# New Author forum - WriterSanctum.com (MERGED)



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The new domain is up!
https://writersanctum.com/index.php

Apologies for the delay and the site going down to unexpectedly. Simple turned into majorly complicated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the ToS thread, I went ahead and built a new forum, reversing Kboards, so it's mainly author and writer oriented, with reader and off topic areas as well.I'm needing ideas for the domain name, and thus name of the forum.
What domain would you suggest which would attract you as an author or reader to it?
Forum is here, on a temporary site: http://thehunterlegacy.com/authortest


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

LOL I thought if I put it here, it would be moved to Off-topic. 


With the need for a quick decision, I went with Writer Sanctum, as so many other combinations were already taken. The forum will move to its new domain sometime tomorrow.


But I'm still open to better suggestions.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> I think Writer Retreat is a good one. A place for writers to hide and gather themselves before or after writing. Seems a good title to me.


Already registered. It was on my list of alternates, but all the alternates were also taken.

In several cases, there were for sale, at around the 4k mark.


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## The 13th Doctor (May 31, 2012)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## raminar_dixon (Aug 26, 2013)

Call it Kindle Lords


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## DanielGibbs (Mar 14, 2018)

raminar_dixon said:


> Call it Kindle Lords


While that's hysterical, I don't think you can use "Kindle" in a name without getting nailed by Amazon's legal department. (I remember reading that Kboards was Kindle Boards until they get a cease and desist)


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## 101569 (Apr 11, 2018)

Totally for fun Conqueror's of Zon


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## Mercedes Vox (Jul 22, 2014)

Authoress said:


> I like Writer Sanctum
> 
> About to sign up but don't like the warning about site not being secure on the registration fields.


Same.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

I think it's tacky to have this discussion anywhere on KBoards.  Your TOS concerns are valid and starting a new forum and moving is entirely up to each member, but my opinion is the moderators are being very gracious to let this thread continue.

How about wewanttostabKBintheback.com?


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## Mr. Sparkle (Oct 8, 2014)

crebel said:


> I think it's tacky to have this discussion anywhere on KBoards. Your TOS concerns are valid and starting a new forum and moving is entirely up to each member, but my opinion is the moderators are being very gracious to let this thread continue.
> 
> How about wewanttostabKBintheback.com?


People are allowed to belong to more than one forum at a time, AFAIK.


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## The Bass Bagwhan (Mar 9, 2014)

I was thinking "Writing Well", which is a double entendre of "Writing (Competently)" and a reference to an "Ink Well" ... but I haven't had coffee yet.


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## German_Translator (Jul 26, 2015)

> I was thinking "Writing Well", which is a double entendre of "Writing (Competently)" and a reference to an "Ink Well"


And of course it would be reminiscent of a very old online community: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WELL


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## EC Sheedy (Feb 24, 2011)

Writers' Den
Writer Gate

Sanctum makes me think of being powerless and hiding in a church. LOL But I'll go with the flow. I love Kboards, so I'm probably going to be a visitor on both boards.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Mr. Sparkle said:


> People are allowed to belong to more than one forum at a time, AFAIK.


true, but you don't go into one fast food place to ask what the name of a different place's burger should be


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Authoress said:


> About to sign up but don't like the warning about site not being secure on the registration fields.


On my to-do list.

Its something I haven't worried about before now, and wasn't going to unless the forum actually had some traffic. Seems tis going to, so once the domain is active (I haven't checked yet, still waiting for my caffeine to kick in), and the forum moved to it, its the next thing on the list.



crebel said:


> I think it's tacky to have this discussion anywhere on KBoards. Your TOS concerns are valid and starting a new forum and moving is entirely up to each member, but my opinion is the moderators are being very gracious to let this thread continue.


I'm totally surprised the mods are ok with this. I put the thread in off-topic, and Ann moved it into WC.



> How about wewanttostabKBintheback.com?


Too long.


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## MyCatDoesNotConsent (Sep 11, 2017)

Я не согласен с условиями T.O.S.


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

I just tried to register and it said "Site couldn't be found."


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Timothy has just been awarded 'Today's monumental ****** award', and is getting help to fix it.    

_Edited. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy/KB Mod_


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## VirginiaMcClain (Sep 24, 2014)

Seems to be fixed! I just registered and all is up and running.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

VirginiaMcClain said:


> Seems to be fixed! I just registered and all is up and running.


Yes. All fixed now. 

For those interested, here's the beginning of the ToS.



> By posting, uploading, or displaying anything on this forum, you agree to grant WriterSanctum.com a non-exclusive, royalty free, worldwide, ongoing license to reproduce, distribute, transmit, and publicly display any materials and other information you submit to any part of the forum of WriterSanctum.com, under your choice of username, for as long as you leave such material on the forum. You agree that you shall have no recourse against WriterSanctum.com for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary right in your communications to WriterSanctum.com that is not the result of WriterSanctum.com's activities.
> 
> WriterSanctum.com affirms that your Intellectual Property will not be used in any way outside the forum.
> 
> In other words, you give permission by your activity for the forum to function, and display whatever you add to it. You further agree to allow your posts to be quoted on this forum by others. You retain 100% of rights and copyright for your words, images, and Intellectual Property.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

WasAnn said:


> New site isn't coming up and the old site isn't redirecting. Growing pains?


No, there are some days when you just shouldn't get out of bed!

I sent off a question to my host about turning the red lock green, and within minutes my whole site went down. The host is on it, but it's looking like something major happened. If anything I've been way overdue for an outage event anyway, but interesting it had to happen today. Cosmos playing jokes on me perhaps?



TobiasRoote said:


> Yes, it's going to be a while before everything runs smoothly, I suspect. If it's domain transfer it could take 24 hours to resolve.


The domain transfer had been completed. Total ****up on my part, but it was at least fixed.

On that note, what does a slab of beer cost in the US?

I would expect when the SSL upgrade happens there might be another hiccup. And hopefully that will be the end of it, and the forum can settle down.

_Edited. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy/KB Mod_


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## The Bass Bagwhan (Mar 9, 2014)

Just waiting for all these binary ducks to fall in line before I join.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The Bass Bagwhan said:


> Just waiting for all these binary ducks to fall in line before I join.


The only time you see a line of ducks, is a single duck with ducklings.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> Any timescales on up-time?


No. I've heard nothing in over 3 hours. Mind you, it's first thing in the morning in the states, so could be the right tech hasn't made it in yet. Hard to know what the problem is. Mind you, the timing is very suss.

All I can do is wait.


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## Kathy Dee (Aug 27, 2016)

TimothyEllis said:


> The new domain is up!
> http://writersanctum.com/index.php
> 
> Apologies for the delay and the site going down to unexpectedly. Simple turned into majorly complicated.
> ...


Link doesn't work for me. I'm in UK; don't know if that makes a difference.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Kathy Dee said:


> Link doesn't work for me. I'm in UK; don't know if that makes a difference.


None. My whole site is down, including my own email. No idea why yet. It will be back, when it gets back. I've not had this kind of downtime in well over a year, so I guess I was due.


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## Simon Haynes (Mar 14, 2011)

TobiasRoote said:


> They then went *hang-gliding* in the rocky mountains, crash landed, got chased by a family of hungry bears, swam a semi-frozen lake and ended up with frostbite.


Okay, completely OT but true fact. My dad and his two brothers introduced hang gliding to England in the very early 70's. I spent a lot of my childhood sitting on the side of steep hills watching them launch into thin air dangling from gliders they designed on the back of envelopes.

Computers? They didn't even have pocket calculators!


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Lynn Is A Pseudonym said:


> One thing to consider is that although kboards feels small and intimate, there are a *lot* of people who browse the site and don't post and don't even register. I have no idea what kind of traffic load this site has but it could be big enough to cause problems for you as people swarm to the new forum if you aren't set up for that.


It could be a thing. My site has the bandwidth needed, but hasn't used much for ages, so it may have been switched to a low load server. The problem could be they are swapping it back to a higher volume server. Just guessing though.



TobiasRoote said:


> I operate websites, I used to run my own hosting company until I came over to Corfu and gave it away. Downtime is usually due to human error. Changing the domain's IP addresses usually does it. If you really are with a web host that has downtime, then you should change.


There hasn't been any downtime in well over a year. Overall they've been pretty reliable. And as I said above, it could well be they had to shift the site to a server capable of a much higher volume, and maybe someone did goof.



> There is no way this forum is going to succeed with a flakey server. The bandwidth and storage use is going to be enormous and there are going to be peak sessions where you might need to be sure you have unlimited resources. You are certainly going to need a FAST reaction from your hosts. Look closely at that now while it's a small enterprise because it won't be for long.


The bandwidth should be fine. The storage may be an issue. But I'll worry about that when I see it going up steadily.

As far as reaction goes, they were back to me with an email only a few minutes after I logged the problem. I'm assuming the issue is fairly big.

For now, it's testing my patience. And probably everyone else's too.  But I'm reacting fairly well to this, where the domain move pushed a lot of buttons.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> I operate websites, I used to run my own hosting company until I came over to Corfu and gave it away. Downtime is usually due to human error. Changing the domain's IP addresses usually does it. If you really are with a web host that has downtime, then you should change. There is no way this forum is going to succeed with a flakey server. The bandwidth and storage use is going to be enormous and there are going to be peak sessions where you might need to be sure you have unlimited resources. You are certainly going to need a FAST reaction from your hosts. Look closely at that now while it's a small enterprise because it won't be for long.


+1

Running a high-volume website takes serious horsepower. It also costs serious money. Adding a free forum install into an existing shared hosting account and pointing a domain name at it isn't likely to suffice.



TimothyEllis said:


> It could be a thing. My site has the bandwidth needed, but hasn't used much for ages, so it may have been switched to a low load server. The problem could be they are swapping it back to a higher volume server. Just guessing though.
> 
> There hasn't been any downtime in well over a year. Overall they've been pretty reliable. And as I said above, it could well be they had to shift the site to a server capable of a much higher volume, and maybe someone did goof.
> 
> ...


In the interests of transparency, I wonder if you'd be willing to tell us who your hosting provider is, and which package you subscribe to. After all, you purport yours to be "the" new forum. If you're the virtual Pied Piper here, we have a right to know where you're leading us.

Also, the tech component of this is only one factor. What about the forum itself. Do you plan to monetize this endeavor, or is it a charitable effort on your part? Are you going to harness both the page clicks and content generated by your KB peers to make money?



Al Stevens said:


> Get used to it. It gets worse.


Yes it does.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

I suggested in the other thread--in a probably TLR post--that existing user IDs from KB ought to be reserved at a potential replacement site. Some have already expressed frustration that their IDs have been registered by someone else, and after building a reputation with their existing ID, they'd understandably like to keep it. Reserving existing KB IDs would be an incredibly simple thing to do.

I wonder if the OP could address this?


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## 97251 (Jun 22, 2017)

Blocked Writer said:


> I suggested in the other thread--in a probably TLR post--that existing user IDs from KB ought to be reserved at a potential replacement site. Some have already expressed frustration that their IDs have been registered by someone else, and after building a reputation with their existing ID, they'd understandably like to keep it. Reserving existing KB IDs would be an incredibly simple thing to do.
> 
> I wonder if the OP could address this?


How would this be even possible? Would the user send screenshots of their accounts to prove they are who they claim? That's a lot of work.

How is anyone going to make a list of everyone who wants to keep their usernames and reserve those usernames? Again, a lot of work, and it assumes that everyone wants the same usernames.

Where are these complaints happening? Who's complaining that their names have been taken?


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## Tulonsae (Apr 12, 2015)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I'm curious to know who took "Phoenix."


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## Tulonsae (Apr 12, 2015)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

I think when someone says "Phoenix" posted something here, people think of only one person. I think that's about as strong as a brand as you can have here. Not say other Phoenixes don't exist or shouldn't but her brand is perhaps the strongest on KB.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Writers' Bloc


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## 97251 (Jun 22, 2017)

Monique said:


> I think when someone says "Phoenix" posted something here, people think of only one person. I think that's about as strong as a brand as you can have here. Not say other Phoenixes don't exist or shouldn't but her brand is perhaps the strongest on KB.


It could be someone who hasn't been on Kboards for long, for example.

Also, AFAIK, her username is PhoenixS. In the new forum, people will quickly realize who is who because of the type of posts. Users can also use the same avatars. I don't think it causes any confusion.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

How would the new site finance itself? 
Who would moderate it?
Sounds like a lot of work running this sort of thing and I wonder how many writers are willing to pitch in and offer help voluntarily.


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

The other day I took a look to see how busy other sections of the forum are. They're not. From a quick glance it looks like the WC carries the forum, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, I found some interesting stats when I was doing my investigating:



> Forum Stats  Users Online 1054 Guests, 268 Users Most Online Today: *1453*. Most Online Ever: 5071 (December 25, 2011, 01:58:41 pm)


So as mentioned above, you need the bandwidth to cover regular traffic and spikes. And don't believe that "unlimited bandwidth" hype hosts like to advertise. Read the small print if you have one of those hosting packages.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

To people with a lot of investment in an online ID--even if it's only emotional--keeping it and or losing it can be a big deal. For example, on one forum I belong to, it's not uncommon to see posts from people who have in excess of 20,000 posts (not me). I've been a member of another forum since 1999.

Another phenomenon that's evolved when new sites and services start up, is that people will rush it to get "their" ID, just _in case_ they decide they want to use the service. It's a essentially a cyber land grab. Also, an anti social thing some people do is deliberately register other peoples' IDs. Some new services set aside popular or common names and words, in order to charge a premium for them.

All that to say, maintaining one's persona or brand online is very important to some people. To others, it's not such a big deal. To the extent that someone is "popular," or a heavy-hitter, it is likely to be very important. I suspect if we polled people, you'd see a correlation between post count and the desire to maintain one's existing ID, and also between a member's reputation, and their desire to keep their ID.

Anyway, I'll address reserving IDs more later. In the meantime, I'd like to give the OP a chance to weigh in on this important topic.


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## Mercedes Vox (Jul 22, 2014)

Tulonsae said:


> I'm kind of puzzled about the entire thing. There are over 30 members here with Phoenix somewhere in their user name. And Phoenix's user name is PhoenixS, which is still available on the new site. And we currently have another active Phoenix (with some numbers at the end of the name) in Writers' Cafe. So I don't understand the problem.
> 
> I think Phoenix's posts are wonderful and look forward to reading them. But I'm not sure why she couldn't continue to use the same user name on the new site since that name is available.


It was Phoenix61 who has posted somewhat frequently in this forum. It seems that is now one of the deleted accounts, so perhaps that's the Phoenix on the new board. You can still see quotes (not posts) from that account on here by searching on the username. Which also demonstrates that having all your posts deleted doesn't completely erase your visible footprint.


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

Can anybody tell me what the (actual, not guessed) difference between this site's TOS and KBoards' TOS is?  Thanks.


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## BGArcher (Jun 14, 2014)

just tried to join and the website won't load


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

BGArcher said:


> just tried to join and the website won't load


He ran the test on his site, and then went ahead and pulled the trigger. There's going to be downtime while the new server gets going and ready for traffic. I think it's better to get it up right than deal with constant troubles, so this is worth it.


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## BGArcher (Jun 14, 2014)

WasAnn said:


> He ran the test on his site, and then went ahead and pulled the trigger. There's going to be downtime while the new server gets going and ready for traffic. I think it's better to get it up right than deal with constant troubles, so this is worth it.


Oh okay that makes sense. I'll check in after I'm done working for the day


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

Thanks! I tried to get onto the site twice and couldn't, so I'm going to wait a while now.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Blocked Writer said:


> Running a high-volume website takes serious horsepower. It also costs serious money. Adding a free forum install into an existing shared hosting account and pointing a domain name at it isn't likely to suffice.


In the long run, yes. For now, at the time I set it up, there was actually no real commitment from anyone as to if they would use it or not. I started it on faith. Quite surprised how many came over so fast. But even with those who did, its not anywhere near high volume yet. So some perspective please.



> In the interests of transparency, I wonder if you'd be willing to tell us who your hosting provider is, and which package you subscribe to. After all, you purport yours to be "the" new forum. If you're the virtual Pied Piper here, we have a right to know where you're leading us.


I've been with Vodahost since 2006, and had no reason to look elsewhere in that time. Major downtimes have been few and far between.

The last few years my site has been very low traffic. I doubt the traffic for the new forum would have been enough to cause problems.



> Also, the tech component of this is only one factor. What about the forum itself. Do you plan to monetize this endeavor, or is it a charitable effort on your part? Are you going to harness both the page clicks and content generated by your KB peers to make money?


There will be no ads. Period. I hate the damn things, and wont have them on my site.

I wouldn't call it charitable. I've been running forums since 2006, and was a node on Fidonet back before the internet. I've had 6 forums on different topics going at the same time, although they are all gone now. It's something I do when there is a call for it. The call was made here, so I answered it because I could.

I'm doing well enough from book sales and KU I can afford to spend a bit on helping the community communicate. If it gets onerous, I'll look at options then. In the meantime, people have offered to use my affiliate code on the signature images, and that's wonderful. Will it make any difference? No idea. Have to see where this goes. People have offered to donate. If I need them, I'll get a facility going. Not planning on it now though.

I just heard back from Vodahost and it seems they had a hardware failure. Hopefully it shouldn't be too long now. They happen. I think the last one affecting me was well over 2 years ago.

Regarding PhoenixS, the person who took the name on the forum was happy to change, so the generic name is available now. Up to PhoenixS to take it or not.

I dont mind username grabs to make sure yours is there if you decide to need it later. Getting in now, even if your not sure you will post, is a good idea. But even then, putting a comment on your signature with your here username isn't difficult.

Re SSL, organizing it now. As said earlier, there may or may not be a hiccup when it goes in.

I'll post here when the site is back up.



Bill Hiatt said:


> There was discussion in the FB group of changing the license granted from perpetual and irrevocable to something else.


Yes. Changed to ongoing, and the wording was made clear it is only as long as you leave anything on the forum. And only on the forum, not the site.


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## BGArcher (Jun 14, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> In the long run, yes. For now, at the time I set it up, there was actually no real commitment from anyone as to if they would use it or not. I started it on faith. Quite surprised how many came over so fast. But even with those who did, its not anywhere near high volume yet. So some perspective please.
> 
> I've been with Vodahost since 2006, and had no reason to look elsewhere in that time. Major downtimes have been few and far between.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your thoughtful response. Looking forward to joining when it's back up. And thanks again for doing this


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Timothy - Any new news? I see the hunter site is back up, but still not connecting and 404 on the forum test site.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

WasAnn said:


> Timothy - Any new news? I see the hunter site is back up, but still not connecting and 404 on the forum test site.


I got my mail back a short time ago, and you're right, most of my site is back now. But not the forum.

It could mean the SSL upgrade is being done now, before they bring it back up. I'll ask.


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## I&#039;m a Little Teapot (Apr 10, 2014)

Monique said:


> I think when someone says "Phoenix" posted something here, people think of only one person. I think that's about as strong as a brand as you can have here. Not say other Phoenixes don't exist or shouldn't but her brand is perhaps the strongest on KB.


This. And it goes beyond the kboards, too. Anywhere in self-publishing if you mention Phoenix, people know.


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## R. C. (Apr 13, 2018)

Thank you for the update.

Cheers,
Ruairi


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

I've just had to suppress the urge to throw up.   

Site is back, but the entire new domain is gone. Fortunately I did a database backup shortly before the crash, or I'd be getting drunk right now. (And I dont drink.)

Waiting to hear if its better to install the SSL upgrade before reloading the forum. But I hope to have the site up again before going to bed.

And yes, maybe I do need to reassess which host I use for this.


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## Scott Reeves (May 27, 2011)

I'm a Little Teapot said:


> This. And it goes beyond the kboards, too. Anywhere in self-publishing if you mention Phoenix, people know.


And the moral of the story is: Don't build a brand around a common name that a lot of people are likely to use. Using the word "Phoenix" for a username with the expectation that no one else will use it is like using the word "password" as a password and expecting that a hacker wouldn't use it as one of their first guesses if they're trying to hack you.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## DanielGibbs (Mar 14, 2018)

TobiasRoote said:


> This company are using a boilerplate template and really standard setup. They could have one server or no servers, but be sitting on a server hosted by another company. All of the big/cheap hosts are not going to want your level of business because anything that is a bandwidth/memory hog slows down the other fifty company-hosted sites on the same server. Also, they're in USA and you're in Australia, I think you said, which means you could end up being up late at night trying to sort things out (I don't know the time differences).
> 
> If you're looking at a new host, then you might want to consider running your own server hosted on a strong backbone - and yes, it will cost which is why things like advertising revenues help to pay the bills. You also want to be sure that their cross-platform upgrades are not going to bell-end your installation so you really need to manage your own installation or at least co-host with a company that will work with you to ensure your setup is clean and backed-up.


Use of AWS with its robust hot site switchover and backups might make sense. You'd likely have to do IaaS though. More cost.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

WasAnn said:


> One suggestion...maybe have your main home page (site?) have a little line to let people know the status so we don't bombard you with questions? Just a little line saying that WS is down and host working on server, or WS is down and migrating...something like that.


My main site is nothing to do with authoring, and the author site wont have a jump in page, just straight into the forum.
Reloading is happening. Still a glitch I'm waiting on being fixed. The Database reloaded successfully, but I think we lost about 6 hours. So some tweaks to the registration doc are now missing. Going to be a lot of little things to redo.
Coming along though.



TobiasRoote said:


> Also, they're in USA and you're in Australia, I think you said, which means you could end up being up late at night trying to sort things out (I don't know the time differences).


Half past midnight right now, but I've been doing 3am's all week anyway.

Appreciate the thoughts, but there is no-one in Australia I'd trust to host anything. Everything net in Australia is expensive and you get nothing.



DanielGibbs said:


> Use of AWS with its robust hot site switchover and backups might make sense. You'd likely have to do IaaS though. More cost.


Can I have that in English please?

Don't panic folks.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

TimothyEllis said:


> My main site is nothing to do with authoring, and the author site wont have a jump in page, just straight into the forum.
> Reloading is happening. Still a glitch I'm waiting on being fixed. The Database reloaded successfully, but I think we lost about 6 hours. So some tweaks to the registration doc are now missing. Going to be a lot of little things to redo.
> Coming along though.
> 
> ...


You earned a new gif...


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Finally back up and running.   

SSL upgrade still to come though.

I think we lost about 6 hours, but it could have been worse. 


There was a glitch in the domain setup, so they obviously fixed it while you guys were looking at it, and at the time I couldn't get in. Panic over.


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## DanielGibbs (Mar 14, 2018)

TimothyEllis said:


> Can I have that in English please?


Sorry, inner computer engineer came out. Had to supress him and pull out my author persona. 

Basically, IaaS = Infrastructure as a Service = Using a virtual machine on Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure.

In short, its like having a co-located server, that's virtual. You log into it through a varity of means to perform install/admin tasks, and it "Feels" like a real computer, but its just a virtual image somewhere in the cloud.

Like Tobias said, cost of $200-250 a month is reasonable for going that route. The nice thing about AWS or Azure vs the various webhosting solutions out there is that the forum is self contained, and you can take advantage of the really robust backup and recovery solutions AWS and Azure offer, up to and including what we call a "Hot Site", meaning that you'd have a backup copy of the site running in a different AWS/Azure zone, and if your primary zone died, it would switch over automatically.

All you need is someone whose versed in RedHat Enterprise Linux, Apache, and middleware. In other words... your garden varity of Linux admin/engineer. 

(I would volunteer to help, but alas, I'm a Windows systems engineer in a previous life, not Linux.)


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## munboy (Apr 13, 2018)

Seems to be up and running for me now. I registered. My one plea to you is...don't bog down the board with dozens of subforums. There have been many a board I clicked on, saw the sheer number of subforums, and clicked out of because I had nowhere where to start or where to go to get the answers I was looking for.


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## going going gone (Jun 4, 2013)

I am so hesitant about what user name to use! It's not that I don't trust you, Timothy. I'm just gunshy right now.  Go figger, right?


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

s/he who always had this avatar said:


> I am so hesitant about what user name to use! It's not that I don't trust you, Timothy. I'm just gunshy right now.  Go figger, right?


I'm still incog there, so totally understand. Gotta say, you're rocking a good username right now.


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## SomethingClever (Mar 9, 2014)

Nookboards.com is owned by VerticalScope.


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

I click Register > username > password > Forever > Login, and then just get a red "That username does not exist."


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

loraininflorida said:


> I click Register > username > password > Forever > Login, and then just get a red "That username does not exist."


We lost about 6 hours of activity. So if you cant log in, the registration is probably gone. Try to re-register with the same details.
If you still cant get in, PM me with details and look at it.


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## TiffanyTurner (Jun 8, 2009)

You are a God, to be able to put this up this fast. Awesome man.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Can you put the links to the Facebook page and WriterSanctum in your posts or signatures, please?


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

Just wondering... and this is not sour grapes or anything. Not interested in joining as I have my own forum. But... When I posted about my writers forum (aka the writers pub) on here, I was told very sternly by the moderators I wasn't allowed to and my thread was whisked away to obscurity.


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

Susanne. said:


> Just wondering... and this is not sour grapes or anything. Not interested in joining as I have my own forum. But... When I posted about my writers forum (aka the writers pub) on here, I was told very sternly by the moderators I wasn't allowed to and my thread was whisked away to obscurity.


Maybe they've had a recent change of heart. Wonder why.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Susanne. said:


> Just wondering... and this is not sour grapes or anything. Not interested in joining as I have my own forum. But... When I posted about my writers forum (aka the writers pub) on here, I was told very sternly by the moderators I wasn't allowed to and my thread was whisked away to obscurity.


I've been wondering about that too. I expected it to be deleted in the off-topic area where I put it originally.

Could be the new owners want people to leave.



Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Can you put the links to the Facebook page and WriterSanctum in your posts or signatures, please?


I can do that. I think. Not sure if it will survive the admins though. But I can try.


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## dgcasey (Apr 16, 2017)

Well, you probably can't call your main forum Writer's Cafe because of IP concerns. So, just call it The Pub. Easy to remember.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

dgcasey said:


> Well, you probably can't call your main forum Writer's Cafe because of IP concerns. So, just call it The Pub. Easy to remember.


The area is called Author's Haven.
But it's Quill and Feather Pub.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Susanne. said:


> Just wondering... and this is not sour grapes or anything. Not interested in joining as I have my own forum. But... When I posted about my writers forum (aka the writers pub) on here, I was told very sternly by the moderators I wasn't allowed to and my thread was whisked away to obscurity.


Susanne,

It's been a while but my recollection was that we allowed you a service thread, like any other author service vendor, and the problem was that you and other Writers Pub members were posting in multiple threads and THAT is what we asked you to not do. It's been a while, but that is my recollection.

Timothy is allowed his single thread as a vendor service, which is why it was moved to the WC. Come to think of it, he'll need a vendor welcome.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

In that case, would it be okay to post my own vendor thread? Can't find the old one. Thank you.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes..subject to normal vendor rules.  I'm doing this on my phone, so someone else will have to post vendor welcomes to you and Timothy--I'll be on an airplane for the next eight hours.

Betsy


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes..subject to normal vendor rules. I'm doing this on my phone, so someone else will have to post vendor welcomes to you and Timothy--I'll be on an airplane for the next eight hours.
> 
> Betsy


Have a safe and pleasant journey


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

A vendor welcome on page 5.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

I joined Timothy's new place. Looks terrific! But I will mostly hang out at my own forum. Good luck!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

There's already at least one other forum called "writer's cafe" or maybe it's "writers cafe". It's pretty generic, I think.

I got a warning about the Sanctum not being secure just a few minutes ago. Must be something updating re:  security, I guess.

For the record, I do not agree to any new TOS for this site, and my data and information are not to be sold, shared, given away or used in any other way without my express written consent.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2018)

This place is awesome, I just signed up tonight. So many great, amazing members are already over there. Really hoping this place does well. If you're on the fence, make sure you come and check it out cause it's going to be like kboards without the corporate BS


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## Jerry S. (Mar 31, 2014)

Just joined


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## munboy (Apr 13, 2018)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes..subject to normal vendor rules. I'm doing this on my phone, so someone else will have to post vendor welcomes to you and Timothy--I'll be on an airplane for the next eight hours.
> 
> Betsy


Eight hours...Hope you brought lots of books to keep your busy.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Of course!  I had my Kindle with a few hundred books on it.  Almost home!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

TimothyEllis said:


> A vendor welcome on page 5.


Truthfully, there's been some distractions...


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## lyndabelle (Feb 26, 2015)

Have made the great migration. It is so much fun! All the cool kids are showing up.  
Can't wait for others to return. It's feeling like the early days of Kboards.

Thanks Virtualscope! You've done us a favor.


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## Marti talbott (Apr 19, 2011)

I joined. The thing about new boards, in my experience, is that some, shall we say, unsavory characters join too. I don't care, usually, but they are the type that will write bad reviews if they don't like something you say. That used to be a problem here, but hasn't been for a long while. This place feels like home.

As for someone using my content - more power to them. I need as much exposure as I can possibly get. See, I truly don't understand what this fuss is all about, but I can see that people are getting hurt feelings, which is never good. 

So, I'll just sit back and let all of you work out the kinks. I've already got too much on my plate to worry about.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

OK, only three days late with the Vendor welcome, not too bad!

Timothy, welcome to the KB Writers Cafe as a service provider! [br][br]You're welcome to promote your business and website here in the Writers' Cafe![br][br]Now that you have an official thread, you'll want to add your listing to our Yellow Pages Listing, found here:[br]https://www.kboards.com/yp/[br][br]The listing is free to KB members and is completely self-service; you can add and edit your listing from the page. More information on our Yellow Pages listing can be found here.[br][br]In your thread here, we ask that the same basic rules be followed as we have for authors in the Book Bazaar: you may have this one thread about your service and must post to it rather than start a new thread each time. New threads about the service wil be removed. Please bookmark this thread so that you can find it again to post to. And, you may not make back-to-back posts to the thread within seven days. If someone responds (such as this post), you may reply but otherwise must wait seven days, thanks![br][br]Note that members may provide civil and honest feedback about your service to this thread, and you may respond in a civil manner. Disputes between you and clients should be handled off site.[br][br]Betsy[br]KBoards Moderator [br][br]Note that this welcome does not constitute an endorsement or vetting of a service by KBoards. Members should do due diligence when considering using a service, for example, by asking KB members for feedback and doing an Internet search such as "service provider name" complaints.


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## Pacman (Dec 18, 2016)

Tim, chrome blocked me from entering your forum, I can't access it. Any ideas?


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> Someone's stuck a blank html/php page on the front of the forum.


Not as far as I can see. I checked for rogue files cant cant see any.



Pacman said:


> Tim, chrome blocked me from entering your forum, I can't access it. Any ideas?


I tried Chrome, and yes I see the problem. Firefox is working fine. Opera isn't working either. I'll follow it up.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Sorted how?


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## Doglover (Sep 19, 2013)

Marti talbott said:


> I joined. The thing about new boards, in my experience, is that some, shall we say, unsavory characters join too. I don't care, usually, but they are the type that will write bad reviews if they don't like something you say. That used to be a problem here, but hasn't been for a long while. This place feels like home.
> 
> As for someone using my content - more power to them. I need as much exposure as I can possibly get. See, I truly don't understand what this fuss is all about, but I can see that people are getting hurt feelings, which is never good.
> 
> So, I'll just sit back and let all of you work out the kinks. I've already got too much on my plate to worry about.


It's still a problem here, make no mistake.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> I think it had to do with your changing the logo at the top. For some reason it returned a blank page while the change was underway, then probably needed to replicate across the servers. I'm in Greece, so the browser servers might have taken a while to catch up here.


It could be. Anyone else still having troubles?


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> Dang! It's just gone away again.


My fault. I have a problem with Themes, and I tried to swap it. Didn't work. Sorry. This will probably happen again until I fix the problem. If so, just wait a minute and try again.

Hmmm, I need an abject grovel smilie.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

I'm going to respond to this in your "vendor thread," since I guess that's where business about your website belongs.



AltMe said:


> Blocked Writer, if you have a problem with me, do what everyone else is doing and talk to me. I don't bite.
> 
> What you just quoted is for tonight. It's 3.40am for me, and the new moderator and I have not had a chance to actually talk about how to go about it. We have moderating guidelines in place, but until I need to do more than boot out the odd spammer, while I'm asleep, if anything comes up, I want it frozen until I'm up tomorrow morning to deal with it. I actually dont expect anything, as everyone has been brilliant today. But there is too much activity at the moment to leave it completely unattended. I was offered experienced help, and I took it. Tomorrow is a different and new day.
> 
> ...


You clearly haven't read my posts. The one you take umbrage to was a counter-example made to one of your minions who believes you are doing what my vision would be for this community. You need to tell her this:



AltMe said:


> its my site


This is a mature, sophisticated community. The issues that have everyone fired up are legal and ethical. We need a comprehensive solution, not a new forum "owner." The community needs to take ownership of itself, and--as I made clear above--I don't mean the Kboards domain name, nor the data. The community is larger than the forum software and the server that hosts it. The chance to take control of this community has not "sailed."

This community doesn't just need someone to install Simple Machines on a different server. The community needs a solution that supports our overarching needs, protects people's rights, etc, and the best way to do that is to take charge of them. What are you gonna do when issues of International Law, or EU, US or Canadian law surface? Wait for someone to write a free mod or patch that "doesn't guarantee compliance?" What are you gonna do when another lawsuit thread arrives? Or some service demands you take down criticism, hand over email addresses, etc? VS has a legal department.

These are modern, 21st century problems. Wake up, Rumpelstiltskin! It's 2018. We don't need a 1998 solution. This community needs to evolve, and move forward, not go back in time and exist on some guy's personal website.

One thing that has everyone up at arms is the rights grab, copyright issues, etc. As many have noted, we authors take that stuff pretty seriously. Well, computer folks--and I am one--have our ethical issues as well, and one is that you don't poach members. If you start a dating site, you don't go to match.com and try to steal their members. If you start a BMW forum, you don't visit a successful BMW forum and try to steal their members. And if you want to start a writers' website, you shouldn't try to steal the members from a successful writers' website either.

You're not solving the underlying problems. You say you know how to set up a forum, but a new forum is the least of our needs. And anyone can install a forum. Most virtual hosts have now reduced it to clicking a button.

Somewhere here you claimed that a call was made, and that you answered. I guess I haven't heard the same thing you did. You claim to be listening to "everyone," but people here who wouldn't or couldn't go to Facebook were protesting your actions there. You came back talking about "'the' new forum." This very thread starts out "'The' new domain is up!" You shouldn't be using a definite article. You've set up "a" forum and "a" domain. And you're willing to split this community to get traffic there.

Ok, I've run out of steam, but, since you wanted to talk, that's my problem [with you].

_Edited. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy/KB Mod_


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

AltMe said:


> My fault. I have a problem with Themes, and I tried to swap it. Didn't work. Sorry. This will probably happen again until I fix the problem. If so, just wait a minute and try again.
> 
> Hmmm, I need an abject grovel smilie.


You've clearly got a config issue. It's working fine with http, but not https. And it's not blank. It's rendering the following:

<!DOCTYPE html>



So, it's choking somehow before it processes the header, and that's where the CSS info comes through (which is what you were losing before when you got a page but no formatting). I'm not familiar with SMF, but check wherever your settings are storing pathing information. The theme may also have its own settings that conflict. Find the intersection of those two things in your settings.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> I think that would have gone down better in a PM, don't you?


You know, if the other message had come that way, I'd probably have responded there. OTOH, I know that many of the people who _are_ PMing me feel the same way I do...


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Blocked Writer said:


> You clearly haven't read my posts.


I have. What I haven't seen is a practical word in the entire lot.



> The community needs to take ownership of itself, and--as I made clear above--I don't mean the Kboards domain name, nor the data. The community is larger than the forum software and the server that hosts it. The chance to take control of this community has not "sailed."


Stop saying this and tell us HOW!



> and try to steal their members. And if you want to start a writers' website, you shouldn't try to steal the members from a successful writers' website either.


I'm not doing a thing, except ensuring those who want somewhere to go, can see there is one. If you hate this thread so much, ask the mods to delete it. It wont bother me if they do, and frankly, I'm surprised they already haven't.



> Somewhere here you claimed that a call was made, and that you answered. I guess I haven't heard the same thing you did.


I wouldn't be surprised if those posts are already deleted. And you did come into this very very late.



> You claim to be listening to "everyone," but people here who wouldn't or couldn't go to Facebook were protesting your actions there.


First I've heard of it. And none of my business.



> You're willing to bust up this community


The community was busting up well before you joined the conversation. I just reacted to what had already begun.

Go and do whatever it is you want to do, and let the rest of us get on with what we're doing.

_Edited responses to now-edited quoted material. Also, using a "t" in place of "troll" does not get around Forum Decorum. PM me if you have any questions. --Betsy/KB Mod_


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=555034.0

Lines 3 & 4 are talking about the same stuff I mentioned


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

AltMe said:


> Stop saying this and tell us HOW!


I have: self-governing (i.e. democratic) non-profit.

Sorry, I thought you wanted me to talk to you.


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## WordLee (Jul 6, 2017)

Blocked Writer said:


> I have: self-governing (i.e. democratic) non-profit.


Asking out of genuine interest, is that happening somewhere? I'm not staying here, and would like to join the community where ever it ends up.

The difficult thing about communities (IMO) is they need leaders. I'm grateful to Tim for his efforts and leadership and have signed up over there, but I'd also be interested in joining a self-governing community if it happens.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

WordLee said:


> Blocked Writer said:
> 
> 
> > I have: self-governing (i.e. democratic) non-profit.
> ...


I give Tim credit for being gutsy, and trying to do something (seriously). I just strongly disagree with the path he's taken. It's too short-sighted. I'd like to see what I describe take place. I'm not the one to lead it--there are others here who are well-respected and heavy hitters too. Perhaps Tim could be the CTO of the non-profit.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Blocked Writer said:


> https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=555034.0
> 
> Lines 3 & 4 are talking about the same stuff I mentioned


Thanks. Very useful thread.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

AltMe said:


> Thanks. Very useful thread.


My pleasure.

In case you didn't see it, it mentions a repair script in step #6 for pathing issues.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll get it sorted out.

Now it's past my bedtime!


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## 9 Diamonds (Oct 4, 2016)

I keep getting the blank landing page when I try to visit the site ...


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## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

OK I just can't help it.
Blocked writer, I think the guy you meant to refer to is "Rip van Winkle".  He's the one who woke up after a 100 years.
Rumpelstiltskin is the guy who tore himself in half.


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

I was gonna grab the path to the CSS files and see if they were accessible, but your redirect is working now/again, and so the only source I see is those first few lines (i.e. can't see the paths to the CSS files). Since the redirect is working, make sure everything in the software is configured for https and that files are accessible that way (theme stuff, image files, CSS files etc). The theme or other code may be choking because a file isn't found that way (Php may be trying to include a config file or something that's not otherwise accessible). Anyway, it's got to be some sort of configuration conflict between http and https, since it works one way and not the other. Try to pull the CSS directly into a browser and see if it works with https.

This may say it better than I am (I'm seriously tired):
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7918394/why-images-and-css-do-not-show-under-https


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## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

Klip said:


> OK I just can't help it.
> Blocked writer, I think the guy you meant to refer to is "Rip van Winkle". He's the one who woke up after a 100 years.
> Rumpelstiltskin is the guy who tore himself in half.


Can I blame that on spellcheck?  
Sleep deprivation?


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## John Twipnook (Jan 10, 2011)

I personally have no problem with Tim or his site. But in principle there's legitimate questions to be asked about every new venture. I don't see anything wrong with asking here on a thread, as opposed to private messages.

Blocked Writer has legit concerns, I think. I don't speak for him, but here are mine.

What happens if God forbid Tim drops dead tomorrow? Will his estate sell WriterSanctum to some sleazy outfit like VerticalScope? Is there any way in the structure of the enterprise to keep this from happening?

Why all the fluffed feathers on this thread about asking questions concerning the nitty-gritty of the new forum? I understand that it's Tim's baby and it's his money. But essentially WriterSanctum is a startup, and the $ value of the forum will grow. The value will derive from the participation of folks like us. If Tim owns the forum entirely and controls it entirely, the benefit will be entirely his. So it's not tacky to ask these kinds of questions.

If Tim's getting so testy about answering public questions concerning WriterSanctum here on Kboards, what's going to be his attitude when he's challenged on a forum that he owns and controls completely?

I don't question Tim's motives or his integrity. But TOS aside, all this comes down to faith in one person--Tim. I don't like faith. I'll give it when I have to, but tell me again why WriterSanctum can't be a cooperative organization, or a nonprofit organization, or both? I'd feel much more comfortable if the power of the new forum in which I participate was not concentrated in one individual. Nothing personal. Ever read the Federalist Papers? Sorry, that's an American thing.

If the problem with making WriterSanctum cooperative and/or nonprofit comes down to money, there's always crowdfunding. I'll chip in.

Finally, if Tim and co have no interest in cooperative and/or nonprofit, will they take it ill if others do pursue starting up a forum with such structure(s)? Asking in principle. Not putting my own hat in the ring. 

* edited to get rid of those darn formatting diamonds.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

John Twipnook said:


> What happens if God forbid Tim drops dead tomorrow? Will his estate sell WriterSanctum to some sleazy outfit like VerticalScope? Is there any way in the structure of the enterprise to keep this from happening?


Good point. Needs thought. My books are already included in my will. One could include websites as well.



> Why all the fluffed feathers on this thread about asking questions concerning the nitty-gritty of the new forum? I understand that it's Tim's baby and it's his money. But essentially WriterSanctum is a startup, and the $ value of the forum will grow. The value will derive from the participation of folks like us. If Tim owns the forum entirely and controls it entirely, the benefit will be entirely his. So it's not tacky to ask these kinds of questions.


Let me flip that over. I'm a low 6 figure author. I dont know what this one sold for, but I seriously doubt anyone is going to offer me a figure which I cant laugh at. Now, or anytime in the future. Until it was announced here, I didn't even know forum selling was a thing!



> If Tim's getting so testy about answering public questions concerning WriterSanctum here on Kboards, what's going to be his attitude when he's challenged on a forum that he owns and controls completely?


Testy huh?  Could be something about the last 2 days ending at 4am, and the 5 before that at 3am. I'm a 10 hours a night person, and currently getting a disturbed 6. A tad testy is to be expected I'd say.

And then someone comes along insulting me and trying extremely hard to make me angry. Testy. Need to work on that.



> I don't question Tim's motives or his integrity. But TOS aside, all this comes down to faith in one person--Tim. I don't like faith.


We all gave that to Harvey. Am I not worth the same chance?

And besides, the private way is the only way to avoid the corporate ToS, as far as I can see.



> I'll give it when I have to, but tell me again why WriterSanctum can't be a cooperative organization, or a nonprofit organization, or both?


I've already said no ads. There are some passive ways of trickling a few bucks here and there, but this is not about money. I'm doing it because someone had to do something, and I could. At the moment its a loss. Not a big loss, but it is a negative amount. Not an amount I actually miss.

Where is this cooperative non-profit which keeps being mentioned? Roll it out here and let's take a look at it. Seriously, at the moment we needed practical action, not high and mighty principals trotted out with no action. (oo testy, dial back) When this thing does actually appear, I'll look at it like everyone else will.



> I'd feel much more comfortable if the power of the new forum in which I participate was not concentrated in one individual. Nothing personal.


Harvey. Kboards has always been that way. Until the sale. And we all know how pear shaped that went.



> If the problem with making WriterSanctum cooperative and/or nonprofit comes down to money, there's always crowdfunding. I'll chip in.


But here's the stupid thing: You want to build something which will require lawyers, accountants, contracts, and a whole load of money. I've just built something that's cost me pocket change so far, and isn't going to cost me much more until it gets really really big. So its like Crowdfunding? What for? Pocket change!



> Finally, if Tim and co have no interest in cooperative and/or nonprofit, will they take it ill if others do pursue starting up a forum with such structure(s)? Asking in principle. Not putting my own hat in the ring.


Let me flip that over.

Why are people in here arguing over this? GET OUT THERE AND DO IT! 
(oops testy again, sorry)

Seriously. Go build it. Do it now. Once its there and running, people will choose where they want to participate. Some will go to you. Others will add you to their list. It doesn't matter one way or another. People will always go where they want to go, and where they feel the most comfortable.

When you build this grand design of yours, if my forum becomes a ghost town, so be it. I'll have more time for writing.

I built my forum because someone needed to and I could. Its my 9th forum since early 2006. The longest running lasted 10 years. I have no illusions about any forum lasting forever. If the next best thing is better, so be it.


----------



## Klip (Mar 7, 2011)

AltMe said:


> ...snip
> Why are people in here arguing over this? GET OUT THERE AND DO IT!
> ...snip


This!
I tell you what, I have a lot more respect for somebody who actually does something, than for the people who sit back and snipe at them. I've seen this again and again. Loud mouths and big opinions about how things should be (usually followed by a "but freedom of speech" if anybody disagrees), but never any action. Get a group together. Figure out how exactly the voting and everything else will work so that it is what you consider to be democratic. Or if you don't have the skill or time to do it yourself, find somebody who IS doing it, and support them, and help people get to know about their project.

You will quickly find that you have to compromise to get your vision to be reality. Instead of having vague promises about "cooperative" and "democracy" you'll have real people to deal with, and real things that other people can find fault with. Which is, of course, why people usually don't "just do it". It's much more comforting to imagine that they could do it better, if they ever got round to it, than to try, and risk failure.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Klip said:


> I tell you what, I have a lot more respect for somebody who actually does something, than for the people who sit back and snipe at them. I've seen this again and again. Loud mouths and big opinions about how things should be (usually followed by a "but freedom of speech" if anybody disagrees), but never any action. Get a group together. Figure out how exactly the voting and everything else will work so that it is what you consider to be democratic. Or if you don't have the skill or time to do it yourself, find somebody who IS doing it, and support them, and help people get to know about their project.
> 
> You will quickly find that you have to compromise to get your vision to be reality. Instead of having vague promises about "cooperative" and "democracy" you'll have real people to deal with, and real things that other people can find fault with. Which is, of course, why people usually don't "just do it". It's much more comforting to imagine that they could do it better, if they ever got round to it, than to try, and risk failure.


I agree that having one person in charge (with perhaps a deputy) and experienced helpers, is a lot better than running anything by committee. If we're not careful it will end up like Brexit!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I agree that having one person in charge (with perhaps a deputy) and experienced helpers, is a lot better than running anything by committee. If we're not careful it will end up like Brexit!


Having just come back from a stay in London, please, please, please do not insert Brexit into this discussion.  I'm invoking the no politics rule!

Betsy


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

Certainly Tim deserves a chance - and many of us, myself included, are grateful for the effort he's putting in. No one is being forced to join his forum, and I'm sure it would be easier to leave his forum if things weren't working out than it is to leave this one.

Unfortunately I can't say much about the forum itself because all I'm getting is the following:

I take it this issue is known about and being worked on?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

LSMay said:


> Certainly Tim deserves a chance - and many of us, myself included, are grateful for the effort he's putting in. No one is being forced to join his forum, and I'm sure it would be easier to leave his forum if things weren't working out than it is to leave this one.
> 
> Unfortunately I can't say much about the forum itself because all I'm getting is the following:
> 
> I take it this issue is known about and being worked on?


Thanks, and tying to. Having to ask questions on the SMF forum.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Authoress said:


> Oops, was writing in the wrong thread so, update...
> 
> Cleared cookies & cache can now get onto page with http, still a blank page with https so cleared cookies & cache again, still white page


I'm wondering if there is a time delay happening for the SSL to propagate. Also wondering if older versions of browsers cant handle the SSL. Although if you can get here, should be able to get there. *sigh*


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Transferred from other thread.



Kathy Dee said:


> Sorry, don't mean to hassle you or anything. But could you just explain a little about what your forum has, that other people have been asking for? I am sure, if you wouldn't mind, that it might influence at least a few people. I might even join myself if I understood the benefits.


What people asked for became this:

No ads.No mod post editing, except for thread headings if need be.Author sensitive ToS.
Private areas which Google cant index.10 areas instead of 1 Writers Cafe, including, a public and private chat areas, an opt-in private erotica area. Plus a partly built members only Genre area, which will expand as people need it to. These include separate ares for craft, marketing, blurbs, covers, why isn't my book selling, and Audio/print/screenwriting. The latter will be separated when there are enough posts to warrant it. This separates out what we want to put in public and all the stuff better off not being in google. And gets the serious craft work, out of the chat areas.
Private off topic area to dump all the arguments into. No google allowed.
Zombie area where instead of editing posts, offending posts will be cut out and dumped as singles into zombie land, which is also opt-in, so most people wont even know they are there. No deleted posts, just condemned to zombiehood, and no google for them.No ads.And especially no ads.


----------



## 9 Diamonds (Oct 4, 2016)

Still getting the blank white page.


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

Authoress said:


> Oops, was writing in the wrong thread so, update...
> 
> Cleared cookies & cache can now get onto page with http, still a blank page with https so cleared cookies & cache again, still white page


So it was working for you with http? How did you pull that off? Mine seems to automatically opt for https even when I explicitly type in http. (I have tried 3 browsers: FireFox, Chrome and Edge. I've only tried clearing the cache and cookies in Edge.)


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

LSMay said:


> So it was working for you with http? How did you pull that off? Mine seems to automatically opt for https even when I explicitly type in http. (I have tried 3 browsers: FireFox, Chrome and Edge. I've only tried clearing the cache and cookies in Edge.)


What versions are each browser?


----------



## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.
Many formally active members now participate in discussions https://writersanctum.com/.
Since board ownership changed hands, the email address I used to sign up has been spammed with fishing emails and scummy advertisements. In addition, the forum is now packed with equally offensive ads within every thread. This place has become a sleezy spam trap. It is no longer a safe community.


----------



## Trioxin 245 (Dec 29, 2017)

Can't get in either on three different browsers.


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

AltMe said:


> What versions are each browser?


Firefox is 62.0 (64 bit.) Chrome is 68.0.3440.106 (Official Build) (64-bit). Edge is 42.17134.1.0.

Saw there was an update for Chrome and tried it. Still getting the blank page on Version 69.0.3497.100 (Official Build) (64-bit).


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

There are some weeks when you just shouldn't get out of bed!
Apparently the host forgot to upgrade the forum as well. And thinking it was complete I put code in forcing https.
Try it now. I removed the force, and they are doing the change now. (I hope)


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Me too with the blank. No worries! Let Tim work on it. 

The fact that he got an entire board up and it went from him, me, and a couple of other one minute to crazy busy in a few hours says something for his work ethic. I'm not overly concerned with the ownership issue at this point. All forums are owned by someone. It's the protection of the data that matters and who it winds up with later that matters. 

It's only been a few days, so every answer isn't in place yet. Once he's got the technical stuff stable and happy, there's time to let him get a good night's sleep, and work out wrinkles and questions over time.


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

AltMe said:


> There are some weeks when you just shouldn't get out of bed!
> Apparently the host forgot to upgrade the forum as well. And thinking it was complete I put code in forcing https.
> Try it now. I removed the force, and they are doing the change now. (I hope)


both the old non-https and the https are still white pages


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

WasAnn said:


> both the old non-https and the https are still white pages


erk.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Authoress said:


> Double erk! now getting https://writersanctum.com/ but still a white page. (from your forum sig link).
> 
> Personally, I'm not bothered how long it takes, so not trying to rush you, just updating for your info in case it helps


Host is supposed to be doing it now.

Interestingly there are 39 oblivious firefox users on now, unaware everyone else cant get on.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Blank white page for me, too.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> Tim, I've just come back from a long relaxing lunch with my boys on the beach so I'm a little chilled and still positive about things. Although if I can't get into the forum sometime soon I'm going to go raggy again...
> 
> Just a thought. Has the forum been installed in a directory or in <root> because you may have the index.php taking precedence (which it will unless instructed differently in the config.php)? you may need to instruct the redirect to aim for the forum file (I don't know what that is). Worth a look - sometimes it's the really simple things that cock's you up.


It's always the simple things! Yes in root, but the index.php is the one supposed to be used.
Will advise when host tell me they are finished.


----------



## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

AltMe said:


> It's always the simple things! Yes in root, but the index.php is the one supposed to be used.
> Will advise when host tell me they are finished.


It doesn't seem to matter. I'm getting the blank page with index.php as well.


----------



## nail file (Sep 12, 2018)

White page for me as well.

A sign I should probably go write and check back later.

Thanks for all you're doing to provide a new space for us. I hope it's not at the expense of your writing!


----------



## Lydniz (May 2, 2013)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Having just come back from a stay in London, please, please, please do not insert Brexit into this discussion.
> Betsy


Well it needs inserting somewhere.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.

/b]That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.[/b] If nothing else, it falls under WHOA -- What Happens On Another site...should stay there.

Timothy, please consider this your 'vendor thread' for the forum. In case an official 'welcome' hasn't been posted, here it is:

You're welcome to promote your service here in the Writers' Cafe.

Now that you have an official thread, you'll want to add your listing to our Yellow Pages, found here: https://www.kboards.com/yp/. The listing is free to KB members and is completely self-service; you can add and edit your listing from the page. More information on our Yellow Pages listing can be found here.

In your thread here, we ask that the same basic rules be followed as we have for authors in the Book Bazaar: you may have this one thread about your service and must post to it rather than start a new thread each time. New threads about the service will be removed. Please bookmark this thread so that you can find it again when you want to post. You may not make back-to-back posts to the thread within seven days. If someone responds (as I'm doing with this post), you may reply to them, but otherwise you must wait seven days. Any pattern of posting designed to artificially bump your thread to the top of the forum is prohibited. Please note that very short or (one- or two-word) posts with no meaningful information are discouraged and may be deleted at the moderators' discretion. Lastly, your posts and images will need to meet our "forum decorum" guidelines, which is the case for every member.

You may find that members ask searching questions -- about how your service works, for example, or what they will get for their money, or whether your service adheres to Amazon's terms of service. Such "vetting" is a common here.

Note that members are allowed to provide civil and honest feedback about your service in this thread. This feedback may include criticisms as well as kudos. You may respond to criticism in a civil manner, but name-calling, badgering, accusations of lying, and other breaches of forum decorum can lead to loss of vendor posting privileges.

Any and all disputes between you and your clients should be handled off-site.

Thanks,
KBoards Moderator Team

_(Note that this welcome does not constitute an endorsement or vetting of a service by KBoards. Members should do due diligence when considering using a service.)_

From here on out the usual rules apply -- if you have general questions about WS, you may ask them. Otherwise, issues with that forum should be handled there.

Thanks.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

TobiasRoote said:


> What happens to the site if you switch it back to http:// while you sort out the issues?


Moved to PM.


----------



## Dpock (Oct 31, 2016)

Ann in Arlington said:


> That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.


I suspect most members might disagree.


----------



## 71202 (Jul 17, 2013)

Poor taste?  Maybe back when this forum was owned by people who cared.


----------



## Used To Be BH (Sep 29, 2016)

Let's not give the moderators a hard time. This is an amazingly difficult situation for them--and certainly not one they created.


----------



## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.
> 
> /b]That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.


I get this, but...I'm not completely sure you do understand.

The Writers Cafe that Harvey created is dead. I'd say WHOA is pretty much irrelevant now, (especially sense VS doesn't appear to care about our decorum one way or the other).

1. It appears that the majority of experienced writers and publishers are leaving and doing everything possible to take their posting history (knowledge) with them.

2. They're going to leave behind a shell of what this place was.

3. But mostly, *the Writers Cafe is no longer a safe place for writers or discussion.*

*But even though the Cafe is dead, the Community that Harvey built is alive and well*. And that sense of belonging and friendship transcends artificial constructs.

Timothy has done something amazing and pretty selfless. He's given us a new safe harbor, more importantly, he's given Harvey's Community a temporary home so we can figure out where to go from here. Thanks, Timothy, by the way.

The Cafe is where this community was born, so it makes sense to continue to discuss it's future here, with the understanding that it has no future _here_. All of the old 7 day posting limits and such no longer matter. The new goal isn't to save VS's click-bait platform, it's to keep our Community, and everything that stands for, together. That's Harvey's true legacy.

So, is it really in such poor taste to champion the people that, through years of contributions, have made this place what it is? I don't think so.

___

In fact, I think we should call the new forum "Harvey's Place" or something like that. After all, it was his vision that brought us all here. Just a thought.


----------



## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

TobiasRoote said:


> Nope, I was with you right up to this... Nope!


Just thinking out loud. I think that's still allowed here...


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

TobiasRoote said:


> Nobody is 'trying' to give the moderators a hard time. They're sitting there at the top of the pile looking down like ancient Greek gods and we don't know what they want us to do, where they want us to go and they are providing NO leadership whatsoever. The usual big names here are running scared and instead of helping calm the storm and providing guidance they are creating a tsunami, but without any direction and no destination in mind and it's causing chaos. The one place we're trying to use to rebuild what we had here is being thwarted at every turn - (I'm beginning to think the Montreal DNS for the new forum and VS might have common parties that aren't keen for this to move away) and all the moderators can do is slap Tim down. While others come on here and say we can't kick back at the situation because the moderators are having a hard time - well news is out - so the hell are we all.


We're not leaders, Tobias. That's not the role of the moderators on any site, so far as I know. We do set the boundaries, but inside those boundaries, KB is what the people here make it. All we "want you to do" is talk about what you want to talk about, with an eye to the boundaries we've set. Members generate the forum's direction and destination. Yes, the TOS crisis is consuming a lot of the oxygen right now, but other unrelated threads are perking along around the edges. We'll probably have to wait for the dust to settle to see what direction and destination those who choose remain active here want to set.

I'm going to suggest, as I suggested on another vendor thread not too long ago, that this Writer Sanctum vendor thread is probably not the best place for a meta-conversation on what the shape of the overall indie community should be. Those questions are very important (and, personally, I find them highly interesting and would love to discuss), but when the discussion is located in this thread, it comes off as being 100% about Tim, and really, Tim is just one site owner among many. 20BooksTo50K, the Author Support Network, Passive Voice, Konrath's blog, KB, Susanne O'Leary's Pub, K'Sennia's Indieauthorhaven, all the private Fb groups out there ... the sites that come to my mind where "the indie conversation" is happening are owned or run by just one person (or corporation, in our case) or a small group of people who are not democratically chosen, so far as I know. So this is a bigger issue. Tim's forum may be the most recently created, but it's not unique in this regard, so making him the locus of the discussion seems a little misplaced. If the discussion were to happen in its own thread, Tim could read, participate, and consider possibilities for the future of his site, _as could other site owners_, if they so chose.


----------



## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

Becca Mills said:


> ...but when the discussion is located in this thread, it comes off as being 100% about Tim, and really, Tim is just one site owner among many.


Sorry, Becca, but not only is this unfair to Tim, it's unkind as well.

He's not starting up a competing forum just for the hell of it, he's creating a place for us to escape this dumpster fire until we can figure out what to do. He saw that the community was in need, and invested of himself to do what he could to help. That's really cool. That's praise-worthy. So, no, he's not just another site. He's created, at least temporarily, a safe harbor for us.

And, as we try to save our community, we should be able to discuss whatever, wherever, and for as long as we can.


----------



## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.
> 
> /b]That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.[/b] If nothing else, it falls under WHOA -- What Happens On Another site...should stay there.


*It was VERY POOR TASTE for the new owners of this forum to put in a new TOS with a rights grab in it and then have a representative post saying "Have your lawyer talk to our lawyer." when we objected, so bringing up "good taste" might not be a perfect idea, Ann. The POOR TASTE with which long-time contributors to this forum have been treated cannot be overstated.

(For the time being, I am leaving this post in place because it very much expresses my feelings on what has happened here.)
*


----------



## Used To Be BH (Sep 29, 2016)

TobiasRoote said:


> Becca, Thank you for responding to my post. Mine was simply a response to a previous moderator post and *another representing an attack on anyone who criticised the 'management*'. This has to be a fair and level discussion and there are many trying to bring this to a halt without resolution. you know my feelings on the matter and that I want improvements to the way the forum is run.
> 
> So, unfortunately, your ARE the leaders pro tem. Our erstwhile writer leaders are busily engaged in what many of us consider to be a fruitless exercise and while all that is going on the ship, Writer's Cafe remains pretty much rudderless and drifting. Something we had when it was a cohesive community was stability and a sense of direction. I consider that were a post by you to be put up, it would direct a lot of the attention away from other threads where for whatever reason the debate overflows into, usually after a comment from a moderator that slips into a contentious issue.
> 
> I had considered writing the post that might bring this about, but unfortunately, I don't have the following to pull this together - you do. If you were to take these posts and hive them off in a new thread and encourage all discussion (not flaming or accusing) to be moved to there, it might resolve your concerns about myriad threads being bogged down with the subject matter. Just my opinion :|


I don't know if the bolded part is a response to my post or not, but if so, it wasn't intended as an attack on anyone, merely as a suggestion, and mods are not management. Ours here aren't even employees. They are volunteers. In any case, as Becca suggests, their role does not extend to giving leadership in this kind of situation.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "fruitless exercise." Trying to find another home is certainly not a fruitless exercise. I can certainly understand why someone would want to stay here--but it surprises me why so many people can't seem to understand why anyone would want to leave. The actual management--VS--is doing absolutely nothing to allay anyone's concerns. At least one of us has already received advice from her lawyer to leave--and I suspect she won't be the last. Those of us whose concerns are serious enough will naturally want to move elsewhere. The only reason we're still around is to ensure the safety of our intellectual property and to receive any communications from VS (which, by the way, is not responding to my request for account deletion at all).

As Becca notes, there are other threads going on that have nothing to do with the current ownership issues. I'm not sure the people in those threads consider themselves either rudderless or drifting.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Nope said:


> Sorry, Becca, but not only is this unfair to Tim, it's unkind as well.
> 
> He's not starting up a competing forum just for the hell of it, he's creating a place for us to escape this dumpster fire until we can figure out what to do. He saw that the community was in need, and invested of himself to do what he could to help. That's really cool. That's praise-worthy. So, no, he's not just another site. He's created, at least temporarily, a safe harbor for us.
> 
> And, as we try to save our community, we should be able to discuss whatever, wherever, and for as long as we can.


My point was the meta-discussion about democracy, non-profit status, etc., was coming off as aimed solely at Tim, which doesn't seem fair, since his forum is set up the way many other sites are (i.e., not as a democracy). So why should he be the sole target for criticism that could be aimed at many sites/site-owners? I hope the phrase "just one among many" doesn't cloud that larger point.


----------



## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

Becca Mills said:


> My point was the meta-discussion about democracy, non-profit status, etc., was coming off as aimed solely at Tim, which doesn't seem fair, since his forum is set up the way many other sites are (i.e., not as a democracy). So why should he be the sole target for criticism that could be aimed at many sites/site-owners? I hope the phrase "just one among many" doesn't cloud that larger point.


I get what you're saying. Thanks for clarifying.


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Is there a place where we can see the status of the forum? I'm still not able to get more than a blank screen, and I don't want to keep asking. A notice place maybe?


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.
> 
> *That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.* If nothing else, it falls under WHOA -- What Happens On Another site...should stay there.


I'm not one to go against moderators, so I shan't continue to report issues here. However, this does feel like singling out this particular service, as I have never seen anyone reporting issues with, for example, book report, accused of acting in poor taste.

I was under the impression Tim was being treated in this forum as any other vendor, and we could discuss bugs/issues with his service - to which he had the right to respond. Apparently this is not the case.


----------



## AugFul (Aug 19, 2016)

Yes, down for me as well in both FireFox and Chrome.

Or, you could go here: 

https://writerssanctum.com

I didn't know that other domain existed.


----------



## nail file (Sep 12, 2018)

AugFul said:


> Yes, down for me as well in both FireFox and Chrome.
> 
> Or, you could go here:
> 
> ...


I'm confused. Is that a Tim-owned site? Not sure what a role playing forum has to do with anything.


----------



## AugFul (Aug 19, 2016)

emory said:


> I'm confused. Is that a Tim-owned site? Not sure what a role playing forum has to do with anything.


No, it was a joke. That's why I put a smiley face. I didn't mean to confuse anyone.


----------



## nail file (Sep 12, 2018)

AugFul said:


> No, it was a joke. That's why I put a smiley face. I didn't mean to confuse anyone.


LOL got it. I think my humor meter is broken.


----------



## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

"20BooksTo50K, the Author Support Network, Passive Voice, Konrath's blog, KB, Susanne O'Leary's Pub, K'Sennia's Indieauthorhaven, all the private Fb groups out there ..."

Becca--in your opinion, what is the biggest, most active, indie self-pubber forum site?


----------



## MyCatDoesNotConsent (Sep 11, 2017)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I understand why a new forum was created and understand why many have decided to join.
> 
> /b]That said, I think it's in Very Poor Taste to use THIS forum to troubleshooot problems and complain.[/b] If nothing else, it falls under WHOA -- What Happens On Another site...should stay there.
> 
> ...


I'm puzzled. If I'm getting naught but a blank page when I try to access, would not that be considered a general question?
If this is the vendor thread, is this not the correct place (of anywhere in KBland) to post about the issue?

FWIW, if I try to access WS with Chrome or Safari, I get a blank white screen.

The page view only shows me this:
<!DOCTYPE html>

Again, if there's a better thread to post about this, please let me know. I can see not posting here about the quality of the icons on the other site, but inability to access it in the first place doesn't seem out of line to me.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

loraininflorida said:


> "20BooksTo50K, the Author Support Network, Passive Voice, Konrath's blog, KB, Susanne O'Leary's Pub, K'Sennia's Indieauthorhaven, all the private Fb groups out there ..."
> 
> Becca--in your opinion, what is the biggest, most active, indie self-pubber forum site?


20Books is the biggest site I belong to, but it's a Facebook group, not a forum. Same goes for Marie Force's group, which has about 8,000 members, as I recall. KB has been the biggest _forum_ I visit, though it's a hard to gauge active membership. It's certainly nowhere near the 100,000 members we have on the books, and it used to be far more active here than it is now. I haven't been to the KDP forums in forever and a day, so I'm not sure how busy they are. I've never belonged to AW and really have no idea of its indie traffic. Some folks here have mentioned sites I didn't even know about -- www.kuforum.co.uk was mentioned; someone mentioned one with "nook" in the title, but I'm not finding it ...

All that's to say, if you restrict it to forums, it might've been KB, but I'm not sure? In general, I think the conversation among indie writers has undergone an extensive process of both scattering and privatizing since 2015.


----------



## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

Thanks!


----------



## Melody Simmons (Jul 8, 2012)

MyCatDoesNotConsent said:


> I'm puzzled. If I'm getting naught but a blank page when I try to access, would not that be considered a general question?
> If this is the vendor thread, is this not the correct place (of anywhere in KBland) to post about the issue?
> 
> FWIW, if I try to access WS with Chrome or Safari, I get a blank white screen.
> ...


Getting total blank pages on all browsers...


----------



## Used To Be BH (Sep 29, 2016)

TobiasRoote said:


> OK BH, there is always enough in any of my posts to find something to pick at because i'm not as diplomatic as some. We're ALL volunteers here and many posters have put a lot of time and effort into making the place successful, not just the moderators. So, give everyone fair dues, okay? The fruitless exercise you refer to and you well know it isn't here, but the fight against VS on another thread which is spilling over everywhere. You're right the only reason you are all here is to clean out your desk and move on and I don't blame you, not at all. Rudderless or drifting... hmmh! Let's just say if Harvey was here and could put his pennyworth in.... would that represent leadership, direction and would that represent a move forward? He certainly had the ability to pull this forum together. His loss is significantly felt here and more so now than at any other time. Now, who do we turn to when everyone is upset and up in arms.
> 
> All I'm suggesting is that 'someone' takes Harvey's place temporarily while we try and put a lot of this behind us and positively deal with the issues of splitting the forum between KBoards, Tim's and anyone else that's involved.


Saying the mods are volunteers was never intended to put down anyone else.

I completely understand your desire to see someone take the lead. Perhaps someone will, but I don't think that person can be drafted. I think it has to be a natural evolution.


----------



## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Melody Simmons said:


> Getting total blank pages on all browsers...


Yep, it's broken good. Waiting for the techies to sort it out.


----------



## dgcasey (Apr 16, 2017)

PearlEarringLady said:


> Yep, it's broken good. Waiting for the techies to sort it out.


Same here, on all three main browsers. It was working just fine last night, with a couple of minor bugs. Oh well, I'll go get something to eat and come back and do a little writing (imagine that) and try the site a little later.


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Lynn Is Going Away said:


> If you don't mind text only until things get straightened out, you can use the wap2 mobile version of the site. It's been working for me just fine. https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php?wap2


OMG, Lynn. I love you. Just...::wipes tear::..thank you.


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

Lynn Is Going Away said:


> If you don't mind text only until things get straightened out, you can use the wap2 mobile version of the site. It's been working for me just fine. https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php?wap2


Excellent news! Is there a way to register using this version? I only see login and when I click login I don't see a register option like I would expect...


----------



## SomeoneElse (Jan 5, 2016)

Lynn Is Going Away said:


> It's a pretty stripped down version, for older mobile use, I think, so there are a lot of missing things. But it's great for reading and posting if you don't mind text only. Sorry.


I can't post on that version  probably due to the not being registered thing, of course. But I can read the public stuff, and it looks like Tim has done a great job setting things up and answering questions.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Chrome appears to be working now. Opera still gives me an error, and I'm not sure why.

Seems to have been a combination of SSL incompleteness, and a bad forum setting which only showed in the server error logs.

Please try again now, and PM me if you still have a problem getting in.


----------



## Just Another Vampire Writer (Jan 22, 2012)

Just posted on Facebook that Firefox works, but I'll put it here, too. That's how I roll.


----------



## Dpock (Oct 31, 2016)

Working for me in Chrome and Firefox and looks great either way. Good work over there.


----------



## Cactus Lady (Jun 4, 2014)

I'm seeing it now in Firefox. Snazzy new logo from Jeff Brown! Haven't registered yet, been up to my ears in proofreading, formatting, and releasing a new book.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Managed to register.


----------



## MClayton (Nov 10, 2010)

Was just beginning to enter a signature over there (seeing if it worked), when the site seemed to crash. Or maybe I broke it.


----------



## Anna_ (Jan 18, 2015)

MClayton said:


> Was just beginning to enter a signature over there (seeing if it worked), when the site seemed to crash. Or maybe I broke it.


I just tried to register and it seems frozen for me too. Maybe we both broke it?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

There was a minor site fix, which took about a minute. Should be fine now.


----------



## MClayton (Nov 10, 2010)

Anna_ said:


> I just tried to register and it seems frozen for me too. Maybe we both broke it?


It seems to be back now. Maybe we just scared it instead of breaking it.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

MClayton said:


> It seems to be back now. Maybe we just scared it instead of breaking it.


No, just me breaking things trying to fix things.


----------



## MClayton (Nov 10, 2010)

AltMe said:


> No, just me breaking things trying to fix things.


I appreciate all the hard work!


----------



## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

> I'm not one to go against moderators, so I shan't continue to report issues here. However, this does feel like singling out this particular service, as I have never seen anyone reporting issues with, for example, book report, accused of acting in poor taste.
> 
> I was under the impression Tim was being treated in this forum as any other vendor, and we could discuss bugs/issues with his service - to which he had the right to respond. Apparently this is not the case.


Yeah, what's up with chiding Tim and the rest of us for using the thread as we should? Afraid Vertical Scope will get mad? Who cares.

Seriously, mods, if you don't like what's going on, you can just stop, right? I mean, you aren't getting paid, so it's not like you're employees who have to give a notice or something.

I realize people are sad about this, and reminded of Harvey at every turn. It's hard. No one wanted this to happen, we were content to stay here and keep the forum going on like he hoped it would. But that's not possible. It's actually crazy to even think of it, given the huge rights grab we've had shoved on us behind our backs.

The truth is, we built this forum into what it was. Every person who came here and shared the blood, sweat and tears of building an author career, who laughed with us and cried with us, who gave tips and tried to uplift other authors, who spent time writing long posts about stuff like Google Play discounting and how to price to avoid Amazon getting mad, everyone who came with links to stuff that hurts other authors, like all the samming threads. People were uplifted and given a better chance to sell books because of what we did, and we should be proud of it.

But, we should also realize when it's time to move on. Goodbye, Harvey. You gave us a platform to build something wonderful, and we did it. Now we need to do it somewhere else. Keep his memory alive, but look to the future.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Folks, 

Normal feedback on use of a vendor site is appropriate, and, as you might notice if you read the thread, has been allowed, over multiple pages, without intervention, and will continue to be allowed.  Some posts went a bit beyond normal feedback or went off topic; we've asked that these be handled via PM or in other threads.  If you read the vendor welcome letter, we ask people to handle specific issues directly with the vendor.  Feedback here on how the vendor handled the issue is then appropriate here.

Betsy


----------



## Dpock (Oct 31, 2016)

unkownwriter said:


> ...what's up with chiding Tim and the rest of us for using the thread as we should?


Yeah, that was unfortunate.



> But, we should also realize when it's time to move on. Goodbye, Harvey. You gave us a platform to build something wonderful, and we did it. Now we need to do it somewhere else. Keep his memory alive, but look to the future.


I'm not sure encouraging people to move on is the way to go. To each his own and all that. KB doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and WS will be suffering growing pains for some time to come (currently down for me), which is entirely natural. My hope is WS's culture will evolve separately and give writers fresh perspectives that may not be welcome elsewhere.


----------



## Captain Cranky (Jun 29, 2016)

*This post has been removed by the author in response to Verticalscope's over-reaching TOS*


----------



## John Twipnook (Jan 10, 2011)

Can I just say Captain Cranky as a handle is perfect. Carry on.


----------



## The Bass Bagwhan (Mar 9, 2014)

Captain Cranky said:


> Is anyone having issues logging in? I'm aware the site was down for awhile, but it's back up and I'm getting an error when I try to log in..


Yep, all day I've been getting errors trying to log in, and the most common is that my session has timed out...


----------



## MLouring (Jan 15, 2012)

The Bass Bagwhan said:


> Yep, all day I've been getting errors trying to log in, and the most common is that my session has timed out...


I'm getting that as well. I wrote a PM to Tim on here earlier, so he is aware of the problem.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The forum went down like someone just turned it off at the host end. They didn't, but I gather what they did do had the same effect.
I suspect anyone who was in the middle of posting or doing something specific, now has a problem.
I'm trying to get some help, but those who know, are most likely asleep.


----------



## Captain Cranky (Jun 29, 2016)

*This post has been removed by the author in response to Verticalscope's over-reaching TOS*


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Captain Cranky said:


> I assume it went down during the night for us here in Oz? I may have still been logged in, I'm not sure. I've been getting the same error as Baghwan, it tells me my session timed out and to try again.


7am Qld time. 
Someone at the host end changed the php version and didn't tell anyone. Took them all day (Aus time) to figure it out.
Nothing anyone can help with at the moment. I'm mainly waiting for various people to get back to me.


----------



## georgette (Sep 4, 2013)

I joined Writer Sanctum, it is glitchy but it's also getting tons of Kboards refugees and there are a lot of posts already.  When I post, I get instant, helpful answers.  I'd highly recommend checking it out.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

If anyone is having trouble getting in because of a time out error, try this page entry instead.
https://writersanctum.com/index.php?board=16.0

Things are slow at the moment, but the Host hasn't completed its reload of the server after the initial crash, so the server is being hammered. Excuses, yes.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

AltMe said:


> If anyone is having trouble getting in because of a time out error, try this page entry instead.
> https://writersanctum.com/index.php?board=16.0
> 
> Things are slow at the moment, but the Host hasn't completed its reload of the server after the initial crash, so the server is being hammered. Excuses, yes.


It worked for me (4.40 pm SA time)


----------



## Used To Be BH (Sep 29, 2016)

Yes, it seems to be up again. (7:54 PST).

Timothy, I hope whatever company you're using for hosting is up to the job. The things you've done, like changing domains and adding SSL, do sometimes cause a slight amount of downtime, but I've done both and never experienced anything like this. Both of those operations are pretty routine. The first one in particular will take a little time for the DNS servers to catch up with. I did the second one, if I recall correctly, with no downtime at all.

Anyway, despite having some issues, the site continues to grow. For such a new site, it has a respectable membership (519 at the moment), and a wide range of topics are already being discussed. Thanks to your efforts, people leaving Kboards have another viable alternative. I'm sure it will just get stronger in the days to come.


----------



## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

Haven't been able to log in since last week.


----------



## C. Rysalis (Feb 26, 2015)

I can't register   clicking on 'I accept the terms of the agreement' just takes me back to the same form I already agreed to. Anyone else having this problem?


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

They're working out host issues right now. It's been a bit of a heroic journey getting it up and running with all the customization and conveniences, as well as security, we've all come to want. I believe Timothy is working hard with the service to get things up. Most of us are getting in fine, but some aren't. Not sure why.

Be sure to try all the routes:

regular: https://writersanctum.com/

not regular php: https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php

all else fails mobile text only test: https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php?wap2


----------



## wearywanderer64 (Jan 27, 2013)

I'm lost.

Why is the site changing? What is this new site? Did I miss something?


----------



## Arches (Jan 3, 2016)

wearywanderer64 said:


> I'm lost.
> 
> Why is the site changing? What is this new site? Did I miss something?


Kboards has been sold to a large company that's seems to operate forums mostly as a platform for ads, and they are tone-deaf about concerns about how they will use information posted on this forum. The new site for many Kboards regulars is Writersanctum.com, but it's experiencing birthing pains in the form of lots of downtime and connection issues.


----------



## wearywanderer64 (Jan 27, 2013)

I see.

Then it's time to migrate. Hope to see you all there.


----------



## Mindflutters (Apr 29, 2015)

C. Rysalis said:


> I can't register  clicking on 'I accept the terms of the agreement' just takes me back to the same form I already agreed to. Anyone else having this problem?


Yes, it's driving me buggy!


----------



## Desert Rose (Jun 2, 2015)

AltMe said:


> If anyone is having trouble getting in because of a time out error, try this page entry instead.
> https://writersanctum.com/index.php?board=16.0
> 
> Things are slow at the moment, but the Host hasn't completed its reload of the server after the initial crash, so the server is being hammered. Excuses, yes.


Thank you. This was the only method of getting logged in that worked for me.


----------



## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

My_Tr0ll_a$$_Left_Too said:


> Be sure to try all the routes:
> 
> regular: https://writersanctum.com/
> 
> not regular php: https://www.writersanctum.com/index.php


OMG... those two effectively result in two different websites (driven by the same software)!

One has a header image with only "Writer Sanctum," and the other has that twice and a welcome blurb with a mention of GDPR tools.

In cases like this, it's very possible to be logged in on one domain and not the other. If the login is routing people back and forth between the two, that could account for the timeouts, or logouts, or whatever it's doing. Also, it's possible for one variant to work and the other not, or both, but the visitor is logged in on one and not the other. Conflicts between the two need to be eliminated.

consistency, Consistency, CONSISTENCY! The computer only does what you tell it, and if you tell it to do weird things, you get weird behavior.

Convention is that a website should have a single concrete "canonical" name. Choose www or leave it out, and forward requests directed to the "wrong" variant to the correct one. It's possible (albeit seldom advised) to support two, but if you choose to do so, then you need to be cognizant of the differences and deftly address them.


----------



## Blocked Writer (Oct 23, 2015)

the above is an oversimplification, but for starters, you should choose to support www.writersanctum.com or writersanctum.com, but not both.


----------



## 69959 (May 14, 2013)

Speaker-To-Animals said:


> Haven't been able to log in since last week.


I haven't tried to login since last week, but can't now.


----------



## RobinGreaves (Jul 23, 2018)

I can finally see the site, but cannot register. Takes me to the registration page, warns me not secure when I press accept TOS, when I press OK on the warning popup, it just redirects me back to the TOS again.

ETA - tried on safari, firefox and chrome


----------



## AugFul (Aug 19, 2016)

Blocked Writer said:


> the above is an oversimplification, but for starters, you should choose to support www.writersanctum.com or writersanctum.com, but not both.


Try refreshing your browser for either link and you'll get the latest version.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

A reminder to people that posts here which provided feedback or review of the site are appropriate.  (If the site is not accessible, that is appropriate feedback, as is a response to that feedback.)

Let's not start something between members in a vendor thread, please.  Posts that did have been removed.

Betsy


----------



## 9 Diamonds (Oct 4, 2016)

I can't log in either this morning ...


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Safari seems to have the most issues. (Its the 2nd worst browser imo, and I dont know why Apple use it.)

Cache also is playing a big role in issues. Some of the browsers store cache for a lot longer than others, and so people are seeing various versions of the site.
The favicon for example took 12 hours to appear for some people, and 48 hours+ for others. This is also happening with fixes being made, as they take varying lengths of time for people to see them. 

The current site has a banner across the whole top with the logo on both sides, with 2 different colours used.
If you are getting an error message at all, PM me with it. All the work arounds seem to be listed here, so try them please.


----------



## Guest (Sep 26, 2018)

My_Tr0ll_a$$_Left_Too said:


> They're working out host issues right now. It's been a bit of a heroic journey getting it up and running with all the customization and conveniences, as well as security, we've all come to want. I believe Timothy is working hard with the service to get things up. Most of us are getting in fine, but some aren't. Not sure why.
> 
> Be sure to try all the routes:
> 
> ...


Using regular fixes the issue for me


----------



## The world would be prettier with more zebra strip (Apr 20, 2011)

Detailed review of writersanctum:

The site is enjoyable with over 500 people already. The amount of time for a response is about equal to here in many cases. The cons are definitely there. I consider them growing pains. Sometimes the site works and sometimes It doesn’t. I am not tech, I imagine it is not easy to start one so quick.

A section for areas and other suggestions is often looked at. Sci-fi/fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller/suspense have their own private sub forums. I really love this, the fact I can associate with other authors in my genre, new and experienced.

Several service providers are now there including my favorite one. I have not checked each section but there are at least 16 cover designers who offer services. It’s divided into three sections: cover artists, editors and proofreaders, and other services.

There are of course tiffs. There always will be. Nothing has been severe though.

Most of all, it is free. Years ago kboards used to allow everyone to be here. Things happened due to something and we were kicked off. I mean, it had to become a place where erotic, steamy, spicy romance/erotica authors could not show our covers. Certain conversations ceased and the camaraderie felt lost. Several were invited into private groups or pay for forums.

I have not posted in years. I lurked when I needed to know something. But now, there is the fig leaf. A section a person has to check to see inside of it. With this and romance I feel . . . A little more welcome. 

It’s not perfect. Authors of kboards need to start learning how to deal with the presence, yet some are getting it. Some might one day. But with everyone together again, I feel so much better!

We are not bad authors, and honestly amazon is very strict on the way covers look. There is nothing wrong with our covers. There is nothing wrong with us. Being able to talk to a romance author, and a mystery author, and a fantasy author, and everyone else again. It’s wonderful.

Mind you there aren’t tons of us. Most moved on, but some of us are still there, and as time goes by, I am sure more will come.

Before I forget there are offhand sections where you can just say whatever, and there are sections for publishing, marketing, writing, craft and . . . And it’s just beautiful.

Thank you Timothy. You have given me more than a place to talk to other authors openly. You have given me a warm home.


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## Dpock (Oct 31, 2016)

The world would be prettier with more zebra stripes in it. said:


> Mind you there aren't tons of us. Most moved on, but some of us are still there, and as time goes by, I am sure more will come.


Huh?

I take it you like the new joint. That's nice.


----------



## Nobody222 (Mar 6, 2018)

Can't seem to go past the freaking Verification process. These letters are unrecognizable. I tried 5 times, and just couldn't go past it. I tried the "audio" version where these letters and numbers were spelled, but it didn't work.

I guess I'm a bot?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Nobody222 said:


> Can't seem to go past the freaking Verification process. These letters are unrecognizable. I tried 5 times, and just couldn't go past it. I tried the "audio" version where these letters and numbers were spelled, but it didn't work.
> 
> I guess I'm a bot?


Try again now. I'm trying options to keep a pest spammer out. Should be easier now. (I hope)


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

*The forum is moving to better accommodations.*

*When?* Could be any time in the next 72 hours.

*Will you notice it?* Hopefully not, but some downtime is to be expected. And maybe necessary to ensure no data loss. If the forum vanishes, or goes nuts, please do not be alarmed. Wait for it to return with as little self-harm as possible.

I'm told it can be a seamless transfer, but i dont think it will happen, given the issues on the current server. I think its most likely the forum will be turned off for as long as it takes the domains to shift. And turned back on when I know its going to work properly. I dont know how long that will be at this stage.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

OK. Will wait patiently for the transition. Hope all goes well


----------



## Confused Fairywren (Jun 1, 2018)

Dpock said:


> Huh?
> 
> I take it you like the new joint. That's nice.


I think they're referring to erotica/steamy romance authors moving on from kboards.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The forum is currently shut down as the domain shifts to the new home.
I'm going to get some sleep while it does so, and hopefully it will be ready for final tweaks and checks when I get up.


----------



## John Twipnook (Jan 10, 2011)

The world would be prettier with more zebra stripes in it. said:


> Sci-fi/fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller/suspense have their own private sub forums.


Private forums?

Wait. Are the private forums invitation-only? Why are they private? Do you have to pay? How many private forums are there? If you get access to one private forum do you get access to them all? Or are there some that are super-secret and exclusive?

Tell me more about the private forums. I love secrets.


----------



## Nope (Jun 25, 2012)

John Twipnook said:


> Private forums?
> 
> Wait. Are the private forums invitation-only? Why are they private? Do you have to pay? How many private forums are there? If you get access to one private forum do you get access to them all? Or are there some that are super-secret and exclusive?
> 
> Tell me more about the private forums. I love secrets.


Members have access to everything, no charge, no drama.


----------



## Rose Andrews (Jun 1, 2017)

I can't even log in over there, keep getting an error message that my user url cannot be verified. I've tried and tried but simply can't access the forums. Maybe everything is getting fine tuned still but it's rather inconvenient.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Rose Andrews said:


> I can't even log in over there, keep getting an error message that my user url cannot be verified. I've tried and tried but simply can't access the forums. Maybe everything is getting fine tuned still but it's rather inconvenient.


Sounds like you're using Opera or Safari. Neither seems to be handling the SSL properly, and both seem to take forever to catch up with even minor changes to the site.

But the forum is down now until the domain shifts, however long that takes.


John Twipnook said:


> Private forums?
> Wait. Are the private forums invitation-only? Why are they private? Do you have to pay? How many private forums are there? If you get access to one private forum do you get access to them all? Or are there some that are super-secret and exclusive?
> Tell me more about the private forums. I love secrets.


No secrets. The private areas are Google-free zones where what gets said, does not end up in search engines. Nor can non-members read them.
Some of the private areas are opt-in, so you dont even see they are there until you join the group which accesses them, via your profile. Eg. the erotica discussion section. Out of sight, never seen, unless you choose to see it.
Everything here in Writers Cafe is indexed into Google. Every argument is visible to all, and in fact, you cant avoid seeing it. Changing that was the first thing I did when setting the new forum up. You get a choice of what you want to see.


----------



## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Timothy is moving to a way more capable server, so it's not like you unplug a usb in one computer and stick it in another. It's going to have downtime to get this going. Updates are being posted on the FB page for Writer's Sanctum. Personally, I'm glad he's doing it right rather than letting something be good enough. It's active, easy to find the stuff you want and not be bothered with the stuff you don't.


----------



## Dpock (Oct 31, 2016)

My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too said:


> Timothy is moving to a way more capable server, so it's not like you unplug a usb in one computer and stick it in another. It's going to have downtime to get this going. Updates are being posted on the FB page for Writer's Sanctum. Personally, I'm glad he's doing it right rather than letting something be good enough. It's active, easy to find the stuff you want and not be bothered with the stuff you don't.


Do you have the Facebook link?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/281305096034401


----------



## Rose Andrews (Jun 1, 2017)

Oh, okay thanks for the heads up. I'll just wait a few more days then to try and log in again.


----------



## Keith Strohm (Mar 5, 2012)

Hey all,

  I can see the Writer Sanctum Forum, but when I put in my username and password it isn't recognizing them, and I don't see a password recovery option. Can anyone help?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The forum is shut down at the moment while the domain name moves to a new host.
I'm hoping this will not be much longer, but potentially could be another day.


----------



## Angela Haddon (Jul 3, 2016)

Keith Strohm said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I can see the Writer Sanctum Forum, but when I put in my username and password it isn't recognizing them, and I don't see a password recovery option. Can anyone help?


I had this issue, too - I found that changing the logged-in duration from 'Forever' to '1 day' fixed the issue. I have no idea why! Hope that helps


----------



## Abalone (Jan 31, 2014)

Because I'm too lazy to read this thread in its entirety and other ones, can someone please tell me what's going on or what happened?


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Abalone said:


> Because I'm too lazy to read this thread in its entirety and other ones, can someone please tell me what's going on or what happened?


The forum is in the middle of transferring to a new host. It will be down for potentially zero to 30 hours from now, depending on when the transfer completes, and the final tweaks are done.


----------



## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

I can't login today as my security says it is no longer https and therefore vulnerable

What's going on?


----------



## Glis Moriarty (Jun 20, 2018)

Just moving to new host.
Don't think it's possible to logon atm


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Decon said:


> I can't login today as my security says it is no longer https and therefore vulnerable
> 
> What's going on?


The forum is moving to a new host, and is still in transit. The new site doesn't have SSL yet.
I'm hoping its only a few hours more before I can finish the new site, but it could be up to another day if the transfer is really slow.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

The move is complete and the forum is back up again.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

GoneOverThere said:


> Not for me, unfortunately, the server is still showing maintenance mode. I'm guessing an hour or two more for me.


Try turning your modem off an on. Also computer after that. Worked for me.

Edit: And I just got shunted back to the old site.  The domain shift obviously hasn't fully completed yet.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

i cant access it either, tried with IE, still no. will try again later.


----------



## RedAlert (May 15, 2015)

I've never seen a forum that tolerated another forum setting itself up using the old forums platform.  KB deserves a round of thanks for this.  Perhaps they are not worried and feel that there is room enough for two forums.  But, there's been a lot of slamming lately, and they've been letting this go on for days.  It's okay, do what you have to do, but you guys are moaning and groaning on KBs time and dime.  At least say thanks as you exit.

And, don't pretend that you're just cruising, because you're not.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

RedAlert, I did indeed thank Betsy in another thread and asked her if anyone else had since it was very generous and accomodating of her. i myself haven't been moaning and groaning. i think we can belong to two forums.


----------



## Anarchist (Apr 22, 2015)

AltMe said:


> The move is complete and the forum is back up again.


FWIW, it's blazingly fast.


----------



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Working for me


----------



## GoingAnon (Jan 16, 2014)

It works! Yay!


----------



## BrianDHoward (Jan 31, 2017)

when I try to log in I get this error:



> Unable to verify referring url. Please go back and try again.


I've cleared cookies/history/cache, and that didn't fix it.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

I’m still unable to access it.


----------



## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Our rules governing this kind of situation are pretty straightforward: if you are offering a product or service aimed at authors, you can have a vendor thread in the WC. This rule appears as Point 14 in the pinned FACs, Rules, and Tips thread. By offering an online space for conversation and information-sharing on writing/publishing, Tim is offering a service for authors and is thus eligible for a vendor thread.

This thread is the place for Tim to share info about WS, answer people's questions, and promote WS according to our vendor-thread rules, which Betsy posted here. It's also the place for other people to post reviews of/feedback on WS and to ask civil, on-topic questions about the service.


----------



## RedAlert (May 15, 2015)

GoneOverThere said:


> The fact that on at least three occasions the moderators have come on here and classified this as a SERVICE THREAD which is allowed under the moderators (unknown/unwritten) rules means that this thread is LEGIT and the conversations/discussion on here providing they pertain to the OP's service are totally in order.
> 
> However, posts that drift into discussion and argument over this and that (like yours) aren't. So, please don;t comment unless it;s to do with the OP. Thank you.


I agree. I should not have commented in this particular thread. I can't help but note that there are other threads here in which people feel free to bash KB. What I said still stands. If this is a service thread, "LEGIT," then my comment fits here as well. If you can't see that, well..."discussion and argument over this..." There should be no argument over what I said. But, to keep your discussion flowing, I will exit the thread now. Good luck.


----------



## meh (Apr 18, 2013)

This isn't the first time other forums have been created and talked about on kboards. Many of us who write erotica joined dirtydiscourse.com when we could no longer show erotic title covers or discuss them. If kboards survives, it probably won't be the last time either. 

I've been waiting for Tim's new forum to get past the "buggy" stage before I head over . . . that and me overwriting over a thousand old posts. The new TOS concerned me, but the admin's response hit the nail in the coffin; that and what Google told me about the company.


----------



## BrianDHoward (Jan 31, 2017)

GoneOverThere said:


> Sometimes a fresh link can force your browser into acceptance of an update
> 
> try this writersanctum.com and let it force its way into the https: mode


Bingo!
Thank you.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

"try this writersanctum.com and let it force its way into the https: mode"

I just tried; still can't access it.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

I keep trying but I still can't access it.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

Thanks, Tobias. I tried what you suggested on both FF and IE, but no luck.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Try this link:
https://writersanctum.com/index.php?board=1.0
Some people have found going to a specific place, bypasses whatever the block is.


----------



## Vidya (Feb 14, 2012)

Tim, I tried your new link. it still doesnt work. i still get a page that says:

The connection has timed out

The server at writersanctum.com is taking too long to respond.

    The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
    If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
    If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.


----------



## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Vidya said:


> Tim, I tried your new link. it still doesnt work. i still get a page that says:
> 
> The connection has timed out
> 
> ...


Contact your internet provider, and ask them to check the link between them and the domain.
It could be the routing has changed for you, and one of the nodes on the way is overloaded, or has a block in place for the IP of the forum.
Report it as not being able to reach the domain address. And dont let them fob you off.
If you know how to do a tracert command on the Command prompt, try one of those, and you can send your provider a copy of where the blockage is. But they should be able to do this themselves.


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## Donna White Glaser (Jan 12, 2011)

So is there a secret cave there or something. I keep seeing locked threads that say "moved to Sanctum News. Go away, peasant.*"

*paraphrased


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

Donna White Glaser said:


> So is there a secret cave there or something. I keep seeing locked threads that say "moved to Sanctum News. Go away, peasant.*"
> 
> *paraphrased


Yeah, well, how else we gonna have our secret nudie orgies?


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Donna White Glaser said:


> So is there a secret cave there or something. I keep seeing locked threads that say "moved to Sanctum News. Go away, peasant.*"
> *paraphrased


Secret? No. Its opt-in through your Profile.
Keep seeing? No. Just a couple so far. And mainly because the subject was already under discussion in there.

Secret Cave?  Nothing secret, just members only, and a few opt-in.
Something around 40% of the forum is viewable as a guest. Might be less now.


loraininflorida said:


> Yeah, well, how else we gonna have our secret nudie orgies?


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## JennyJ (Jul 20, 2011)

Vidya said:


> Tim, I tried your new link. it still doesnt work. i still get a page that says:
> 
> The connection has timed out
> 
> ...


I didn't read the whole thread so maybe you already did this, but I would clear all caches on your browser and maybe even the cookies too if just clearing the browser history cache does not work hth


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## Kathy Dee (Aug 27, 2016)

I think the new forum owners have introduced a few very nice features.

First, I like the email subscription facility.

Second, I like the new giffy things, especially the cat.

And I also like being able to 'like' someone else's posts.

What say you?

P.S. HEY - where has the cat gone


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

Do you, perhaps, have this forum confused with another forum?


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## Kathy Dee (Aug 27, 2016)

ImaWriter said:


> Do you, perhaps, have this forum confused with another forum?


Sorry, I don't understand.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Kathy Dee said:


> I think the new forum owners have introduced a few very nice features.
> 
> First, I like the email subscription facility.
> 
> ...


I'm not familiar with any of these 'features.' No GIFs, no Like buttons, etc.

I run an ad-blocker, but even so.... none of these things exist on this board as far as I know.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Kathy Dee said:


> I think the new forum owners have introduced a few very nice features.
> 
> First, I like the email subscription facility.
> 
> ...


Kathy Dee, I think you're referring to writersanctum.com, which is a separate forum under different ownership. It's possible to be looking at KB and think you're looking at WS, and vice versa, as the software is the same and the superficial appearance is similar.

I'll merge this thread with the WS vendor thread.


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## AltMe (May 18, 2015)

Becca Mills said:


> Kathy Dee, I think you're referring to writersanctum.com, which is a separate forum under different ownership. It's possible to be looking at KB and think you're looking at WS, and vice versa, as the software is the same and the superficial appearance is similar.


Has a nice red border around the top now, so shouldn't be mistaken anymore.


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