Message Board Loading and Posting Problems

[Ryan Ruck]

I'm posting this here since the tacked announcement in all the forums has (so far) gone unnoticed.

Fellow members,

I realize that message board page loading and posting is a bit problematic because of connection timeouts, hangs, and long delays.

This is due to our hosting service, HostSave, using a vastly outdated version of PHP software. The PHP software is what "drives" this message board. Had we known about this problem prior to signing up with HostSave, rest assured, we would have looked elsewhere.

We have received word from HostSave that they are planning a PHP upgrade within the near future. To date, that update has not taken place. As a result, we have resolved that if there is not a noticeable improvement in site performance by October/November, we will be switching to a different hosting service.

To facilitate more acceptable browsing and participation here please take the following advice:

• Give pages plenty of time to load during peak times (Afternoon and early evening). There is a noticeable performance increase during off-peak periods (Late evenings, overnight, and weekends).
• When posting a message have patience. Give your post about 2-3 minutes to go through. If your browser hasn't changed from the message editor screen after 2-3 minutes of waiting, simply click on the "Message Board" button at the top to get back to the main message board page. Your message will have likely been posted by this point and you will see it. DO NOT CLICK THE "SUBMIT REPLY"/"SUBMIT NEW THREAD" BUTTON MORE THAN ONCE! YOU WILL MAKE A DUPLICATE POST!

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience and hope that this will be resolved as soon as possible.

Thanks for hanging in there with us!

[Sean Osborne]

Ryan,

I don't know if the HostSave PHP upgrade has occured or not, but as of right now, the TAA Homepage and Forum are loading screaming fast !

This rocks!

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, I just checked and there still has been no PHP upgrade.

They must have done some sort of optimization to get a little more speed out of it. But why they would do that instead of just getting the upgrade done makes no sense… Of course, when you get down to it it really doesn't make any sense as to why they wouldn't keep up with the PHP upgrades given that it is such a relatively simple task.

I am still planning on a move to a new host in the Oct/Nov timeframe if HostSave doesn't get it in gear.

Using such an old version of PHP, even if it has picked up in speed, poses several large security risks and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. And, given the group our board is speaking out against, once we get bigger we will want the most robust security available!

Right now, it looks like the hosting service PowWeb is the leading contender. They even have PHP 4 and 5 available!