DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

The site/forum transfer process is complete!

If you experience any issues, let me know, and I'll work to make sure things are operating smoothly.

Note: The main Atlas site is not operational yet - I'll get that online within 12 hours, I hope. - main Atlas site is back online!

Previous post:

Spoiler!

Hi everyone, the current hosting service for DKC Atlas is due to expire at the end of this month, and I've decided that rather than simply renewing the contract, I will have the Atlas 'migrated' to a new server. This new server 'Super Green Hosting' offers better features, higher storage/bandwidth/database capacities and more affordable pricing than our current server, and you should also notice increased performance and reliability. To top things off, Super Green Hosting is an environmentally responsible hosting provider - they claim to use energy efficient servers and are apparently 100% carbon neutral... so basically things should be better all-round.

I'm aiming to switch servers in around an hour from posting this announcement. I'll be making a full backup of the site/forum, just in case there are complications. Hopefully there won't be much (if any) Atlas downtime, but I'm not sure about that. With any luck, it will be business as usual (but better) before too long.

Hang in there!

-Qyz

[Tompa]

How much will the new server cost? You want some help with the money? I'll be willing to donate some to keep the site alive at least.

[Qyzbud]

That's very generous of you, Tomtelala. Thanks for the offer! I'll answer your questions in a moment, but first I'd better update you and everyone else on the migration status...

I have not yet initiated the changeover; just as I was about to pay for the new hosting, I came upon a page with some very negative reviews of the company I was planning to host the Atlas with. I'd already done several hours of research, and was pretty happy to have finally made a decision... so that was a bit frustrating. I'll have to look all of our options over again, and make a decision very soon (I have only five days to decide)!

Basically I want the Atlas to load more quickly and reliably for everyone. There are also many features I plan to add along the way (music player, gameplay/promo videos, hi-res renders and document scans, etc...) which would benefit from us having additional storage space and bandwidth... but I do have other strategies to help with these things, so we may not need the 'perfect' host afterall.

Current server cost: $60 /year (USD)

I know there are better hosting services available for the price I'm paying, but I was hoping to find the best possible speed and reliability for a more affordable price ($30 - 40 per year would help keep ongoing costs manageable).

I want DKC Atlas to be a completely free (and advertisement free!) resource for all DKC fans, so I don't want to ask for money from you guys. Super-affordable plans do exist, but if our best option ends up being in the $60 - $70 range, having a few members chip in 5 or 10 bucks could help bring the costs down for me.

I just want to make sure the Atlas is reliably quick-loading for everyone, every time. I'll find the best option for us, and I'll let you guys know the details soon.

Thanks again, Tompa.

[Jomingo]

If only Swanky Kong would advertise with us, we could pay for the server and let's just face it, that would be pretty cool lookin'.

[Qyzbud]

Okay, I have begun the site/forum transfer process, and have chosen to go with Super Green Hosting. The forum has been backed half an hour ago, so in the event of 'issues', we should be able to recover all posts up until that stage.

The host offers a $50 'site migration' service, but I'm going to see if I can do all the transfer work myself to save the cost. Hopefully all goes smoothly.

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UPDATE: The forum transfer process is complete!

If you experience any issues, let me know, and I'll work to make sure things are operating smoothly.

Note: The main Atlas site is not operational yet - I'll get that online within 12 hours, I hope.

[gamer_boy997]

I have a few issues... a majority of the avatars (and images beneath it) seem to be blocked out. Along with that, the top of the page where it has "Forum Rules", "View active topics", and "DKC Atlas homepage" looks a little messed up...

[Qyzbud]

Thanks for the report, I think I've got that all fixed up now.

My browser was still showing those things on the page (I hadn't full-refreshed, I guess...), so I didn't realise they were missing!

[Simion32]

All of the pre-server-switch attachments are missing.

The attachments are still in my attachments list but the files aren't there.
This is what I get when I click on my first DKCRE preview shot (which now is only a text link):

The selected attachment does not exist anymore.
The file ./../files/79_a9a63fa2465300feac992896e1ce3ede does not exist.

Not an absolute crisis because I save a lot of them to my HDD, but still...

[Qyzbud]

Ah... yes, I must admit I didn't think of the attachments... I'll get in touch with our previous host and see if I can recover a copy of those files. It would be much easier to do that than to re-attach all of them manually.

Thanks for letting me know.

(by the way, I made sure the DKCLB/RE zipped binaries, and your IPS patches in the projects folder were transfered safely)

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EDIT: I've recovered the attachments - if any are still missing, please let me know as soon as possible... I have a limited time to access the old server!