Building a KFD lifeboat

Hi Everyone,

I was very pleased to see that the forum was back online this morning after 3 full days of not working. This is something I have no control over; the Wetpaint platform has been good for us in many ways, but it has not been completely reliable. When it goes down due to unknown technical difficulties, I have no recourse but to hope along with the rest of you that it will come back soon. I worry that one day it will go down and just not come up again. In that event, it would be very good if we had a lifeboat.

Here's my plan:

1st, make sure that I have your email! Send me an email at kennethfolkdharma at gmail dot com, so I have a reliable way to contact you and can send out announcements in the event of another Wetpaint crash so we can all stay informed and decide what to do next.

2nd, let's discuss the advisability of moving to another, more reliable platform. One option is a forum plugin that integrates seamlessly with the Wordpress site at kennethfolkdharma.com. Please weigh in on this thread with your opinions and technical expertise. (Don't send your views to me in an email, because I want everyone in on this discussion.)

3rd: Let's make sure all the threads on this forum are backed up and the backups are kept up to date. Will someone volunteer to mirror the site and to update it weekly? The carefully documented accounts of progress and the methods used to attain it are pure gold and should be kept as a resource for those who come after.

Thanks for being a part of this community and for taking the time to weigh in on this question.

Kenneth

I don't have a concrete suggestion other than that it would be good to migrate to a platform that doesn't enforce silly word limits per post. Maybe I'm just wordy, but I think it's a hassle that doesn't need to be there, and makes KFD seem archaic in some way.

What do you guys think about phpBB? It's the only forum platform I've ever installed/managed myself.
But perhaps there are better matches for Wordpress out there?

Does anyone have experience with these for example?
www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/05...press-forum-plugins/

Good point, EIS. I agree that the word limit is unhelpful.

Another idea to help us all stay connected: If you are not yet on Google+, get on it! Create a circle called "dharma friends" and add me to it along with all the other KFD folks. Google+ is a really good way to build online community and to get spread news within a group. It also allows you the opportunity to do live video hangouts with other yogis, which I think we can turn into a powerful support for practice using dyad noting as well as a way to meet "face to face" with people you know from the forum.

Maybe someone here can explain the best way to wrangle a Google+ invite for those who don't yet have one?

"3rd: Let's make sure all the threads on this forum are backed up and the backups are kept up to date. Will someone volunteer to mirror the site and to update it weekly?"

Kenneth, didn't you and I a year or so ago create a way to back this entire site up easily? Do you want to revisit that? I'd be happy to talk to you about that as I'd hate to see all this information lost!

I have been able to back it up in the past using HTTrack website copier.

www.httrack.com/

I can probably redo the backup tomorrow.

I think that's the tool we used.

BBpress seems a good option, since its made by the same people as Wordpress. Before the new KFD site was made I was thinking that Ning might also be a solution.

One feature request would be the ability to see the comments themselves in the e-mail notifications. It takes a long time to log in to wetpaint and navigate to the threads after getting a notification.

Thanks, David and Andy, for suggesting bbpress. I'm looking at it now and so far it looks good. I'm also interested in hearing from some of the non-tech members of the forum about whether they would prefer to move to another platform or to try to stay here, what are the pros and cons of moving, etc. Please chime in, everyone, so I can get a feel for the zeitgeist.

Chris, yes I still have the hard drive you donated, and I remember that you walked me through the use of the backup software, but I confess that I don't really understand how to use it so maybe you could give me a refresher course? I think once I get the hang of it I could make it a regular thing. It's also good that Jayson is backing up the site, 'cause redundancy is safety. I agree with you that the practice threads here are too valuable to lose.

Sure thing, Kenneth. Can we talk in L.A., or would you prefer sooner?

I would vote to stay here. This system only goes down periodically and there are a whole bunch of issues and a lot of work related to moving elsewhere. I could elaborate if needed, but given that this works, albeit imperfectly, why break what;'s not broken? Simple is generally better when it comes to things IT.

"Another idea to help us all stay connected: If you are not yet on Google+, get on it! Create a circle called "dharma friends" and add me to it along with all the other KFD folks. Google+ is a really good way to build online community and to get spread news within a group. It also allows you the opportunity to do live video hangouts with other yogis, which I think we can turn into a powerful support for practice using dyad noting as well as a way to meet "face to face" with people you know from the forum.

Maybe someone here can explain the best way to wrangle a Google+ invite for those who don't yet have one?"

I still have invites left to send out.
PM me your e-mail address and I'll send one.

If you're already on Google+, and you don't have invites, you can share stuff on your profile and choose to share it via e-mail with people who aren't on it yet. If they reply to this, they'll usually get an account.

I'm with Chris on this one. I would really think twice about re-establishing the forum using another platform. Of course we could switch to something else and then make an archive of what we already have available, however there's a lot involved with doing that.

The last bump in service was the first one in quite some while.

When the DhO switched, the old threads were kind of clunky. I've got no problem with sticking with Wetpaint--so long as it works. I totally agree that backing up the data is important.

Another vote for keeping this forum. (with backups)

Changing IT-platforms is a pain and always results in much more work than you could believe before.
And I think old threads must be migrated in the new forum. If not possible, keep this forum "forever".

Thanks, guys, for all the feedback on migration. It sounds like we are better off staying here on Wetpaint unless it completely collapses out from under us. Chris, let's talk more about backups when we meet in LA. It looks like Jayson has us covered for now.

While Sayadaw U Pandita would probably agree with the enforced word limits, I do agree that they're a pain.
If there's a way to turn those off, that would be cool.