not pull donations? I’m sure a great amount of people would be willing to help… ~~~>

sadness abounds, but life goes on… this has been my ‘home’ for over 13 years and I’ve met many wonderful people here… OD was always the best!

So so sad. Would be nice to be able to download my entire diary in PDF form beforehand though.

For whatever my opinion is worth, I think you are definitely doing the right thing. It’s better to consciously decide than to allow it to continue fading. Times have changed, your life has changed. It was time. Thanks for doing it. Thanks for creating a place I made most of the best friends I’ve ever made in my life.

I guess it is inevitable.. I just wish there was some way of transferring our diary to another site or at least the option to get a PDF download of bigger chunks. Have you even tried to sell this or make it commercially viable.. I personally would have gone back to advertising and a paid site rather than lose this all?

What do you plan to do to restitute those who paid for “LIFETIME MEMBERSHIPS?” I’m pretty sure most of them are still alive. Services not rendered…class action…not looking good for you, Bruce.

Thanks for the advance notice and for all you have done here. Nothing’s perfect, neither has been OD, but there’s just no words to describe the beauty of the communitiy that developed here. I’ve not felt it anywhere else and those who have experienced it know exactly what I’m talking about. No doubt it has been a life boat for many … a boat available at any hour. The ups and downs, what a ride it has been! A treasured journey with so many different people, some who have become lifelong friends. OD, you will be missed. My time here: early 1999 – now. Thank you again, DM, and all who have contributed to keeping the boat afloat for so long. The memories live on ~ xxx

Unbelievable and sad. I understand if you can’t manage it anymore, but with all of the offers of help, surely there is someone that would be willing to take over. I am so disappointed and was hoping it would never get to this point, especially since OD was always my rock when other sites went up in flames. So long to 15 years… 🙁

@ Holly, lifetime memberships are for the life of the site. As much as we want them for our life, do you really think 150$ would last that long? I got lifetime 4-5 years ago. That’s about 34$ a year. That’s a fair price for no ads, and photo hosting. I think. If anyone bought it in the last 12 months, I think THEY should definitely be reimbursed. Maybe not full price, take away the cost of a year, and give them back the rest.

Good point Holly! What notice? This is completely vague. It could go down today. “sometime in a week, then sometime in the next two weeks”?! Moron, pick a date and do it. For once, do something here.

This not just has been, but IS home to so many. Isn’t there another way? I know DB transfers are easy enough (and easier than it’s been made to look here) – can’t the archives and User DB go to EWS who’s been lovingly caring for this place while RL swallowed you (Bruce) alive?

Thank you for the advanced notification.

Thank you. For the 1000’s of people you touched, who were touched, through your dream. I am crying as I type this. Only hours ago, I typed what I knew for my circumstances would be my last entry here. To learn that there is a last entry for all of us has stirred a grieving within as equal to that experienced at the death of a loved-one. Thank you for the journey. *HUGS*

You know it’s hard when the median income in your town is 107,000$. Real hard to run a site like this after taking paid memberships. Why not sell it? I’d buy it.

Sad to read this, though I guess it’s looked inevitable for a while. This place has seen so many changes in my life, been my refuge, helped me get through so much stuff. Thanks OD …. you’ve been fab.

Brokenhearted. I have friends I made here that have been with me for 14 years. I will miss this place.

Announcing this like this with the servers as bad as they are is like a big f u to your loyal patrons.

I’m disappointed in you as a DM but it is what it is. Could have given it up to someone who wanted to take control and keep it alive. With that said, any way to make PDF downloading available to ALL members since OD is sinking?

Thank you for letting us know. This is very sad, yet not unexpected.

why cant you hand this site over to some other person or persons? to just let it die is so sad. so sad. and financially this place is a gold mine. you never asked. those of us who have prepaid when you needed money. we have it. you never asked for help.

I feel deep sadness at OD’s closure but deep gratitude too for the twelve years of reading, writing and friendship I’ve had here. Thank you Diary Master for this unique experience and thank you too to all who have helped make this such a special place.

I am a lifetime member can I get my money back?

been here since the first few months. it was a good place for me for many years. haven’t written here in years now, but wanted to say goodbye to the place and the people.

How about a refund for my “lifetime membership”? The benefits promised were never delivered, and I really didn’t get much for my money.

I just want to say thank you. My heart hurts at the thought of so many words lost forever — especially the words of those who are no longer with us. But thank you for giving us the opportunity to know each other. Thank you for this site, which was how I discovered who I really am. Thank you for making me a writer.

I met some of my closest friends through this site (and quitsmokingdiaries, too!). Thanks for giving me that forum, where an introvert could learn how to open up and really let others in. You seem to be collecting a lot of haterade in your notes, but nothing is permanent, especially on the internet. When it’s time, it’s time.

Throughout the years and my varied complaints, I did value this site and the people I found here. Good luck in your future endeavors 🙂

I am so, so sad. Thank you for everything. Thank you so much.

I really hope that you open up us being able to download PDF form for ALL diaries, considering all the outages in the last few years ….

Oh and how about downloading even work, I certainly cannot get it to work on any three of my computers

Oh ****. I kind of feel like I got punched in the face. I’m definitely pretty angry and let down, even though I certainly understand how a thing can take over and become bigger than you expected, and life throws curveballs. It just seems like there should be more notice, more time to get our affairs in order, and make contacts, etc – or just sell the site to somebody who wants it, it seems like somebody really does. Also, after nearly 15 years, I can’t even do a PDF download due to the entry count limitations. Text downloads just aren’t the same (and I do have a well archived diary, so I won’t be losing anything). That said, I had an amazing run here. I met my husband here and so many wonderful people and it has widened my outlook in so many ways and helped me through some terribly difficult times.

Thank you for creating this wonderful place. I am sad to see it go. The warning is much appreciated.

You did a good thing by creating OD – you will never know how much of a positive effect this website has had on my life, thank you for keeping it up for so long. I’ve been here for 13 years and have met several of my long-term favourites in real life, who have become great friends. I love OD for this and won’t ever ever forget it. xoxoxox

Sad to see this place go. My boyfriend and dearest friends are on here.

My agony, my ecstasy. No more. Where do I take this pain of mine now?

bummer.

It has been an AWESOME RIDE.. It was the best! I knew it wouldn’t last forever.. ALL good things do come to an end at some point. Jan 2000 to Jan 2004 THANKS!

Can you give us all the option to download a PDF file then??

If it’s possible to download diaries into pdf form, I don’t see why that shouldn’t be available for everyone. It feels like the least you can do.

It’s only possible to download 14 entries at a time anyway. Most people won’t use it anyway as they have 500+ of entries. And I dont he’ll change the entry limit.

Is there any chance that you would open up PDF downloading for non + members since this is the end? I documented my pregnancy on here and I would like to have it in a form that I can actually read. 🙁

I feel so betrayed.

Sad day indeed.

Funny how you are still keeping the option open for people to pay to use the site…

Thank you, DM, from the bottom of my heart, for the 13 years of memories, advice, friendships, and soul searching you gave me here in this unique space. This has been such an integral part of surviving my teens and 20s. I am a better person for having had this site as my internet home for so long.

Its really sad to read this heart breaking letter. OD was so close to me and I made very great friends in it who were continents apart from me but were so close in my heart.

Did it ever occur to anyone that the “Lifetime Memberships” were for the “lifetime” of the site itself? Pretty sure no one would give a lifetime membership for something that could end at a moment’s notice for a number of reasons for the lifetime of a PERSON! WOW!

This was a magical place. Everyone Take care.

I’m sad to see this happen. I am truly sad. I wish there was a way to curtail this but apparently the decision was made after all options were long exhausted. I understand that you have done most of this out of pocket and with your heart in the right place. But forgive me if I get a little angry because something I value is going away.

THANKS to Obama for fundamentally transforming America and our economy… And Open Diary.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but just want to say thank you, Bruce. I made some great friends through OD (and QSD), friends I expect to keep for life. Thank you. Wishing you all the best.

So Long, and thanks for all the fish! Chris

I am heartbroken too with this news but I understand, and I appreciate your sentiments. I have made some truly special friends here over the years and we will try to maintain contact. Thanks for the opportunities you provided for us all to connect. all the best – Polly

Thanks for everything over the past thirteen years, DM. I love this place and am sad to see it go. I wish you the best in all things.

Maybe we could be like the Green Bay Packers and sell stock? Be a co-op?

Would’ve liked some more honesty in this goodbye (an explanation for OD’s closing), but really, I’m not surprised by ANY of this. Why you didn’t sell OD and refused help from others boggles my mind. But I suppose I should thank you for giving us a warning to download our diaries.

You have all been amazing and fantastic to have met. Follow me on prosebox if you migrate: Something else. Love you all. <3

I’m sorry to see this site go, It would have been 11 years on Feb. 6th. I wish you’d let everyone download as PDF’s as a way to say thanks to all of us for being here and putting up with the recent down times. But thanks for the site and the friends I’ve made in the past 11 years! >^..^<

For those of you who want to download a PDF file, you can always use an online converter for TXT to PDF (like–http://www.texttopdfconverter.com/). Pictures and custom html won’t show up from the looks of it BUUUUT it’s better than a txt file in my opinion. Just letting everyone know ~~~>

For anyone who doesn’t know, a lot of ODers have moved to Prosebox.net, which is run by an ODer. Spread the word, make the move and we can recreate civilization on that distant shore…

I do agree it’s sad to see OD go, but I do want to express my tons of thanks to you, DiaryMaster, for starting such a wonderful community. It has changed my life in so many ways, and helped me realize how much I LOVE writing about my life! It was actually the reason why I started writing in an online journal at all. I was so impressed by people on OD who were so open about their lives. I wanted todo that as well. It has been the most amazing therapeutic decision I have ever done. 🙂 Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the experience. I wish you the best of luck in your life.

Sorry, dude. Not going to fellate you for giving us time to download our diaries. If you had gotten past your own ego and stubbornness, you could have sold the site to someone (or a few someones) who would have taken care of it. You, sir, are an ass.

Duh. I’m surprised you didn’t do this ages ago, it’s always been coming hasn’t it. I’ve met some lovely people on here so I’m grateful for that. However I cannot bring myself to thank YOU Bruce given the shameful way you have treated your members and also the admins over the years. You should be ashamed of yourself.

heartbroken.

If you’re so done that you’re pulling the plug, please consider a sale. You can make a last bit of cash from the site before you let go. I’m interested and hope to hear from you at theserin@gmail.com

In any case, thank you for the site and the community that you established. Good luck.

If you sell the database, don’t even think about selling the data. I will pursue a class-action suit for breach of copyright(s) for every word. “Site design and software © 1998-2011 Open Diary . All rights reserved.” Content is neither of these. I have copious screen shots.

Dear DM All the best to you and thank you for your time and effort in sustaining OD for as long as you have. You allowed a community of people to come together and share common ground, and even though OD is closing down now, it served its purpose, it helped many souls reach out and find solace when there was no other to comfort them. You did good! Good luck to you and your volunteers. Without their support OD would’ve closed down sooner. Take care and all the best to you all, and thank you! ***To all my readers – I’M on PB with the same name. G~

Please consider Serin’s offer. He’s brilliant and serious and has been thinking about this for a while. Is there a reason you don’t want the site to change owners? It’s not like anyone else could be the first or “real” DiaryMaster.

Thank you,Bruce. My life wouldn’t be nearly as full and wonderful had I not found this place on a Netscape search so many years ago. How have 15 years gone so quickly? Best wishes to you and your family!

OD has saved my sanity many times. Terribly sad to see it go. Please consider other options. Surely you could sell this site and walk away with some cash. Or cease the site from being free to use. I’d definitely pay to keep this site alive. Either way, thank you for providing this outlet for my thoughts and for introducing me to such an amazing supportive community. The death of OD is a huge loss

Can you enable it so we can download our entires as .pdfs?

Can you enable it so we can download our entires as .pdfs?

I doubt we will ever find another site that has the same “soul” as Open Diary. Thank you for the past eleven years.

I paid a 150.00 last year for a lifetime subscription. I’ll never do that again for any site. once bitten twice shy. be thankful you all didn’t lose that amount of money for nothing.

Thank you for the site. I send you and yours all the best in your future endeavors.

Very disappointing for many many people. The abusers, however, will not be missed.

I’m agreeing with those that have said we should be able to download or diary in PDF. I’ve had a great almost decade and a half at this place (for the most part), and am sad to see it go. Would be a lot easier if I could download my remaining entries for free without paying for a service that is sinking.

I have not been a fan of yours since you just left OD to flounder on it’s own. EWS has been our savior. I’m not going to waste my time on how rotten I think you have treated OD and all of us here but I truly can’t believe that you can’t/won’t tell us the last day OD will be up and running. You owe us that!!! Just another low blow from an absentee owner. How sad this place has become. All these people writing last entries and we don’t know if we will get around to read them all or not due to your not telling us the dooms day!

Thanks for the 15 years. It’s been real. Do you know an exact date?

Please consider Serin’s offer. This place, this family, deserves every chance it can get to continue.

Thank you very much for this site DM. I have met many friends here.

Yeah, still totally unable to download an XML version of my diary. Ah well… Sure you can’t sell it? I mean, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm!!!! (Something that still blows my mind!) I’m really gonna miss this place.

This site has been a part of my life for nearly thirteen years, and I am SO sad to see it go! I understand about its unfeasibility, though. I’ve made some good friends on there, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep in touch outside OD. (I still think of it as FOD!) Happy trails, and thanks for everything!

I’m so sad. In a way, I wish this place didn’t grow so much and stayed smaller like the beginning. Thank you for the idea of OD and a place to make new friends.

Hugs.

After seeing all of the ups and downs thru the last 13 years, I am sorry to see it all end this way. Personally, I think it would have been wise to sell it to someone who cared. It also would have been wise to take down the option to purchase a membership on the front page (like salt in a wound. Is it just me?) That being said… OD will be missed. I was so happy to be here!

I just came over to thank you for a wonderful home from home that you have created for us all here, Bruce. Thank you for your time, dedication and so many years of hard work to make this site special. There is simply no place like OD and never will be. I wish you and your family the best of luck and good health and happiness. Hopefully you will have more free time now. Running a site like this takes three days hours pressed into one. I for one really appreciated it tremendously. God bless.

Pathetic. You’ve had people falling over themselves to take over the site for YEARS, even one of your own admins, but instead you’ve decided to ditch the whole thing. I lost a very good friend last year, and although he hadn’t written since 2009, he still has a lot there. Since I have no way to access his diary, all that’s just going to go away. The same goes for this recently deceased ODmember: http://www.opendiary.com/entrylist.asp?authorcode=D824682. Hopefully her sister had the foresight to download the diary after the diarist’s passing, or at least will know to do so now. I was hoping to go back and read her older entries since I had just started following her…so much for that, huh? Thanks a lot. /sarcasm

Crushed. We’ve all put so much of our heart and emotion here. Bruce … are you sure somebody else can’t take it over? Are you really sure? Make it a paid site. Wishing you and your family all that is good. I’m so going to miss this place. Take care of yourself. Sandra aka minnie58 (2002-2014)

Sorry about all the trouble I caused you back in the day with our little stupid diary wars…. take care man. Bye.

I will miss OD, been here since Feb 2004. I was happy to pay for an OD+ subscription most of the time. However, I recently stopped doing so when OD started having its problems. I would have gladly paid again if things had turned around. Anyway, hate to see this site go. It is a unique and special place. I made a lot of friends here. All my best to you and yours!

Be well, DM, and thank you for making this. You helped me reach self-awareness, I have friends I met through OD, I have been through a lot in my life since 2000, but OD has always been a part of it, one of the most central parts. Thank you for being there. Gosh, so many legacy diaries that are also going to disappear when the database gets shut down. There’s no way to save it all, heh.

It would be wonderful if OD could go on: please consider what Serin has offered. Other than that, if you choose not to, I wish you peace and well-being, but I must deplore your actions. Not telling people who paid recently that you were going to pull the plug, not telling diarists exactly when it will end, no offer to assist those who have a lot invested in this community to move their diaries, orto archive it for a while. It is disappointing. On the plus side, I have enjoyed being part of this community, and cherish some good friends I’ve made here. I especially cherish the memories of those who (unknowingly) saved my life when I was at a very low point. You started it, but you don’t own it. Sorry it has to end this way, but I do wish you health and success for you and your family.

You changed my life, pal. And that’s no lie. Thank you for 15 amazing years.

Thanks for your hard work over the past few years. I really enjoy the time here!

You have given me much happiness and many friends. Thank you.

Thanks for the good years. I will really miss OD, I’ve met a lot of good people here that have helped me through some very hard times. Since the site is shutting down for good, it would be nice if all members could download a PDF of their diaries if that’s at all possible. Just a thought. Well wishes to you DM.

Bruce, I really wish you would sell the site. But ultimately It’s your choice and I can respect it, even though I don’t understand or agree. I am grateful for having almost 11 wonderful years here. And I’m so sad it’s over.

Please can you give us time to download our diaries. Please. The site is crawling with all the activity. Thanks for being home for so many years xxx

So that’s it? We didn’t even get time to DL our diaries? The mobile site doesn’t give that option but yet it’s the only one that is currently working. I’m very upset about that….WTF?

PS – I hope you and your family are well.

I know it is your prerogative to do with the site as you see fit, but I am terribly disappointed you are just letting it disappear instead of selling it to someone who would care for it. It was more than just a website to us, it was a home. Home.

Nice to know that this site was just a little cushion to pad your resume. This was never about benefiting society to you– it was just an experiment that you didn’t have the maturity to see all the way through. I hope all the people who purchased “lifetime memberships” file a class action suit against your company. Since money seems to be the only language you speak.

When I had to leave work for health reasons I left a loving “work family.” For a dozen years a lonely void haunted me. I missed having people I was committed to and involved with. Then Woman in the Moon invited me to join Open Diary. Before long there was no lonely void, my life feels richer and more stimulating than it has had been. As I read the diaries of my friends I shed tears of joy,am elated by the magnificence of their prose and their photographs and am enriched by their insights. Following cancer surgery their support and concern felt magically uplifting. They are a permanent part of me therefore the closing of Open Diary is heartbreaking but I want to thank you for your creation and for you to hear again of its healing powers. Thank You sincerely.

You are full of sh*t. You left your paying customers hanging years ago. You cared about us? Bullsh*t. If you did you would have responded to the needs of your paying customers. If you had a **** to give about this community you would hand it over to the people who have begged you to so that it could continue. Fvck you Bruce. Just fvck you!

So much for a lifetime membership…I would expect a prorated refund, but no doubt that won’t be happening.

So much for a lifetime membership…I would expect a prorated refund, but no doubt that won’t be happening.

I’ve been on here since 2001 one. Sadly I saw the decline and it took the major issues back in 2013 to renew the domain name till 2016. If you cared as you so gracefully state than take the offers from those who are offering to purchase the site. But no you won’t, why, because your ego is so large that you can no longer fit through a door. If a small mom forum I was on could be sold and taken over so could something so large. You have beaten arou

You have beaten around the bush by your letter above, you cant fully admit you no longer care about OD since you were no longer making money. Or is it that your future customer are checking out your resume and seeing what OD has come to and deciding not to hire you? Listen to us, sell it to someone, make some pocket change and let someone who cares run the site. Other all thank I will miss OD it’s where I came when I need to release and think ove

think over issues in my life. It has seen me through a bad relationship, a broken engagment, dating again, to meeting my husband and having my child. I will miss you all.

As an initial lifetime member, I have to say it was the best hundred bucks I ever spent. Thanks for the memories.

You have my gratitude and heart-felt thanks for this wonderful website. OD has provided me with many special friends, laughter, tears, celebration, and thoughtful commiseration via the notes feature. The Universe (some say God) brought me here and allowed me to have an online home peopled with love for years uncounted. Thank you.

looks like all of us are thinking the same thing… sell it to someone that can and will keep it up and running. no one wants to see OD go. i’ve been here since 2001… and have been through a lot here. please think about selling. do the right thing.

I always thought of “going back” here and write again, can’t imagine it no longer exists one day. It’s been 12 years, my writing skill is literally trained up from there, all the sincere notes received, the friends and bloggers met, all are essential to me. goodbye, u will sure be missed.

Thank you…

for those bitching about lifetime membership.. $100 which I paid many years ago..was worth every penny.. Lifetime mean the life of the product not your life..

I understand why everyone is bashing you and assuming they know your reasons–selfishness, ego, indifference. The fact is we don’t know and can’t know because you haven’t been honest with us in years. We were such a loyal group of CUSTOMERS and advocates that you squandered. We won’t ever know why and that’s on you. Life changes, people have limitations, and that’s ok…

We might have understood if you had trusted us too. You weren’t up to the business and you weren’t up to communicating with us. So it goes. I’m sorry for those who feel they have lost something. What you provided ended long ago–there are many, many substitutes in the world. It’s the people that made this place a welcoming home. Those people would have had your back…if only.

Finally, you could just leave it you know. Disable all editing and subscription functions and archive it somewhere for posterity so we could navigate and read. But no.

how selfish. but I’m not really surprised.

i think i was there with you at the beginning and sad to say goodbye, but, you have made a lot of people happy and you can pat yourself on the back. I realise it must have been a lot of hard work, sorry it did not make you rich!!!! OD can run rings round FB. Hope to see you on Prosebox…big hugs….just to think you was world wide!?!?!?!?!!?!? way to go!!! lol hugs Valerie

I’m really sad about this, but I understand too. The internet culture has changed and even I don’t write as much as I used to. I’ve been on here for almost 14 years so not quite since the beginning, but really close to it. I would not be who I am today without OD and the friendships I formed here. I’m not sure I would’ve made it through my darkest times at all without OD and I am so much a better person because of it. For that, I am eternally grateful for you. <3

After reading so many of these notes, it becomes clear that in the beginning you were a part of this site…one of “us”. I wish I were here then so I could have gotten to know you. I’ve been here only going on four years after losing my original home at MDD…but it would have been nice to have heard from you while I’ve been here. I figure losing that connection is what lead to this sad day, so now we’ll have to watch to see if the same thing is happening at our new diary home. I don’t know why you lost it though…I hope you can figure it out and maybe you’ll feel the urge to revive what was your creation once more. Take care Bruce….Michael

OpenDiary Changed My Life. My whole adult life is here. Many of my friends came from here. Members helped me leave my marriage.. supported me when I had nothing. One of my best friends/bridesmaids came from OD. My life would be drastically different without this place. Thank you. That is a debt I can never repay.

Heartbroken. 🙁 Is there anyway to transfer my diary somewhere else?

Heavy heart, my ass. You haven’t been here for years.

OD meant a LOT to me and always will. It helped me become a better writer, introduced me to some amazing people, and served as a desperately needed outlet for my ramblings and my fangirling. I’m not happy about OD closing down because it is like being evicted from my home. I can only hope somebody comes forward and deus ex machinas this place back into existence. I do thank you for creating OD in the first place. I’ve loved my stay.

I’m really upset about this.. Just thought I would add to that so maybe there is a glimmer of hope you will change your mind. UGH. This sucks so bad you have no idea how much this site meant to me and my friends… It’s like a part of me is dying.

Hey Bruce, it’s Jen. I wasn’t going to say anything, and I wasn’t going to say anything, but then after the past couple of days I decided I needed to say something. That community you’re referring to above? It’s still here. Just look around you! Hundreds of people all singing the funeral dirge of this site. This is your audience, they are all here and they are all asking you notto kill OD. What happened? Was it too much work for you to handle? Too much going on in “real life” to devote to it? Not enough ad/subscription revenue? I get that those things are essential to the survival of a site like OD, but I also think that there are ways to fix issues with any and all of them. I truly find it a travesty to walk away from such a large COMMUNITY of real people, a community that you gathered together. That has weathered the problems here when so many other sites would have been abandoned long ago. Because they have history here, they belong. Even in your current ventures, you may have customers, but do you have a community as vibrant and dedicated as the one you have here? Is it REALLY worth it to throw all of that away?

Thank you.

This site has been a godsend for me, but I wont thank you DM, after all for a long time a certain admin was almost running the site by himself. No wonder when he stepped down the whole site started to disintegrate. For me this site died end of 2011 as its just got more and more shoddy since!

Bye.

I’ve stayed largely uninvolved in the debate/arguments about the maintenance of this site, but since things are going down, I thought I’d go ahead and send out a big ‘ole “**** you, dude” in your general direction. You suck and I’m REALLY happy I never paid for this service.

Yeah, what Jane Says.

You are one despicable person. You have lied to this community for years and now your true coward is really showing. I don’t know how you sleep at night. You truly suck!!!

How sad, I’ve loved this site for so long now. I’ll truly miss it. Thank you for it, it has changed my life, along with the people here. x

How sad, I’ve loved this site for so long now. I’ll truly miss it. Thank you for it, it has changed my life, along with the people here. x

Bruce Now that the site is shutting down, will you please open up PDF format downloading for all OD members? Thank you very much for providing us this service.

I found Open Diary a year ago when i googled painless ways to commit suicide and OD was the 3rd option. I clicked on it and it came to Open Diary. I like to think that it was God that led me here. By creating OD you saved me, and no amount of words can begin to explain how thankful I am to you.

Thank you Bruce. 1998-2014.

F U C K YOU, BRUCE! This is complete & utter bull****. We all know many people were willing to put time & effort into this site when you whined about how oh so hard it was to maintain. You say how much you love the community, yet all you did, ALL THE TIME, was **** us over. I’ve paid for OD plus, I’ve had friends buy OD plus for me & vice versa. I wish we hadn’t invested a dime in this site.

So, while I’m beyond sad and angry that you’re calling it quits, I guess I owe you a big thank you. Without your invention of Open Diary, I can’t even imagine what my life would be like. I’ve been here since Spring of 2000. I met so many wonderful friends across the country, and even the world. But, most importantly it was here that my husband and I met one another. We’ve been happily married….

for 10 years, and have a daughter together. So the most important things in my life came to me because of you, your great idea, and your willingness to implement it. I wish you’d reconsider shutting this place down. It means so much to so many people. Or at least sell it off to someone who can take over. If not, so be it. But I felt at the least I you deserved a thank you. Thanks Bruce.

really sad to hear tat. Thanks a lot for all the hard work and sacrifice!

Wow, Bruce, what a dick move you have made. All you can give us is a roughly two week notice to let us know that we have a short amount of time to back our stuff up and say our goodbyes? TWO WEEKS?!? What about the people who haven’t been here for a year or more because they can’t get into the site, people who have forgotten their passwords and can’t retrieve them because of whatever

server error/timeout/help desk failure occurs that prevents them from being retrieved? There was a time in which I remember reading that you said that every word that was posted on here was precious to you and that you wouldn’t dream of deleting stuff like inactive diaries and the heartfelt words people put into their entries because they all meant something to you. Do they no longer deserve to

be given the opportunity to back their diary up simply because they haven’t been able to get back to this site for whatever reason? That’s really f-ed up. All these people’s entries will just be obliterated because all you can give us is a two-week notice. I mean, seriously, six months would have been fair. Hell, six WEEKS would have been fair. But two frickin’ weeks?? Wow. That’s awful.

I agree with many of the other noters in that you should consider selling the site to someone who has the passion to make it the thriving place it once was. Please don’t let your pride and hubris get in the way of this decision. It’s not fair to approach this with the attitude of “if I can’t have it, neither can you.” All that being said, thanks for what has been an interesting ride. I’ve made

some great friends here and my life has changed in so many ways from knowing people from different walks of life whose paths I would never have crossed in person. Please, please change your mind.

I hope you read all the notes and entries regarding your cowardice. And I hope they hurt you to your core for what you’re doing to people who have faithfully stood beside you the last 14 years. You are despicable.

I wish you’d sold the site while you still could. While you still had a membership.

thanks for the memories xoxo

Bruce – Thanks for the good years…… Everything in life has to end sooner or later, and I’ve found that walking away on your own terms & on your time schedule is the way to go…. Good luck & best wishes…..

Though I highly doubt you’re going to even bother to come read these notes, I feel the need to leave one. Thank you so much for creating this site. I have made friends who are closer than family. This site has changed my life and literally kept me alive. I bought a Lifetime Membership and don’t regret a dime of it… it was worth way more than I paid. I can’t imagine my life without Open Diary…no where else comes close to it. I’ve cried and said my goodbyes, but it still seems unreal that this place is going to disappear. In my opinion, you are being extremely selfish for shutting it down instead of letting someone else buy it.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say goodbye to my diary and my friends. You always said you would give us that. I will remember Open Diary with fondness.

Thanks for everything boss, I’ve been with OD in various guises for yonks. I hope you are well, pity it never made any money but you made history and were the original and best imo. Take care man.

I really wish you would give someone the opportunity to continue the site. Obviously, a lot of people are sad. Some are angry. Almost all of us want to keep it. Some of us have the means to do so. Won’t you please contact me?

Thank you.

I made so many friends here that I will keep for the rest of my life 🙂 Please check in with me on Facebook at jimmymulholland@gmail.com.

What a long, strange trip it’s been. I do have some of the anger that others are letting go of here, but some notice is better than none at all, which is truly what I thought we’d get. Thanks for this site, and for what it’s meant to me since I began writing on here in 2000.

Thank you for creating this and giving me years of support, but I am really quite mad you aren’t selling it on or making it sub only. Please if you do read this consider the options, I don’t think you know how much it means to us all scattered across the world.

This diary has been like a home for me almost from its beginning. Would gladly pay more to keep it going, and so would many more. Here are words from another noter here: “Almost all of us want to keep it. Some of us have the means to do so. Won’t you please contact me? [Kilikopela] Willy of

Goodbye. I will miss you.

So many still having hopes of a rebirth here at OD…sure is sad to see those hopes dashed….

Stupid me. Guess I just threw the $3 away I paid to upgrade to OD+ one last time. I hope to get into my picture storage so I can delete them. I hope it upgrades. I thought it was all done automatically by computer, & since my payment was accepted, figured it would work. I love it here on OD & would’ve gladly continued my OD+ subscription if there hadn’t been so many problems the last couple years

cont… I believe in supporting a job well done. Anyway, please be so kind as to issue a refund to the PayPal account I used for my payment 40 minutes ago. This is a unique & special place. I appreciate the work you put into it over the last couple decades. I wish it could continue.

One of the users died. Is it possible to back up her entries somewhere? calendargirl I know it was a long time ago but it’s strange that it should just disappear into nothingness. Is there anything you can do?

Also, what would it take to keep it going? I have a small network of developers all over the planet who could potentially help lighten the work load.

Thanks to whoever made sure my OD+ upgrade was applied to my diary. I appreciate being able to delete my photos!

I feel very sad about this. This site saw me through a stroke and many other crises over 13 years. I wish we could have been offered the chance to pitch in and save our own community, as we did once before. Thank you for all your work over the years. I wish you well.

Thanks for the time to gather up what we need. Great party. Thanks for the invite.

I don’t understand why you don’t sell it. If it grew to the point of being too much to handle, that means it was obviously a success. Why throw it all away because you don’t want to deal with it anymore? You’ll always be the founder, but this is home to so many people that aren’t finished here yet.

Congratulations on fixing Open Diary’s performance problems. Do you think the Photobucket link in the GUI editor had anything to do with the troubles?

You’re throwing us away like garbage, after neglecting us for years. I can’t believe the word ‘sorry’ doesn’t appear even once in this entry. I’m really disappointed in you Bruce. I know you don’t give a SHIT but fuck man… I thought you were better than this. I have a million ideas on ways this site could be turned around. It could turn a profit, or a least berun cheaply… you’re obviously not the same man you were when you started this place. I don’t know what changed for you but clearly you just don’t care about us anymore. Thanks for the 15 or so years… wish you weren’t ending it this way.

I understand where you are coming from…however please consider Serin’s offer. At the very least, could we persuade you to keep it going until mid June? I’ve been reading Willy (Willy & Wilma) for over a decade and would love for him to be able to share his 100th birthday on OD with all his readers, it’s been a big part of his life. Please think about it.

If you cared, honestly…you’d sell the site to someone else. Let them update the code. You talk about FB killing this site but it doesn’t help that the last software and functionality update was like 2006 or some ****. If you don’t care, you give a half-hearted “I’m so sad!” and pull the plug at some random hour. Did you TRY to fundraise at all? Wikipedia fundraises, hello???

OH MY GOD!! HE DOESN’T CARE, OK? He hasn’t given a **** about this community in years! Do you think he’s even reading all these notes? Really? Jeebus.

I paid for a month subscription on friday so that I could download my diary in pdf and it has still not been added to my account, it is now monday. please fix this so i dont lose 9 years of my life, thanks.

…Before the end – is it too late to do a collaboration with http://www.socialbook.com ? Where maybe all the entries and notes could be collaborated into an actual book that could be purchased by each individual diarist? I would love to purchase a copy of my own book – maybe you could take a profit for it too, to compensate with extra running time? Consider it please?

The way you handled this site for the last few years… and the way you’re handling this now is SO awful. Beyond awful. People are right to call you despicable. I understand that things end, and I could have accepted that, except that you had ample opportunity to change the way the site was run and paid for, but you turned your back on us. I am sorry for ever giving you the benefit of the doubt.

It is sad & unfortunate that Open Diary must end. Not being one to judge, I am sure you have your reasons. Making the decision to let it go must have been tough. One last time, I want to thank you for all the hard work you did in creating Open Diary and keeping it going for so long. I wish all the best to you and your family in the coming years.

Thank you for creating this beautiful place. Can’t you bend just a little to let it move on in the care of a new owner(s) who will let our community continue to stay whole? The thing is, MANY OF US would be happy to pay more per year (and I say this having paid for a $150 “lifetime membership.”) Yes, you did what you could, when you had the time, but if it’s just not feasible for you to continue trying, when it needs so much attention, why NOT sell it, and see it renewed, and have your legacy shine in strength, rather than diminished in sorrow and failure? Yes, new models of funding have sprung up, new technology could improve performance, and more direct communication would make a world of difference to users. I do understand how, in the past, some diarists were impatient, demanding, and nearly impossible to please. That’s an inevitable part of any public enterprise. But the VAST MAJORITY would be thrilled if you would allow this place, with its treasure trove of words and pictures, to live on, and in doing so, giving the historical significance of Open Diary its due on the internet. Please show us as well as your own creative spirit, that you’ll give OD a 2nd chance at a new life

As a Lifetime Member, all I can say is thanks for letting us down so badly. You’ve just proved you don’t give a damn about this site.

I just wanted to say thank you for creating this site and for allowing me to become a part of it. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t do more, but I will always be grateful that I had this site in my life for the last 14 years. Thank you.

One last time, just to say goodbye and use the little red flag that meant a lot to me. Thanks for everything.

Bruce, never commented on you ever but thought one last time would be good. This website was an amazing place for me in my early twenties. I do miss those times but funnily enough my need to document my life was waned in the last few years and it so happened I was about to call time on my diary as this announcement was made. Thank you Sir, it’s been a blast!

I can’t say thank you enough for creating this site. I started writing in1999 shortly before my grandmother died. I was 16. Now, at almost 31, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, without the friendships formed here. I even fell in love with someone here… I’m sorry to see it go; no other place can ever be OD.

I can’t say thank you enough for creating this site. I started writing in1999 shortly before my grandmother died. I was 16. Now, at almost 31, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, without the friendships formed here. I even fell in love with someone here… I’m sorry to see it go; no other place can ever be OD.

I hope you don’t let the negative noters bother you. I, along with many, many other diarists here are grateful for the diary you created. Like the song by George Harrison says, “All Things Must Pass”, so shall Open Diary. But rest assured, Efforts by you, Eric and your other administrators is well appreciated. THANK YOU DIARY MASTER THANK YOU ERIC FOR 15 YEARS OF SERVICE A JOB WELL DONE!

OD has been a big part of my life and for me growing up. I have met so many wonderful people from this site and they all have changed my life in one way or another. So I guess OD has helped change my life, for the better. Growing up in rural Oklahoma as a gay teen, was challenging. OD was the first place I was ever accepted for being just me. Thanks.

I will echo most of the people in this thread and say that I am who I am today because of OD. So much pain, so much joy, so many questions, and so many answers came from here over the years. There were periods of inactivity, but whenever there was a crisis, OD was there. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from this loss. Bruce – you’ve saved lives, simply by giving us a voice and a safe spaceto use it. That said, you have let your shining creation rot to ruin. Yet we still live here, we still come, because we believe in your vision, and we believe in our community that you abandoned. Swallow your pride and sell the site. Don’t be that jealous lover, Bruce. “If I can’t have her, nobody can…” Sell the damned site. I doubt you’re reading these notes. You’re particularly good at ignoring us. Shutting us out. You’ve saved lives, Bruce, but now your time is done. Don’t let the vision die. SELL THE SITE.

Aloha… Mahalo nui loa for the past 15 years… an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life… What you created here… was truly “no ka oi” (the best) Me ke aloha…

Will just say thank you as well for all the years of the best online diary I ever came across. You don;t find places with so much heart in a largely soulless Internet where everything has suddenly become about brand names and buisness models. The Internet from 10-15 years ago, where is it now? Gone forever. I feel like OD was one of the last remainderss of the goold old Creativity and Passion

that were more importanr for the Internet 10 years ago. Thank you for keeping this site for so long, it’s been a gem of a site. Good luck in future endevours.