Editorial Team

For more info, [4 Feb - 6 Oct] - Website: Progress Journal (Update 7) 

06 Oct 2024

Hi everyone,

This is to inform you that our webhosting provider have sent us the notification email today and our website will be moved to a new, upgraded server technology.  They will doing this on

07 OCTOBER 2024

We will therefore do a final backup copy of our website's contents on

06 OCTOBER 2024
AT 21H00 EST / 02H00 GMT / 03H00 CET

This means any activity on the website after that date and time will not be saved and copied over to our new server. So we advise you to not save anything such as texts or books or pictures or create messages or comments on the website at that point.

PoetBay will be offline (inaccessible) for at least a span of 24-48hrs (but we're advised by the webhost that it could be 72 hrs if they run up against any issues during the migration) because our website's new location address needs time to propagate around on the world wide web.

We should be back online on

08 OCTOBER 2024

If we're not, please don't worry. We will be back as soon as possible.

Please share this information with all PoetBay members you know who may not have seen our updates on the situation. Thanks!

Isabelle 

06 Oct | Update 7

Hi everyone,

Finally, we received the notification email this morning of when the migration will be taking place, and if everything goes according to what the webhost informed us, it's happening in the early hours of tomorrow morning EST / GMT / CET -- we received the notification at 02h23 EST / 07h23 GMT / 08h23 CET this morning, and it instructs that the process begins 24 hrs after reception of the email.  So we're guessing the process should begin at those times tomorrow.

We have no idea if our code will function properly on this new server, 'cause despite our many attempts to obtain the server's new specs, our webhost was not able to provide them to us, for some reason.  So we're going totally blind as to whether this will have an impact on the functionality of our website or not.  Admittedly, this is causing us an enormous amount of stress... 

But we want you to know that if we're faced with such a situation, we will of course do everything to restore its functionality as quickly as possible like the last time when the webhost put us in this sort of position.  Hopefully, this is not what's going to happen... but letting you know in case it unfortunately turns out that way.

Bunch of clowns this webhost, I swear... ugh.  Really sorry we can't be more reassuring than that at the moment... it's not exactly how we like to do things, but the webhost didn't provide us with any information that is specific about their process.

Here's to hoping... be back in a bit

Isabelle

===================================================

05 Oct | Update 6

Hi everyone,

We got word from our webhost finally on 30 Sep to let us know that in a week, they'll proceed with the migration of our site to a new server.  I still don't know why they announced this to us last May!  Incredible, really... the're so disorganized, it's ridiculous.  But anyway, they're supposed to send us an email a day before which we expect will be arriving on Monday, if everything goes according to what they told us this time.  We'll let you know as soon as we're notified.

Hope you are all well.  Be back in a bit...

Isabelle

===================================================

 05 July | Update 5

Hi everyone,

After many back and forth emails with our webhosting provider, as usual (it's always a very, very long process on account that English isn't their mother tongue and they're not exactly the most organized bunch I've come across so far!), we finally got out of them that they actually do not know at this time when the migration of our website to the new server will be scheduled yet, 'cause they are doing their migrations in a sequential order and they're not yet to ours.  Again, they said they'll notify us prior to the migration to inform us of the date.  So, as soon as they finally confirm it to us, we'll let you know when our turn comes.

We also found out that we will be keeping our current contract (even though a previous contact from them informed us otherwise!), so our costs won't be affected.  We're very happy about that.

Hope you are all well.  Be back in a bit...

Isabelle

=================================================== 

 17 June | Update 4

Hi everyone,

We haven't heard from the webhost yet about when our migration will be taking place.  We're guessing it will be soon, going by their last message announcing it will be around 13 June.  We'll let you know as soon as they make contact.

Hope you are all well... Be back in a bit.

Isabelle

===================================================

14 May | Update 3

Hi everyone,

So, we heard back from our webhosting provider and they informed us this time that our site's migration to their new equipment (server) is planned for around 13 June - our webhost says they'll contact us 7 days before to confirm the date.  We will of course make an official announcement to the community when we get the date of when this migration will take place. 

We were considering changing webhosting provider and possibly moving everything over to Canada, but the webhosting costs here are way too expensive which would force us to up our prices... something we don't want to do.  So, for now, since they dropped this on us last notice really, we'll stay with the same provider until we can hopefully find a better alternative...

We're feeling pretty disappointed that our webhost is going to be putting us through this again.  We're also hoping that this migration won't cause us the same issues we encountered in 2019.  Unfortunately, we'll only find out when we're switched over, 'cause despite our many requests for the new server system's specs, our webhost is apparently currently unable to provide us with that information yet... it's not the greatest position to be put in.  But whatever happens, we'll do everything to make sure PoetBay runs as it should.  We'll keep you informed.

Hope you are all well... Be back in a bit.

Isabelle

===================================================

3 May | Update 2

Hi everyone,

We were successful in reorganizing things on our end and we were just about to start back on the code when our webhost informed us that they were terminating our plan on 31 May to make us move to their newer technologies.  So, this means a migration of our site to a new server... which could create problems as we encountered in 2019 when our webhost had made the same decision.  

So now we are considering changing the webhosting service... possibly in Canada.  So we have this to sort out first before we can get back to our work.  We'll provide more details as soon as possible.

I hope you are all well... Be back in a bit.

Isabelle

=================================================== 

4 Feb | Update 1

Hi everyone,

Things didn't exactly pan out as we had hoped last year what with our jobs and then my health joining in the fray.  We simply did not have the required time to get back to the code, and we're really sorry about that.  However, in saying that, we want to let you know that we are currently reorganizing things on our end so that we can give it a blitz and finish this thing!  My darling will be leaving his job in April, taking time off for a few months before starting another job, and he will finish the framework we've worked on so we can finally move on to new stuff for the site.  We're really, really looking forward to it!

I hope you are all well... Be back in a bit.

Isabelle

Date of notice:  28 May 2023 

Hi everyone, 

Our webhost (server service provider) is planning a scheduled maintenance of their equipment.  

During their maintenance work, it will cause periods of downtime (inaccessibility to the site) for all of the members of PoetBay because the server will be turned off and turned back on multiple times.  

Maintenance work will begin on :

Tuesday, 30 May 2023

16H00 EST - 21H00 GMT - 22H00 CET

Maintenance work will end on :

Wednesday, 31 May 2023

02H00 EST - 07H00 GMT - 08H00 CET

We recommend that you do not post anything during this window of time (max. 10hrs), to make absolutely sure that nothing gets lost.

Our webhost assures us this is necessary, and says that their team will do their best to make it as short as possible.  They apologize to us and our members for any inconvenience.  We do as well.  

Isabelle

Following on from last year's interruptions and unplanned break 

( ref.:   [14 Mar - 28 Oct] - Website: Progress Journal (Update 13) )

10 Jan | Update 1

Hi everyone,

Just a little update to let you know how our schedule situation is going on.  Come the end of this month, we plan to rearrange and shorten our work week for one of us, so that we can free up the time in our schedule and get back to the work in the code again to finally finish it!  

The last two years have been quite unusual for us with a lot of big changes in our personal lives.  But things are finding their footing now and we will see all of our PoetBay plans through.  I know I say it all of the time, but we are really, really looking forward to getting back to it!  Can't tell you how much we miss it when we can't do it.

So, we'll let you know as soon as we know more definitively in a couple of weeks.

I hope you are all well.  Be back in a bit...

Isabelle

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the boring stuff, we don't enjoy putting these out ourselves, but once in a while it's necessary in order to be sure we're all on the same page.  A pleasant and enjoyable environment for everyone who uses our site is really important to us.

So, this is just a reminder about our Terms of Membership's section on Solicitation.

A few examples of solicitation : 

Being asked for money, Being asked to buy a product or service, Being asked to join another website, etc. - Receiving any contacts going against our site's purpose/best interest.  

For obvious reasons (ie it's inconsiderate and bothersome), this type of activity is not allowed on PoetBay.  Anyone engaging in such an activity in our community will be removed without notice.  

If you are on the receiving end of any kind of solicitation, please do let us know so that we can ensure no other member gets bothered in that manner.  

Our space is simply not for that kind of activity, and we feel strongly about wanting to keep it that way for all of us (members and admin).

Thanks!

23 Nov

Hi everyone,

Our webhost's maintenance work is about to begin in 30 minutes.  We're doing a backup of the site's contents right now. 

We recommend you do not post anything until the end of the maintenance 'cause we can't guarantee it will be saved on the site as usual.

Thanks!  See you back on Wednesday!

Isabelle

================================== 

20 Nov

Hi everyone, 

Our webhost (server service provider) is planning a scheduled maintenance of their equipment.  

During their maintenance work, it will cause periods of inaccessibility to the site for all of the members of PoetBay because the server will be turned off and turned back on multiple times.  

Maintenance work will begin on :

Tuesday, 23 November, 2021 

17H00 EST - 22H00 GMT - 23H00 CET

Maintenance work will end on :

Wednesday, 24 November, 2021

03H00 EST - 08H00 GMT - 09H00 CET

We recommend that you do not post anything during this window of time (max. 10hrs), to make absolutely sure no postings get lost.

Our webhost assures us this is necessary and says their team will do their best to make it as short as possible.  They apologize to us and our members for any inconvenience.  We do as well.  

Isabelle

8 May 2021 

Hi everyone, 

Our webhost (server service provider) is planning a scheduled maintenance of their equipment.  

During their maintenance work, it will cause periods of downtime (inaccessibility to the site) for all of the members of PoetBay because the server will be turned off and turned back on multiple times.  

Maintenance work will begin on :

Monday, 10 May 2021 

17H00 EST - 22H00 GMT - 23H00 CET

Maintenance work will end on :

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

03H00 EST - 08H00 GMT - 09H00 CET

We recommend that you do not post anything during this window of time (max. 10hrs), to make absolutely sure that nothing gets lost.

Our webhost assures us this is necessary, and says that their team will do their best to make it as short as possible.  They apologize to us and our members for any inconvenience.  We do as well.  

Isabelle

Hi everyone, 

This is to inform you that our webhost (server service provider) is planning a scheduled maintenance of their equipment.  

During their maintenance work, it will cause periods of downtime (inaccessibility to the site) for all of the members of PoetBay because the server will be turned off and turned back on multiple times.  

Maintenance work will begin on :

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 

16H00 EST - 21H00 GMT - 22H00 CET

Maintenance work will end on :

Wednesday, 07 October 2020

03H00 EST - 08H00 GMT - 09H00 CET

We recommend that you do not post anything during this window of time (max. 11hrs), to make absolutely sure that nothing gets lost.

Our webhost assures us this is necessary, and says that their team will do their best to make it as short as possible.  They apologize to us and our members for any inconvenience.  We do as well.  

Isabelle

Hi everyone,

You probably noticed that PoetBay was inaccessible for a while today.  We're not aware of the full details of this technical issue (it didn't happen on our end), but it had something to do with DNS records not getting resolved (ie our website address wasn't being recognized on the www as though it didn't exist anymore, so it could not be loaded).

Our webhost's own website could not be accessed, and all of their clients' websites.  We're waiting on them to respond to explain what happened exactly, but we're not holding our breath on it, must admit.  It's most rare for service providers to share their internal tech issues with their clients.

Sorry for that, it was totally out of our hands.

Isabelle

28 Jun

Concluding mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

21 Jun

Hi everyone,

The code files uploads went well, and all appears to be working as it should. We'll obviously be keeping an eye on it to be sure.  We made extensive tests as we always do, but if you encounter any issues, please let me know. 

So, here concludes the important bulk of repairs and updates of the state of our code which we started last September.  Remember I'd told you then that the job was absolutely monumental for just 2 programmers because of the grandiose mess we inherited the site in after 3 or 4 other owners before Anna?  I wasn't kidding 😊  It was extremely complicated to fix, but we did it!  For a while, we really weren't sure we'd be able to pull it off, in all honesty.  So, to simply say we're pleased is an understatement.

Now that the code is out of the way as a possible issue, we move on to the other important part: the server.  So, it's the next item on the list in the process of making PoetBay's technical health stronger and better.  Once all of the server adjustments are sorted out (it'll take a bit of time), we'll be able to move on to more interesting and fun things like, for example, what you'd like to have or improve on PoetBay. 

Thank you all for sticking through this!  It's almost done.

Isabelle

_________________________________________________ 

This is the last community tech update I'll be giving you for a while. From this point, for those interested, you can continue to check out the kept up-to-date What's up? page which details the work we're doing.  I also give weekly mini updates in the comment section of posts titled 'What's up?' (Update #) like this one (links to the latest ones are listed on the What's up? page with dates in the title).  So, for updates or progress on the work we'll continue to carry on in the background, this is where I'll be talking about it.  If any of the work we do could affect the usual use of the site, I'll give a general site notice to the whole community, as I usually do. 

_________________________________________________ 

====================================================

15 Jun

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

07 Jun

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

02 Jun

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

31 May

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

25 May

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

16 May

Mini update in the comment section below.

Isabelle

====================================================

07 May 

Hi everyone,

We hope you are all doing well.  We're ok over here.

This is just to inform you that in the last couple days we've resumed our work on the code, and we've been making updates on the site in the background. 

You won't see the changes we're making because they pertain to website maintenance (updating code to their latest versions, etc).  

We're letting you know about these background updates on the site in case you come up against any sudden issues in the next few weeks.  If you do, please contact us to let us know!

Thanks

Isabelle