"Town & Country" - March 19, 2021

[stmv]

Like others I struggled a bit with the grid, but was able to get the meta with the first thing I tried. But somehow it didn''t really seem like I was ashore until I was able to post on here. Many thanks for getting the forum back up.

[Colin]

Like, like, like, like, like,
Like, like, like, like, like, like, like,
Like, like... thank you Brian!

[Jeremy Smith]

I’m happy to be on the beach. I’m even happier to be back on the forum.
Thank you, Brian and all others who worked behind the scenes to make this place happen again!

[EdStrong]

Ashore - able to watch hoops this weekend with a little less stress now

[Limerick Savant]

Still at sea by choice until the newsprint version arrives in the morning but happy that the forum is up again so I could post a reply on the Monday Meta thread. With all these options, I seem to be going through a metamorphosis.

[Tonearm]

After a few weeks off, glad to be ashore! Not a huge fan of the mechanics but will abstain on more specific criticism while others are submitting.

[BrianMac]

The software that runs this forum is updated frequently and whenever a new version becomes available, I get nasty red messages every time I log in telling me the version of the software we’re using is out of date. I did the update once and it was a real pain in the neck, so since then I’ve ignored the nasty red messages. But it got to a point where we were several versions behind, and I was concerned that we wouldn’t be able to add new features (like some ideas we had for the calendar) if we were using outdated software.

So Tuesday and Wednesday being the quietest days around here, I took the site down Tuesday afternoon to upgrade the software. Catastrophe ensued, and I could not for the life of me get the site to come back up over the next two days of trying. Last night, I finally threw in the towel and reached out for professional help. I was lucky enough to connect with a phpBB expert named Yuriy, who was kind enough to help me out and is solely responsible for the site being back up. THANK YOU YURIY!

Yuriy offers his services to sites like ours (and much, much larger) to help with emergencies like this, but also to help with the operation of the site to prevent emergencies like this! So, I intend to work with him going forward for any issues beyond my abilities. Mainly, I will ask Yuriy to perform all software upgrades and updates to ensure the site is always kept on the current software. But there are other projects I have not been able to figure out like how to allow attachments in PMs and how to get rid of the /forums from the end of the URL, and I think Yuriy will be able to help with these things from time to time also (you’ll notice he already fixed the URL).

I probably should have sought out someone like Yuriy a long time ago. I’ve been sick to my stomach these last few days thinking that the site was gone for good, and all the work people have contributed – Joe’s spreadsheets and past solutions, Bob’s weekly lists, Peter’s calendar, all the contributors to MMM – I feel like there are too many other people invested to leave the operation of the site to my amateur knowledge and learn-as-you-go strategy.

Over the last two years, I’ve lost count of the people who have offered to chip in to defray the cost of running the site. I’ve always refused because the actual cost to host the site – $12 a month – is affordable for me, and as I’ve told anyone who will listen, I feel like I get much more than $12 in value from being part of this group every month. There are other reasons as well that I would prefer not to take money from folks here. But now I understand from Yuriy that “you get what you pay for” and that it may be in our interest to migrate to a new and better hosting service, which would cost more. Yuriy would handle the migration (I'm told it's easy) and it’s not something we would even notice, but we would have to pay him for that. And as I mentioned there are other things throughout the year that we could probably use his help with.

The number of members of the site has steadily grown over the last two years and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Also, with new WSJ promotion coming down the pike, it’s safe to assume another influx of new members is coming. So it’s probably past time that we graduate out of the bush league and involve someone who knows what they’re doing. But it means I am going to have to spread the cost. I don’t think we’re looking at more than $300-400 or so a year depending on the cost of the new hosting service and anything else we ask Yuriy to do, but that’s really a guess. I’ve seen sites like Rex Parker that put up a donation button for one month out of the year and members kick in whatever they want. $5, $10, $20, none. I’m thinking something like that, but I’m open to any suggestions.

I’ll start putting back some of the customizations to the site, like Isaac’s picture, the calendar, star ratings, thumbs up, etc., (all low-risk propositions that don't require Yuriy), but it may take a week or two before everything is totally back to normal. Please let me know if anything isn't working perfectly (Yuriy’s words – love this guy). Thank you all for your patience and support these last few days, and I’m sorry I got in over my head on this upgrade. I’m really hoping never to have to go through it again!

[mikeh]

On shore! I enjoyed this one, it was clever.

[steveb]

Thank you Brian and Yuriy! I'm onshore and happy to deposit something in the tip jar when it comes around.

[sharkicicles]

I know a guy named Yuri but he usually fixes other situations for me. Welcome back and thanks Brian!

[Laura M]

Glad this place is back! I was surprised in the past couple of days how often my fingers opened a browser and navigated to xword-muggles.com without my brain even being involved :-) Kind of like when the power is out but you keep turning on light switches. Thank you so much Brian and Yuriy! Also, I'm on shore.

[Guy]

Ashore, and thank you Brian, you are a true Muggle hero.

[TomAndDenise]

Ashore but still working the grid. Thanks for the site!

[Gman]

Posted ashore in WSJ comments, but happier to do so here.

[Mister Squawk]

Ashore, and grateful to the staff for their work to restore the site!

[CallMeShane]

Tough grid.

Meta, not so much.

NOCA (Number OF Correct Answers) estimate is 2,000.

On shore.

[jhseeman]

THANK YOU BRIAN!

Ashore czechvar in hand glad to be amongst the muggles again. Didn't realize how addicted I had become to this site, the puzzles, the puns and the people.

Once again thanks Brian

[802puzzler]

Ashore last night, but no forum to post to! Thanks to Brian and Yuriy who brought it back to life!

Count me in for a subscription/donation as soon as you are ready!!!

I'm enjoying my morning cappuccino for now

[Streroto]

Like everyone else, I am so glad we are all reunited! I missed you. Brian and Yurly, thanks for getting us back together.

What I would have posted at about 4:30 yesterday was: Wow, tough grid! I have not erased that much in the Friday grid in a long time if ever. The swim to shore was a breeze by comparison.

Stay well my friends

[WDunbar]

On shore. This one was pretty heavily nerfed out, so I got it pretty much immediately without thinking much.