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Hey guys and gals, just a heads up, there is a site upgrade coming at some point in the next couple weeks. I don't have an exact date picked yet, really is going to depend on a bunch of stuff I'm juggling, but I want to get it done before the turkey contest starts. There will be some changes, there will be some adjustment, that's just the nature of the upgrades to this type of site software. However it's important to stay on top of the upgrades to minimize issues with the site functionality, security, etc. Rest assured, we'll work through any issues we encounter, please be patient as we do. So what can you expect? 1) The most used part of the site is the Recent Topics. I realize how important this is, and feel we've created a main landing page that best represents this with the current software. Mods have been involved in testing the new site layout, and have been positive about the changes overall. We've identified a few things that need tweaking, and users will as well once this site gets officially upgraded. We will work through those issues as we encounter and discuss them. 2) Some lesser used parts of the site may be missing as they get developed/converted, and will be added as they are completed. One of the most used features of the site is the Rating system. The underlying implementation of this has changed, so I will need to port over the data to the new structure. It will happen, just don't panic initially if things seem a little different or don't mesh up right away. 3) The overall look and feel of the site will naturally be a little different, but I'll work on getting things working as fluid as possible based on user feedback. It's a large platform change, so the development learning curve (for me) takes some time, and there are a number of things that don't just automatically port over due to how much the software has changed (i.e. they have to be re-coded with the new site design/architecture). 4) Downtime is tough to estimate, but barring any hiccups, I'm hoping the initial upgrade will complete within a few hours. Some things may take time to "rebuild", like stats/counters/etc...so there will be a delay in some data, but it will eventually get updated sometime in the first 24 hours. Don't panic if we're not back up in a few hours, it will complete or if something catastrophic happens, we will back out the changes and restore the old site to get things figured out. Thus far, I've attempted a complete upgrade with existing site on another domain and it went pretty smoothly. With that said, I welcome any input on features you are most concerned about (i.e. ones you use the most right now and very much want post-upgrade). And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I'll post another topic before the official upgrade day, this post is really to just get it out there for users that aren't on every day so they are aware it's coming and don't visit on the upgrade day, find the site down/offline, and have no idea why!

Alright, not nearly as painful of a process as the last migration. Sorry for all the inconvenience guys, just trying to give you the best site possible, there's just some growing pains along the way. This new host is looking promising and best of all their data center is right in NJ! Hopefully that translates to good load speeds for you guys! Will be doing some tuning as I go, but if you guys experience any issues, please post it up here and I'll get it resolved as quickly as I can!

Due to the resource exceeded issue occurring far too often, I've already purchased another hosting plan tonight. I will be doing a test migration (this site will remain online during this period) tomorrow evening sometime (after my FT job). Once successful, I will be taking this site offline and doing a migration. Hoping the downtime will be far more minimal than last time. One important note is there are some networking changes that take place and usually take about 24 hours to get propagated through the servers across the internet. During that time, you may see the site as still OFFLINE while others are able to get to the new host...you may even see it on your mobile device (via cell towers) but not your computer (via your ISP)...or vice versa. But rest assured, it will work itself out and you'll be back online! Here's an explanation: If anyone has any questions, please let me know...and sorry for the inconvenience of this all, I know it sucks...for all of us!