Community Profile

This is the Dreamwidth community for the Yahoo Groups (Fandom) Rescue Project.


What is the Yahoo Groups project? How did it start?

The Yahoo Groups Fandom Rescue Project began as a group of volunteers attempted to save data from as many fandom email lists as possible before Yahoo deleted them. ArchiveTeam volunteers also attempted to save data and worked with us, with the ultimate goal being for it to end up on the Internet Archive.


Why is the word "Fandom" in parentheses?

While the project began and is still mainly focused on fandom groups, the bulk of what was saved was not fandom, and is of interest to an even wider group of people. Yahoo Groups represents a large part of Internet history.


Isn't Yahoo Groups dead now?

Yes, all the groups were deleted. However, thanks to ArchiveTeam as well as fandom volunteers, we saved over 14 TB of data.


What data was saved?

For each group saved, we usually have the Messages, Links, and Files sections. For a small subset of groups, we were also able to save the Photos section. For most other groups, pictures were only saved if they had been stored in the Files section. (This is entirely Yahoo's fault; they sent pictures in the Photos section only to the original uploader.)


Do you have the data for [group name]?

Ask Doranwen and she can tell you if we have the data for a particular group. You'll need the exact group name. You can find that in the metadata spreadsheets or in a link to where the group used to be.


Where is the data now?

On the hard drives of several volunteers who saved it and coordinated to make sure it was all backed up properly. It is NOT uploaded to the Internet Archive (or anywhere else) at this point, though you can find the metadata (information about a large number of groups, most of which were saved) here: https://archive.org/details/Yahoo_Groups_Metadata


Can I look at the data now?

Currently, no; it is still waiting to be sorted and organized. If you'd like to help with that, please join our Discord server. (If you would like to help but cannot use Discord, please PM doranwen or contact her in the #yahoosucks channel on IRC's Hackint network.)


I'd really like the data for this one group.

It's a lot of work to find the data for a single group (it's very disorganized still!), so until everything is sorted and uploaded to the Internet Archive, we're only uploading one group per week as a reward to those who have been helping with the project. If you're interested in the data for a specific group, please consider helping us get everything ready to be uploaded so you can be added to the priority list for group data.


What are the stages for this project, and where is it now?

Saving the data - COMPLETE.
Cleaning up metadata and creating a database - COMPLETE.
Sorting metadata - COMPLETE.
Tagging metadata - IN PROGRESS.
Loading the tags back into the database - NOT YET STARTED.
Sorting data - NOT YET STARTED.
Uploading data - NOT YET STARTED.


Can I post to this community?

At the moment, posting is limited to admin updates on the project's progress. Once data is uploaded to the Internet Archive and all posts linking to specific category uploads have been made, then posting will be made available to all members for people to share thoughts and stories about the treasures they've found in Yahoo Groups, or to connect with other former members from various groups. In the meantime, you're welcome to join the community, subscribe, and/or comment on posts!