Site Move/Future

[abruzzi]

I am in the process of migrating all my websites to a new host to lower costs.  As a result there will likely be some down time, probably this weekend. as I move things over.

However, before I do that, I'd like to throw out the option of handing over the site to someone else.  As is obvious, I haven't been a presence on the site for the last couple of years.  Mustang has had my blessing to do anything and everything to manage the site, while I kept the server and database running.  I don't mind continuing the status quo, but thought that its probably getting to a point where its worth considering the other options:

1)  Letting someone else (or a group of someone else) take over complete ownership and control of the site.  That means keeping the name registered and updated ($15-$30/yr), running a hosting site with apache, php, and MySQL ($50-$100/yr), plus the technical and maintenance side.  I could hand over the existing account to simplify the technical side of the change over, but it would require someone that is familiar with how this stuff works.

2) Working with another tiger board that has more users of the newer bikes (800/1200/1050) to import the archives from here so the collected wisdom isn't lost.  The good side to this is it seems a waste to have a 955 and earlier board, a 1050 board, an 800 board and a 1200 board.  Its spreading things thin, and long term survival would be helped by consolidation.  On the negative side, an import is probably a complicated technical process, and I have no contact with the other boards to know if they would even be interested, and it they are a good fit.

3) Status quo.  In this case, I'd proceed with the migration, and continue to keep the site running, though I'd be an absentee landlord.

4) Shut down.  Definitely not a preferred solution, but at some point if traffic falls enough, its no longer worth the time of the various people that have to keep things running. It would also be a shame to lose 15 years of wisdom.

I'm open to suggestions and discussion.  The current hosting  environment will be shutting down in two weeks, so giving me time to move the data, the final choice needs to be made soon.

Geof

[motoOzarks]

This IS the Tiger site

[John Stenhouse]

An absetee land lord isn't necessarily a bad land lord, you've been very good to us for a long while, Mustang has been exceptional at keeping the peace and getting us to play nicely together.

Favorite would be options 1 or 3 for me, I do take the point about spreading thin, just seems that as has been said this IS the Tiger site.

[Bixxer Bob]

 

Regular users are happy to chip in to cover running costs.  I'm happy to help out with site maintenance etc if it will help 

[Nick Calne]

Geoff, thank you for all your work to date the site has always been, and always is, a source of enjoyment.  Quite a few good friends made too.

If you decide to leave us I'd vote for a group takeover based on your first suggestion and I'm quite willing to do my bit, whatever that turns out to be, to keep things rolling.

I'm sure that between us we can keep things moving in the right direction.

[abruzzi]

To be clear, I have no objection to continuing to be the site host, but _if_ there is someone that wants to take it over and can give it the attention it deserves, it is probably better than being in the hands of someone that only checks in once in a rare while.

[PeteH]

The collective knowledge on this site is second to non...I even chip in now and again I`m not bothered who runs it but it seems to have been ticking over quite nicely for a few years now....and yes I should have and will make a contribution to upkeep of this iccle bit of cyber space 

[nickjtc]

Regular users are happy to chip in to cover running costs.  I'm happy to help out with site maintenance etc if it will help 

+1. As a relative newcomer to this site, but having been a member of many forums before, I think that what is available here is second to none.

I cannot help with the nuts-and-bolts of running the site, being computer illiterate, but would be happy to buck-up a donation.

[abruzzi]

I'm thinking of doing the site move Thursday evening after work.  I did a test migration yesterday, and after an initial false start it was relatively easy.  The process will look something like this:

7:00pm MDT:  the site will go offline in maintenance mode, so that posts/changes can't be made.  At this point I'll make copies of the files and the database and move them to the new host.  On the new host, everything will be installed/modified for its new home. This process will take 2-3 hours.  When complete the new copy of the site will be taken out of maintenance mode.

10:00pm MDT: DNS records will be changed to point to the new location.  This can sometimes take time to propagate through cached DNS records.  As much as 24 hours.  That means that after about 10:00pm, if you still see the maintenance mode screen, your DNS cache hasn't updated, and check back later.

Afterwards there may still be some hiccups that I'll need to sort out.  If after Thursday, you encounter any problems--pages not rendering correctly, emails not being sent, just let me know via PM.

Geof

[Mustang]

 

[Bixxer Bob]

Ditto 

[Nick Calne]

Good luck.

[nickjtc]

Good luck.

+1

[Sin_Tiger]

I'd love to say I could assist with running but I'm not the right temperament even if my circumstances allowed it but I'm always happy to contribute a few quid. I certainly get a lot more out than I've contributed.

I'd not be so keen to merge with another/s forum, I haven't come across any that have a compatible ethos or feel but I fully understand the logic.

Good luck with the migration and thanks as always for your unseen efforts.

[Mustang]

we're good for a long time  !