Functionality and System Maintenance Announcements

[Kevin]

The NCAA always trying to keep a brother down. Fortunately there is a grand plan. Step 1 - update TMN. Done.

[Tito]

Thinking ahead guys... We used to get so much 'guest' traffic on signing day... Have u guys streamlined the siign up process?

I guess someone hasn't noticed the approximately 300 new members we've gotten over the past several months since we eliminated the guest traffic.

60 new members-past three months (Since Oct 17)-32 total posts.
That's what I'm talkin' about..a sedate, respectful audience who just endures my junk and keeps their mouths shut!

[Kevin]

Thinking ahead guys... We used to get so much 'guest' traffic on signing day... Have u guys streamlined the siign up process?

I went looking for P*tt grads with Ph.Ds to test our new registration process. I found 10 at Thee Doll House in Ft. Lauderdale. Once they were done with their shifts I sat them down and asked them to register for TMN. 4 of the 10 were able to register without any issues so I'd say it is streamlined and extremely easy to use.

[Tito]

[Kevin]

I'm going to be doing some work this afternoon on the site, moving the "Who is Chatting" from the bottom of the page to the left hand column, replacing the clock. The site might be a little wiggy while I'm moving it.

[Clark]

Are we seriously going to have the twitter feed following "the dude"?

[Kevin]

Here's the plan for the site and the BP moving forward for those that are interested:

The BP is going to remain at http://thebullypulpit.us. There will be a widget on the front page of TMN that shows you the latest posts so you can click through and read them if you wish (your username and password will be the same for both sites). The BP will get a facelift and reskinned to differentiate itself from TMN. The goal is to attract a more diverse group of people to the BP instead of just WVU fans. We will also be selling some advertising space on the BP to help offset costs for servers, which have skyrocketed as we've grown (a good problem to have but still expensive).

So from a TMN perspective the BP will still be there, will still be functioning and won't be any more difficult to access than it was before. Since National LOI day is done I will be working on it as well as writing a new chat program for both TMN and the BP.

I'm open to comments and suggestions if you have any.

[Kevin]

I'm going to be doing some database work tonight on the BP. If anyone tries to access it they'll be redirected to TMN. Once database work is done I'll disable the redirect. This is the first step in the grand plan set forth in my previous post.

[Haydesc]

I'm going to be doing some database work tonight on the BP. If anyone tries to access it they'll be redirected to TMN. Once database work is done I'll disable the redirect. This is the first step in the grand plan set forth in my previous post.

Good timing. spd and I just agreed in the Gun Control thread. It will be good to allow us to bask in that Kumbaya moment a little longer.

[Aaron]

[Kevin]

Sweet. You two bask and when the BP shows back up (give me a day or so) I should have it reskinned and looking like a proper forum.

[Kevin]

As part of the ongoing site improvements I am going to be doing some major server work the next four days. During this time I am going to be moving the site over to one of our backup servers. I will move it tonight around 11:00. I don't anticipate any downtime but any posts made between 11:00 and 11:15 have a chance of getting lost.

I'll keep you updated on any progress and/or issues.

[Haydesc]

As part of the ongoing site improvements I am going to be doing some major server work the next four days. During this time I am going to be moving the site over to one of our backup servers. I will move it tonight around 11:00. I don't anticipate any downtime but any posts made between 11:00 and 11:15 have a chance of getting lost.

I'll keep you updated on any progress and/or issues.

Will that work include the reemergence of the BP? I think that our glow has dimmed sufficiently for us to get back to helping the world solve some problems.

[Kevin]

Yes. The BP and TMN have been on two separate servers since the middle of January. The plan is to move them both onto the same server. Actually, a load-balanced cluster, which is what I'm currently working on.

[wvuchip]

This is a minor thing but is there any way to update the favicon to something more WVU/WV related? I don't know if the flying WV would be an issue but maybe the state outline? I just use the favicon as a bookmark on my bookmarks bar to save space, and the current one (two horizontal red lines) always makes me have to think about it for a second to remember what it is.