Hey Jeff,
Thanks for taking the time to respond so quickly and I see where you’re coming from.
I feel uncomfortable letting even a professional handle the migration because I haven’t seen a successful example of their work with a website analogous to my own, but that’s not the only reason. I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty in Linux and the code (to a certain point).
My questions are more about the features and behavior of Discourse than the technical installation / migration. I realize I posed a lot of questions in a single post, but I tried to paint a clear picture of who I am and the barriers someone like me faces when they are about to switch to Discourse.
My company is a baby. Actually, it’s been just me until I started hiring some freelance writers a few days ago. I don’t have the funding (at least I don’t think I do) to hire a professional at this point.
I wrote this post with the hope I wouldn’t be dismissed because my questions are too simplistic. It’s hard for me to admit I don’t know something, especially in the presence of experts whom I admire.
My language was too strong when I talked about losing my livelihood and business - that’s not going to happen. There is a margin for error. I’m not freaking out. I just wanted everyone to understand it’s important to me to have a solid understanding before I dive in. (Usually, I’m the opposite - dive in, fix on the fly.)
Thanks for all of your support! I hope someday I can give back at least a small part of what is so freely offered here.
David