The Current Status of EFX2

Okay, I lied when I said I wouldn't be posting here again, hehe. This one kinda has to go here.

Please pass the link around if you know anyone who'd like to read this.

When the site initially went down whenever it was - a few weeks back? - I thought it was another of the little 'glitches' that we get now and then. When the site didn't come back the next day, I got to work.

I only have limited access to administering the site, mostly confined to user management and some customisation of the CSS and HTML of the control panel (nothing huge). As far as I'm aware, the only active people with access to the admin page were me and Chica.

For the next few days, from work and from home, I went through every single link in the admin panel trying everything I could to fix the problem, from restoring defaults (some of you might have noticed the control panel going screwy for a few minutes), removing all blocked IP addresses, changing configuration and access settings - pretty much everything I could change, I changed.

When nothing worked, and fearing my lack of knowledge in some areas, I gave Photostyle access to the administration panel and let him have a nose around. He tried everything I did, had a more in-depth look into things, and still nothing worked.

Meanwhile, I'd contacted some people who had more technical-dealings with the site, or seemed to have a closer relationship with Keith (people like Scottitude, Utahcon, etc) to see if they either had any idea what was going on or had any contact details for Keith. I amassed four email addresses, a home address and a telephone number and MSN name. Psyphen also checked the integrity of the site, confirmed it's protected from MySQL injection, interference by hackers, phishing, etc. He also found out that the domain name registration expires in April '09.

Photostyle spotted Keith logging on to MSN and sent him a few messages, but got no response. I emailed all of his email addresses and also got no reply. Thinking it would be less intrusive if someone from the states gave him a call than me calling from the UK, Eclectablog agreed to try to contact him. I believe he's reached the answerphone but hasn't managed to get a hold of Keith. Photostyle saw Keith on MSN again a few days back, but again, didn't get a response.

Having tried absolutely everything we possibly could with the access we have, and none of it having worked, there was nothing we could do but sit back and wait for either the site to come back, or for Keith to show face.

Saturday just gone, I logged on and saw that the site was back up. Chica had tried one of the fixes we'd previously tried and the site came back up. From what I know about IP blocking coupled with the fact that these blocked IP ranges had been there since the site's creation and Keith put them in when we moved here, and nobody as far as we're aware had changed them in any way, it seems logical for Chica and I to conclude that the site happened to come back up around the same time that she was working on it. This guesstimation is strengthened by the fact that the site isn't completely back to normal - for one, embedded HTML still doesn't seem to be working (tracking counters, etc).

Right now, there are a narrow range of options available to us.

Someone who had a closer relationship with Keith is trying to contact him. We'll wait and see what comes of it, if anything.

The domain name registration expires in April '09. That's the deadline we're working to.

Either Keith is contacted, says he's still around, and things carry on as they have been; alternatively, he hands control of the site over to the community. If this happens, we'll have to figure out a way of running it between us. Since this will likely involve us having to find somewhere to host it, since Martin was only hosting it free of charge as a personal favour to Keith, it might include a small subscription fee to the site (I hurry to point out that at this stage, this is complete speculation). By small, I'm thinking maybe a dollar a month per username. This would also help to curb the spammers registering with us - they won't register if they have to enter payment details.

The last option, if worst comes to the worst and nobody has control or has contacted Keith by April '09, is that we all either go our separate ways, or we re-purchase the blog software and again set it up as a community-run blog, but completely from scratch.

So, now you know. Please leave comments and suggestions here. They'll all be taken into account if/when the time comes to make a decision.

Also, please feel free to either copy this into your own blog post, or make a blog post linking back here. I want as many people to read it as possible so that everybody knows exactly what's going on.

04:31 - Mon-21-Jul-2008 - post a comment

i got my dollar ready!
uh...do i get a dance for that? anything?
:P
thanks to everyone for all the hard work.
you guys are teh awesome.

birdsnest - 05:00 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I'm not even gonna ask what kind of dance you expect.

*goes to fetch the pole*

:P

WelshPixie - 05:03 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

:)
whooo hoo!

birdsnest - 05:12 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I would be willing to pay a dollar.....IF there is some guarantee that whoever takes charge doesn't "take the money and run"....I'm feeling a bit burnt over the last time talk was made to get funds together to save this place. I don't have a lot of money and am at that point where decisions of buying food or paying bills are made.

I would hate to see this place disappear, but I'm not sure how much I am willing to gamble....like the book everyone was talking about publishing to keep funds here...how realistic is it to expect anything different this time?

littleMissConfused - 05:12 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I thought you did Dij dancing, not pole dancing :P

I'm all for this place being community run...Keith is dead or something...

sarai - 05:15 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Is it really going to be worth keeping this place, even as a community run blog site, when so many people are jumping ship and heading off to Blogger or Vox, including yourself?

Major kudos to you and all the others for trying, though. People love this place, despite it's many and painful downfalls.

Twist - 05:31 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I'm only blogging on Blogger because this site is currently so unstable with no permanent, and present, moderator / full-access administrator. If that changed, I'd happily come back here.

LMC - it wouldn't be implemented for a while yet, if it did happen. A few months at the very least - and probably closer to April '09 when the registration on the domain runs out and something has to be done.

WelshPixie - 06:11 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I'm not chipping in a dollar for the site, but I'll pitch in two for the pole dance. BEWBIES! PIXIE BEWBIES! ;) j/k. Don't send yer man to like, caber toss me to death or anything.

thedietcokeofevil - 06:26 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

If people who know what they are doing are able to get the keys, I'll send my money as well. : ) I would love to see our blogging site run by people who have the time and ability to take care of it.

I love this place and the people in it.

DeeJay - 06:59 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I'll put a link to this post on the Facebook group and I'd suggest also posting it to the Vox group - do you have a Vox - I can't remember?

Chandramoon - 07:09 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I don't. I registered there, saw the insane lack of customisability, and deleted my account, hehe.

Thanks, though :D

WelshPixie - 07:11 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

OK - I've done the Facebook link anyway x

Chandramoon - 07:13 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

*grabs buck out of wallet*

I'm all for whatever keeps our community intact. I've felt so disconnected. Missing posts...losing threads...no post or comment alerts...my kids hogging the computer. Those other blog sites just didn't have what I have here...well...except for that little stability thing. Twelve dollars or so a year is a pittance if that means that someone(s) I know will be here (or at a new, community-run site) to keep the fires burning.

Thanks for all the info and update, Pix. ;)

texican - 07:24 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

No worries Tex. Thanks for your support :)

WelshPixie - 07:35 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I don't know what to say, I have a feeling that if things don't go well soon, then people will be gone. I'd love to eliminate the head of this place, and have it ran by folks like ourselves. Then again if we don't want to sit around and wait, why not go and purchase a whole different site? This one obviously has a lot of problems, and if a new site was worked on until April, it would be completely customized to boot by then.

I don't know the first thing about all that though, I do know that L is working like you mentioned, and hopefully something comes of it.

I must admit I have an extremely bitter taste about Kieth, from this past year, but I had to tolerate him seeing how he ran my favorite blog site. After he initiated the smackdown of two pals of mine, it's been sour ever since then for me towards him. It's not my place to judge, seeing how we don't know his current situation.

I stay here and I help people, simply because of the community. I'd be glad to continue to pitch in and help. I really like the idea that as a community we purchase another blogsite and whatnot to get started, do it now we'll be done before this place sinks.

You let me know if you need any help, your surrounded by techies though, so any small stuff ya holla, ok?

Chica - 07:48 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Will do Chica, hehe. I'm waiting to hear back from L before I initiate a 'virtual sit-down' with the CL's and tecchies about what our options are.

The only thing with buying our own software over again is we'd have to a) raise the funds to buy it, b) also raise the funds for hosting it, and c) find someone who's familiar enough with PHP and MySQL to set it up for us - or to tell me what to do.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, hehe.

Oh - can you post this onto the CL blog too? The more people that read it, the better. ^.^

WelshPixie - 08:01 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

thats a great idea kel.
im in.

birdsnest - 08:04 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I am willing to pitch in but then one must have prizes in dollars and euros. Also, i hope that payment doesn't go only via paypal or creditcard but also via ibic and iban bankcode.

Also i have questions about the guys and girls who in the end will be running efx2 or that other, still to set up bloghost. Will they be reliable? Will they not get off after x amount of time when their life changes like university, work, ... ?

logis - 08:26 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

"Will they not get off after x amount of time when their life changes like university, work, ... ?"

That's a risk we take with any community-run blogsite, Logis. What I'd ideally to is make sure that there's a big enough group of people running the place that if one or two of us to AWOL, it's not the end of the world.

WelshPixie - 08:35 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

1. Yes you can have a limited amount of my money.
2. April is nine months away, surely one with your talents can eke the time into a productive learning experience for the skills that we will require.( tongue in cheek, dear)
3. Yes, explore options for alternative sponsorship, just in case. It never hurts to have a plan B and a Plan C.

And did we all thank You for the work you have been doing? Thank you.

etainne - 08:36 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Thanks Etainne :D

I'm in the process of discussing options with a tecchy and looking into hosting costs now. ^.^

WelshPixie - 08:38 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Hey... count on me. Del found me and asked me what the options were. I am with some of the others here, I only left because there is only so much that can be done and the site is way to unstable.

It has been suggested that we move to a new server, setup a new blogging system, and tailor it to the community needs of EFx2.

The biggest thing I have noticed of all blogging software is that it lacks that community plug we have come to love about EFx2. So I am proposing that we use a good/great blogging engine like WordPress (love it or hate it), and then build on that framework to bring back the community parts of the site.

It seems like I am the last one to jump on the ship, but I think we should get this party started.

Utahcon - 09:07 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Let me know when you know the costs etc.....

Chandramoon - 09:13 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Thanks man :D

Currently we're looking at a server package that costs $8 a month, and provides domain registration for $9 a year renewable. WordPress MU is free and open source, cutting down on our costs and adding in scope for a LOT of customisability - plus, it's WordPress, so the support options are going to be much bigger than what we have here.

The initial idea is this - I pay for the first couple of months server hosting since with the current exchange rate it's gonna cost the equivalent of four loaves of bread a month, haha. So that's fine. Utahcon will upload the WordPress MU software to the server and start customising it ready for the 'mass migration', adding in some community features that make EFX2 what it is. Then, we all switch over.

This is, of course, still in the 'open suggestion' stage. I understand how much of a hassle it will be to switch sites AGAIN, but it's either that or stay here waiting for it to die if we don't hear from Keith or get anything going that way.

Thoughts?

WelshPixie - 09:15 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Better to make plans now then later.

I think everybody doesn't mind mass migration to a new site that promisses the same as EFX2 but is stable and under the care of people who love it.

I only hope that somebody can copy/past my design over there since i remember i wasn't anygood in that compartment. :-)

Btw, wasn't efx2 build out of Wordpress MU?

logis - 10:23 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

After the site crashed last time, we initially got set up on Wordpress MU but then switched over to this one. A lot of people would rather have been on Wordpress I think.

WelshPixie - 10:25 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

One of the things I really miss and isn't offered anywhere that I'm aware of was the extra page facility where you can separately upload lyrics, poems, things of interest.....*imagines that again*

Chandramoon - 10:40 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Chandramoon - WordPress MU Supports Extra pages by default, so that will be back in if we go down that road.

The only thing I think people will be less than gleeful about is the way WPMU handles themes/designs. Basically you have to develop the theme around the WP engine, which can get kinda bulky. If we do decide to use WPMU I will make sure the themes are well documented on the design front, so that you are comfortable with it. It doens't take long to get used to it.

I am already working on making things for WPMU a little more community like, the way EFx2 is.

Utahcon - 11:35 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I think we should all build a community on the moon together.

With a ferris wheel and a roller coaster...

Ooo ! And a giant beer tent !

Cam - 11:41 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Hey, both you and Chica deserve not one, but several dollars for the devotion you have already showed! I am ready to contribute even if I stay on Blogger. I wish I could understand any of the technical stuff behind it but I am only a simple moomin. I can only pass the word on :)

In case the site has a hiccup again and we have/want to post elsewhere, allow me to pimp my post again: http://bitzky.blogspot.com/2008/07/h...ities.html

Hopefully it will make it easier to stay in touch.

bitzky - 11:45 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

I admire the ongoing commitment of everyone willing to put in the effort to keep Efx2 (or whatever it may become) "alive". It's a noble cause.

But consider...

Utahcon's comment that "all blogging software... lacks that community plug we have come to love". That means Utahcon or someone else would have to construct it. And maintain it.

At the first sign of perceived inattentiveness and the "owner" will be skewered by members of their community. We saw it at MB and we've seen it here; people will always want more than you give them. The committed owner or "group" of owners would realistically need to treat it as a job.

Life happens. And when it does, no matter how ill the kids are or how close you were to a deceased relative, or how hectic a work schedule is, people will expect your focus on keeping "their" blog online should take precedent.

Hosting packages are based on bandwidth. Initially a basic package should be more than ample but if/when traffic spikes significantly, so will the hosting bill. Just like everything else, when the bill isn't paid on time, services are typically cut off.

There are 368 registered EFx2 bloggers. My numbers may be off but I'd say that only 15% of those post frequently or somewhat frequently. Building a self-hosted community-like blogging site seems to me like a lot of effort for about 55 people.

Whether it's to spread their wisdom, make click-through money or just braggin' rights, most bloggers want to build traffic. That's hard to do with such a small core group of "friends".

A case in point, a non-EFx2 member named Snowy commented on Libertine's Vox post about "Misplaced Trust". He's from Australia, never heard of EFx2, but like us, was sent wandering the desert when his "community" went belly-up. It's a new visitor from a new audience yet a kindred soul and "one of us".

The actual "community" will live through everyone who wants to be a part of it, regardless of where we choose to hang our headers.

scottitude - 11:55 - Mon-21-Jul-2008

Scott - you are entirely correct. Bandwidth can, and will grow with a site like this, and it is expected. I am not saying the final answer is "it's ok" but we (I) am expecting growth and would steer us in a manner that fits that expectation.

Firstly, we are looking at hosting packages that will cover what we expect to be enough bandwidth for the tasks at hand. Most of our blogs are text, and light on graphics. Furthermore I think with a little coding effort (already underway) we can use the Picasa (and other) APIs to store our images in a way that is free, and will relief some of the stress of the server. I am not saying everything will be off the server, but we will do our best to maintain the environment we can afford.

We also discussed running small, adwords ads, in hopes of covering some of the costs. And possibly holding a PBS style fund drive each year, and if the total cost of hosting for the year (minus any unseen spikes) is covered then those banners could be removed.

The hosting setup we are looking at also offers very good traffic analysis, so I don't think we will be broadsided if the bandwidth spiked. That said, nothing is perfect in this world, and plans sometimes are broadsided.

We are looking at finding multiple admins for the site. That way if I am hit by a bus, it is not the end of the world.

All the code for this go round will be open source (pending approval of the community). That means we can host the code in a public place (like Google Code) and test it extensively before we push it into production. This will allow anyone who wants to get in and fiddle with the code, make changes they see need to be made, make new modules, themes, etc. As a safeguard we should/could setup a team to test all changes to the blog site before they are made live to the rest of the community. Not an I-got-it-before-you thing, but to make sure the community niches are met.

Also open sourcing the project would make it so we can contribute back to the WordPress MU project any changes/fixes we make, who knows we may become famous.

I am not here to make money, I am here to share my gifts with a community I love and who needs these gifts I have.

I can't do it alone, and I don't expect anyone else to as well.

I am sure things will come up, people will come and go, we are developing this time around with the community in mind. We each want to see EFx2 (in whatever form) continue to grow and expand. We want an easy way to stay on top of our friends, and the community as a whole.

Will I be available 24/7/365? No. However, with a new hosting setup, we will have support staff in place those hours, we will make the information on contacting them public (to the admins) and we will do our best to make this the best damned community it can be.

*dismounts his soapbox*

Utahcon - 12:48 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

For an example of bandwidth costs, let's take this page for example. As of my last post the page weight was around 340KB (text, images, all).

On the 25GB of bandwidth included in the package we are currently looking (to get started) we would be able to support 65,000 page views. Now I know that this isn't a lot. However, if we setup the server properly with the images server off picasa or another hosting service, we can knock out almost 300KB of this page load to only 40KB which would boost us up to 655,000 pageviews a month.

It would be helpful to know what kind of hosting we are consuming now, so we can make more educated guesses, but let's continue with our example.

Now let's say our bandwidth doubles in a month, to 50GB of pageviews (1.3 Million) then we would incur an extra $13 for the month.

How do we cover that cost? That is up to the community to decide. I would personally say we open the pledge drive and ask for donations, change to the subscription service ($1/month per account, would easily cover the costs).

Scott is right, and these are things we need to consider.

---------

Transfers, if we get access to the backend, there may be hope of uploading previous works. I don't have such access though, so I can't make any promises on this issue as of this time.

Utahcon - 01:29 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

If I remember correctly, Periodically Demented bought the software for Keith when there were things we couldn't do with just Wordpress MU (like alerts and designs), but could with the extra software. I may be wrong, but it's worth a check.

I don't know enough techie stuff (a BIG HUG to those of you that do) ... but, as a CL, I don't mind keeping track of how to contact people ... that's why I started http://efx2-mbnomads.blogspot.com ... cause some people (like me) have more than one site and I'd eventually like to gather all the email addys (not necessarily for public viewing unless they request it) so we can all stay in contact ... no matter what. More than one person can be the "Author" of the site, so if something happens to me, someone else can take it over.

I wouldn't mind paying a buck a month ... that I can handle ... especially if there is more than one person in charge of it and we could have a monthly report posted on the CL page ... that way everyone will know where their money is going.

Let me know if and/or when we will have the Virtual CL Conference.

womanoffeathers - 01:29 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I am not sure how Keith had alerts and what not setup, but if we switch to WordPress we can write those modules. As a worse case (and probably a stop gap) we can setup cron jobs (scheduled tasks) that will send out notifications to the friends/groups/etc whenever we like. I would suggest an hourly cron?

I am all in favor of a transparency when it comes to money matters. This is community money and it should be spent as such. I would be happy to invest the time into making a portal to show where money as come from, and where it is going. I think that is more than fair to the people who are donating and wanting a better blogging and community experience.

Utahcon - 02:14 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Sorry for all the double posts... connection is wonky tonight.

Utahcon - 02:17 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I don't mind donating. But, I do remember when we first went to wordpress, there was something I and others didn't like about it. Maybe it was the blog alerts and comment tracking, I don't remember.

I went to Vox after efx went down and it's pretty ok there. But, what I really miss and most will agree with me, is this front login page here on efx and the way the control panel is set up, with comment tracking and blog alerts. Are you able to do that with Wordpress?
Also a drawback to Vox is not being able to design our own layouts like here. That's a big drawback, will we be able to do that with Wordpress?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, would the new efx be like the old efx as far as what is offered here now.

I've been defending Keith all along, saying we shouldn't judge what we don't know, he could be hurt or something worse. But, to find out people have actually seen him signing onto msn, yet he's not responding back, well I don't know what to say... If you're reading this Keith...WHY??

Anonymous - 04:45 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Dang. that was me, my computer logged me out of efx because it was taking so long to load, haha.

LauriesAsylum - 04:49 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

The thing about efx community, we got up money for kinnigurl's daughter needing a wheelchair. I have no doubt the community will pull together whatever the case should be. Keep all informed and it'll sail ;)

windy - 05:15 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Anonymous - Hell yeah we can do all that! Alerts is nothing more than a glorified RSS feed with a notification. I don't think I will be able to do 'real-time' alerts at first, but we will deffinately be able to get them up in the short while.

Home page and control panel? Working on them now actually. I have been looking through the code of WordPress and I will for sure be able to setup a home page like we have now. Which would include, but not be limited too:

Latest blog posts.
All Things Dev (what we are working on etc)
Community News
Newest Members
[insert a feature here]

Basically I am not afraid to try anything. Like I have said before, I will make the code open to the world. You will be able to make, and commit your own changes to the code. Then they will be thoroughly tested, and if all is good, the feature will be added.

Why add a testing phase? I don't know if you all remember but way long ago Keith started the Alerts, and Subscribes. It was SUPER heavy on the system. It took some refinement and after a long history of back and forth with the code it finally worked out. Nothing against Keith, but that should have been done in a dev environment to test the load on the server. I know we have a few dev people in the ranks now, and I would be willing to setup a testing environment that more than just the dev guys can hit.

Bascially I want to make EFx2 what it was, and sorta what it is... and make things better for the future of the community.

Utahcon - 05:18 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Sounds good then...:)

LauriesAsylum - 05:20 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

It's really sounding positive here. I like it. Sure. we CAN go to other places, but we don't want to lose our friends and buddies. I don't like the idea of the blog refugees streaming out in different directions (Vox, Blogger, Wordpress). But given the unstable condition Efx2 is in right now, that day is inevitable.

I like how Chica and WP and Utah are taking the bull by the horns. A new site? First of all, Keith is history here, from what I've read. Nothing to see here. Let's move on with starting the planning for a new site with dedicated admins. I'm not afraid of starting afresh or learning new ways of doing things--if it's done right.

So take your time, folks, do the testing you need to do, plan it out, think things through three or four times. It's a major undertaking, but we've got 8+ months and really sharp dev people. And yes, I'll happily donate to something I believe in.

drdog - 06:40 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

this is amazing guys - I'd pay something. One thing Utah mentioned was Picassa but at the moment I don't think that works with Macs. Please can you make sure that whatever software you develop is compatible with PC and Macs - a lot of people only have one or the other and I haven't had a PC in ages! VOX, Blogger, EFx and all seem to work fine on a Mac (maybe Picassa does now but it didn't before). Thanks x

Chandramoon - 07:28 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

i'm just wondering about Keith not responding to any emails about this site.. has he given up on this site and just left us in limbo and possible site oblivion?

it's seems like all this work that you guys are doing on here to keep it going.. is not even being acknowledged by Keith what so ever..

i'm also finding it funny that wherever we go to set up our blogging community.. it keeps crashing and then switching hands and then just dumped..

weird??

thedivaofthedark - 07:39 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I would be willing to be one of the testers.

I also know that I am one of the ones that do use graphics ... especially in some of my designs ... does the Picasa have a way to store gif files and have them show like they do in Photobucket (which has been torking me and others off as of late), cause I have found that if they don't animate where you store them ... they won't animate when you post them ... which defeats the whole purpose.

Another question and idea stemming from ...

Utahcon: "How do we cover that cost? That is up to the community to decide. I would personally say we open the pledge drive and ask for donations, change to the subscription service ($1/month per account, would easily cover the costs)."

I have 3 different blogs here (WoF, WoF2, WoFSkins) ... but one profile. Would "Account" be per profile ... or blog?

Also ...

I would be willing to "Auction" a few pieces of my handmade jewelry with the winner of the bid sending me their mailing address (so I can mail them their item) and they send the money directly to the person(s) in charge of the funds.

Just a suggestion ... :D

womanoffeathers - 07:54 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I'm holding a small sum from album sales plus I'd donate something anyway.

Chandramoon - 08:26 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Scot - in brief - if the site only lasts for a few months as a strong community, it'll be worth it.

WoF - per username. That is, you'll be charged once and you can set up as many blogs as you like from your WoF username and still just pay the dollar.

Thanks, everyone, for your support here. We have a good few months to work on this behind the scenes until we're *forced* to switch - but as Utah's been saying, he's working on it right now (because he's awesome!) and so if the site crashes sooner, we might be able to switch without too much trouble.

I'll keep you all posted.

WelshPixie - 09:08 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Okey Dokey ... :D

womanoffeathers - 09:29 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

This is a fantastic idea, and it just goes to show how strong a community is that people will go to all this effort just to keep things together.

Hopefully, on a new server with a new look (and a new name? - EFX seems to hold a bit of a curse!), we'll be able to coax in more bloggers who want that homey, community feeling, even if it does cost them a few loaves of bread.

Twist - 09:54 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. :-) Godfather Demented reporting as ordered.

Of course, the success or failure of any self-respecting blog site is its ability to host a wide variety of smilies I like. I know its a bedrock principle but its worth mentioning again. When this site went live there were the shit-ugliest ones for about a week so I figure each one cost me about $20.00.

Del and Kel, I know proper preparation prevents poor performance plus perseverance pays. However, my part of the project has come to a halt not dissimilar to a Ferrari gliding down the freeway at 200mph and being shifted into first gear. The engine has leapt through the bonnet. I'm out and behind pushing but not much is happening yet. Of course, the cardinal rule of Being Really Annoying is that you must be Conscientiously Persistent, so I won't be giving up any time soon.

Next, hi to that small cabal of kids I love to bits. I've missed you but I don't miss blogging, or failing to blog as is the case with efx at present. :-)

To more practical stuff.

The buck a body (or bob a nob for you Brits) might not be such a good idea. Watch people sign up, forget to pay 31 or 32 days later, then spam the shit out of you complete with tears of outrage and vile accusations, evidence not required, unless you're going to tolerate freeloaders. Why not go for 6-monthly fees with a site-wide reminder after 5 months? Assuming you'll have the numbers to make a new place viable or even desirable.

If you move to a new system there'll be glitches for sure and like anything new, a settling-in period. Take a buck from some people and they'll never stop reminding you that they bought your soul, so here's an idea.

Now, having pissed several hundred dollars into the wind here I may as well shake a few more drops out. :-) Yes, I know it was a gross allusion. Tell me where to send the money and I'll pay for the first 6 months of basic bandwidth. That'll give everyone a breather while you get your shit in one bag. After that, kick everyone in for the money or kick them out as you like. Some of my friends here are short of a buck but they like the idea of an efx-style home so kids, this one's for you. Do not ask me for any more pocket money.

Uh-ba-dee-uh-ba-dee-uh-ba-dee, that's all, folks!

PS. Del and Kel, you're legends.

PeriodicallyDemented - 11:16 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Haha. You da man. I'll keep you informed via email and call upon your services as and when they're required. ;o)

WelshPixie - 11:20 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I plum out of money but you have my vote

darkstar - 01:11 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I really really hope we can make this work, and I think it's awesome that so many are willing to take on the technical aspect of running this place.

I agree with PD in that we do have to set it up so that people pay for a certain amount of time at once. It is simply easier and better bookkeeping that way.

One thing I want to warn people about ahead of time is to be patient. Years ago, Led and I were a part of a small chat community at a small chat site. Everyone there was like family - much like EFX. When the owner of the service was going to have to step away, she asked me if I wanted to run it. I was stunned and knew nothing about techno stuff, so I asked her if I could pull Led into the mix to help me out. He's a computer god!

She said yes, and Led and I were suddenly in the forefront of this whole chat thingy. Suddenly people that were our friends or aquaintences before became pissy assholes. They expected us to play mediator if they couldn't get along with each other. If Led wasn't there to fix something immediately, they were on his ass. Others were jealous because we'd been asked and not them. It was a nightmare and we both became disillusioned with the whole thing very quickly.

Anyone asked or selected to fun the new chatroom has to be given respect and people have to understand that our chat service will not be their life. They have things to do outside of the computer, and if they can't get to things immediately, we have to cut them some slack. They are giving up a great deal of time to help all of us out, and none of us should ever forget that. I do think it will be a lot easier on those running the place if there are multiple people who know what they are doing who are given the magic keys to the kingdom. It will enable fixes to be taken care of more quickly.

No matter what - patience people - patience. We have to all agree to not get pissy with those that are willing to help us out!

DeeJay - 02:01 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

ooops, I said our "chat" service. Duh, I meant BLOG! Color me typofied today!

DeeJay - 02:02 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Well from the 'everyone being an ass towards me because I'm an administrator' aspect, this won't be a first time for me, hehe. I've been owner and moderator of loads of communities in the past, and even used to be an AOL host >.<

WelshPixie - 02:04 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Pixie - LOL Cool, if I'm in a pissy mood, then I'll pick you to be ornery toward.

*ducks and runs*

DeeJay - 02:21 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Bring it, beyatch! *grin*

WelshPixie - 02:22 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

LOL - WelshPixie is not the only one who has had the bad side of being an admin. I am there constantly, just part of the job.

I think one of the biggest things we can do to help that aspect of the whole is a trouble ticket system. Something that will keep all the problems and feature requests in check. So people can submit them whenever and be notified when they are being worked on.

Picasa - I will make sure whatever image host we use will support animated gifs as well as macs.

Utahcon - 02:29 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

thanks Utah! and everyone

Chandramoon - 03:00 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Not much new for me to say that hasn't already been said, but I wanted to say thanks to all who are working away at this.

I can't say, at this point, that I'd 'buy in' to the proposed new community/system... I'd prefer to see the result first, and whether it makes sense for me.

Not that I'm criticizing the direction this is going... far from it... maybe I just resist change lol ... and having finally started to get use to a new blogging site, I'm not sure I'd have the need/motivation to move again.

Kudos, though, to you folks for working to make this happen.

Thumbs up!

mothman - 05:13 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I am all for the new community thing, but I have a few questions.
First of all, Keith wrote most of this code in php and then added ajax. Or was that the last site? Maybe so. He said the Ajax was much easier on the server, but that the site crashed because of malicious Javascript. Hence the ban on it now.
Another thing, I think this software, the one that PD bought, is what is running the show now. I like it the way it is. However, I am wondering, maybe it's really Marvin's severs that are the problem, and not the software at all?
Anyone think of that?
Another thing about the MIA status of Keith, has anyone been to his gaming site, emufanatics.com?
or what ever it was called? Well I went and nothing's been posted since 2005. Seems work and family have driven Keith off. We all grow in different directions so I understand, but what I don't get is why you would leave so many people hanging by a thread. Is there a way to contact Marvin himself?
I say we keep the software as is but move the site to a new server if that is possible. I didn't like any of the Word press MU stuff nor did many others so that is why PD bought what we have now.
I am more than willing to pay; as I stated before I paid for no ads and donated many times to Keith.
It sucks that he refuses to answer anyone at all. Maybe he is homeless and divorced? Who knows-no one unless we hear.
Does anyone have Sandy's e-mail? Maybe it would be easier to contact her and get some answers.
I don't know how to write php well but I do know my way around a lot of different CP panels and such. I host a forum myself but it is a Simple Machines forum.
So please count me in for help or whatever is needed!
Del and Kel thank you for your help. Renee, you rock and so does everyone here that cares enough for us bloggers of efx to do this.
Thank you guys and keep us posted please.
Jana

indigomoonarts - 06:36 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

"However, I am wondering, maybe it's really Marvin's severs that are the problem, and not the software at all?
Anyone think of that? "

His name's Martin, hehe. And the software - OR the server - are not the reasons we're doing this. We're doing it because nobody other than Keith has access to the full administration of the site and Keith hasn't been answering emails, calls or MSN messages from us for months. The domain name is running out in 8 months and by that date, if Keith hasn't been contacted, we're down anyway. Meanwhile, we live each day waiting for the next crash and when that comes, there's always the chance it might not come back again - NO ONE here currently has access to administrate the site code or the site server.

"Another thing about the MIA status of Keith, has anyone been to his gaming site, emufanatics.com? "

I didn't know he had that website. However, his emufanatics email address is no longer used.

"Is there a way to contact Marvin himself? "

We have even less details for Martin than we do for Keith.

"I say we keep the software as is but move the site to a new server if that is possible."

If we can contact Keith to send us the database, we can do that without losing any blog content. Otherwise it will mean re-purchasing the software and starting up from scratch. Also, the modifications Keith did to this software were hacks - it's not open source and Keith 'forced his way in' to change it. It can be done, but it's not supposed to be done. On the other hand, Wordpress has exactly the same level of functionality, is better documented, better moderated, better supported and free.

WelshPixie - 06:45 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

indigomoonarts - You are right, some people didn't like the WPMU system, but we really only had a few days with it, and it wasn't customized like we are talking about doing.

If there is a different engine (preferably free) that you wish us to try out, just let us know. I am more than willing to load any, and all, engines on my test server and take a walk through the code to see what the experience will be like.

BTW - Picasa does work with Mac (in some fashion)

utahcon - 07:49 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Welcome Back PD ... even if it's only in spurts.

Being worldwide ... that's why it would be nice to have more than one person "having the keys" and a running communication between those that do in different parts of the earth. That way it won't be on just one or two people's heads ... it will be a "team" working together regardless of the time zones.

I love you guys and I love this place and all the people in it ... even the ones that are ornery little stinkers. One way or another ... it will be alright ... cause we do have teamwork here ... :D

womanoffeathers - 09:13 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

I'll go wherever the next EFX goes, and send what ever money I can to stay apart of the group. I can't offer anything else because I don"t know beans about all the background stuff. Just keep us posted on what you brains come up with! :-)

littleMissConfused - 10:33 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Keith chimed in... yeah the real Keith.

http://dev.efx2blogs.com

utahcon - 10:54 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

Yeah I actually liked the WPMU project because of the amount of support and documentation. The only problems I had with it were the limited ability to give people access to share designs and the difficulty I had with adding in alerts with my limited skill.

I also think it might be better to have complete control which includes control over your own server. Something new that is run and started by the community would be pretty cool.

I am all for a community project but I wouldn't suggest the software we are currently running. If anyone has paid attention to the development, support and progress of this software you would notice .. it's not going so well. Which is pretty disappointing for a paid product.

Free is the best way to go if you are looking for a packaged product. I know Utahcon is extremely talented and knows WPMU really well .. so having him lead the technical side of things would be pretty sweet. I am sure with time he would be able to give us the things we like about EFx2Blogs. :)

Even though I haven't been around I would still love to help out with a new project and chip in when I can. :)

Oh and I am also willing to continue with EFx2Blogs as well if that is what people want. Of course I would give access to those that need it .. once I gain access again that is. :)

Keith - 11:24 - Tue-22-Jul-2008

All sounds quite opimistic then!

Chandramoon - 12:46 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

We're just glad to know you are ALIVE and OK, Keith !

Cam - 01:36 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah, that was the bad part, not knowing..

LauriesAsylum - 02:07 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

first off PD is a bastard. but i love that crazy old geezer, he's like your dear old uncle that gets shit faced every christmas and pisses all over the christmas tree. thats our PD.

hey keith. sup? how you been?

birdsnest - 02:31 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

OK sorry, MARTIN, not MARVIN. Keith, was the server the main reason for the instability?
Your 'limited knowledge" has been pretty great Keith. What you did with Ajax was awesome.
I just want to be able to post in a box like we have now, see my friends alerts, have links and total customization. Is that so much to ask for?

indigomoonarts - 02:34 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

BirdShit, you're a funny bastard. More bastard than funny, but there we are.

G'day again, Keith.

By a process of elimination it looks like this is more a server-access issue now, so that's probably got to be the focus of any change, whether staying with this software or not.

Martin's proven himself to be a really good bloke over the years, giving efx a mostly free ride, so thanks to him for that. The new reality is that its probably time to take that burden off him. Once Keith has access he's said he'll share it around, which is good of him. So there needs to be a decision; work with this software or start something else? I didn't like WordPress FU :-) but then I won't be using either choice so those who will should put their heads together.

The speed with which Keith can speak to Martin might determine a few things but ultimately, after years of hitching a ride off everyone else's stuff it might be a good idea to buy a bike. If you can get this software onto a new server it'll at least give some time for those who know to have a look at it and make an informed decision on whether to persevere with this software or start something new. There might even be space enough to run both in tandem and test the new one in beta before making a final decision on any cross-over. With server access sorted you can hedge your bets on what software will ultimately drive the site.

Of course, you're going to get those who want to fly in the plane for free and only pay if the sun is shining once they reach the destination. Yep, life works like that. The decision on who has membership and on what basis is equally as important as which program drives the site. I suggest you get the numbers right and sort out the membership requirements before blowing too much time and effort.Pearls before swine and all that.

So, a few folks have stuck their hands up and said they'll pay. Cool. If you actually get the money - a small but strategically important step - it'll have to be in numbers that make a community viable or there'll be six of you talking to each other. That'd be fun. BirdShit's blog is a fabulous cure for insomnia so I hope you wheel him him.

If you haven't got enougth bandwidth to test new software and run this one, but you'd like to, let me know and we'll sort something out. Del, Kel and Keith, you've got my email address; don't be scared to spam me - everyone else does. I tried out that penis enlarger on my little finger and now it looks like a leg, but thats's another story for another time.

Refine your options. Crunch the numbers. The real ones, not the imaginary ones. Get the politics of membership right.

Take care, kids.

PeriodicallyDemented - 04:10 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah I completely agree about the server. Here is what I posted on my blog comment.

"Like I said earlier I thought this down time would be the end of the site and was happy to see it back up. This was what made me want to post and contact Martin for the access so hopefully it can be somewhat avoided. Even with site access which includes ftp and database stuff .. there is no real way to avoid server issues or a way for any of us to fix them.

I also commented on Pixie's blog post about starting a new community project lead by you guys. Which I think would probably be better that way you guys have complete control over every aspect of the site and server. Like I said before even with the site access we would still be limited by server outages or downtime which I don't and will not have access to."

I have never really been all that great leading this place especially since I am more about the development side of things. It would be nice to see how things could be better with more community oriented people in full charge of the direction of the community.

Like I said before I am willing to give a hand if it's wanted but if not I am fully supportive of the change and will be blogging with the rest of you. :)

Keith - 04:18 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I like the idea of dev-ing a change while keeping the current up. That will give us a chance to test it out and see if we really want to use it. Ultimately we will have to choose, and I am all for setting it up and making the changes we need to test it out.

Keith, and anyone else who wants to dev (backend code) we should figure out what roles we want to play and get started in determining what goes on from here.

We need to get setup a mail list, or forum for us to start posting ideas, discussions and more about the dev. We can even use the same forum we have now, but we obviously need to regain control of it first.

Keith, can you provide us with any analytics details there are, or is that all still behind the username/password problem? I am sure it is now that I think about it. We can figure out a lot about our site from the traffic, and the statistics about usage.

Have I barked out enough now? I hope so cause I am really tired, and I want to sleep. So I am going to go now, and hopefully I won't come back to a lot of people calling me a power hungery asshole... which I am :D

utahcon - 05:31 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Well, f*ck, I didn't know this discussion was going on :p

I didn't like Wordpress when we went there, but if there will be more customization, then I'm all for it.

If fees are involved, we should look into annual or semi-annual, it will be much more convenient. Will that keep spammers out too?

juancarlos - 05:37 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Probably most people don't know this discussion is happening. Go viral. Tell people in your circle. Less than 30 people have commented so assume hundreds don't know.

Geez, telling bloggers to hunt readers ... merner, merner, merner ... usually can't shut them up ...

PeriodicallyDemented - 06:33 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

KEITH!! WOOOOH!!!

*kow-tow*

I'll keep this brief. I'll go with whatever 'the community' wants. If we want to stay here with full control and see how we can keep it up and make it work, I'm all for it - likewise if we want to switch to a new place, I'm all for that too.

Anyway, I'll just have a quick gander into a place where CL's can discuss this...

WelshPixie - 09:09 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

*waves at PD and Keith*

We're all still here.........

Chandramoon - 10:00 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

1. I'd pay.
1b. a certain really big gaming site instituted a way of adopting members who couldn't pay. It's been working, so far.

2. Don't know what my bandwidth usage looks like, but I do have the text files on my computer for the past 5 years and given that I've posted about as often as normal members post yearly (i.e. I'm not that prolific, but the cumulative effect probably weighs about what a yearly average blog weighs) I can tell you that my save file is about 500KB, including my less than moderate usage of graphics, if that helps give a starting number to work with.

3. If I can help with testing, I will. I'm willing to learn a wee bit about PHP if I have to. ;) I'm in the US but live by Australia time.

4. So, about the servers... would we own our own? If so, who has the most stable weather? Is it possible to host server A on one side of the world and a backup server on the other side of the world?

treasa - 02:02 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I think owning our own server is a bad way to go - only because it leaves one person in charge of maintenance (two if we have a backup server in another location) whereas, if we pay for a server hosting service through a professional company, the company itself looks after maintenance and upkeep and it's in their best interests to keep their servers running for all of their customers.

So far the best one Utah's found is $30 a month. I'd willingly pay half of that each month - I pay more than that for my MMORPG's, heh.

WelshPixie - 02:28 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I think if we go with the server hosting thing you talk about, there has to be a way for us all to pitch in.....but that brings up another problem. Who would be in charge of taking the money and how do you do it so everyone can pitch in (other countries and such)...and how do we know that person won't get "real life issues" in the way and just stop paying the bill?

I don't think you should have to pay for it, or even half of it. There are a lot of us that would like to keep things the way they are, so I think we all should have to pay something...just hopefully you can keep the cost low, some of us are strapped for cash already!

littleMissConfused - 02:43 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Well, what I'm saying is I don't *mind* paying up to half of it, but obviously, the more people chip in, the better.

I'd also ideally like to not force people to pay who're strapped for cash, which puts an end to a 'pay to subscribe or don't get an account' idea - so a annual or 6-monthly 'donation drive' might be an idea, where those who can donate a small amount and we pool it together towards server costs.

As for the method - the only one I'm familiar with is a paypal account, unless we can maybe set up a system that links directly to the server site that says something like 'this service is paid for up to (date) - if you would like to donate towards the next month's payment, click *here* - and then that automatically goes to the server people instead of through us and prevents the need for anyone to be 'in charge' of the funds.

Don't know if that'd be feasible though.

WelshPixie - 03:01 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Paying directly to the server site sounds like a good idea. I like the idea of having a 'paid thru this date' thing. More people might be willing to donate when they see the end date is near.

littleMissConfused - 03:11 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

It'll stop over-spending too.

I've seen something similar done before where people can pay directly into a service to cover someone else's cost, so it might be possible.

WelshPixie - 03:13 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

This is what I posted at Keith's ...

"Good to see you are live and well!!! Yes we were worried ... but your reason is understood. Maybe you could give someone a number where you can be reached and they can let us know you and the family are ok ... or you have some numbers to call. Please. Imaginations can run wild when someone ... anyone ... disappears.

BTW ... I would rather stay here ... and glad to hear about you passing passwords on to a select few. That way they can let everyone else know what's going on and we are not all left in the dark (where the goblins have a tendency to go wild, causing havoc everywhere ... not to mention leaving their stinky droppings).

How hard would it be to find a better server ... or still ... the possibility of obtaining our own? Also ... what we have been discussing ... it's not a "Take over" ... but would like it to be ... a sharing ... with you still included in the mix.

This really is "Your Baby" ... which the majority has grown rather fond of.and call it "Home" ... even if we have some "mirror blogs" (my Vox is called my Vacation Spot) ... no where have I been able to go that gives me the comfort and creative outlet as I have here.

The Community Leaders are here to help you ... to take care of things when you can't be around. A town has a Mayor ... but that person wouldn't be able to run the town without the help of the other leaders/officers of the community. Do you see what I mean?

BTW ... give Sandy and the kids hugs for me."

womanoffeathers - 04:41 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Sounds great WoF - my feelings exactly :)

WelshPixie - 04:47 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

So, we are thinking of modeling this as a "PBS" for EFX-ers. Volunteer pay--access for any. Fund drives now and then.
The pay thing is simple. I personally hate PayPal. We can set up a dedicated account that will only pay for EFX2 stuff. The password to the account can be broadcast and anyone can look at the statement at any time online. It can even be set up to pay on a schedule. It's not hard to do. Any Credit Union can do it and one of us, or a group of us can keep the records fairly easily with standard financial software. Statements can be posted to the CL pages, or something.

etainne - 05:49 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I was thinking about setting up an account - it'd have to be something international though, if we're talking transferring money from our bank accounts into this new efx bank account. I'd be pretty wary about broadcasting the password - maybe giving it to a group of 10 people or something.

WelshPixie - 05:54 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I agree that the password should be with a limited group. Someone could always post a monthly statement or something.

texican - 06:04 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I think the password needs tp stay with the CL's....too many bad guys out there (spammers) could figure out a way to take it.

littleMissConfused - 06:09 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

All banks/ Credit unions are able to accommodate these requirements. I misspoke, tho. I meant that the account and routing number would be broadcast, as anyone in any bank can deposit to any account online with this information. Local or international funds can be transfered if you know these numbers, but you are right that the password should be kept by several, but few.

etainne - 06:36 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

One thing to consider re: 'renting' space on a server host... I think most, if not all, hosting companies offer a discounted rate when purchasing a longer-term plan. eg. a plan may be $40/month if purchased month-to-month... the same plan may be $30/month if purchased for 24 months.

Not that throwing down $700+ , up front, for 2 years of hosting is recommended in this case, but it's just something else to consider when determining the best course of action for server space.

Even running on a 6 month plan may offer better prices than a month-to-month plan, and will also cut down on last minute freak outs on the 30th when those in charge realize that no one got around to renewing for next month. :p

mothman - 10:33 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah I don't think a paid subscription is the way to go. That just opens up more problems then there needs to be. I do like the idea of displaying the monthly cost and where it currently is at is a better idea. That way people can see what is needed and donate to the community when they can.

As far as bandwidth usage and space usage I don't think we need a top tier type server. Our community has actually gotten smaller over time so something low to midrange should easily cover our needs for a new server. As far as I know it will just be our community on the server so all the resources will be for us.

For example right now we share this server with other high traffic sites and there is still room for more.

I will try to get more specific data if I can.

- - - - -

Another Idea I had to prevent spam blogs is to create an invite only system, but make it automated. Basically create a special password that another blogger can give out to their friends and then they can enter that to join. We could even go as far as adding a request link for those that don't have an invitation and it will make it so a CL has to approve them.

Just an idea .. having the general signup page is just like having an open door for spam blogs. :P

Keith - 11:02 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Keith, can you rename the file for the signup.php and the calls to it? Maybe add in a word verification system?

WelshPixie - 11:09 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Ooh...I like the invite-only idea.

texican - 11:11 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Pixie yeah as soon as I get some keys to this place from Martin :D

Keith - 11:13 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Awesome :D

WelshPixie - 11:14 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah for now I am going to do what I can to get this place going again while we work on other options. Just waiting on Martin now. I haven't heard from him since the server move in January .. and noticed he hasn't logged into some of the sites we worked on before. So no clue how long this could take. :/

Keith - 11:16 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Meh. Does he work for the company and do you have contact details for the company?

I guess it's not the end of the world if you don't manage to contact him by the time the domain registration runs out 'cause we'll already have been working on the WPMU template in that time.

WelshPixie - 11:18 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I own the domain and renewed it in March for a year. The domain name running out is not a problem because I can renew it again or even move the domain name to our new project if needed.

- - - -

As far as using WPMU I think that would be our best bet. If people want stability then we are going to have to use the most server friendly software even if that means starting over. Of course this is up to the community. :D

The current software is not very server friendly and as I said before lacks in support and development from the creators. The WPMU project is a great project and Word Press already has a great track record of being reliable as far as software goes.

Keith - 11:25 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Sounds like a plan. We stay here until our version of WPMU has been scripted and tested, then switch over in a hopefully smooth and bug-free transition, hehe.

I'm hoping too much >.<

WelshPixie - 11:28 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah we could even continue to use the EFx2Blogs.com name if the community wants it.

Keith - 11:35 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Sure. The only reason we were thinking about new domain names is because obviously this one was taken with no way of contacting you - but yeah, if there's no need to change it then I say we keep it. It'll certainly save the hassle of deciding on a new one ;) And y'know, it's home, hehe.

WelshPixie - 11:37 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I like the invite-only idea. Also going to a better platform. I think as long as we get some familiar customizations and learn to deal with whatever it may lack (comment notifications, for example) we will do ok.

juancarlos - 11:39 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

Yeah. As always I'll zoom in with some tutorials, hehe. ^.^

WelshPixie - 11:39 - Wed-23-Jul-2008

I like the invitation only deal too. One of the things about this community was that we know our kids and grandkids could have their own sites and be safe from predators

The word verification thing is good to for those newbies to be able to start their blogs. I'm even thinking about that as an option for my comments page that's open to all.

womanoffeathers - 01:23 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

Yeah, we'd be all exclusive-like, but still within the wordpress community at large

juancarlos - 06:29 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

keep the name would be great - I have loads of people who read regularly and it would be a royal pain in the *....* to change it ha ha!

Chandramoon - 10:30 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

Yes, please keep the name...:) Pretty please...

LauriesAsylum - 03:19 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

I like the idea of keeping the same address as well. Also, I do like the invite only aspect too. I think that could prevent a great deal of headaches with spammers when this all gets up and running.

If possible, I would love to be able to mail a check or money order. Call me an old fashioned twit, but I really do prefer that over doing money things online.

Hey, that said I dang well better get an "invite"!

DeeJay - 07:54 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

lol

mothman - 10:19 - Thu-24-Jul-2008

I am going to go meet with the bank tomorrow to see about getting us setup with an account. Hopefully if all goes well we can start taking donations ;)

I am also in the works on the new system (got it installed locally and looking at the nooks and crannies of the code). WordPress is quite robust, so I am making sure to take great notes as I go.

utahcon - 05:14 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

As long as I can still design dear ... (please?)

womanoffeathers - 05:51 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

I am here willing to help and pay. I can't pay alot but I pay what I can when I can. Soooo.. please count me in! And yes I agree Tara, I want to design still too! I really want a posting environment like Keith made us in here. The WP one was really awful. I cannot stand the one at vox. I can't even color all the text at one time! It highlights it all then only converts half of it.. POC!!
So I love my blog here and I tolerate the one at blogspot...
Sighs....

indigomoonarts - 06:14 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

I don't blog here much anymore, and most of my closest nomadic blog tribesmen left long ago. I'm currently over on Wordpress.

Still... I feel an important tie to the community never the less.

I'd be glad to donate to help cover server or development costs, whether as a lump sum, or a monthly deal. It's a way of giving back to a community that has been so incredibly good to me throughout the years. I am glad to do so.

heidiland - 07:00 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

I'd just like to point out that WomanOfFeathers said "spurts".

Eclectablog - 01:41 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

Oh, and I don't like the invitation-only idea. I have had many drive-by readers over the years and that would disappear if people had to sign up. Image-text verfication is my preference.

Eclectablog - 01:42 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

That is true, I've met some great people that happened on this site by accident. I would hate to stop that.

LauriesAsylum - 05:01 - Fri-25-Jul-2008

I think the invite-only would be for people that wanted to set up a blog, not for people wanting to leave a comment. I guess we could use word-verification for that (although I hate those things :p ). For example, someone happening on your blog would be able to comment (depending on your settings) but not set up a blog, for that they could perhaps contact one of us and we would invite them.

Did I get that right? Anyone? Buller? Buller?

juancarlos - 12:45 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Oh, and I don't like the invitation-only idea. I have had many drive-by readers over the years and that would disappear if people had to sign up. Image-text verfication is my preference.

I got the same impression as Juan. Random people can still come by and view the blogs; they just can't set one up without the invite.

texican - 01:32 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

PD said: "Now, having pissed several hundred dollars into the wind here I may as well shake a few more drops out. :-) Yes, I know it was a gross allusion."

Sorry E ... I couldn't help myself ...

Juan Carlos (aka Hellmouth) is right ... the invite-only is for those starting a blog here. The reason I'm for it was because I spent hours upon hours going through every site looking for possible "Spammer" sites ... and there were quite a few.

Marjolien (Thyme) is the first one that said something about it ... I contacted Chica ... did the investigations and sent the results to her.

There were really a LOT ... and I only scratched the surface. That's how they (spammers) were able to get in to the "Registered Only" posts and left the window open for other spammers to skim through to find other posts that were open to all.

THAT's why I like the Invite-Only ... so those idiots will have to go somewhere else ... :D

womanoffeathers - 01:45 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

I had a blog set up just for designing new layouts for my blog and that got deleted as spam. How do you determine what is spam and what isn't?

LauriesAsylum - 01:54 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

It could've been many things ... did you use a completely different email addy and/or NOT have it connected to your profile?

If you look on my profile, I have WoFSkins there. Whenever I start a new design, the profile link always goes to my profile. That was one of the things I checked.

Sorry ... forgive me?

womanoffeathers - 02:06 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

I'm sure I used a different email addy and I know I didn't have it connected to my profile, how the heck do you do that?

LauriesAsylum - 02:11 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

On your Manage page ... below the Orange Strip are 2 Blue Strips ... "News" and "My Blogs" It's below that where there is a button to "Add Blog" ... the new one will be added to your profile.

If I gave wrong instruction (it's been a long time since I had a single blog ... lol) ... someone please make the correction ... :D

womanoffeathers - 02:23 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Oh cool, I'll have to check it out!

LauriesAsylum - 02:38 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

I had one deleted as spam. I didn't want it attached to my profile and I had to use a different e-mail address to set it up.
I only had time to write one post, but it was going to be a continuing story....it was deleted before I was able to make another post.

I don't like the invite only thing because I think we would eventually kill ourselves off...no new growth. I've met some of the bloggers only because I saw their name in the newest member box and went over to snoop.

littleMissConfused - 03:46 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

As I said it would be an invite only but there would be a way for those that don't have an invite to request an account. Which then would go to the CLs so they could approve them for an account.

To me it's the only sure way to cut down on the mass amount of spam blog accounts we get now. If this idea was used I would include information on why the invites/requests were required .. which would be for preventing spam. Most people would understand. :)

Keith - 04:57 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

That way makes sense. I would just hate to see honest to goodness bloggers not be able to start up. I like meeting the newbies!

littleMissConfused - 05:05 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Lemme see if I got this.. Setting up a new site, no change of address, invite only, and a paid service.

Sounds like it'll work to me. :)

Chica - 05:44 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Will this new site work just like this one (minus the down time)?

littleMissConfused - 05:51 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Ideally yes - Keith has said that the WPMU template is more secure and better supported than this one, so it would make sense for us to switch to cut down on bugs and glitches - however, if we do switch, Utah's working to give the WPMU template all the features we currently have here. It's in our interests that we make it as user-friendly and appealing as possible. ^.^

WelshPixie - 09:01 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Then I'm in!

littleMissConfused - 04:45 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

Me too!

LauriesAsylum - 06:50 - Sat-26-Jul-2008

YAAAAAA I love you Utah!!

indigomoonarts - 05:10 - Sun-27-Jul-2008

You can count on moomin support as well :)

bitzky - 06:05 - Sun-27-Jul-2008

Well ... I do remember one thing with changes ...

We can get our old posts back ... but we lose our comments ... so I guess I better start copy all the comments ... especially the ones that are very important to the post itself.
I wish there was an easier and less time consuming way to do that too ...

womanoffeathers - 09:39 - Wed-30-Jul-2008

As Scot said back up there, RL issues can really put a crimp in your hobbies, like blogging etc.
I can testify to that myself lately.
I have, as Scot and others, found it useful to open an account at Vox to stay in touch with some of the community. I also found it useful to join redbubble for my photography.
It seems from reading the posts on this thread that there are all the components needed to keep efx2 going in some fashion.

1. capable and technically inclined volunteers.
2. willingness to enjoin in the financial support.
3. enough users to make the effort worthwhile.

How it is all accomplished i