For the past few days we have had a series of disruptions to the website service. After a lot of head scratching we isolated the problem to a configuration setting that had been changed months ago that resulted in our site log archives being stored in an uncompressed state. Some of these files were huge, multi-gigabytes in size. As a result, our server's hard drive filled up, resulting in the database unable to write any new data. We've now fixed the issue.
This does present an opportunity to discuss the future of the website and forums. At some point, we plan on migrating to a new website framework. When this happens, we would have a new, more modern forum system. We do not know at this time if we will be able to migrate the existing forum topics over as of yet. If we cannot, we do plan on archiving the existing forums, so we can review them in the future.
We originally planned on doing this migration shortly after the Kickstarter, when we had less content to migrate. But, other things took priority, and since CoT.com worked, the upgrade/redesign was de-prioritized. This is the nature of things.The issues of the past few months however are making us re-evaluate the priorities here, so changes may be coming. I will make sure you all are kept in the loop as decisions are made on this front.
Put me in the "archive the old site and start fresh" camp. Attempting to migrate the content on this site, with its half-HTML half-BBCode nature, is a recipe for losing what little sanity you've got left.
Of course you'll want to migrate the user account data (badges, passwords, etc.), and [i]maybe[/i] the PMs, but that should be a lot easier. The posts can rot.
Oh, and the sooner the better.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
lol, you're funny Lin xD
I am also in the "want to prioritize the new site" camp. But everything in it's time. I don't really mind there not being anything saved from here to the new site, we all know whats been said, and even now people ask things that have already been covered in the past. I think the best way to migrate is to compile a list like the one @Winter did with the Update list and put it up in a easy to find location to be an overview of the important take aways from this site. I don't know if it would be easy to send over the badges but I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to recreate them on the new site.
The Carnival of Light in the Phoenix Rising
"We never lose our demons, we only learn to live above them." - The Ancient One
Avatar by lilshironeko
A new site would be nice but if it's just simply not in the cards right now I will continue to make due with what we currently have with no complaint.
Formerly known as Bleddyn
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCqnt88Umk]Do you want to be a hero?[/url]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/nyktoss-character-cove] My characters [/url]
I'd say start from scratch, it will be much easier. As long as one uses the same email on the new site as here then re-assigning badges and perks should not be a problem.
I'm fine with a total site wipe, assuming I get to keep my present screen name. /archive it if you want to, not a priority for me.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
I agree, 100%
[img]https://s15.postimg.cc/z9bk1znkb/Black_Falcon_Sig_in_Progess.jpg[/img]
I'd like to see selected threads with useful/pertinent/popular discussion and topics rolled-over to the new site. The rest can be relegated to obscurity. To a certain extent, seeing what is deemed relevant would give a strong indication of what sorts of things to encourage in the future.
Be Well!
Fireheart
Just as a FYI for the various Rednames/Devs this website is currently blacklisted by the DoD Enterprise system. In simple terms this means you can't access the site via machines that connect to the Internet directly through US military and/or DoD systems. This affects many active duty service people including many onboard our ships at sea.
My guess whatever malware troubles this site recently had became bad enough for the DoD folks to flag this site as "too naughty" to allow. I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other when/if this website gets updated, but whatever happens hopefully you guys can keep it clean enough that maybe eventually it'll become "unblacklisted" on systems that are hyperstrict about that sort of thing.
CoH player from April 25, 2004 to November 30, 2012
[IMG=400x225]https://i.imgur.com/NHUthWM.jpeg[/IMG]
That's interesting to me, is there a particular site to check if the website complies with DoD regulations? This site, if I recall correctly, should be built on Drupal, which is currently the safest CMS worth using. Perhaps it has to do with one of the plugins installed? Certainly worth looking into!
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[color=#FF0000]Recording Engineer/Foley Artist[/color]
I've noticed that [url=http://cityoftitans.com/filter/tips]embedded links[/url] no longer seem to be working the same as before.
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Avatar courtesy of [s]Satellite9[/s] [url=https://www.instagram.com/irezoomie/]Irezoomie[/url]
*whistles innocently*
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
Right now my big concern is the user registration. The CAPTCHA module we had been using was causing errors for a handful of users, making them unable to login at all. I've replaced it with a honeypot system, but that of course makes me a bit nervous.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
Honeypot is interesting to me, it's not something users really see.
As far as I understand, spam bots go nuts when they find form fields, so there's form fields that don't display visually on a page, so if they get filled, the user gets rejected. It's a surprisingly simple but effective method and isn't a detriment to user experience.
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[color=#FF0000]Recording Engineer/Foley Artist[/color]
I'm also with the start fresh with latest updates of what's planned. There been a lot of talks and ideas so much that it's now kind of hard to find out the latest right information.
Speaking for the RPers on these forums we built up a lot of side lore and ideas. For the greater good I personally can let it go. Give us plenty of warning that the site going to switch so we can save what we done and we will play on.
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Personal rules of good roleplay
1.) Nothing goes as planned.
2.) If it goes as planned it's not good RP
I'm tempted to say you should take the stuff you want to save and put it on the CoT Wiki.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
I'd say just give us some advance warning for people to save what they need/want to save, and then nuke the site from orbit.
Start fresh with a new site, updated FAQ, and maybe info sections on the city, character classes, powers, etc. for people to reference/be pointed to.
Not sure exactly how the current forum is set up but if they can have a read-only copy of it running for a month or two after the transition it would be ideal. That would give us plenty of time to save/transfer any content that we want.
They could probably leave a read-only copy up indefinitely.
Moving posts over would be a huge amount of work and/or make the posts look horrid. Not really time well spent.
[i]Has anyone seen my mind? It was right here...[/i]
I'm totally fine with just archiving the present forums and starting over. Might as well do it now before things get even bigger.
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I never set anything on fire accidentally!
The Titan Legacy - Defender of the Inner Flame
Lock all threads.
Deploy new forums and software.
Permit reference links to archived "old" forums for historical purposes.
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvFYBkesqGU]PROFIT![/url]
[center][img=44x100]https://i.imgur.com/sMUQ928.gif[/img]
[i]Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.[/i][/center]
Erm, may I suggest the deployment of new forum software at a Test address, first? Make sure it's running properly, before doing anything to the old forums, then make the swap.
Shutting us down, first is sure to cause a bit of negativity.
Be Well!
Fireheart