In my time, I've heard a lot of inspiring phrases. Two spring to mind in relation to this decision - "don't let life get in the way of living" from Ben Behaving Badly in 2010, and one from Doctor Who, when companion Tegan decided to suddenly bring her travels to and end; "If you've stopped enjoying it, it's time to give it up".
Back in March 2009, when I first launched this site, I was such a different person. Personally, and in terms of web design - tables and CSS files were an alien concept to me, and Photoshop looked like the most complex piece of software I'd ever seen. I also preferred to stay at my desk all day, rather than venturing outdoors (still working on that one, I must admit!).
Since then, I've met some fantastic people, been to amazing places and done great things.
If you watch the sitcom Red Dwarf, you'll know that one of the main characters, Lister, is always kept occupied by embarking on personal missions. MFO has been like a mission to me - challenging, hard, fantastic, and completely rewarding, and I'm so proud of what I've achieved over the last few years, but now it's time for me to move onto other missions.
Oh, and if any you reading this are thinking of going into the web design/managing business, I won't pretend it's easy. When it works, it's the most fantastic feeling in the world, seeing your words and creations on a web page, but when it doesn't work...!
The amount of nights and days I spent trying to find out why one simple piece of code wouldn't work, and in the end I discovered it was simply because I hadn't closed a bracket or tag... If I had a pound and all that!
Who knows what 2012 will bring me, and it'll take a few weeks to adjust to the idea that I'm no longer editing the site, but I'm sure I'll see you all around various websites - be sure to say Hello!
While My Family and My Family Online have both come an end, though, there's no reason why the fantastic family-like fan base that I've become a part of over the last few years can't continue –
The Forum will continue to run indefinitely, as far as I'm concerned, - and I'll be staying in-charge for the foreseeable future;
The Facebook Page – which now goes by the title of My Family (Fans) Online – will continue to run, although more as a place for you to all pass on news stories and chat than anything else!;
My Twitter feed will stay as it is, and, of course, you're all welcome to use the #myfamilyonline hash-tag to pass on news stories etc to each other! I may even post the occasional news story myself!
And, of course, my Inbox will always be open for anyone who wants to chat about the series, ask a question etc!
My Family Online itself will stay online for the foreseeable future, though I *am* considering creating a PDF booklet-version of the site, containing all the current guides and information, so in the event that the site does close down completely you'll still have access to all of the information you've been able to access over the past few years!
In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who I've come to know through the site; who's helped in any way, submitted an article, voted in a Poll, Emailed me... or even just visited! Thank You one and all!
Tom Simpson,
Editor,
My Family Online
