Website Renewal 2017

[Sapphire]

Hi everyone,

I am sorry I am so absent from these forums. I have a chronic illness and pain condition that limits my time at the PC. Perhaps unwisely, I also run a not-for-profit, which entails a lot of time at a computer. So it is often the case that all my energy gets used up on that and there's very little capacity left in me for much more. I find it hard to email and keep up with family and friends. The forums just end up out of my range, most of the time.

I am posting today to call on my fellow BWINT peeps for help. Beast Wars International costs $100 a year (including back-up systems and domain privacy etc.) and every year it is a struggle for me to afford it.

As some of you know, I have a complex chronic illness that costs thousands each year, which we're paying (on top of tent) on one income, as I cant work. This year is especially tough, as I need a surgery next month that I cannot afford, so I am busy selling our prized possessions, including our beloved Beast Wars figures, to pay for it. Even before these sales, the surgery has already wiped me out of all my savings.

We simply cannot afford to renew BWINT again without help. If you can donate, please send money to SilverfromOz at his PayPal account joseph_a_salemi@yahoo.com.au It would be a tremendous help.

I'd like to keep BWINT, and by extension, these forums, running for as long as there is interest.

Best wishes,
Sapphire

[Phoenix]

Just some food for thought.. There are other, far more affordable web services that cost a lot less and are more stable than the existing hosting service to boot. What about porting the BWInt to another hosting server?

On another note, I hope your surgery goes well and you feel better soon!!

[Beastbot]

So, so sorry to hear about the upcoming surgery and continuing issues, Sapphire. I'll keep you in my prayers.

What is the deadline for the website payment?

[Sapphire]

Hi Phoneix and Beastbot

Sorry for the delayed response. I have been snowed under, frantically trying to make $1000 before my surgery on November 10th. X(

I remember looking to move BWINT to another server last year and having trouble. It was a more arduous process than I felt up to doing. There's researching the best package, then setting everything in motion (which takes communication between you and both old and new hosting companies), transferring the domain and everything else and then rebooting. It's a good suggestion, just a heck of a process for me. But if you can suggest any hosting companies, or research packages, that would be a tremendous help!

BWINT's domain name renews November 7th, and its current hosting package renews in May 2018. If we can find BWINT a new host before then that is more affordable, that'd be good. I'm still going to need donations, though. I have even more medical costs coming up next year that I need to save my pennies for, and BWINT is a luxury I may have to expend if I can't afford it.

If anyone is willing to donate to cover the domain name, or contribute towards the hosting renewal, please can you PayPal money to SilverfromOz at joseph_a_salemi@yahoo.com.au

Thanks everyone.

[Phoenix]

We can host the bwint for free on our domain if you're interested.

[Warwulf]

So, here's what I can do for you.

• Domain Name: Domain names are generally fairly cheap. If you need help, I can chip in for funds. Or, alternatively, if you want I could take over responsibility for paying for and renewing the domain name via a domain transfer to my registrar. The pros of this is that it would give me control over the name server, which would make migrating hosts easier to do rather than explaining where to change settings. The cons of this is that, functionally, it would be ceding a degree of control over the domain name to me -- which, although I'm altruistic in my intentions, I could understand if you're not comfortable with that.
• Webhosting: I don't remember what you mentioned we pay for hosting, but I remember it was quite high. I just upgraded my hosting for my Paramedic podcast from the $10/yr plan to a more robust one, which now gives me unlimited additional domain names. I'd be happy to host the Beast Wars International for free. If you prefer, I could point you to some cheaper hosting that you could purchase. Honestly, I think just letting someone else worry about the hosting is the simplest solution. I'd have no problem doing it for it.

Let me know what you'd like to do.

I still need to do those forum upgrades that I promised and have been putting off because, frankly, it's going to be a huge undertaking bringing us up to current from this far back (in terms of version).

[Sapphire]

Phoenix, Warwulf: thank you so much for your kind offer. I really do appreciate it.

I am going to contact the other admins to discuss this and will get back to you.

The domain name cost $16.99 this year, but the web hosting renewal is not til May, so we've some time

And thank you for looking after the forums over the years. I remember how much work goes into maintenance and upgrades and am very grateful you've done this for us before. You're awesome.

P.S. my email address is tessab10 [at] yahoo.co.uk if you need to contact me directly.

>Sapphire<

[Sapphire]

Hi Warwulf, Phoenix and anyone else reading this thread!

I have spoken with Nurann, Sinead, OOP, Starath and Razor One about the future for BWINT. I presented them with a few options, and they voted to do a joint-ownership, where all 7 of us (including me and SilverfromOZ) take charge and care of BWINT for the coming years. We've all agreed to chip in annually for the hosting/domain name and to keep an eye on the forums.

We want to thank Warwulf and Phoneix for their kind offer, Thankfully, with the 7 of us looking after it, we can now afford it.

That said, we *definitely* want your suggestions, Warwulf, of a new, better hosting package! We've been with iPage for years and while it was once competitive, it seems really expensive now!
Please let us know what plans you think are worth investigating!
(BWINT, on my computer, comes to 606mb).

Renewal comes up in May next year so we have some time, but I think it's good to get the ball rolling now so we're fully prepared before then.

I also want to thank Beastbot and Nurann who have donated towards the costs this year. Hopefully we'll have enough to buy a new, better hosting plan for our beloved site.

> Sapphire <

[Razor One]

Hey All, been a while.

Checked about a bit for hosting. There's plenty of stuff at various prices, so it's a bit tough to figure out what we could use other than "We need hosting".

After a bit of shopping around, I figured this site: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/shared/ seemed to have a decent offering of features and pricing. Three years of hosting would cost ~$286.20, $95.40 a year.

They've got very good reviews, their service is scaleable, and it comes highly recommended by reviewers. Better yet, if we're not happy after three months we can back out without too much trouble.

If we have a budget that can't handle that or need more/better services (or less), let me know and I'll go back to shopping.

[The Crab]

Okay, so I know I'm, like, super late to the game and everything has been taken care of. But I just wanna offer to pitch in as well, wherever needed. Even though I'm pretty silent these days, BWINT has given me some of the most fond memories of my life, and I wanna help out my extended family however possible.

[Sapphire]

Hi Crab! So good to see you!

Silver has formed a Facebook group for BWINT folk wanting to help keep the site going for the foreseeable future. Please contact him on Facebook or send him an email at joseph_a_salemi@yahoo.com.au and he'll add you to that group so you can find out how you can help that way. We'd definitely appreciate your support!

Thanks so much my friend!

-- Sapphire