Diddums

Test

Ok, progress is being made. First off, the guys at Vidahost are awesome. Seriously impressed, 10/10, would recommend. We've now got Gzip enabled which should make things a bit faster on the browser end too. I'm still workin on some other bits and pieces as are Vidahost, mainly to get the things Kyle mentioned working correctly and to make the place faster. For reference, with Google Pagespeed we were clocking in at 58/100 last night, today we are on 73/100. I want to go much higher but these things take time as I'm a noob. Stand by folks, we're getting there!

Guys move around a bit in the forum before reporting it as slow. Basically because we're at a new host, your browser needs to recache it before it goes all smooth again. I've just raised a ticket with tech support for the other issues, these guys are great so hopefully won't be long.

Yeah, there were a few hours in between the files being copied and them actually installed so anything between those two times is gone unfortunately. This includes the 13 new members we had but I don't think any were stayers anyway. From a quick glance, the "view full site" button is knackered for mobile devices and avatars don't show on the home page, but that's all I've got. Can you guys please reply to threads with smilies and stuff, log out, log in, just give the place a bit of a stress test so I can compile a report for tech support? Oh and is it any snappier yet?

Transfer complete. There are a few teething issues so please report them here and I'll call tech support in a bit.

Site migration requested. Can take up to three days but having dealt with them this morning they seem pretty good so hopefully it will be done sooner.

Hello mate, if there's anything you need let me know. This lot are great to play with, so if you're looking for a bunch of rag tag lunatics to hang out with, just drop in and say hi! I can make you an admin if you like, might help, although you could probably do that via the back end already

*cough* erm, yes officer, well you see.... erm.... sorry, what did you say again?

Nah, it's cool. I'm very glad to have discovered this. I'm amazed at how much getting this all done has changed me, I've been down lately and I think this whole thing with the site has been a part of it, which is why my head was firmly planted in the sand. Let's hope it all goes a bit smoother now

Not sharing per se, but I'm on a bit of a health kick atm so I'm all ears

FUCKING THUD. That was the sound I heard when the penny dropped. See, I have learned this evening about Gzip, which compresses files so that they load faster for browsing. This is a very common thing and if you don't use it, ur a nub lulz. So I researched how this all works and it's very simple: it's a bit of generic code which goes into the .htaccess file in the root directory and voila, the site is much faster. So I did this. Ran tests before and after inserting the code and the site was actually slower with it. Much googling and head scratching ensued but I couldn't figure it out. Eventually I suss out that this code only works with Apache webservers, and we're running Nginx. I phoned the hosting company and they were about as useful as a knitted condom. Apparently they don't do Apache at all. I've found a new host here in Englandtown with tech support in England rather than Bangladesh or wherever the last one was so I can have a conversation without dodgy accents and waiting for the infamous delay you get from cheapo international calls which result in both me and them talking at the same time. Apache is almost as old as the Internet itself. Nginx is still fairly new so all the support articles online automatically assume you're running Apache, which is probably why none of the things I tried in the past worked. As an added bonus, they do the full migration for nada provided I pay for a year up front. This also allows me to ditch any unnecessary options from my current provider which will save a few pennies as well. Keep an eye out, I'll let you guys know what's happening when so if there's any downtime, you know why.

GO GET THAT HOTROD WORKING!

It's cool man, you chill out. I've got a bit of time this weekend so I want to have a good poke around and see what's what.

RIP Shoutbox. I'll prune some forums tomorrow as well as Steve made a good point earlier about having too many. Then I need to get it running nice and smooth performance wise, and get cracking on the blog.

I've fixed it Dave, try now Steve that rod is lovely, the cork really looks awesome with that polish finish! Out of curiosity, how many hours went into it?

See? talking already

Done, like system disabled. Now you'll hafta reply

My biggest reason for being so absent is making promises I can't keep. I wanted so much from this place and asked people to chip in but I get too frustrated with coding and the people I paid to help out were useless. I don't want people to feel let down or frustrated that I didn't stick to my word so I tend to keep it on the low down. I've spent countless hours fiddling, tweaking, installing, but not being a programmer myself, there's only so much I can do and then I get too frustrated to carry on. I'm well aware of the issues that have been posted in the forum issues thread but I just don't know how to resolve them, and they annoy me every single day. The tech support for this forum software is non existent and I don't know anyone who can sort it out. Well, I do, but he's got multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and could pass away at any time, so I try to keep my interactions with him pleasant and not bother him with things like this. Bart has been a great help but I can't lean on him for everything, he has his own issues to deal with. Getting new traffic is hard. Seriously hard. Every time I think I'm on to something, it fails or Google changes their search algorithms and I'm at square one again. Running a successful site, by someone who knows nothing about this kind of thing, is impossible. I'm also a bit over gaming at the moment, although I need to get into Destiny properly. A huge factor for this place being so dead was when the PS4 released. Many of us played on the PS3 together and since the PS4 came out, lots of connections were lost, although that seems to be picking up slowly since Destiny is out. I might remove the like system to see how that goes, maybe it'll encourage people to reply, that's a good shout and one I thought of months ago but just left it. If you want, I can disable it for a week or two and see how it goes, report back here with your input please.

Man, you should've shut it hard to see what happened

Dammit Bob, if I seemed offish towards you it's because I didn't click that you were THIS bob. I am a bit slow at the best of times. T'was nice meeting you and Charlie, he's a great kid. Great seeing Dave and the rest too. Dave suggested later that we get together sooner than next year and under different circumstances which I think is a great idea. Pity the Lee Evans gig is sold out, but if anyone's got any suggestions, I'm all ears. Eurogamer was ok. Last year felt better but that could be because it wasn't the first time, there weren't many triple A titles coming out and because I was considerably less drunk. It was probably just me as Kyla enjoyed it. My Razer Deathadder is lovely but I don't think it can top my M60. I'm sticking with it though, probably just need a bit of getting used to. Tommy > start saving dude, you're coming next year! That goes for all our Murican friends, get your arses down to London!

Mkay, Rich and I are meeting in the AM somewhere near Earl's Court. Quick brekkie and go in. Spoke to him earlier and he's sick as a dog but like Stretch, wasn't going to sit with my whining if he didn't make it. Phil and his GF are meeting us at 1ish, at which point we'll go for a pint and then go in as his ticket starts from 2pm. Stretch is meeting us at 16:30-17:00. A year wasn't enough notice so he didn't get a ticket, but is coming for a drink afterwards and then staying at mine. I've also just bought a bottle of Jaegermeister and some Red Bull together with a case of beer, a case of cider and lots of snacks n shit in case we end up at here. Dave - what time are you intending on being there, and can you PM me your number please? Cheerio!

Sounds to me like the motherboard's popped. Connect the exact same cable to your laptop and see if that works, if it does, it's the mobo. If it's borked, a cheapo adapter like this will work fine.

That's cool Bob, we can look after him for a bit if you want to go in Looking forward to meeting you guys!

Sucks Cal I'm even buying a new car to pick you lot up at Brixton after last year's break down. Can we get an attendance check please? So far I've got Stretch, Phil and probably his missus, Rich and probably not his missus, myself, Dave (Plumber), and maybe a couple of folks from another forum.

Can't wait! My attendance here has been fairly sparse lately but I'm really looking forward to a good bash with you lot again.