It's time...

Post any website technical issues, suggestions, or requests here
52089
Victor VI
Posts: 3745
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:54 pm

It's time...

Post by 52089 »

Given all the problems with the forum, and how much more frequently they have been occurring, I personally feel it's time to pull the plug and let the APS take over. My suggestion, if it can be done, is to get an APS-hosted board of some kind up and runnning ASAP, and as soon as it's available, disable new posts on the current board. The current board can stay online and be used as an archive. Hopefully the posts from this forum can be moved to the new forum over time.

I know from reading other threads that work has begun in this direction. I'm hoping that work can be accelerated before the server issues become permanent. Just adding my 2 cents.

User avatar
fran604g
Victor VI
Posts: 3988
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2013 2:22 pm
Personal Text: I'm Feeling Cranky
Location: Hemlock, NY

Re: It's time...

Post by fran604g »

52089 wrote:Given all the problems with the forum, and how much more frequently they have been occurring, I personally feel it's time to pull the plug and let the APS take over. My suggestion, if it can be done, is to get an APS-hosted board of some kind up and runnning ASAP, and as soon as it's available, disable new posts on the current board. The current board can stay online and be used as an archive. Hopefully the posts from this forum can be moved to the new forum over time.

I know from reading other threads that work has begun in this direction. I'm hoping that work can be accelerated before the server issues become permanent. Just adding my 2 cents.
Hear, hear!

I also encourage members to copy and paste their most valuable postings to a WORD document by first using the "print view" feature at the top-left screen of the 1st page of their posts - which converts the post to a text-with-images intact view, enabling the cut and paste feature of WORD; and save the document to their PC.

ADMITTEDLY, this can be an incredibly time consuming operation, however it does work nicely.

Just trying to help as I can.

Best,
Fran
Last edited by fran604g on Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Francis; "i" for him, "e" for her
"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while" - the unappreciative supervisor.

melvind
Victor IV
Posts: 1313
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:23 am

Re: It's time...

Post by melvind »

52089 wrote:Given all the problems with the forum, and how much more frequently they have been occurring, I personally feel it's time to pull the plug and let the APS take over. My suggestion, if it can be done, is to get an APS-hosted board of some kind up and runnning ASAP, and as soon as it's available, disable new posts on the current board. The current board can stay online and be used as an archive. Hopefully the posts from this forum can be moved to the new forum over time.

I know from reading other threads that work has begun in this direction. I'm hoping that work can be accelerated before the server issues become permanent. Just adding my 2 cents.
I quite agree! Dump the old one as it is on its last leg. The last week has been a nightmare.

User avatar
PHONOMIKE
Victor III
Posts: 727
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2013 1:47 am
Location: ONTARIO CANADA

Re: It's time...

Post by PHONOMIKE »

I also agree with the above statements. I actually started a thread like this a few days ago and guess what? I hit submit, the spinner started, spun for about 5 minutes, then gave me a error. Oh the irony of it all.

On a positive note, this forum has served us well for a long time. That can't be taken away. I'm sure everyone here had some great use for this either buying, selling or for some info.

But let's not lose fact that this site is old. Archaic even. It's on life support now so please pull the plug.

APS. Please get the new site up and going so we can all enjoy this again. I don't believe a site that continues to crash daily, hourly, or whatever is beneficial to our hobby. Thanks.

Mike

User avatar
audiophile102
Victor IV
Posts: 1219
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 12:50 pm
Personal Text: Say to yourself I am so happy hurray!
Location: Brookfield, Illinois

Re: It's time...

Post by audiophile102 »

52089 wrote:Given all the problems with the forum, and how much more frequently they have been occurring, I personally feel it's time to pull the plug and let the APS take over. My suggestion, if it can be done, is to get an APS-hosted board of some kind up and runnning ASAP, and as soon as it's available, disable new posts on the current board. The current board can stay online and be used as an archive. Hopefully the posts from this forum can be moved to the new forum over time.

I know from reading other threads that work has begun in this direction. I'm hoping that work can be accelerated before the server issues become permanent. Just adding my 2 cents.
Here Here! Thank you and everyone else who is encouraging the support of an updated site. The crashes are getting more frequent and really terrible.
"You can't take the phonographs nor the money with you, but the contentment the phonographs bring may well make your life better, and happier lives make the world a better place."

User avatar
Valecnik
Victor VI
Posts: 3828
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:28 pm
Personal Text: Edison Records - Close your eyes and see if the artist does not actually seem to be before you.
Location: Česká Republika
Contact:

Re: It's time...

Post by Valecnik »

Yup, I'm in agreement too. Spent a half hour last night trying to create a new posting. Kept getting errors, timing out and so on. Finally I gave up. The current platform often behaves as if access is via dial up connection despite the valiant efforts of the leadership here to get necessary accesses for corrections.

User avatar
MordEth
Victor IV
Posts: 1148
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:01 pm
Personal Text: Contact me for TMF tech support.
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Re: It's time...

Post by MordEth »

PHONOMIKE wrote:But let's not lose fact that this site is old. Archaic even. It's on life support now so please pull the plug.
If you want to be this way, I'd be happy to just nuke the site right now and you're welcome to start over from scratch.

As I posted in in the Forum Problems thread:
MordEth wrote:I will look into fixing the forum up as work quiets down over the next month or so, but in the interests of transparency: I work as an IT consultant and it keeps me busy. I am supporting a close friend who is currently hospitalized for renal failure and undergoes dialysis 3 days a week. I have only ever put money into the hosting and upkeep of this site; I have never received compensation for my time and rarely do I hear thanks. Lately it has wholly been complaints. If members are willing to donate something for my time, getting this up to date and potentially moved to better hosting are more likely to happen.

I do not plan to relinquish control over the board unless its founder, John/Neophone decides to completely give up on it. All of the effort I have put into this site over the years has been a favor to him.
It's frustrating reading the posts by people who have little or no understanding of how these sites work. I have backups of the entire site and all cobtent on it (in the database and its backups). It's not going to self-destruct. At the moment, after downgrading the version of PHP that the server is using, the site seems to be running ok to me.

You do not need to go through the site and paste it into a Word document, unless you really need a way to waste your own time.

At the moment, I am not in the greatest of moods after nearly losing a very good friend over the weekend.

If you really need to get ahold of me, well, someone posted my phone number, and you can certainly call me. Don't expect prompt responses to e-mail, although I can promise you that I do read it. If you read the quote above, you can probably tell what I am prioritizing as we approach Christmas.

Regards,

David
Proudly supporting phonograph discussion boards, hosting phonograph sites and creating phonograph videos since 2007.
Need web hosting or web (or other graphic) design? Support MordEth by using BaseZen Consulting for all of your IT consulting needs.
Want more phonograph discussion? Be sure to visit The Online Edison Phonograph Discussion Board.

User avatar
gramophone-georg
Victor VI
Posts: 3984
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:55 pm
Personal Text: Northwest Of Normal
Location: Eugene/ Springfield Oregon USA

Re: It's time...

Post by gramophone-georg »

MordEth wrote:
PHONOMIKE wrote:But let's not lose fact that this site is old. Archaic even. It's on life support now so please pull the plug.
If you want to be this way, I'd be happy to just nuke the site right now and you're welcome to start over from scratch.

As I posted in in the Forum Problems thread:
MordEth wrote:I will look into fixing the forum up as work quiets down over the next month or so, but in the interests of transparency: I work as an IT consultant and it keeps me busy. I am supporting a close friend who is currently hospitalized for renal failure and undergoes dialysis 3 days a week. I have only ever put money into the hosting and upkeep of this site; I have never received compensation for my time and rarely do I hear thanks. Lately it has wholly been complaints. If members are willing to donate something for my time, getting this up to date and potentially moved to better hosting are more likely to happen.

I do not plan to relinquish control over the board unless its founder, John/Neophone decides to completely give up on it. All of the effort I have put into this site over the years has been a favor to him.
It's frustrating reading the posts by people who have little or no understanding of how these sites work. I have backups of the entire site and all cobtent on it (in the database and its backups). It's not going to self-destruct. At the moment, after downgrading the version of PHP that the server is using, the site seems to be running ok to me.

You do not need to go through the site and paste it into a Word document, unless you really need a way to waste your own time.

At the moment, I am not in the greatest of moods after nearly losing a very good friend over the weekend.

If you really need to get ahold of me, well, someone posted my phone number, and you can certainly call me. Don't expect prompt responses to e-mail, although I can promise you that I do read it. If you read the quote above, you can probably tell what I am prioritizing as we approach Christmas.

Regards,

David
David-

First/ foremost- sorry about your friend- it doesn't sound promising and that really sucks. Been through this more than I have wanted to with friends and relatives over the last few years. My sincerest condolences.

The quote that seems to have triggered you was written over 2 weeks ago- no way that poster read the post you made today before posting it.

While I don't have your IT background and won't pretend to- I am involved with other discussion boards and even co- created a few... and it always appeared to me that the main problem here was nobody had the credentials or keys to run the updates. There might be other issues (please tell me this isn't hosted by Stablehost which seems to be coming apart at the seams lately, LOL) that aren't immediately apparent.

While it's understandable that you're upset by what you are seeing here (and the life issues you're dealing with aren't helping) you have to understand that people are bitching and promoting "conspiracy theories" because they. don't. know. ;)

Heck, I've been a member since January 2014 and I can't ever remember seeing new posts by you or John since I have been here until today- and that's 6 years next month. Is it any wonder folks are confused?

If nobody cared about or appreciated your work they would just all slowly drift away- not actively try to see all of this preserved. You guys did a great job. If it stays as it is it's fine with me. And as to donations... sure, put up a PayPal donation button somewhere- I'm game. And if I can help in any way PM me or email me if the site is down.* :)

*"That was a joke, Son!" as Foghorn Leghorn would say. ;)
"He who dies with the most shellac wins"- some nutty record geek

I got PTSD from Peter F's avatar

User avatar
MordEth
Victor IV
Posts: 1148
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:01 pm
Personal Text: Contact me for TMF tech support.
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Re: It's time...

Post by MordEth »

gramophone-georg wrote:First/ foremost- sorry about your friend- it doesn't sound promising and that really sucks. Been through this more than I have wanted to with friends and relatives over the last few years. My sincerest condolences.
Thank you.
gramophone-georg wrote:The quote that seems to have triggered you was written over 2 weeks ago- no way that poster read the post you made today before posting it.
Actually, the triggering factor was a text message from Brandon about how he had decided to shut down the forum without any previous dialogue. Coming here and seeing some of the recent comments did not help anything.
gramophone-georg wrote:While I don't have your IT background and won't pretend to- I am involved with other discussion boards and even co- created a few... and it always appeared to me that the main problem here was nobody had the credentials or keys to run the updates. There might be other issues (please tell me this isn't hosted by Stablehost which seems to be coming apart at the seams lately, LOL) that aren't immediately apparent.
Basically, it just gets tiresome hearing the uninformed solutions of people who have no experience in hosting a site of this size and traffic. In just image attachments to posts, the members of this board have generated 138.99 GB of content. For reference, a single-layer DVD is only 4.4 GB. So literally, the equivalent of almost 32 DVDs, with just photos. Not video. That's an insane number. The database for the board is 842.32 MB. For reference, about the same size as an hour of compressed high-definition video. It's too big to put on a CD.

By comparison, The Antique Phonograph Society’s site is a tiny WordPress site.

The difference in traffic is overwhelming as well.

The hosting provider is currently Dreamhost.
gramophone-georg wrote:While it's understandable that you're upset by what you are seeing here (and the life issues you're dealing with aren't helping) you have to understand that people are bitching and promoting "conspiracy theories" because they. don't. know. ;)
Heck, I've been a member since January 2014 and I can't ever remember seeing new posts by you or John since I have been here until today- and that's 6 years next month. Is it any wonder folks are confused?
I'm not at all surprised by the “conspiracy theories” and bitching from the regular users, but it did not help anything after Brandon’s actions. Since he shared my cell phone number publicly without my permission, I have gotten all of zero phone calls from concerned members of this board. I have gotten ONE text (him, stating that he shut the forum down), and 2 e-mails. But they're quick to post here.

I don’t collect phonographs. I don’t collect records. So I have very little vested interest in this site except that I help build it for a friend. And you're right, while I pop in and lurk, I haven’t posted much in the last few years.
gramophone-georg wrote:If nobody cared about or appreciated your work they would just all slowly drift away- not actively try to see all of this preserved. You guys did a great job. If it stays as it is it's fine with me. And as to donations... sure, put up a PayPal donation button somewhere- I'm game. And if I can help in any way PM me or email me if the site is down.* :)

*"That was a joke, Son!" as Foghorn Leghorn would say. ;)
I’ve gotten the occasional thank you, but after 2 threads of “you should give over all the work yuo did for one of your friends to someone else, which incidentally would be yet more work for you” in other words, I tend to feel like nuking the place from orbit. :D

I added a PayPal button at the bottom of the site, so we'll see if people put their money where their mouths are. The domain expires on the 18th of this month. I plan on renewing it at least another year if John does not, but if you (as members) want to chip in towards that registration, I will put whatever is donated into a 5-year renewal, and use anything above that to fund my time, fixing up/modernizing the site.

We'll see if I even get enough to cover a 5 year extension on the domain ($111 through GoDaddy), let alone what I pay for the domain hosting, etc.

Regards,

David
Proudly supporting phonograph discussion boards, hosting phonograph sites and creating phonograph videos since 2007.
Need web hosting or web (or other graphic) design? Support MordEth by using BaseZen Consulting for all of your IT consulting needs.
Want more phonograph discussion? Be sure to visit The Online Edison Phonograph Discussion Board.

User avatar
Orchorsol
Victor IV
Posts: 1622
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:03 am
Location: Dover, UK
Contact:

Re: It's time...

Post by Orchorsol »

Thank you very much indeed for posting, explaining and being open with us David - and for your forbearance, and above all for offering us continuity now. I for one have immediately contributed via the PayPal link below, despite funds being extremely tight here - this is too important! I've been concerned at seeing so many angry words, which could all too easily result in the forum being withdrawn completely. I and I know others want to see that avoided at all costs. Many of us in the UK are particularly worried, having lost successive UK forums and their contents years ago, including large amounts of knowledge and research - all obliterated. Contrary to suggestions, it would take an absolute age to save all the threads one might want, quite aside from the puzzle of how to re-post all that on some new forum in future... Again, THANK YOU and I wish you and your friend well.
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

Post Reply