Discuss the New Hosting Options Here

[Ishmayl-Retired]

The title says it all.  Let's keep discussion here, instead of in comments on the news page... it will be easier to follow that way.

[MBene]

I think that it is a wonderful idea that you're offering the choice between having a hosted site of two types of quality and not.  Personally, I feel that this kind of small community would be greatly improved by offering such services, as long as they don't attack the functionality of the other services.

Unfortunately, I will probably not be using many of the services available.  A forum is good enough for me, right now, and I don't remember enough of HTML to make a website as professionally as I would like.

But kudos on doing the best you can to provide a home for those of us serious about our own campaign settings.  In my opinion, the CBG's already far surpassed many of the other such sites.  Keep it up. :)

[Xeviat]

Ish, what has the discussion concerned so far?

[Kalos Mer]

I think this is an excellent solution!  I didn't use the old interface at all because I found it far too limited.  I will, however, most likely take advantage of one of the two plans some time shortly!  (Need to take care of minor details like rent and utilities first...)

[Ravenspath]

First off I think you get points for using the word 'webbry'.

Personally I like the idea of wikifarm if it can be set up where only the person in charge of those certain pages can make the changes. Wiki's seem to be very easy to update and would be useful for organizing everything. While the professional sites would be very cool also I think for ease of use I would go with the wiki.

Now saying that I don't know for sure that I would use them as a friend and I are working on building a gaming related site (that you will all be invited to join) that will, hopefully, have some form of a wiki on them for both my worlds. But that may not happen for a bit and I would use them for sure. And depending on the policies I may just link from my site to the wiki here.

Okay, I am all for the wiki option.

[Higgs Boson]

I'm probabbly gonna end up going for the full on hosting option. Looks pretty nice, though.

[Wensleydale]

I'll certainly be using the wikifarm. Coolness. High-five, Ishy.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Thanks for the responses so far guys.  I'm sure a lot of you could tell from the tone of my news post that I was a little worried about how some of the site may react.  I'm glad to see you guys have proven me wrong.  I love hosting this site. :)

And thanks PK for the turtle pic, that made my day! :)

[Stargate525]

And us site memebrs love it being hosted!

[SA]

This is great news.  I've always thought that the CBG would probably be the only site I'd ever want to spend any money on, and with the way things are going, I might end up doing just that.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

And thanks PK for the turtle pic, that made my day! :)

No prob :) Though this seems an unusual thread to discuss it in  x.


Obviously there are serious advantages to a website format, so if I were still actively updating the Kishar site I'd seriously consider the $5 a month option.

Wikis are cool too, and probably easier for people that don't know any HTML/CSS.

[Lmns Crn]

Musings:

I am glad that the wiki/wikifarm idea [note=Question]What is a "wikifarm?" Does it grow potatoes?[/note] is getting such support. The appeal seems to be that the format is easy to use, which I think is going to be a great path for getting new people interested in using Hosting options, particularly in the case of individuals who aren't comfortable with more intense coding.

I don't know if I'll use it myself, because I'm not familiar with working with wikis at all. I suppose this might be an excellent opportunity to learn.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that right now, I'm not sure what I'll do. I will probably poke my nose around a few different options before deciding.

Ishy, a question: Would the pay-for-hosting options also help fund the site in any way? The newspost says they will be used for server maintenance, but I don't know what that entails. I know the CBG costs a good chunk of cash to run and that you eat most of the expense out of your own pocket. So would these hosting fees help defray those costs at all?

I ask, because I think a lot of people would be more likely to use the paid hosting option if it turns out that doing so would also help pay for the whole site to run.

[Ishmayl-Retired]

Good question LC,
"Server Maintenance" tends to be a bit of a catch-all term.  The CBG costs a certain amount of money a month to run, and that money comes out of my pocket.  A long time ago, the Opal Council had the idea that we could sell a few things through the CafePress site and that would help pay for things.  However, there are two problems with that.  One, no one has bought anything (in fact, ElDo and I have both personally purchased items off the site to give away as prizes, which depletes money from my pocket ;)), and two, the costs of the server are high enough that it would take a quite a few sold items to compensate.  So, the Guild is fronted out of my own pocket.

Since I have bought into the server as a partner, I now pay money for my spot on the server, as well as any paid upgrades that we need to do.  Plus, if I end up needing to get a personal server for IRC (instead of using a shared server), that will cost more money.

So, the short answer is, "Yes, if you pay for hosting, it will go towards helping me pay my portion for the upkeep of the site."  

Now, don't go thinking I'm holding the site hostage for donations or hosting or anything.  I can handle the bill for the time being, and if I couldn't, I would let you guys know (or I would skimp on the server and we'd be back on dreamhost;) ).  Make no mistake though, if you pay for hosting, you are personally helping to keep this site running.

[Lmns Crn]

I was hoping you'd say that. This'll make it that much easier to justify a probable future decision to use the paid hosting.

Since this thread looks an awful lot like the current poll question, I'd like to try and spice it up a bit with some wikifarm questions, because I'm not really sure what that is! Hopefully this can persuade me (and others who may be on the fence) about the merits of the wiki format!

1.) What is a "wikifarm"? Is that just a group of wikis?

2.) Can post my setting in a wiki without worrying about Joe Intarnetz having the ability to alter and delete my information at will?

2b.) If I were doing a group project with other members of the site, could we set up a wiki editable by multiple authors?

3.) How difficult (or easy) is it to learn the coding required?

4.) How difficult (or easy) is it to change the look of a wiki page? Is layout and appearance a matter of choosing from a list of preset templates, or can I customize things?

5.) What are some of the benefits of using a wiki rather than a regular webpage? I gather that they are easier to build and less potentially dangerous to the server-- do they have any advantages in terms of how they present content?

[Ishmayl-Retired]

1.) What is a "wikifarm"? Is that just a group of wikis?

It's essentially just a "group" of wikis.  However, it's much neater than that.  The main server part of it will be controlled by me, but anyone that requests one can have their own unlimited wiki to administer.  You know pbwiki?  Well, you would have all administrative capabilities for your wiki, and no one could change your stuff without your permission, as well as you could have your own style that everyone would see.  So yeah... a group of wikies.

2.) Can post my setting in a wiki without worrying about Joe Intarnetz having the ability to alter and delete my information at will?

Yes, you will essentially be able to pick and choose if anyone else other than you can edit parts of your setting.

2b.) If I were doing a group project with other members of the site, could we set up a wiki editable by multiple authors?

I think so.  As a worse case scenario though, all the members of a project could be given the username and password for a particular wiki project.  However, with the way I'm planning on setting it up, I believe there will be able to be multiple users on single projects.

3.) How difficult (or easy) is it to learn the coding required?

Extremely.  You know how forums have a special code called "bbcode" that basically lets you do html without having the knowledge of (or the power of) html?  wikicode is the same way, just different tags.  We'll be using the same wiki we currently have, MediaWiki (I think), so you should get a bit of practice in at the CBGwiki if you feel the need.  

4.) How difficult (or easy) is it to change the look of a wiki page? Is layout and appearance a matter of choosing from a list of preset templates, or can I customize things?

For the wikifarm, you can change the look of your particular "farm" or project to any theme or style that is uploaded, and anyone who visits your wiki will see the style you want them to see.  There will probably originally just be the 10-or-so MediaWiki default styles, but we'll add more as time goes by.

5.) What are some of the benefits of using a wiki rather than a regular webpage? I gather that they are easier to build and less potentially dangerous to the server-- do they have any advantages in terms of how they present content?

Well, only that they are much easier to edit and fix mistakes than a regular web page.  But the number ONE benefit is with the security issues, and not with the actual wiki features.

Hope I answered your questions suitable; I'll try to get some more info up about the farm as soon as I've got all the kinks worked out on the test site and know more myself ;)