FORUM UPDATES: Slow tonight for 15 mins, doing some digging...

I can't remember what I posted when we briefly came back the other day so here I go again.

Why has the site/forum been down?

The entire site/forum has been moved to a new web host and onto a dedicated server. We've encountered many problems during the transfer which have resulted in the last few days of downtime. None of us are experts and much of the move has involved learning on the go. Many ideas failed and lots of time was spent on downloading and uploading files. The existing server didn't help as it was continually timing out and throwing up errors; we had to find a workaround for this.

Why was the move necessary?

The existing server (based in Hungary) was very unreliable - partly due to it being shared between many customers, partly due to the difficulty in relaying problems to them - and payment is due for another year's 'service'. We took the decision some time ago to raise donations from forum members to facilitate a move to another web host and onto our own dedicated server. The .com domain is not owned by anyone from this site/forum and we had no joy in trying to take/buy it from the owner, so we decided to buy our own - .org. This means everything is now fully owned and controlled by the people who actually use the site, unlike previously.

How is my money being used?

The dedicated server costs much more to run than the existing solution. We've set up a monthly Direct Debit and the donations we've received to date amount to over 18 months on our chosen server package. Your donations were necessary and are greatly appreciated, so thank you. Obviously we will be seeking ways of raising the money required to run the site/forum in the medium and long-term.

So what's changed?

On the face of it, not much. You'll not see any immediate differences other than hopefully an end to the constant 'Internal Server Error' messages. The major changes are in the background; we can now administer everything properly ourselves and we have the power and space of an entire server rather than sharing it with others. We have a working control panel to access our server remotely, which we never had before. The web host is UK based, so we also have UK based support on hand should we need it. We are therefore in a much stronger position to effectively back up and modify the site/forum now, and we will be doing this in due course with a view to a complete overhaul in the future. Our sole objective over the last few days was to get everything back up and running satisfactorily; we will move from there once all major issues are dealt with.

Do I need to do anything differently?

No. Your account is an exact replica of that from .com, so settings, avatars, signatures, PMs and Arcade scores are as they were previously. The only thing we ask is that you report any issues by posting them in this thread. Anything you feel was working before and now does not, post it in here and we can address it. You may have been reverted to the default theme; there is nothing we can do about this sadly. Themes are a massive thorn in our collective side and we feel it's best that everyone uses the same one.

Are there any known issues already?

We don't think so. We had lots of new problems getting the forum over due to a forum software update in the meantime which wrecked many of our plans. Terrible timing, basically, but we think it's sorted. However, there are obviously hundreds of links posted across the forum (such as in the HotB) that will be pointing at .com. These will work until the old web host pulls the plug. Also, we had to trim the forum significantly to aid the transfer. As a result, non-sticky threads than have not been posted in for more than two years have been deleted. We'd have preferred not to have had to do this, but unfortunately we had no other option.

That's about it. Remember to update your bookmarks, and please feel free to ask any further questions. Thanks for your patience.

Cheers.

Go go go. Unlocked.

If this doesn't work, suicide is the only remaining option. Welcome back again peiple!

Good work, chaps. 

So nice to have the forum back

Good job, guys! 

:clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

  :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:

can't fucking tell you how happy i am!!! despite my hard shell exterior, i've got to say a massive THANK YOU to all the mods and everyone else who's brought us back to life.

love all you twats 

now let's start winning some fucking football 

Very well done guys, in particular to Rich and Dave and anyone else who has sacrificed sleep for the cause.

Just as an update, we're obviously aware of the variable page loading times. Some seem to be quick, some take ages.

We're hoping this is just the cache/database/server warming up if you like, and will monitor it properly after everything settles down.

Thank god for that!  Was worried that I might actually have to start doing some work.

Well done lads, good work 

Thank god for that!  Was worried that I might actually have to start doing some work.

I even actually did some for a while - can knock that on the head again now thankfully.

Well done to everyone involved!  (pages started slowly here by the way, but seem to be speeding up nicely now)

If this doesn't work, suicide is the only remaining option. Welcome back again peiple!

You live another day happily.

It's quite sad how dependent I have become on this during work days....

If this doesn't work, suicide is the only remaining option. Welcome back again peiple!

 

You live another day happily.

Counting chickens! Let's see how the rest of it goes.

Well done to everyone pulled off the move, great work people

Are things getting any quicker for the early posters in this thread?

Mine seems to have settled down to 0.1-0.2 secs per page.

Was obviously a bugger of a job.

Thanks to everyone who slaved to sort it all out.

Have a pint on me fellas, these transitions always throw up some problems somewhere but things seem to of gone relatively smoothly. *touches wood* ;o)

Well done everyone, and welcome back. 

Are things getting any quicker for the early posters in this thread?

 

Mine seems to have settled down to 0.1-0.2 secs per page.

Seems a lot better now, yeah.

Much quicker.

Yep yep yep

Well done ladies 

Been lost without it for the past few days  :'(

I sense UV is going to complain, seeing as he's one of the three or whatever who were using a different theme.