64 replies to this topic

[firemind]

So, mograph was offline yet again for a while.

The site has reached the limit of what the current hosting will bare. The next logical step would be to go for a dedicated server, which has some consequences. Alongside that, I have found that the time I can personally dedicate to this site has been pretty much reduced to nothing, I'm considering passing the reigns over to a dedicated team or person who will continue and improve upon this site in the current tradition.

This is not a post begging for money, I have disabled the donation thread, because throwing more money at dreamhost may not be the way to go. Since this site is and always has been about the users, I am asking for your input. I have had plenty of inqueries of companies asking if they could put banners on this site, but have resisted that option.

I'd like your opinions and am open to any offers that would keep this site alive without turning it into a huge commercial environment. Feel free to reply here, leave me a pm or mail me at admin@mograph.net.

[OHG]

what are the option at this time?
I barelly use any of my hosting space, but i don't know if thats any usefull

[thomwill]

i for one would hate to see banners begin to populate this forum. i'd be willing to contribute financially i however much i can, if thats what it gets down to.

[mete_shop]

My first thought is try to try getting Mediatemple sponsorship. I think this site gets enough valuable traffic that they'd be pretty interested. I also don't think banners are required either.

[silatix]

merge with the cow?

[foughtthelaw]

My first thought is try to try getting Mediatemple sponsorship. I think this site gets enough valuable traffic that they'd be pretty interested. I also don't think banners are required either.

Ditto

[spritelyjim]

merge with the cow?

To even suggest it! Silatix, your punishment is you have to use the following avatar for a week!




Firemind, I made you one too. Hopefully there's a way we can help and not compromise the quality of this site.

[the_Monkey]

For those who offered space, I doubt that space is an issue here. While I'm sure this site generates a lot of traffic, I find it very hard to believe that it demands much bandwidth. Mograph.net doesn't actually host much more than the Invision Board graphics. That leads me to believe that Dreamhost is putting some kind of RAM squeeze on their virtual hosting and maintaining that the only way to fix the problem would be to upgrade to a (much more expensive) dedicated host. If that is so, then I agree with Firemind that it may be time to leave Dreamhost.

Sponsorship would be swell, but that certainly relies on the kindness of others. If (tasteful) sponsorship is not possible, I would ask that we at least *try* to fund the new hosting through community donations first. I would love to see mograph.net return to the stability it once had.

-m

[Firebetty]

For those who offered space, I doubt that space is an issue here. While I'm sure this site generates a lot of traffic, I find it very hard to believe that it demands much bandwidth. Mograph.net doesn't actually host much more than the Invision Board graphics. That leads me to believe that Dreamhost is putting some kind of RAM squeeze on their virtual hosting and maintaining that the only way to fix the problem would be to upgrade to a (much more expensive) dedicated host. If that is so, then I agree with Firemind that it may be time to leave Dreamhost.

Sponsorship would be swell, but that certainly relies on the kindness of others. If (tasteful) sponsorship is not possible, I would ask that we at least *try* to fund the new hosting through community donations first. I would love to see mograph.net return to the stability it once had.

-m

Perhaps you could do something similar to the way NPR does it. With "members" who donate money and possibly get more options for posting - like unlimited posts, and then others who do not want to/or can't pay, they could still have free access..but maybe only get like 5 posts a month. Or you could do it like craigslist, and charge employers like $25 to put up their ads? It seems like there's a lot of people who would be willing to pay a small fee to use this forum. It's definitely an invaluable resource.

[-rP-]

Agree, set something up for donations and change servers(media temple). I believe there would be plenty of financial help through donations to keep mograph better and stronger without the use of banners! That's my two cents.

[silatix]

paying to post wouldnt cut it.. and that wouldnt help the problem of finding person(s) to help maintain the site.

[OHG]

I don't wanna imagine telling my grandkids, "Ohh I remember back in the day when mograph.net didn't had banners"
hehe

[ADROK]

YO-
i can remember the day i hit- mograph superstar!!
and then the great crash of fall 2006 rendered me to a newbie- i would do anything to prevent the fall of thgis great site that has inspired me and kept me sane all these years....

to firemind and all the great peeps out there like the beav and govinda who help time and time again- i would rather have this site be donation wise just to keep it going rather then it be filled with " cow" banners

let us know what we can do to help its obviously time to leave the current hoster..
god bless us everyone.

[govinda]

Oh, now really, one banner ain't gonna kill anyone. Are we honestly living in some dreamworld where donations that flow early but as time goes on quit coming at all are used as a way to keep a quasi-professional site up? Banners don't bug me that much. Consider the awful situation of having to go to the community hat-in-hand every quarter and wonder if you're going to get enough to pay the bills.

All the same, I'm gonna donate now . I used to think the amount of work I did around here paid my donations for me, but now I don't do shit, so I kinda owe.

[ESC]

I'd go the donation route

[J-Bird]

Here ya go Firemind...

AmbitiousLemon web hosting offers FREE professional hosting for non-profit websites.

Hope this helps!

[Beaver]

For those who offered space, I doubt that space is an issue here. While I'm sure this site generates a lot of traffic, I find it very hard to believe that it demands much bandwidth. Mograph.net doesn't actually host much more than the Invision Board graphics. That leads me to believe that Dreamhost is putting some kind of RAM squeeze on their virtual hosting and maintaining that the only way to fix the problem would be to upgrade to a (much more expensive) dedicated host. If that is so, then I agree with Firemind that it may be time to leave Dreamhost.

Sponsorship would be swell, but that certainly relies on the kindness of others. If (tasteful) sponsorship is not possible, I would ask that we at least *try* to fund the new hosting through community donations first. I would love to see mograph.net return to the stability it once had.

-m

Coming from a web background myself, I agree totally. I don't see how the bandwidth is getting eaten up by this forum. We don't even host any videos here. During peak times we have maybe 100 users - which is nothing. The only thing I can think of is that the database has grown so big and gnarly (from multiple crashes/upgrades) that search queries and general browsing put a lot of pressure on the database, and the possibility that this site is sitting on some ancient box that lacks the processing power to perform those queries.

I'd like to see what a switch to Media Temple would do for us. If they could hook up a sponsorship for mographwiki, why not mograph? I don't know much about dreamhost, but I know MT's bad ass grid service *should* provide enough power to host this site in it's current state, and it's pretty inexpensive. I agree that banners are ugly, and we don't want corporate interests mucking up the forum - but I'd gladly take a banner or link to MT in exchange for some hosting.

[thomwill]

it'd be great to be notified every time a thread is updated again as well, instead of every once in awhile.

[KGB]

This is one of the sites that I visit pretty much everyday.
So, I'm ok with either donating, a banner or two, or both, as long as this place is alive and kicking.

[tvp]

So, mograph was offline yet again for a while.

The site has reached the limit of what the current hosting will bare. The next logical step would be to go for a dedicated server, which has some consequences. Alongside that, I have found that the time I can personally dedicate to this site has been pretty much reduced to nothing, I'm considering passing the reigns over to a dedicated team or person who will continue and improve upon this site in the current tradition.

This is not a post begging for money, I have disabled the donation thread, because throwing more money at dreamhost may not be the way to go. Since this site is and always has been about the users, I am asking for your input. I have had plenty of inqueries of companies asking if they could put banners on this site, but have resisted that option.

I'd like your opinions and am open to any offers that would keep this site alive without turning it into a huge commercial environment. Feel free to reply here, leave me a pm or mail me at admin@mograph.net.

sell banner ads pertaining to mograph/design products and services, the way motionographer does. maybe even sell some banner ads to record companies, etc, the way pitchfork does, if you find yourself needing to expand your ad base. find a new host. i use globat.com. so far so good. dreamhost is expensive. seems like globat offers more services and better customer service for less money. hire someone to help with or take over admin once the ad money starts coming in. retain ownership.

tvp