HPN Update (from Nicc)
Update 13 May 2012 - The New HPN:
Hello there again and it's Nicc. I just wanted to announce that the new HPN is now open for business. We are now live at:http://thehpn.net/theforum/index.php
It took us a little while to seek land, land on it and then start settling on it. But, we made it and we've got a new island to enjoy now. The port is that-a-way and there's plenty of room at the port for all of our stranded boats. I do hope to see you all there soon and please visit the General Message Board first for a few pointers about our new forums and to help get you on your way. Whew, we haven't been separated from each other for so long, but it's going to be fun to have the gang back... All of us again. See you folks at the new island!
Nicc
Here's the status of the island, as reported by Nicc in the "Help!" thread comment:
HPN Update
Huh, I know that I actually created an account on Livejournal years ago and I intended to use it for... something. I never did get around to using it, though. The particular details on how to access into said account is long-forgotten now, so I'll just go with "Anonymous" here..
Oh yeah, and this is Nicc. First, I'll state the obvious; yes, the HPN is down. It's been that way for a few days already. And, I don't think we'll be able to get it back. I've tried to contact Li via the last known contacts I've got and to no avail. And, truth be told, it's been 3 years since I last successfully corresponded with her.
So, that does leave us in a rather... precarious spot. Now, I remember the last time this happened at around 2005 or so when we had to start all over again too. It did take a while to get everybody off the lifeboats and back on a brand-new island. The situation is a bit different now. Li has always taken care of the front of the house, i.e. the site itself in general and all of the content on the main home page. The back of the house, or the forums, has long been a motley crew of fellow admins and mods. I'm the only one left from those old days now and with a smaller crew, but no less dedicated... Or, motley.
Right now, what really consists of the HPN are the forums that we all visit. Starting over with new forums is actually not that difficult. We won't be able to get back all of the stuff that we lost from the now sunken island, but starting all over again is surprisingly rather easy. The very first iteration of the HPN forums was via a hosted forum solution. In other words, the hosting and the forum software was provided by a single service. It made it a simple affair to create and run a forum. We used that for a few years before Li decided to host the forums externally. She picked the host and the forum software to use. That gave more flexibility, but also meant she had to learn how to install, use and program the software on her own. And, that's also why there have never been any banner ads on the forums too, another advantage of being able to call your own shots, so to speak. The HPN forums have been hosted like that since then.
I have received a few e-mails from fellow stranded islanders about how we could go about this. Yes, there are both free and paid solutions. I've been looking into it over the weekend and there are good candidates out there. Forum shopping... I haven't had to do this in years. There are a lot of new ones out there now, it seems. I'll continue to shop some more, but I'll try not to take too long. And, that's the status of the HPN right now. It looks like our island paradise is now in the depths of Davy Jones' Locker... And, there were reruns of POTC today on TV, go figure. But, it does look like some of you were able to recover some flotsam that I do hope to see in a brand-new forum soon and to give us a base to start over from again. We're still down right now, but the real estate market for new islands are pretty good. Hang on to your boats! I'm sure that we'll be at port again soon.
Nicc
Hello there again and it's Nicc. I just wanted to announce that the new HPN is now open for business. We are now live at:http://thehpn.net/theforum/index.php
It took us a little while to seek land, land on it and then start settling on it. But, we made it and we've got a new island to enjoy now. The port is that-a-way and there's plenty of room at the port for all of our stranded boats. I do hope to see you all there soon and please visit the General Message Board first for a few pointers about our new forums and to help get you on your way. Whew, we haven't been separated from each other for so long, but it's going to be fun to have the gang back... All of us again. See you folks at the new island!
Nicc
Here's the status of the island, as reported by Nicc in the "Help!" thread comment:
HPN Update
Huh, I know that I actually created an account on Livejournal years ago and I intended to use it for... something. I never did get around to using it, though. The particular details on how to access into said account is long-forgotten now, so I'll just go with "Anonymous" here..
Oh yeah, and this is Nicc. First, I'll state the obvious; yes, the HPN is down. It's been that way for a few days already. And, I don't think we'll be able to get it back. I've tried to contact Li via the last known contacts I've got and to no avail. And, truth be told, it's been 3 years since I last successfully corresponded with her.
So, that does leave us in a rather... precarious spot. Now, I remember the last time this happened at around 2005 or so when we had to start all over again too. It did take a while to get everybody off the lifeboats and back on a brand-new island. The situation is a bit different now. Li has always taken care of the front of the house, i.e. the site itself in general and all of the content on the main home page. The back of the house, or the forums, has long been a motley crew of fellow admins and mods. I'm the only one left from those old days now and with a smaller crew, but no less dedicated... Or, motley.
Right now, what really consists of the HPN are the forums that we all visit. Starting over with new forums is actually not that difficult. We won't be able to get back all of the stuff that we lost from the now sunken island, but starting all over again is surprisingly rather easy. The very first iteration of the HPN forums was via a hosted forum solution. In other words, the hosting and the forum software was provided by a single service. It made it a simple affair to create and run a forum. We used that for a few years before Li decided to host the forums externally. She picked the host and the forum software to use. That gave more flexibility, but also meant she had to learn how to install, use and program the software on her own. And, that's also why there have never been any banner ads on the forums too, another advantage of being able to call your own shots, so to speak. The HPN forums have been hosted like that since then.
I have received a few e-mails from fellow stranded islanders about how we could go about this. Yes, there are both free and paid solutions. I've been looking into it over the weekend and there are good candidates out there. Forum shopping... I haven't had to do this in years. There are a lot of new ones out there now, it seems. I'll continue to shop some more, but I'll try not to take too long. And, that's the status of the HPN right now. It looks like our island paradise is now in the depths of Davy Jones' Locker... And, there were reruns of POTC today on TV, go figure. But, it does look like some of you were able to recover some flotsam that I do hope to see in a brand-new forum soon and to give us a base to start over from again. We're still down right now, but the real estate market for new islands are pretty good. Hang on to your boats! I'm sure that we'll be at port again soon.
Nicc