DisneyPinForum v2.0 Forum Upgrade
Donation protected
DisneyPinForum.com has been an excellent resource for Disney Pin Traders and collectors since its inception in 2010. With the closing of the original DizPins boards around that time, we sought out to create a new community for Disney Pin traders, collectors and Disneyana enthusiasts to discuss and trade.
DPF founders started the site out of pocket, as it continues to be run, but costs for keeping it running have increased enormously over the years. In the interest of transparency, I want to outline the costs we've incurred over the years. When we began the site, we ran on a modest "shared" hosting plan that costed in the neighborhood of $20/month, in addition to purchasing the required forum software we needed to get it off the ground.
Soon after, as the forum grew at a rapid pace, within a year we were forced — both by our host, and the slow loading of the site, creating an undesirable experience for members of DPF, as well as impacting other websites on the shared server (this is why the host forced us to upgrade, as we outgrew our plan) — to upgrade to a single "VPS" virtual server solution, specifically for the forum -- the cost of hosting had tripled to $60/month at this point, but it was still manageable, thanks entirely to a donation drive by some who might remember "Dan", and that supported the forum for quite some time, with the new upgraded server and the costs associated with it.
For about the last 3 years, we moved to an even bigger/better hosting system that now incorporates 2 separate servers to handle database and web (page) requests, keeping the site running smoothly. Unfortunately the cost again tripled from the previous hosting, and I now pay about $180/month for the 2-server setup through our host. This places server costs at about $2,200 yearly.
With the recent issues plaguing the forum due to being run on older (more vulnerable) forum software, (Our forum software, vBulletin4, is still being supported in minor releases, but vBulletin5 was released about 5 years ago, meaning the company's focus is on supporting the newer product.) I've decided to take the time and re-evaluate the entire forum and community as a whole. I do realize things need to be done, not only to increase accessibility and visibility of this community, but also to ensure long-time as well as new members continue to have a great experience at DPF.
This campaign is asking for the initial funding of upgrading the forum software to a newer, faster, more secure and more stable platform, and associated costs for additional plugins and add-ons necessary for the site. An additional round of funding or ongoing funding for site/server maintenance and hosting will happen if this project becomes fully funded.
Thank you!
DPF founders started the site out of pocket, as it continues to be run, but costs for keeping it running have increased enormously over the years. In the interest of transparency, I want to outline the costs we've incurred over the years. When we began the site, we ran on a modest "shared" hosting plan that costed in the neighborhood of $20/month, in addition to purchasing the required forum software we needed to get it off the ground.
Soon after, as the forum grew at a rapid pace, within a year we were forced — both by our host, and the slow loading of the site, creating an undesirable experience for members of DPF, as well as impacting other websites on the shared server (this is why the host forced us to upgrade, as we outgrew our plan) — to upgrade to a single "VPS" virtual server solution, specifically for the forum -- the cost of hosting had tripled to $60/month at this point, but it was still manageable, thanks entirely to a donation drive by some who might remember "Dan", and that supported the forum for quite some time, with the new upgraded server and the costs associated with it.
For about the last 3 years, we moved to an even bigger/better hosting system that now incorporates 2 separate servers to handle database and web (page) requests, keeping the site running smoothly. Unfortunately the cost again tripled from the previous hosting, and I now pay about $180/month for the 2-server setup through our host. This places server costs at about $2,200 yearly.
With the recent issues plaguing the forum due to being run on older (more vulnerable) forum software, (Our forum software, vBulletin4, is still being supported in minor releases, but vBulletin5 was released about 5 years ago, meaning the company's focus is on supporting the newer product.) I've decided to take the time and re-evaluate the entire forum and community as a whole. I do realize things need to be done, not only to increase accessibility and visibility of this community, but also to ensure long-time as well as new members continue to have a great experience at DPF.
This campaign is asking for the initial funding of upgrading the forum software to a newer, faster, more secure and more stable platform, and associated costs for additional plugins and add-ons necessary for the site. An additional round of funding or ongoing funding for site/server maintenance and hosting will happen if this project becomes fully funded.
Thank you!
Organizer
Bryan Gateb
Organizer
Riverside, CA