WHAT is going on with the board?

[JB57]

Dear Board

So what is happening with the board? For the past few days, my browsers kept timing out whenever I tried to access the board. I managed to access it today because I used Firefox, but was unable to post anything. I'm now doing this on my Apple computer, but even that took several minutes to get onto the site and then almost a minute to enable me to gain the access needed to write this thread. Is this just a problem with me? Or are others having this difficulty? If the latter, then this is getting out of control. XP, could you let us know what is happening? If the HB service continues to deteriorate in this way, I think that we seriously have to consider some kind of alternative arrangement or hosting service.

Thanks for your attention to this.

JB57

[MaskedSuperstar]

Took more than a dozen tries to even get this reply box to show up. The reality is that the content here has been in free fall for years and the last year of the board itself has been a train wreck. The Steven guy who runs it does little more than try and pocket $150 a month while farming out the elementary level coding to the cheapest option possible. There's no excuse for the failed content recovery, there's no excuse for using a physical server in 2018 for something like this, and there's no excuse for the absolute refusal of the folks running hostboard to respond to anyone about the problems with their entire system.

At some point XP needs to either shut it all down or admit that it's been a horrible decision to stick with this amateur hour outfit and move to another host. I'd gladly pay a few dollars a month for something that works with a responsive team in place that actually tries to fix things.

I'm guessing it will take several tries to get this to actually post, if it does at all. I'm even more sure that sticking with shitboard will continue on with the old posts lost and nothing done to recover them.

[apenman]

It isn't just you, JB. I have not been able to sign on for two full days now, with a MacBook.

An while I have no knowledge of how a board or a web hosting site like this works, I will say that I have not encountered such difficulty on any other site. It's frustrating and enough to make me consider posting elsewhere...despite the fact that I do love this small community of posters, readers and writers.

I hope that XP, Steven et al can do something else other than claim they are "working on it." Also, I have contributed money (not a lot) and would be willing to send more except that I don't see any change for the better.

It's a shame...I would hate to loose this.

Sincerely,
A. Penman

[44automag]

For the past 2 days, I got a "This site is offline" but uses the Always On Cloud thing to display an archived version, does that clear anything up?

[JB57]

For the past 2 days, I got a "This site is offline" but uses the Always On Cloud thing to display an archived version, does that clear anything up?

Not really; it depends on how current the archived copy is. I was getting the same message, but I did not try to get the archived version.

I've asked Anubis if he is interested in assembling an email list, so that those of us who wish to continue writing and exchanging stories will have a way to contact each other, if the board goes down or becomes unusable. He has indicated he is interested in starting this.

JB57

[Giannis-CB]

Not really; it depends on how current the archived copy is. I was getting the same message, but I did not try to get the archived version. I've asked Anubis if he is interested in assembling an email list, so that those of us who wish to continue writing and exchanging stories will have a way to contact each other, if the board goes down or becomes unusable. He has indicated he is interested in starting this. JB57

I am 1000% with you JB57. I had exactly the same idea. I tried to find Annubis but i was not able to sign in here for a LOT of time. I believed that the forum was closed. I tried in DEVIANT ART which was a place Annubis used to be a lot of times i searched for him or for his great5 job. Annubis IS NOT in Deviant Art anymore. I have not seen next messages about this problem yet. I am still in the beginning. But i DO VOTE with enthusiasm about your proposition. Let's exchange emails !

- - - Updated - - -

So i wanted to say that devianArt is not a solution, i used to follow an artist that wrote some kind of sexfight stories, it was ok when he had 2 or 3 but when he reached some views he got shut down without preavis.

As for the forum, the developper should be able to generate a copy of this board since it opened without any problem. You should ask him.
It took me 3min to login, that's awful. You can find free wa6s to create a forum, and way cheaper to keep online that the price i saw on the home page.

Was he Annubisx ? Because he was VERY often in deviant Art, he had posted some stories there. Then all of a sudden he is not there anymore. Not his stories also.

[catfightlover40]

Dear JB,

I'll address the bull in the china shop, regarding our options. If in nothing else, XP and/or Steve should comment on whether or not these lags are attributable, as suspected to past shortcomings, a development after the death of net neutrality, or a mixture of both. Now that AT and T (whose predecessor Mama Bell was broken up under Reagan of all people to prevent sector monopoly) grew so large it owns HBO, things aren't looking too good for small business.

In any case, regardless how the community decides, beyond hosting fees, it should matter how customer service works (and I worked in that, so I know how understaffed that can be, plus the IT personnel is rarely trained to be customer oriented) and how the speed is.

P.S.: It's strictly me, but when I'm unsure if my PC acts up, my browser does or it's on the other end, I always check the website's availability. That has the added bonus of seeing what other sites people searched for so some rare gems can be found without relying on SEO.

[calla242]

we have to find an alternative quick before we lose contact of each other