| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Discoking |
Posted - 07/22/2013 : 21:57:31
I regularly get this page that only says "Service unavailable" when I visit www.frankblack.net or forum.frankblack.net. Refreshing doesn't help.
If I return an hour or so later, it works fine again.
Does anyone else have this problem?
And what is it? Why is the service unavailable? Is there anything I can do about it?
 it's educational |
| 29 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| picpic |
Posted - 06/15/2014 : 01:16:04
Any news about this update ? This forum is still down most of the time & filled with spam (and not even moderated)
I know this is a time-consuming job, but this message board is dying...
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"Service Unavailable" |
| Discoking |
Posted - 04/22/2014 : 23:46:23
go snitz!
it's educational |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 04/21/2014 : 04:45:17
The powers that be at Snitz are working on a new release that I hope will address the issue that allows these bots to register... that is due next month, so for now that is the next step.
 "If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 04/19/2014 : 17:13:41
Maybe I'm wrong but I think the forum will weather all of this; this is the best place to discuss Frank Black and the Pixies and the Catholics... |
| picpic |
Posted - 04/19/2014 : 10:46:24
This forum has apparently been hacked... spam everywhere... obvious security exploits... I'm not even sure my account is secure anymore.
This is the only place to talk about Frank Black. Other Pixies messages board sucks. So,.. what's next ?
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"Service Unavailable" |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 04/11/2014 : 03:40:23
We would have to get off of Lunarpages altogether, so it's not just a matter of money, it's also time. However, I do plan to do this at some point. I really hate Lunarpages. Right now we're only spending a few hundred a year on the server, it's shared (part of the problem). I'd have to look at how much data and traffic we are using more closely to find another site capable of handling that without the problems and see what it would cost to get rid of it, though. I will certainly look at it and perhaps post here asking for help in doing some of these things to see if we can get that accomplished. Thanks all for your offers and for your concern, good to know that it's still a valuable place in your web surfing experience. :)
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
| ccuadros |
Posted - 04/08/2014 : 02:03:01
will be great if we can have a better platform, if you have time someday and could spend some time in this please let us know how can we help, iŽll be glad to do it. |
| Discoking |
Posted - 04/06/2014 : 23:00:16
thanks for the answers.
how much money are we talking about, for the server package? can i ask that, or is that classified information? is it a monthly or yearly fee, or does it depend on how much traffic there is?
and would paying more money solve the current problems, or will a move to another server be required one day?
i wouldn't mind donating some money.
i understand that migrating the data to a new forum would be far from straightforward, and possibly too big a task to even consider, especially if you don't have a lot of free time. (i guess one could spend days on this, without any guarantee of succeeding.)
it seems to be going a bit better now. i still get "service unavailable" messages, but not as frequent as before. i think it'd be a big improvement to get rid of them altogether though. if that is possible, then i agree, and think the forum is good as it is. it is clearly old and fairly simple, but i don't mind that at all. it does everything it needs to do.
it's educational |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 04/06/2014 : 10:40:05
The service unavailable warnings are an issue with the server package we use. We've run out of donated money and I've not been asking for more since I haven't even been able to keep the site up to date, so it's a question of money and then time.
The forum is great as is (I've never really liked PHP BB, but maybe with some mods it could be more likeable) but not maintained as PicPic pointed out and the migration would be a huge undertaking. I could move us to another server if I dedicated a whole weekend to it, but those are harder and harder to come by. But it would be preferable to maintain the continuity since I think an archive/read-only would eventually not get looked at, and it would require a server with ASP and PHP both (which, to be fair, is increasingly common and in fact is one of the reasons we're on this server because I'd hoped to build a new platform some time ago).
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
| picpic |
Posted - 04/06/2014 : 09:31:12
I think this Snitz forum engine is just fine. Very clear, easy to read... and it's open source. But it probably has a few security issues due to its age and lack of an active support community... (went on their website... seems dead !)
Best option would be to migrate to something like PHPBB, which is open-source, runs on LAMP, and has a huge support community. But migrating all the data from an obscure, outdated forum software to anything new looks like a big, time-consuming challenge.
Another option: keep this Snitz 2000 forum in read-only as an archive & creating a new one...
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"Service Unavailable" |
| Discoking |
Posted - 04/03/2014 : 23:41:33
it seems to be working better today. hopefully it keeps up.
otherwise it could maybe be considered to move the forum elsewhere? how about something like this? http://www.proboards.com/
they even offer to help importing the old forum: http://www.proboards.com/switch-to-proboards-free-forums
dunno. just an idea. the free hosting of course comes with ads. (although i don't think it's that expensive to get rid of them.)
it's educational |
| vilainde |
Posted - 04/02/2014 : 23:50:56
Yeah that's nightmarish
Denis
Obsidiana Bijoux |
| Discoking |
Posted - 04/02/2014 : 23:15:33
it's really unworkable now.
i can live with the occasional "service unavailable", but there are too many of them now.
is the problem the hosting? what about the forum software? it's really old. dunno.
it's educational |
| picpic |
Posted - 04/02/2014 : 10:23:52
Hosting problems ? Maybe we (regular users) can help ?
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"Service Unavailable" |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 04/01/2014 : 07:11:44
I think that's a reasonable assumption Discoking. |
| Discoking |
Posted - 03/31/2014 : 21:46:48
it's been a lot worse with the "service unavailable" warnings lately. everything is also a lot slower.
maybe because of increased traffic with the release of EP3 and the announcement of the new album? i don't know. but i have the impression that's when it started getting worse.
anyway, it's now almost impossible to even read the forums: two, three clicks, and it's service unavailable again. (took me days to get far enough on the forum to post this.)
how much would a move to a more stable platform cost? and does someone have the know-how and time to make this happen?
or do you believe the situation will improve again soon?
it's educational |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 07/27/2013 : 12:10:56
Kudos to Active Duck! |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 07/27/2013 : 08:06:06
I appreciate the patience folks. Still, I do hope to move us to a more stable platform at some point. And the design (at least graphically) I have to credit to Active Duck, he did all this for us gratis back in the day.
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
| Discoking |
Posted - 07/27/2013 : 00:06:20
Ok, thanks. I'll give that a try.
it's educational |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 07/26/2013 : 18:07:36
Discoking---I usually just wait a few minutes before refreshing and the site usually works. |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 07/26/2013 : 15:10:49
I've said it before but the design is phenomenal. Simple. Easy to read. Tasteful imagery up above. I've been to some terribly designed forums (usually just one visit and I'm out of there) and this one gets it right in every way. Plus there's none of this "need to register to read it", I dislike when sites do that. |
| pot |
Posted - 07/26/2013 : 14:38:23
A free forum where you can talk to Frank Black that goes temporarily down for a few minutes sometimes. I'm not complaining. |
| Arm Arm Arm |
Posted - 07/26/2013 : 14:31:58
Considering this is a free forum, it's not a big deal. I copy my replies to be safe. I'm glad this place is here, regardless of whether it goes "unavailable" every so often. Thanks for maintaining it! |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 07/26/2013 : 07:55:41
Yup. A fact of life on our current service, the eminently shitty Lunarpages. I would've moved us long ago if I had the time and $.
"If we hit this bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate." |
| Active Duck |
Posted - 07/24/2013 : 02:08:36
All of the time. |
| vilainde |
Posted - 07/24/2013 : 00:03:36
Nope, happens all the time
Denis
Obsidiana Bijoux |
| Discoking |
Posted - 07/23/2013 : 21:24:26
Does anyone else ever get this message? Or is it just pot and me?
it's educational |
| Discoking |
Posted - 07/22/2013 : 22:05:44
Heh heh. Good tip.
it's educational |
| pot |
Posted - 07/22/2013 : 22:00:14
Same here.
Tip: Always CTRL+C your post before clicking 'submit reply' |
