BonanzaWorld
A Long time ago, on a webserver far far away, there was a forum called BonanzaWorld (BW). The year was 2004. BW was a good site for Bonanza-related information. Members could discuss Bonanza and the actors to their heart’s content and read stories written by fans. But with any technology, the site experienced problems with its server and actually went down several times before crashing, unfortunately.
PonderosaBrand
During this time, a member of BW created another website. The new site was Ponderosa Brand (PB). It did well and added elements for fans that BW did not. PB added multilingual forums that included hosts that spoke the language. Ponderosa Brand was an exciting location as Bonanza fans from around the world shared their passions for all things Bonanza, in discussions about the episode, the characters, and the actors. We even learned something about locations around the world.
As time went on, PB added mature stories to the library and an “R” rated forum was born (closely monitored for age).
PB always wanted to be cutting edge and was not afraid to try new things. The original owner wanted the site to be fully accessible to the fans and all monetary obligations fell on the owner.
As PB grew, it took on more managers and the M7 (Magnificent Seven) moderators were born. PB added a feature called ‘The Courthouse’ which allowed members to politely discuss issues but forbade trashing the actors. There was some controversy, but as it progressed it smoothed out. PB was the first Bonanza forum to add ideas by the members and always carefully discussed new ideas, sometimes a painfully slow process since at least three continents and even more time zones were involved.
The original owner decided to return to college work and passed the rights on to a select few that had been a part of the M7, with all financial obligations and responsibilities divided among them. At that time, Ponderosa Brand was changed to Bonanza Brand (Brand) and the owners became known as the Brandsters.
Bonanza Brand
The ownership transition happened with ease. New discussions were introduced in the Forums and new stories and authors in the Library. Weekly on-line chats were hosted on Friday nights and special chats were scheduled, running for 12-hours to encompass members around the globe, to celebrate the birthdays of Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon.
Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library
In 2014, technology once again reared its ugly head when old technology began to cause problems in the Library. At that time, the Brandsters were forced to find and install new software to house the forums and the library; and they became separate entities. The Forums migrated seamlessly.
A timeline was given to the authors to spread the move of their stories over several months. What should have been a simple switch to upload 1,600 stories into the new library caused its own set of complications. The web host actually took Brand down for 72 hours until the Brandsters could clear up problems involving excessive bandwidth usage. Unfortunately, the purge focused on the Forums and a number of memorable threads were unknowingly deleted during this ’emergency’.
Once back online, Brand continued its Library migration. Readers now had more methods to search for stories besides scrolling chronologically through the pages or by author via the membership listing.
Icons were added to the bottom of the pages allowing members to jump over pages as the number of stories increased.
Various collections were created:
By Author
By Title
Episode Inspired
Cross Overs with other fandoms
Bonanza stories written as part of a Series
Holiday Collections
Writing Challenges
Categories (i.e., Drama/Humor/Alternative Reality/Modern Day/Prequels/Post Timeline/Romance/Action & Adventure, etc.)
Readers have the ability to ‘Bookmark’ their favorite stories for ease of finding to re-read in the future. Random stories are featured on the front page; readers only need to refresh the page to see a new set of stories.
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After migration to WordPress completed, the Brandsters began reaching out to early-era authors to ask if their stories could be added to the Brand Library. The majority of those reached, said yes; however, we were not able to reach a number of authors due to invalid email addresses or learning they had passed away.
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In late 2022, the Brandsters introduced a new feature in the Library. By clicking the flag located under the Bonanza Brand Fan Fiction Library banner, international readers can select to read stories in their native language.
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During 2023, after discussions with fanfiction site owners from other fandoms, the Brandsters opted to follow suit in trying to preserve as many Bonanza fanfiction stories written by early-era authors as possible; many were posted to websites that no longer exist.
Preserving Their Legacy is an ongoing project as the Brandsters search out stories to include in the Library.
- Even using the WayBackMachine (WBM), many stories will be lost since some earlier sites required readers to login to read, and those logins no longer function under WBM.
- Or the stories were only available via e:mail request.
We are proud to say that Brand has been on the forefront of establishing one of the finest Bonanza Fan Fiction Libraries on the web. Since 2016, the Library has increased from ~1,600 stories to over 4,600 stories written by fans of the program. This includes new stories as well as stories uploaded under Preserving Their Legacy. We encourage everyone to explore the vast number of stories about the Cartwrights, their relatives, co-workers, friends, strangers, and enemies.
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In the beginning of 2026, some Library authors experienced a rash of unwarranted comments not related to the story on which they were left. The Brandsters had no way to contact these readers who chose to use an inappropriate method to voice their complaints. Also, several ‘guest’ reviewers left comments the Brandsters deemed harassing for authors. After due consideration, the Brandsters decided that if readers wanted to leave comments, they must be registered subscribers on the site.
PLEASE NOTE, the Library will always remain open to visitors just want to read the stories.
Bonanza Brand Forums
In 2016, a member in the Forums inquired about creating a Bonanza Brand Advent Calendar, which was a much-looked-forward to, annual tradition at Brand. Contributions are originally posted in the Forums; one being revealed each day, until Christmas Eve when all were published as a collection in the Library. The Advent Calendar enjoyed a strong 10-year run; December 2025 was the final year for this feature.
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Then came the Forum’s second great purge. In June 2017, a platform that previously offered free image hosting services changed their rules with very little to no warning. Members were previously able to ‘hot-link’ images uploaded from said platform to other ‘third-party’ sites (i.e., Brand). Users now found this feature terminated unless they paid for an annual subscription to the platform. The Brandsters were forced to go through years of posts to delete those with broken links; instead of images, viewers saw the dreaded red circle and slash.
The original Brandsters managed Bonanza Brand for over ten years before deciding to hand the reins over to a new set of Brandsters at the end of 2019.
Brandsters 2020
There was a rough patch during our first year of ownership; the crux of the issue was copyright infringement. For a long time, Brand operated under the old saying, “It is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.” However, we were forced into the ‘ask permission’ category when we were advised of ‘agencies’ perusing the internet looking for copyrighted image violations and demanding large fees to resolve the issue.
We notified the membership of this situation and that the Brandsters were investigating our choices. At issue was the uploading manipulated screencap images from Bonanza and non-Bonanza images. We struggled to decide on what was best to do, to still allow members to enjoy Brand, yet honor the license under which this site operates. At members’ request, we reached out to Bonanza Ventures (the licensor of all things BONANZA) and were informed by attorney Andy Klyde that manipulated images were a violation of copyright law and thus we had no choice but to prohibit the uploading of these images. Yes, we know other licensed sites allow manipulation of images; however, Brand received direct response from the attorney of the copyright holder that these manipulations were a violation of our license.
Though Andy Klyde wasn’t directly asked for an opinion on non-Bonanza images; there was still the fact that pictures of the actors themselves or in other roles were protected under copyright, so we also chose to prohibit the posting of images not directly related to Bonanza. The only exemption was if the poster had personal copyright as they had taken the photo. Although we didn’t set out to drive anyone away, a few members took exception to the Brandsters’ decision to follow the law, and they chose to leave Brand.
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Forums
Originally introduced in 2020, our Bonanza-style threads have expanded. What started out with “If the Ponderosa was an Olympic Venue” now includes Movie Posters, Caption This, Dialogue, Commercials, and most recently March Madness.
In early 2021, Brand sadly closed its multilingual forums due to lack of participation. We are open to discussion if there would be enough interest in re-opening these forums. Or possibly a different solution.
During 2022, Brand sadly closed its chat feature due to dwindling interest.
In 2023, the Brand Forums introduced the Classrooms; offering members a place to tell a little about where they live, their holidays and traditions, and a place to share recipes. The non-Bonanza writing parlor and the arts, crafts, and hobbies pages were renamed and moved to the Classrooms.
In November 2025, Invision Community upgraded the Forums which now required members to login using their email address instead of their username as previously allowed. Please note, email addresses are only visible to the Brandsters, unless the member has chosen to publicly post it in the Forums.
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In recent years, participation in discussion forums across the web has waned as fans have found other ways to satisfy their interest in fandoms, real life has intruded or members have passed away. Technology advancements have also had an effect; newer platforms have stolen the interest of fans, encouraging them to create their own sites, in their own images, free of any financial obligations or need to obtain a license. Even with the advancements in technology, Brand continues to experience a healthy participation by members as new fans find our site.
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Through its history, like some families, Bonanza Brand has not been without controversy or bitter embroiled spats; caused by and between members or after hard decisions were announced, and unfortunately, not well received by everyone.
To this day, the Brandsters continue to fund all monetary obligations to maintain Bonanza Brand on their own without asking members to pay a subscription fee or soliciting donations. We believe in the value of an independent on-line community for Bonanza fans.
We welcome all fans of Bonanza to participate in the discussions and games housed in the Bonanza Brand Forums. We only ask that you read and abide by the guidelines located at the top of the screen. If any member has an idea, please feel free to reach out to us.
Brandsters
- Cheaux
- BluewindFarm
Brandsters2020@gmail.com
If you have any questions related to the Library or the Forums or just wish to contact the Brandsters, please email us at the address listed.