HOST UPGRADE - Short term service interruptions expected

[Trail X]

We are upgrading our hosting over the next couple days. As a result, there will likely be some service interruptions.

The new hosting situation should clear up some of the slow pageloads and other server issues that we have been seeing grow over the past few months. Dedicated server resources should go a long way towards speeding up the site.

This new situation is going to be on a trial basis. It is much more expensive than our current hosting. The new cost will exceed the revenue that we have been able to bring in up to this point. So I will be leaning on you all, the members, to help support this site with donations.

So, if you have found this site helpful, and have enjoyed your time here, then please consider donating. This site is not free to run and any amount will help the cause.

Thanks again for your dedication to the site. Without you all, we wouldn't have the community that we do today. I'm looking forward to seeing what the new hosting can do for us.

[mikekey]

Thanks for the site, the knowledge and the friendships!

[v7guy]

Glad to hear your going through with what we chatted about at TECORE! We appreciate the work you put in.

[navigator]

yeah, James was working on it before TECORE and we told him he better pack and worry about it when he got back.

[firefox2501]

Hey James - have you considered an optional subscriber model for the forum? I for one will be willing to throw a couple bucks your way to help with hosting costs and I imagine there are others who do the same.

Thoughts?

edit ---
I realize that the term subscriber may be off putting to some and the goal is to include as many people as possible, so maybe something like "supporter" would be a better term....

[navigator]

Mike, on the bottom of the main page is a link to donate if you would like to contribute.

[Trail X]

Mike, we have discussed the merits of an official program of some sort that would handle a annual tag of some sort. But honestly, we decided it was not something we wanted to do. We didn't want to create some sort of "secret society" or some sort of exclusionary group by giving supporters some sort of official tag. We didn't want people to donate purely because of peer pressure. We want people to donate if they have found this site useful... nothing more.

[The Roadie]

My thinking is that a greater percentage of the members would contribute, but due to smartphone and Tapatalk access, never see the link to make it easy for them. I think it's time to change my signature or something for a short while like the public radio beg-a-thon weeks.

We don't have to go down the pure greed model like Vertical Scope to be able to comfortably cover our expenses and improve the performance for all, but not have it be a hobby subsided only by (what is now) a secret society of contributors plus the owners.

[firefox2501]

Mike, on the bottom of the main page is a link to donate if you would like to contribute.

D'OH - missed that - thanks Chris! I had to look for it even after you mentioned it.

Mike, we have discussed the merits of an official program of some sort that would handle a annual tag of some sort. But honestly, we decided it was not something we wanted to do. We didn't want to create some sort of "secret society" or some sort of exclusionary group by giving supporters some sort of official tag. We didn't want people to donate purely because of peer pressure. We want people to donate if they have found this site useful... nothing more.

That makes sense. The "secret society" aspect definitely would scare people away...

[Trail X]

Not saying that I have it all figured out... my opinions are constantly evolving. So any opinions are welcome.

[Trail X]

Sorry about the long downtime guys. There was something amiss in one of the host's clusters that was throwing the site off. It ended up being something out of my control. So, hopefully we won't have one of those issues again!

Thanks for everyone's patience.

[Moots1288]

Sorry about the long downtime guys. There was something amiss in one of the host's clusters that was throwing the site off. It ended up being something out of my control. So, hopefully we won't have one of those issues again!

Thanks for everyone's patience.

No problem. Thank you!

[DustinC1989]

Not a problem, worth the wait. Thank you to you and everyone who keep this site going, it is greatly appreciated.

[v7guy]

Sorry about the long downtime guys. There was something amiss in one of the host's clusters that was throwing the site off. It ended up being something out of my control. So, hopefully we won't have one of those issues again!

Thanks for everyone's patience.

Woohoo!

That is all

[Regulator1175]

Thank you James for all your time and hard work!

[RyansTBLS]

Glad to see it up again. Thanks for all your hard work!

[navigator]

ah, it is back up, I can get my fix!

[djthumper]

Wait it was down?

[darring70]

Back in service, great

[Karo]

good work!