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SC4 Devotion bugs and technical issues...

Started by jeronij, November 05, 2006, 05:34:17 AM

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benedict

I noticed that, when I mouse-over the DIARIES word in the menu to the left, that there is an 'L' missing from 'CASSICS'. Perhaps an admin can correct the typo.

Not sure if this is the right place to report this, but thought it was better than starting a new topic.
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metasmurf

So, I was gonna start a new CJ by me, the first one in years and a region I've been working on for really long. However, as this subscription thing has resulted in basic functions being taken away, such as pm between users and the ability to have avatars, I feel that I've lost the respect for this site and thus I'm not going to post any of my  work here.

One example, I won the picture competition three rounds, but was unable to send PM to the responsible moderator and thus the picture has not been included in the hall of fame. So, I've been put off contributing to the site, an unless changes occur I'm not gonna make any more posts whatsoever.

art128

Quote from: metasmurf on September 14, 2012, 01:44:23 PM
One example, I won the picture competition three rounds, but was unable to send PM to the responsible moderator and thus the picture has not been included in the hall of fame. So, I've been put off contributing to the site, an unless changes occur I'm not gonna make any more posts whatsoever.

Oh my... I'm going to see that right away, I am really really sorry.. I don't know what to say.. Sorry.



I won't say a lot of things about what you decided, it's your choice and I am in no place to order you to stay, no one is, but just to tell you, PM between user is there I believe.
It's one of the most important feature of the site. If you find a " private " profile which you can't send any PM because no access, then use the little square next to the user name, this will direct you to the PM page. ;)
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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metasmurf

#503
Quote from: art128 on September 14, 2012, 01:55:29 PM
Quote from: metasmurf on September 14, 2012, 01:44:23 PM
One example, I won the picture competition three rounds, but was unable to send PM to the responsible moderator and thus the picture has not been included in the hall of fame. So, I've been put off contributing to the site, an unless changes occur I'm not gonna make any more posts whatsoever.

Oh my... I'm going to see that right away, I am really really sorry.. I don't know what to say.. Sorry.



I won't say a lot of things about what you decided, it's your choice and I am in no place to order you to stay, no one is, but just to tell you, PM between user is there I believe.
It's one of the most important feature of the site. If you find a " private " profile which you can't send any PM because no access, then use the little square next to the user name, this will direct you to the PM page. ;)

I sent a pm to tag_one, the one who sent the message after winning the picture contest about picture title etc like at least three weeks ago, and it hasn't been included yet. However, this is not the most concerning thing. What is the most concerning things is that the cost for hosting this site, and sharing the files via lex doesn't call for donations. It's a minimal cost per month to get a web host with unlimited traffic which without any problems could be founded via advertisement. To treat long term members such as myself this way, by taking away basic forum functionalities just puts me off contributing on all stages. So from my part I guess it's good luck have fun from this point forward.

art128

I did receive your PM just now, that proves you can send them even without being a subscriber.

As far as I know, Tag_one is very busy these times, so most probably he got your PM, but never find the time to read it. I never received either yours or Tag_one message, so again most probably he just sent it to only you, and not either Rooker1 or myself, so that in case of an absence, we could relay the information.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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metasmurf

Quote from: art128 on September 14, 2012, 02:28:01 PM
I did receive your PM just now, that proves you can send them even without being a subscriber.

As far as I know, Tag_one is very busy these times, so most probably he got your PM, but never find the time to read it. I never received either yours or Tag_one message, so again most probably he just sent it to only you, and not either Rooker1 or myself, so that in case of an absence, we could relay the information.

As I wrote earlier, this is not the most concerning thing. The hypocrisy about the need of money to keep this site going is. Anyway, I'm done. Consider this my last post on this forum.

art128

#506
Quote from: metasmurf on September 14, 2012, 02:30:49 PM
Quote from: art128 on September 14, 2012, 02:28:01 PM
I did receive your PM just now, that proves you can send them even without being a subscriber.

As far as I know, Tag_one is very busy these times, so most probably he got your PM, but never find the time to read it. I never received either yours or Tag_one message, so again most probably he just sent it to only you, and not either Rooker1 or myself, so that in case of an absence, we could relay the information.

As I wrote earlier, this is not the most concerning thing. The hypocrisy about the need of money to keep this site going is. Anyway, I'm done. Consider this my last post on this forum.

Even if you'll never read it.

There is no hypocrisy. You are free to donate or not, no one is making you actually PAY to use the site.

On that note, seeing as you are in your opinion and will not change it, I'll stop to argue about that.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

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mike3775

QuoteIt's a minimal cost per month to get a web host with unlimited traffic which without any problems could be founded via advertisement

Just so you know, many websites that have ads, are also no go for MANY people.  There is a pro wrestling site that has craploads of ads, and then suddenly when firefox extensions like ad block and flash block came out, suddenly that site was inaccessible because they made it so that you had to to disable those programs to see the site, which many did not and viewership plummeted to the point after 3 days they had to rescind it.

Ad supported sites are not making as much as one would think anymore, because of things like Ad block, flash block, and even no script, because the site doesn't get credited with a page view when those programs are installed on browsers like Firefox/Chrome/Opera.  In fact, I have not seen an ad on a website in over 2 years, ever since I initially installed those 3 programs.

When I get a decent chunk of money again, I will donate to this site, because over the past few years, I have taken more than I have given, and I do not feel right about it, but like was mentioned, I do not need to donate either, and I have never had any issues sending a PM since they took away features(which actually were implemented quite a while ago).

Tarkus

Quote from: metasmurf on September 14, 2012, 02:06:22 PM
What is the most concerning things is that the cost for hosting this site, and sharing the files via lex doesn't call for donations. It's a minimal cost per month to get a web host with unlimited traffic which without any problems could be founded via advertisement.

jeronij has had to upgrade SC4D's hosting package several times over the years to keep up with the volume, and the site has a high enough traffic load that we're having to run on a dedicated server.  This should give you some idea of the cost.

-Alex

NCGAIO

#509
Quote from: metasmurf on September 14, 2012, 02:30:49 PM

As I wrote earlier, this is not the most concerning thing. The hypocrisy about the need of money to keep this site going is. Anyway, I'm done. Consider this my last post on this forum.

Really do not understand the question about PM if the button in the left frame works for everyone. Of course  those who received the PM  should give the answer but many not received!

It reminds me of a feature present in PMs of Tribal Wars where  appear notification  about  the message has been read.

Now regarding the issue of having avatars and other privileges that customize own space, I think a bit of exaggeration and lack of understanding about the use of forums in general.

This like all others is an area that has costs to their administrators and therefore it is up to them to decide what to do to enable their maintenance.


Being open access to all information contained here for all, even for those who do not contribute, I do not see why the dissatisfaction!

riiga

Quote from: Tarkus on September 14, 2012, 04:39:45 PM
jeronij has had to upgrade SC4D's hosting package several times over the years to keep up with the volume, and the site has a high enough traffic load that we're having to run on a dedicated server.  This should give you some idea of the cost.
It'd be very interesting to get a grip of how much space and bandwidth SC4D requires per month, seeing how the current hosting solution seems awfully expensive to me...

catty

My Site is on a shared UNIX server and costs me $37.95/month + GST NZD

for that I get

Domain name
UNIX 10GB Hosting:
-10GB of storage
-400GB of traffic
-Multiple Databases
-Search Engine Submission
-EasySite Plus design tool

But on top of that I have to pay for the software the site uses, the site security software alone (firewall etc) is 69 EURO a year, there are another 9 programs on the site that I have to pay for ... it all adds up and I've only got 172 active users unlike here which has 194257 LEX Users and 83955 Forum Users.

If you are looking at ways for getting rich running a community website isn't one of them.

-catty
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.

riiga

Wow catty, that is quite expensive for such a small site. One of the cheaper web hosting providers here offer 60 GB of space + unlimited traffic for ~6 € / 7.5 USD/AUD / 9.2 NZD per month. This includes MySQL databases and PHP support.

Unless the amount of traffic to SC4D and the space it uses really needs a dedicated server (which costs quite a lot), I have a hard time seeing why hosting would be so expensive.

NCGAIO

#513

If this is too expensive then what about the service that actually hosts the Forum and lex- - Softlayer -  Dedicated Servers

The merger in 2010   of the Theplanet with Softlayer has maybe a little bloated prices since as the last  have the GI Partners as an investor and ranks as one of the world leaders as a provider of cloud services.

If these data approximate are correct and  CJs are like most of the traffic certainly the service should be based on a dedicated server.

Traffic History 90 Day Average

Visitors-1327 +3%
Daily views 10 803 +58%
Pageviews Per-User 12.10 +50%

Maybe the reformulation discussed here  bring more space for any type of fundraising.

catty

Quote from: riiga on September 15, 2012, 05:19:10 AM
Wow catty, that is quite expensive for such a small site. One of the cheaper web hosting providers here offer 60 GB of space + unlimited traffic for ~6 € / 7.5 USD/AUD / 9.2 NZD per month. This includes MySQL databases and PHP support.

Unless the amount of traffic to SC4D and the space it uses really needs a dedicated server (which costs quite a lot), I have a hard time seeing why hosting would be so expensive.

In New Zealand that's quite a good deal some of my other choices were

1000MB Space, 15GB Traffic, Unlimited MySQL Databases, Unlimited Domain Names  $50 / Month Excl GST (with Domain Name costing another $44 / per year Excl GST).
1200MB Web Space, Unmetered Traffic, 50 Email Accounts, 10 MySQL Databases  $49.95/mth Excludes GST. No Term Contracts (and no Domain Name).

The company I went with also is my IP provider/Phone/Toll and its the main  (at one point the only company in New Zealand) provider of these services, and for me reliability was one of the key facts in picking them as I don't want to wake up one morning to find the site had vanished.

There are quite wide variations between each country as to what web hosting companies charge customers.

-catty
I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?" DEATH thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE.

Tarkus

Keep in mind that one of those non-dedicated server "unlimited" plans, while it may not have limits on bandwidth, does have limits on the amount of traffic it can handle at one time, especially if the other sites on the server pick up heavy traffic.  "Unlimited bandwidth" doesn't prevent bottlenecks due to lack of capacity--e.g. the old "SMF could not connect to database" errors that we were getting.

Counting guests and regular members, we often have a steady stream of 50-200 users on the forums (including members and guests), and the LEX is currently averaging about 6500 downloads/day and 120 new members/day, during what would be considered a "down period" for content releases.

-Alex


Kitsune

#516
Quote from: Tarkus on September 15, 2012, 01:23:37 PM
Keep in mind that one of those non-dedicated server "unlimited" plans, while it may not have limits on bandwidth, does have limits on the amount of traffic it can handle at one time, especially if the other sites on the server pick up heavy traffic.  "Unlimited bandwidth" doesn't prevent bottlenecks due to lack of capacity--e.g. the old "SMF could not connect to database" errors that we were getting.

Counting guests and regular members, we often have a steady stream of 50-200 users on the forums (including members and guests), and the LEX is currently averaging about 6500 downloads/day and 120 new members/day, during what would be considered a "down period" for content releases.

-Alex

I just dont get on how this website bleeds so much money ... but granted those #'s don't tell me alot. For kicks - take a look at this, a SC site up for auction, and look at the adsense #.. https://flippa.com/2817707-very-profitable-the-simcity-social-fan-site-gaming-niche.
~ NAM Team Member

NCGAIO

#517

Such a comparison would not be valid because this is more a case of how to be smart to cash quickly with the WEB.


There are no cheats for the game really but just some tricks that exploit flaws that will soon be corrected if they start to avoid the profit with game.


But they were rapids and created the site with the call for cheats, making search engines its revenue source and now try to sale with a nice profit, since demand tends to fall in the same way as has been falling membership to the game.


No one there was interested in creating a website.. it's just to make money!

Swordmaster

I've always known something was wrong. Now I've realized what ;D



Cheers
Willy

Yild

The "Search" function doesn't work properly, example phrase: 'damn' ( ;) ) - my own topic isn't in results, it appears only when I check "Search in topic subjects only" option...

DAMN Manager download: at LEX at STEX
DAMN Manager support thread: at SC4Dev