DU is 20 years old today! (January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2021)
Hard to believe it's been exactly 20 years since Skinner and I painted "DemocraticUnderground.com" on a banner and took it down to George W. Bush's first inauguration, but here we are. Thank you to all of you who continue to support and enjoy DU, we're glad to have you here.
To be honest with you, I have not spent a lot of time recently reminiscing about the past 20 years. After one insurrection, two impeachments, and four disastrous years of Trump -- the last of which has been spent mostly quarantined thanks to an uncontrolled pandemic -- my preference is to look ahead to the future.
So with the Orange Menace finally in the rear view mirror, and as we welcome in the new Biden Administration, I thought that rather than look backwards, I'd share with you some things that are coming to DU in 2021.
1. Anniversaries and Milestones
Those of you who registered between 2001 and mid-2003 will know that we lost your original join date when we switched from DU1 to DU2. However, after digging about in the database, and using a bit of math, Elad has been able to assign you an approximate join date. Please understand that while it may not be exactly exact, it is certainly within 3 or 4 days. So it either is your actual join date, or really close to it. We hope that will do.
Part of the reason we did this is because we'll soon be starting a new daily thread in the Lounge to acknowledge the anniversaries and posting milestones of active DU members. We were hoping to have this ready for today but it required some programming and we ran out of testing time -- but look out for it very soon. If you are a member who joined sometime between 2001 and mid-2003, your join date will be updated when we launch this new feature.
2. The Annual Hearts Fund Drive
The much-loved Valentine's week fund drive will return as usual this year -- support DU and spread the love to your fellow DUers! This year we plan to run the fund drive from the evening of Sunday February 7 thru the morning of Monday February 15.
3. Name Change Amnesty
It's been quite a while since the last time we did one of these -- in fact it was all the way back in 2008. But since another Republican president has just left office and there are probably quite a few members who might want to get rid of their Trump-era usernames, it's time for a name change amnesty. On or around February 15 we'll be starting a 30 day period where all DU members will be given the opportunity to change their username, without affecting post count or previous posts. More details will be posted nearer the time.
4. Counterproductive Infighting!
DU members who have been around since 2008 will likely know what we're in for during the Biden Administration. Once the euphoria of Trump's departure has worn off, we'll have at least two years ahead of a Democratic House, Senate, and White House -- which is great for the country but not always so great for unity on DU. The fact is, you should prepare yourselves now for a certain amount of disunity going forward, as everyone comes to grips with their differing levels of appreciation for what the Democrats are doing in Washington DC.
I do not expect things to get as unpleasant as they did during the Obama years, mainly because we significantly overhauled the Jury system back in 2016 -- and I believe that the 2019/20 Democratic Primaries were proof that we can all (mostly) get along even while disagreeing vehemently. Nevertheless, I would like to warn you of this inevitable truth: You will suddenly find out that DUers you got along with really well over the past four years have different ideas than you do about how Democrats should run the country. Please set your expectations accordingly, but also remember that if you can express your differences politely, you should not have a problem.
5. The Future...
Elad and I do have a couple of bigger changes in the works, although given that there are just two Admins now, these may take a while to come to fruition. First is something that I've wanted to get to grips with for a long time -- a reorganization of the forums/groups on DU. We have a lot of groups which are barely used, and I think the time has come for a bit of a cleanup. The plan is to remove some of the barely-used/outdated groups, and combine others together where it would make sense to do so. We will discuss this with you in more detail before we make any changes.
After that (or possibly before that, depending on what happens), we think it would be nice to give DU a fresh coat of paint. The current design has served us well for the past 10 years, but it is starting to show its age. This won't be a massive, total rewrite of the software, which we did when we moved from DU2 to DU3, but will be more focused on quality-of-life improvements to the site -- better navigation, easier to read, faster loading, a better mobile version, etc. We might even be able to sneak in some new features while we're at it. And don't worry, this isn't some kind of sell-out -- it will still be the DU you know and love, only even more awesome.
Again, we'll have plenty of discussions with you about it before we get there -- and this is something that will take quite some time to pull off so don't expect to see DU4 any time soon. But I wanted to let you know what we had in mind going forward.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being here -- and here's to the next 20 years!
-- EarlG and Elad
= new reply since forum marked as read
AND HERE'S TO ANOTHER 20!!!
Thank you for twenty amazing years, EarlG!
I didn't join till 2005, but I only had gotten my very first computer in 2004, so there's that.
After wandering through the bewildering WWW for awhile, I ran across DU.....and the rest is history.
I love this place. It's my electronic home!
Here's to many more historic years for DU!
You and DU and the gang have been a source of refuge and sanity for me all these years!
(joined up in March 2002)
Cheers! Yours in Awe,
"DinahMoeHum"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DU!!!
I look forward to seeing when y'all have me listed as coming here...I know it was before 9/11, probably mid-summer of 2001, IIRC. Back when I was a redhead....
And more thanks than you can imagine to EarlG and Elad, (and Skinner,) for creating the best Democratic website on the internet.
Happy birthday to all of us. This is a great community. We are very lucky!
(DU has aged a lot better than I have in the last 20 years. Why is that?) 
I had to take a multiple year hiatus because I didn't have a computer, and when I finally got back on my feet I couldn't remember my password. So I made a new account. Couldn't get my original username, Chelle, because it was already in use (by me, of course.) But I remember those days.
I use DU every day, but since I'm 99% reader, and 1% poster, even if they could find my original account it would probably only double my post count.
Thank you to EarlG, Elad, and Skinner for starting this website 20years ago today, and another gigantic THANK YOU for maintaining it all this time. I know that Skinner has moved on, but you guys SO ROCK for all that you have done and are doing. Look where your inspiration has taken us all. I also want to thank all the great people who post on DU. You folks are my rock and my sanity. Bless and thank all of you. Huge hugs!!!
pretty please?? 
This place has been a source of comfort, enlightenment, joy and even anger for 17 years. I can't imagine my life without it.
Thank You EarlG, Elad and Skinner.
commitment and giving us an internet home.
To my most beloved trusted website ...
You have my heartfelt appreciation
Thank you for giving me a virtual home for 20 years
on DU!
What....A....DAY!
I have been here almost since the beginning and I don't know what I would do without you!
HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY
Couldn’t make it without DU, PERIOD!!!!
Thanks so much, EarlG and Elad ❤️
There is no place like DU!!!
I felt completely gaslighted by the MSM before I came here — because what I knew to be true was simply not being reported. I had been marching in the streets of our town with numbers that increased every week — and I knew we could not possibly be the only people doing this.
I showed up at DU and found my first and only online community. Even when we fight, this is home.
Thank you, EarlG.
For me, it is an oasis of sanity among many crazies. 
I can't believe it
You all helped me through some dark times in red state hell. This election my state flipped to blue (!) but we still have lots of work to do.
Thanks for being there and cheers to many more years to come!
I joined a few weeks after September 11, 2001.
I'm thinking of changing my name to Covid_Rapunzel. I'm isolated and my hair is really long
and it's saved my sanity!
I know some of us got a kick out of him during fundraising times. Your other plans sound great.
