I like your enthusiasm, but ironically enough we've tried/done virtually everything that you've pitched in your message (I laughed a bit reading it going "where has this guy been over the past decade?"
Covid was a major turning point; it changed a lot of things in the cannabis community (the growers, the companies, how advertising money is spent and directed, etc.) Combined with a few speed bumps and hiccups of our own as a forum (changing from .net to .org, and then some personal shit to boot,) there was a rough patch there for sure.
We have a pretty solid game plan forming for 2025 and I believe we are lining up the right people for the tasks at hand that we're trying to complete! Some of this journey has been finding out the things that both work and do not (and we've found out quite a few things don't work.)
We have several breeders waiting to come on the forum and a few other well known companies/brands that we've been working on, and a side-by-side to that is we're going to heavily push an educational focus in terms of tutorials and information for autoflowers.
And just a friendly reminder that AFN is volunteer-ran; there is only so much time in the day and a limited bank account to fund all the fantastical things that everyone thinks we should/could/would be doing.
If there are tasks that you personally feel suited to/for and you are willing and have the time, we are all more than willing to entertain the idea of accepting more help if it fits