C-: We replace the forum by a sand-box wiki: A specialized collaborative space where everyone can come and ask questions, create material, put ideas together and establish collaboration, seeding research projects, and publish a paragraph, a first draft, etc. Anyone can see it, but only members can edit => added value for the members: they master it but everyone can see.
If a non-member wants to participate, then it's not like we are not sharing info until they pay, but it's an incentive for them to become a member and be part of it. The idea of such a tool is that scholars can open a conversation with students or scholars from everywhere and every discipline, co-authoring without resorting to clumsy emails.
Material posted on this tool is backed-up and dated, since it's public, it's important for plagiarism. It's like a virtual salon, or a think-tank, open to everyone who would be interested in the question/topic. It's not limited in time and doesn't flood your email. Members receive a condensed email notification each week (TBD) on what's going on in the sand-box.
Technically: All members are added as participants. (everyone is automatically subscribed whether they use it or not by the web-designer). It needs to be completely fluid from the website to the sand-box: you click, you're there, seamless. This should not be too complicated even using a well established wiki tool such as PBWorks.com (which gives free space for educational/academic purposes). We can work out the details as we proceed with the web-designer.