Hey gang,
We experienced approximately an hour of downtime today due to server issues. We got them straightened out, so things should be working fine again. A contributing factor may be that one of our blog posts went viral, causing a massive traffic spike of unforeseen proportions. It was probably more than what our hosting plan can handle.
This brings up an important issue. We are growing at a wonderful pace in terms of traffic. If we continue growing at this rate, it will become necessary to upgrade to a far more robust server that can handle this kind of load. This will become a necessity sooner rather than later.
And as you know, upgrading to a robust server is not cheap.
In order to pay for this, the best path is to add some moderate advertising to the forums. We currently run ads on the blog side of this site, but haven't run any on the forums as of yet. The advertising that will be added to the forums will be tasteful and unobtrusive. It will likely consist of a banner at the top and bottom of each page. This is a standard practice with most writing forums.
I despise sites that are plastered with ads and pop-ups. I also can't stand forums where hovering your pointer over words in a post causes ads to pop up. When I encounter such a site, I leave it and do not return. I want to give you my assurance that Mythic Scribes will NEVER become such a site. We will never be dominated by commercialism.
This all comes back to quality. We pride ourselves on being a community of high standards. Very soon, though, we will have to upgrade our server in order to maintain a positive user experience. And some moderate advertising will make this possible.
As of now all expenses are coming out of my pocket. I'm glad to do this, as this project is a labor of love. But my long term goal is for Mythic Scribes to become self-sustaining. I do not want us to collect donations, nor do I ever want to charge for "membership" or any such thing. My plan has always been for Mythic Scribes to get to the point where it can cover its own expenses. Advertising is the most feasible way to make this happen.
Once again, thank you for being a part of our community. It's because of you that Mythic Scribes is becoming a success. I'm looking forward to journeying onward with you guys as we continue to build something special.
We experienced approximately an hour of downtime today due to server issues. We got them straightened out, so things should be working fine again. A contributing factor may be that one of our blog posts went viral, causing a massive traffic spike of unforeseen proportions. It was probably more than what our hosting plan can handle.
This brings up an important issue. We are growing at a wonderful pace in terms of traffic. If we continue growing at this rate, it will become necessary to upgrade to a far more robust server that can handle this kind of load. This will become a necessity sooner rather than later.
And as you know, upgrading to a robust server is not cheap.
In order to pay for this, the best path is to add some moderate advertising to the forums. We currently run ads on the blog side of this site, but haven't run any on the forums as of yet. The advertising that will be added to the forums will be tasteful and unobtrusive. It will likely consist of a banner at the top and bottom of each page. This is a standard practice with most writing forums.
I despise sites that are plastered with ads and pop-ups. I also can't stand forums where hovering your pointer over words in a post causes ads to pop up. When I encounter such a site, I leave it and do not return. I want to give you my assurance that Mythic Scribes will NEVER become such a site. We will never be dominated by commercialism.
This all comes back to quality. We pride ourselves on being a community of high standards. Very soon, though, we will have to upgrade our server in order to maintain a positive user experience. And some moderate advertising will make this possible.
As of now all expenses are coming out of my pocket. I'm glad to do this, as this project is a labor of love. But my long term goal is for Mythic Scribes to become self-sustaining. I do not want us to collect donations, nor do I ever want to charge for "membership" or any such thing. My plan has always been for Mythic Scribes to get to the point where it can cover its own expenses. Advertising is the most feasible way to make this happen.
Once again, thank you for being a part of our community. It's because of you that Mythic Scribes is becoming a success. I'm looking forward to journeying onward with you guys as we continue to build something special.
Mystagogue
Journeyman
