Website Renewal 2010

[Sapphire]

Hi everyone,

My apologies for my absence on these forums recently. I'm still fighting a sore back and neck, but I am having occasional pain-free days which is a massive improvement for me!

On with the announcement: Alas, it's that time of year again that the site needs its hosting plan to be renewed. I'm looking to raise $100 to pay for another year of Bwint, preferably before November. Any donations, no matter how small, are greatly appreciated. More info on how to donate (it's really simple) can be found here: http://www.bwint.net/donations.htm

I also want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support of this little site. It's become a haven for hard core Beast Wars fans, and it wouldn't be such an awesome place if it weren't for the likes of you, its awesome members. It's been a pleasure running it.

[SilverfromOZ]

And its been our pleasure to have you run it

[Sapphire]

We have raised $35 so far. Many thanks to those who have donated.

[Sapphire]

Hey all. Just letting you know the hosting plan has been renewed. VAT has shot up so it cost $30 more to pay for the domain and hosting plan this year, meaning I had to fork out $120 of my own money. I am of course happy to contribute towards my own site, but again, any donations are appreciated, at any time. They go into BWINT's account which ensure its future. (So if anyone still would like to donate, please go ahead!)

Thanks to all who helped out.

[robo_rob]

Not wanting to step on any toes or anything, but have you considered changing hosting companies? Unlimited severs with domains run easily 5-10 a month these days. Just a few days prep to transfer everything to a new server by the time you do this next year and you could save some serious money. Not to mention, a lower rate would be easier to fund raise.

Just trying to help.

[Razor One]

While that is always an option, as I understand it the current host is actually pretty good in terms of uptime and ad-free goodness.

Anything cheaper would likely result in large garish ads being emblazoned on the top and sides of the forum, which would be both unsavoury and a security risk for the users.

Considering some of the ads I've seen out there before I modified my hosts file and nabbed adblock plus for Firefox, we're better off. By far.

Welcome to the forums by the way. Please note the date of prior posts before replying in future. Have a great day!

[robo_rob]

Really? My company pays 5$ a month for unlimited everything and don't have a single ad.

[Nurann]

What company are you using, Rob, and where is it based? What package do you have with them? It blows my mind that anyone would have services that cheap...

I guess our fear is that we had used some cheaper/free services before, and had some problems. When we had to upgrade for size, I think we found this was one of the best options at the time (wow, 7 or so years ago now I think... I feel old...). It would be up to Sapph, of course, and transferring might be too much work given our collective circumstances. It's interesting to window shop in the meantime though. Thank you for the information

[robo_rob]

I use ipower and it's been good. I think a domain name is 10, but if yours is still good you can just redirect it. You can either license a board program(vbulletin) for whatever the cost or use phbb, which is freeware public domain and install it on the site. And just like that, forums no adds. All these hosted forums that services provide are just that, phbb or vbulletin installed on their site that you pay for to use.

There's other service providers out there with a range of different stuff, or hey, you could contact your provider and negotiate a deal. "I've been a customer since ___, what kind of deal can we work out?" There's so many options now that most companies will jump through hoops to keep you.

[Warwulf]

I think I may put in my $0.03 worth (adjusted for inflation)...

I've come across my share of poor webhosts. In fact, the first one we had at the Cybertronian Alliance had a horrible SQL server and poor uptime. We eventually ditched them and migrated the whole site over to a new carrier (which I still use today for my own personal site and the like). I'm familiar with the pain in the arse that is transferring from one host to another -- I could even help if you like.

Just to be clear, if you do heed my advice and take my help moving to a new webhost, I'll be nothing more than the "hired help", as someone once so eloquently put it.

But seriously though, last time I helped with a BW website, I became the owner of the Cybertronian Alliance. Don't want to have that responsibility again.

Here's a link to the host I recommend and their hosting plans:
http://www.hasweb.com/linux-web-hosting.php

If you pay for the next three years at once, the webhosting will be $48 a year. They have no ads. Unlimited bandwidth. 500 GB storage. PHP, MySQL (so we can stay with phpBB), and rock solid reliability.

[Sapphire]

Thanks for the advice Warwulf. I will definitely consider it. My life has been so chaotic this year and my back pain so severe that my time at the PC is very restricted, so I am reluctant to take on anything too time-consuming at the computer just yet. But the site's renewal is November, so I'll have to make up my mind by October. It may be worth doing at those prices, which are pretty good!

[Nurann]

Check your paypal, Sapph

[Sapphire]

*big hugs* Many thanks, Nurann!

The website came up for renewal in October and I have already paid it (I felt I should, because I haven't updated the site in such a long time due to back trouble and personal tragedy) but of course, if anyone wants to contribute towards the cost that would be hugely appreciated (See donations page at the site: http://www.bwint.net/donations.htm) I regret that I didn't have the time/health to research into having the site moved to a cheaper host, but if we're still kicking a year from now I'll definitely look into it.