Hest - You are a delight and a joy and having you participate here and be part of this community is a wonderful thing! Thank you so much for your support and kind words. If you get that extra million and want to skim a few dollars off the top, we wouldn't mind at all accepting your donation.
But your donation of your time to participate and your voice and songs and spirit are just as dear to me!
Thank you!
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Hi e-dog. Thank you for being here, too. And for caring enough to ask these questions. I'm really glad you brought these questions up because it gives me the opportunity to give my take on it.
First off, who knows how secure anything is? Can you be secure when you walk down the aisle and marry somebody? Do you know that that person will be with you 20 years later? 10 years later? 5 years later? I just look at the web like part of life and it all changes. There are no guarantees. Not like anybody's participation on Studio Eight is anything like a marriage or anything... lol... that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that life, by it's very nature, is about change and nobody knows what's going to happen. That's what makes it exciting.
But to answer the exact questions you asked.... I shopped for a LONG time for a host. Months and months. I finally found one which I thought would suit our needs because the price was right (read - inexpensive enough for my almost empty pocketbook) and they offered software on their server which I thought was an excellent package.. open source free software ... these phpbb boards being part of the package.
They back up the entire site every 24 hours, so the MOST we would ever lose is 24 hours worth of data. However, there are responsibilities that I myself have, as the person who decided to put this site together to begin with, which may put us in a position of losing data. What I'm saying is, this time and the 1 time before when I made errors in handling files and updates which took the site off the air for a certain period of time... really what they did in restoring it for us was a favor, not necessarily a requirement of our hosting contract. It is my responsibility to back up data, also, as well as theirs, and it's still not clear to me exactly where the line is drawn.
All that being said (and don't you hate that ridiculous introductory clause... "that being said"?), we have a dream and we're not going to be able to handle it all ourselves. We're going to need some help because first off, there just isn't enough time in the day and also, there are skills which are lacking. How secure are my skills? Now that's a question I need to ask myself.
The dream includes developing the other parts of the site which are outlined here -
http://www.studioeight.tv/ - and where we only have content on the artists pages and writers pages. Those pages took me a long time to put together and the site cannot grow and develop to include additional artists and writers at this pace. Not one page at a time. So, we purchased some Content Management Software but I need someone to help me set it up and get it launched because we want people to be able to log in and upload their own images and music files and essays and stories, etc., sort of like posting here only with the artists and writers and musicians and philosophers like you having their own areas where hopefully later there will be public comments added just like there are here.
Will any of that info be safe and secure once we develop it? I hope so! I have so far been quite pleased with the host we have here but they do certainly offer a lot for the money and at one point, our site was slow slow slow slow slow and that's because we are also on a server with other sites. It was most inconvenient during that time because we were having a Word Jam that day or an Image jam or something ... can't remember... and members could barely get a page to load. Other than that time, where the site went down for a time (not due to my inexpertise... is inexpertise a word? sigh) but due to the host having too much activity on one server to handle it, I've been quite pleased with their responsiveness and service.
This is not to say that we won't ever change hosts. But I need help. I need technical support. I need people who are experienced in handling a growing site to offer their time and expertise to help develop it. Do you know any techie person who loves the arts? If so, please send him or her my way.
You said you weren't asking for too many details and maybe I'm giving too many. Apologies. I just want to address what you asked because it's important.
Bottom line ( and don't you just hate that unnecessary preface "bottom line"?)... I don't know the answers.
What happens if the host goes out of business and I haven't been diligent, talented, or savvy enough to have backed up all my files from the site? What happens if the database isn't available to me any more?
What happened when Litkicks closed its boards? Did they archive it all? Is it searchable? No and no.
What happens when you get fired from your job and you didn't back up all of the files you created which you could have used to start your own business?
I don't know.
I truly don't know.
All I can say is, save your work, thank you for being part of the community AND ... we are doing our best to build a site which will last as long as it is destined to last and grow to incorporate a venue where artists, writers, musicians, theater people, spoken word poets, philosophers... and all creative people who like to be part of something... join in to make it an experience which will be worthwhile to them.
I don't know how else to answer.
We hope to grow and last as long as the site is worth something to the members because the site is about those who participate. It's all about you. And everyone else who comes here. It will become what it will become and last as long as it needs to last but just be aware that I am not like some other webmasters who are also computer programmers and technically educated and experienced.
I'm just a person who loves the arts and wanted to have a place where people who enjoy a lot of different types of arts can come together to share their ideas & projects and get some exposure and maybe collaborate with each other.
Whew! I rambled. Sorry about that.
I have no answers other than what I've typed here. We are doing our best and we could use some help to keep doing it.
Keep your eyes crossed and fingers focused.... er, I mean, your fingers crossed and eyes focused....
or something.
Thank you again for being part of this site.
When more problems arise (which I'm sure they will), I hope we will be able move forward to deal with them in a way which protects the input of all those participating.
Do you think we need a S8 Homeland Security team? sighhhhhhhh... maybe we DO!
H
