SUBMARINEMUSEUMS.ORG Forum
General Boards => Website Updates and Off-Topic Discussion => Topic started by: Lance Dean on February 26, 2008, 11:28:13 PM
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Hopefully in the morning I'll make some nifty custom avatars that will let everyone show what submarine museum they are affiliated with.
Thanks for joining up you guys! Spread the word!
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Custom submarine avatars are now available! Noting spectacular, just something for you to use if you choose.
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Lance,
I noticed that the forum times out quickly when it tries to load avatars and other graphics on the page. Anyway to change this?
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Lance,
I noticed that the forum times out quickly when it tries to load avatars and other graphics on the page. Anyway to change this?
That is in the hands of my hosting provider. I've noticed that your avatar link is broken (or else you didn't choose an avatar).
edit:
The link to your avatar is dead:
http://grvrf.yahoo.com/groups/g_20801966/db89/__tn_/ffb5.jpg
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Sometimes it pops up and sometimes it doesn't - it seems to depend on how many pictures the forum has to load on a given screen. If I go to my profile, for instance, it pops up every time. I linked to one of the pictures on our Batfish Yahoo! group site.
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No idea man.
As long as this link:
http://us.a2.yahoofs.com/groups/g_20801966/db89/__tn_/ffb5.jpg?grIvbxHBgVvw.U3s
http://grvrf.yahoo.com/groups/g_20801966/db89/__tn_/ffb5.jpg
which is the link given to the forum for you picture, does not resolve, then it's not going to show. Do you have a photobucket account? Or did you want to just upload the avatar to this site?
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I'll upload it to make it easier on the forum.
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Cool, looking good now!
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Does anyone know if the USSVI and Lockwood Base would care if I placed their images on the bottom of the main page, clickable, linked to their websites?
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The main webmaster for the USSVI main page is Tim VeArd tim@veard.com. He's pretty good about responding. He directed me to Bill when I was trying to get the Batfish added to the memorial page and SaveOurSubs page.
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Added a button at the top of the forum to return to the front page. The other button (upper left) refreshes the forum.
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Most addresses have been corrected.
Added website links to each sub on the forum.
Cleaned up the front page and added a counter.
Added a tidbit more info on each pin on the Google map on the front page.
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Lance, you and all others are certainly welcome to post links to the USSVI and Lockwood pages. I will also be glad to put up links on LIB's web page to any who want their boat page listed there. We just ask that you link back to us. As to the USSVI pages and questions or comments you might have, please send them to me as Tim is gone frequently with his business and he prefers that I go through and handle what I can before sending anything to him.
Let me also ask that as any of you do work on the boats, please send either me or Ron before and after pictures, so we can put them on the Save Our Submarines page. We also will start collecting info and pictures to use in our Museum Boats Display at the convention this fall. Hopefully all of these pages and information will help more people know about the Museum boats and also get more money coming in to help with the resoration and upkeep.
Thanks
Bill
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Stole a submarine silhouette from Ric @ pigboats.com and sent him a PM letting him know...made a new logo for the main page that wasn't quite as boring.
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Lance, is it possible to reply directly to a particular post and have it come out directly underneath that post. As this site gets more and more posts on it, I am afraid it will get confusing as to whom you are replying to and even with the name, maybe what post from someone you are reply about.
thanks,
Bill
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Lance, is it possible to reply directly to a particular post and have it come out directly underneath that post. As this site gets more and more posts on it, I am afraid it will get confusing as to whom you are replying to and even with the name, maybe what post from someone you are reply about.
thanks,
Bill
Nope, no way to do that. You can use the quote function like I did when replying to this, it makes it easier. :)
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{From Lance} Nope, no way to do that. You can use the quote function like I did when replying to this, it makes it easier.
Ok, that will work. Should have realized what you were doing. Noticed, I can also put in myself who it is from.Pretty nifty. Thanks,
Bill
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Great photo of the Batfish on the Main page!
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Great photo of the Batfish on the Main page!
Yeah, but I'd like a better one that shows the entryway into the sub. I can't find one like I like anywhere on the web that isn't copyrighted. That was one of the few that wasn't copyrighted. I wanted to show the Batfish specifically because it's the only one I know of that's just on the ground, not on a pedestal or in the water. I think that's unique and visitors would find that amazing.
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I dont have a picture of the entrance specifically, but I have a picture looking towards the bridge-from aft- that shows the walkway past the bridge to the entrance. If you want me to I will post it.
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3/2/2008 Added a "unique facts" list on the main page.
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Lance, I noticed under one of the subs you said they spoted the Yamato on a war patrol, well the Batfish spotter the Yamato on her first war patrol with Capt. Merril. However Merril did not want to pursue because he believed he saw a radar mast on the Yamato, and did not want those 18 inch guns to bear down on them. "The morning of January 13 [1944]... The radio shack had received a message from Pacific Command, informing them that the ULTRA code breakers had picked up and translated a message confirming that Yamato...would be passing through Batfish's patrol are" From "In The course Of Duty" By: Don Keith
Patrol Log record from 14 January 1944 and 15 January 1944:
"1746(I) Surfaced and commenced surface patrol. Obtained good navigational fix. Sky was clear, sea slightly choppy, and when moon rose at 2042 visibility was excellent. A perfect night for a submerged periscope attack.
2332(I) SJ contact bearing 130° T, range 25,850 yds. Very large pip. (Ship contact #14.)
2333(I) Manned battle stations and changed course toward target. No apparent change in bearing, although range was closing, so secured SJ radar to avoid detection. Sighted high upperworks and mast of large ship hull down on horizon. From what could be seen the target appeared to be a battleship.
2336(I) Submerged and commenced approach. While diving took one last quick sweep with radar which gave a range of about 21,000 yards. Did not attempt to use radar again.
2342(I) Picked up heavy screws on JP-1 at about 18,000 yards.
2348(I) Periscope bearing indicated a radical change of course to the right, away from us. Sound bearings were obtained continuously using JP-1 although we were never able to pick up the target with supersonic gear. Altered course to close target's probable track as much as possible, using a bearing plot with an assumed speed of 18 knots. Target zigging radically to the eastward of us and working around to the northward.
15 January 1944
Making approach on battleship at periscope depth in bright moonlight.
0020(I) It appeared that we were not going to be able to close the target much unless he took a zig back to his left so set all torpedoes for low power shots with depth setting of 22 feet.
0021(I) Sound picked up light, high-speed screws blending in with the heavy screws of the target. Minimum range attained was between 11,000 and 12,000 yards before target drew off to northward. Sound tracking indicated target zigged back to the left after his range had opened up to about 16,000 yards, but by this time he was by us and he was too fast for a surface chase.
0048(I) Lost sound contact with target.
0120(I) Surfaced. Nothing in sight nor on the radar.
0125(I) Secured from battle stations and commenced surface patrol to the eastward. Either we were unlucky enough to get in the middle of a long, looping zig to the eastward or else the target picked us up by radar about the same time we did him and purposely ran out around us. The conditions were perfect to carry out the approach as planed, putting the target between us and the moon, avoiding radar detection, etc., but the breaks just weren't with us. Our principle weakness was our lack of ranges, as the telemeter scale could not be seen and at over ten thousand yards the target appeared as just a very large grey mass. I earnestly believe a zig to the left would have put him in a beautiful position for a successful attack. My best estimate of the target is that it was a battleship screened by at least two destroyers which stayed in close to him and did not use echo-ranging."
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I know, but I was at the end of my string trying to figure out anything to say that was unique about that submarine.
I need ANYTHING unique to say about the Becuna and the Croaker.
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Oh, ok. I was not sure if you knew or not.
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It's odd how much some of these sub museums have in common when you get down to it.
Both the Batfish and the Becuna spotted the Yamato.
Both the Drum and the Cavalla spotted the Shokaku carrier.
Both the Razorback and the Cavalla were at the Japanese surrender.
I believe that some of these subs were in wolfpacks together. Man I've read so much over the last few days that it's all running together. :) It's not "done" yet either.
I'll add in about the Yamato and the Batfish, that's pretty cool to have spotted Yamato by any sub.
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Yes they do have alot of things in common. The Yamato even beeing seen is a wonder. Something that is really cool about the Batfish is that she had a sister ship the Archerfish SS311 (sank the biggest Japanese carrier), anyways Batfish was already to be commisioned, but they did not have her torpedo tubes yet but the Archerfish's tubes were there, so they put the Archerfish's tubes in the Batfish, and the Batfish's tubes in the Archerfish. Today you can still see SS 311 on all the tubes at the Batfish.
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Did you read "Gallant Lady"? It's a great book about the Archerfish!
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No I have not read that one yet. I have really just read the Batfish books, and "War Under The Pacific". Plus countless numbers of things online from the submarine museum websites.
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Yeah, but I'd like a better one that shows the entryway into the sub. I can't find one like I like anywhere on the web that isn't copyrighted. That was one of the few that wasn't copyrighted. I wanted to show the Batfish specifically because it's the only one I know of that's just on the ground, not on a pedestal or in the water. I think that's unique and visitors would find that amazing.
Lance - tell me exactly what you want. I have tons of photos...plus I'll be down there this coming Saturday (weather permitting) and can get you what you want. What do you mean by "entryway into the sub"? Forward hatch? Conning tower hatch? I've got a bow to stern coverage inside and out, most of which are in a box or stored digitally. I'm wanting to expand my virtual tour so I may have what you are looking for. I can email you the photos if you can explain what you want.
Mark
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Lance - tell me exactly what you want. I have tons of photos...plus I'll be down there this coming Saturday (weather permitting) and can get you what you want. What do you mean by "entryway into the sub"? Forward hatch? Conning tower hatch? I've got a bow to stern coverage inside and out, most of which are in a box or stored digitally. I'm wanting to expand my virtual tour so I may have what you are looking for. I can email you the photos if you can explain what you want.
Mark
Mark, I'll email you in a few minutes as soon as I find a picture that is similar to what I'm looking for.
Lance
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3/2/2008
Added to and clarified the Mission Statement on the front page to say:
"To unite all submarine museum curators, docents, volunteers, enthusiasts, and visitors through positive promotion and cooperative education in order to perpetuate the American submarine museums of our forefathers."
I feel silly as I didn't even know what a docent was until today. "a lecturer or tour guide in a museum or cathedral"
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Dont feel bad, I didnt know what it meant either.
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Ok, today (3/3/08) I :
Messed with the image sizes on the main page to make them look better
Messed with the image links at the top of the forum
Added to the "what's unique" list
Changed some of the text/link colors in the style.css to make things a little clearer (I hope) on the forum pages
Removed the stock buttons for "new" or "no new" posts and added in some nifty red "no new" and green "new" posts indicator buttons.
Sent out some more emails inviting people to come on in!
Made 3 different sized banners (small, medium, large) for people to place on their pages on the web, viewable at http://www.submarinemuseums.org/affiliate/ (http://www.submarinemuseums.org/affiliate/) and made a sticky post about them in this board
Got the site linked on subsim.com
Added a bunch of stuff on the main page about patches, rockers, saveoursubmarines.com, etc. I'm still not sure it's all worded correctly. Need Bill to verify it. :)
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3/4/2008
Further clarified the front page patch information today.
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3/15/2008
Added to the main page and cleaned things up.
Cleaned up mailing addresses for each sub listed on the forum. I also added in some website addresses. If you have any valid addresses to add, let me know.
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3/17/08
Streamlined the top of each page to look the same for easier navigation.
Added a links page.
Moved the Google map to its own page and added a link to the top. This was done so the main page would load quicker and to emphasize the Google map from every page on the website.
Cleaned up the Google map and added different colored location pins to loosely represent different submarine classes.
Added a link to SaveOurSubmarines.com at the top of the page.
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3/18/2008
Added to the LINKS page.
Made the logo shorter and smaller in filesize to load faster.
Verified all pages with http://validator.w3.org/ to ensure all pages on the site have correct HTML or XHTML coding. This means that the site should have no errors with all major web browsers and should look relatively the same across all browsers.
Changed the favicon.ico to a more patriotic one. If you don't see it (looks like a flag) in your web browser, clear your temp files and close and reopen your web browser.
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what's happened to the forum layout?
Lance - don't know what's happened, but your layout that was just there 15 minutes ago is gone.
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Something got reset, but it should be fine now. How does it look now?
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For a little while it looked like the SubSim format. I actually preferred it because I'm on there all of the time.
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back to how it was...but we've lost the spongebob icons :-\
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Heh, good to hear!
I added in a new smiley set though, the block ones were annoying...
:2funny:
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Speaking of SpongeBob, how many of us volunteered at museum subs whose directors acted like Mr. Krabs?? LOL!!
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For a little while it looked like the SubSim format. I actually preferred it because I'm on there all of the time.
For some reason the thing defaulted to the "default" SMF theme, which I don't care for.
I think SUBSIM uses vBulletin, which is probably the most popular BBS software out there. I'm more used to SMF though.
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Speaking of SpongeBob, how many of us volunteered at museum subs whose directors acted like Mr. Krabs??
What is funny is that we know who spongebob and Mr. Krabs are :P
And yes...I've been there, done that. Glad to have Rick running the show at the Batfish.
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what's happened to the forum layout?
Lance - don't know what's happened, but your layout that was just there 15 minutes ago is gone.
By the way MWALLEN, thanks for posting about something being wrong. Things go wrong all the time and people don't let me know (not here, other places). I try to pay close attention to detail, but often things will go unnoticed by me. Anytime you see anything wrong or get any errors, let me know! :knuppel2:
edit:
For example, I use Firefox. I forget sometimes to check things out in Internet Explorer. So far things look 100% the same in both browsers as far as I can tell.
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Hey, even if you don't have kids, SpongeBob is fun and just plain silly to watch, and an integral part of pop culture!
And I think I've seen docents who remind me of Squidward and Patrick!
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OK! Today 3/26/2008:
1) Modified some tricky files so that a bar is placed into boards that have "stickied" topics. All topics above the bar are sticky topics, all topics below the bar are normal topics. It was confusing me too but this particular theme has no easy way to differentiate the two types of topics other than the tiny icon beside the post...and who looks at those anyway?
If there is no bar, then there are no sticky topics.
2) Changed the "NEW POST" button from blue to red. Hopefully this makes it quicker and easier to see what boards have new posts.
3) Changed the "new" button that appears beside topics that have new posts from blue to red, with the same intention.
Sadly, there is no way that I've found to bold topic subjects when they have new posts with this particular theme. Just know that topics with new posts will have the flashing red button beside it and will appear below the "sticky bar". This all probably sounds really confusing, but when you see what I'm talking about it should be super obvious.
If any of you have problems seeing red then let me know, the colors are easily changeable.
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I like the new red buttons for the new posts. They stand out more for us blind guys.
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I'm just worried about anyone who is colorblind...
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Also today...
When you upload a picture that is wider than 700 pixels and click on the thumbnail for it, a new window will open up for (hopefully) easier viewing of that wide picture.
Oh well, that won't work. Looks like we have to live with the scrolling mess.
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3/27/2008
Today I learned how to make an external stylesheet and how to code CSS. It helped integrate the rest of the website in with the forum (I hope).
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All of the website images are now transparent, meaning that the background color can be changed on a whim and the images will still look fine no matter what (minus black that is).
I've also been trying to email 1 person a day, inviting them to the website. Sorry if I accidentally spam some of you existing members. :D
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Sometimes this site runs really fast and other times it times out. Not that many people are logged into this at any given moment (most of the time it's probably 5 or less). So, I was wondering if you are hosting this from your own computer or through a hosting company like 1&1.com?
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Sometimes this site runs really fast and other times it times out. Not that many people are logged into this at any given moment (most of the time it's probably 5 or less). So, I was wondering if you are hosting this from your own computer or through a hosting company like 1&1.com?
Heh, no way I'm running a real website off my computer (anymore). I have a hosing plan with Surpass Hosting (http://www.surpasshosting.com). They are top-notch from the multiple hosting providers I've tried over time. I've used them since early 2006. It is "shared hosting" however, so I just have a directory on a webserver, along with many other people on that same server. I have 200 GB of storage and 2,000 GB of bandwidth per month for $60 a year. I can have 10 add-on domains, which this site is one of them. My primary account/domain is my personal website. We all share the bandwidth and storage.
I have never had issue with timeouts with this company, but it may be related to where I live in relation to where the server is located. It's the best option possible, as a real dedicated server costs upwards of hundreds of dollars per month to have.
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Okay. I use 1&1.com for my German unit website: www.352nd-mlha.com I also use it to upload photos. Since I only pay like $15 per year, I have a lower priority on their server and sometimes my website is slow if their traffic is high.
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Okay. I use 1&1.com for my German unit website: www.352nd-mlha.com I also use it to upload photos. Since I only pay like $15 per year, I have a lower priority on their server and sometimes my website is slow if their traffic is high.
Same concept here. If some butthead that is on the same server we are, and he's eating the bandwidth hard, we suffer along with everyone else on the server. It's the price we pay for having shared hosting vs. dedicated hosting. We just hope that the hosting company has proper management of the server load.
:knuppel2:
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4/8/2008
Cleaned up and added to the LINKS (http://www.submarinemuseums.org/links.html) page.
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4/15/2008
Added a picture of the Cod's maneuvering room to the front page.
I received an email from Paul Kidd of the Silversides, he'll be joining us shortly I hope!
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5/13/08
Added in the U-505, B-39, and B-427 to the table on the front page. Also moved their forum boards into the main listing of submarines.
Will add interesting facts about them to the front page soon.
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5/30/2008
Removed the link up top that went to the SaveOurSubmarines.com website. I have moved the link to it instead to the bottom of the page by clicking on the Restoration Supporter patch. I thought this was more fitting. It looks better too.
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6/1/2008
I have added the Russian K-77 (Juliett 484) and the USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) to the listing of submarine museums here. That makes 26 museum boats. They all have their own discussion board on the forum, their own black and white avatar for use on the forum (if anyone wants), their own pin on the MAPS page, and a listing/unique facts on the front page.
While the Juliett 484 isn't open to the public due to heavy storm damages, I feel that she'll reopen. The Dolphin isn't officially a museum boat yet (I don't think) but I feel pretty sure she'll be one.
*whew*
26 submarine museum boats!
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6/7/2008
Just purchased a better hosting option from the same company. Sometime soon I'll do a transfer and see how it goes.
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7/30/2008
Added a new "VIDEO" button at the top. Right now it is home to the YouTube video that used to be on the front page. Soon it will be home to an all new, higher quality video. If any of you want to help me by being my "beta testers" for the new video, send me a PM and I'll give you the link to try out.
I also added numerous new photos all over the website, including Torsk, Marlin, Albacore, and Bowfin.
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9/7/2008
Tonight I upgraded the forum from v1.1.5 to v1.1.6. This update was just released today. It was supposed to fix some minor security vulnerabilities when SMF runs on Windows machines. This host doesn't use Windows machines, but I did the upgrade anyway just to stay on top.
In my honest opinion, Simple Machines Forum is one of the most secure and most stable forum software programs out there. Let me know if you see anything odd after doing this upgrade.
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Somehow Tom Bowser's account got corrupted. As far as I can tell no one else's account has any issues.
So I had to delete the username Drumvol and recreate it as Tom Bowser.
Let me know if any of you have login problems.
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9/19/2008
If you haven't looked over all of the various pages to this website lately, take a look. I've added many little photos of various subs all around. Hopefully I'm not junking up the place. I have an idea for just one more page to add to the site, and if I add that in there should be enough room to have a photo of every museum somewhere on the site.
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SPELL CHECK is now active!
Whenever you make a new post, you'll have 3 options: Post, Preview, and now Spell Check! This will be great for you Internet Explorer users (as Firefox has an automatic spell checker) who want to spell check your posts before posting. Completely optional, just another feature you can try out if you like.
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10/1/08
I learned a little about Java today and customized the table on the front page. Take a look at it and scroll over it with your mouse. :) I have reordered the submarines on the front page table by launch date. This was done to give visitors a feel for age of the different subs.
Here on the forum, I rearranged the submarines by alphabetical order. Hopefully this will make finding a sub easier for new members and old members alike. Yes, I'm messing with you all! I like this change though.
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You will see randomly in the "NEWS BOX" in the upper right of the screen a box that shows the uptime and server load.
The "uptime" box is a free service that pings this website every 30 minutes and lets me know if the website is down. The % shown is what percentage of time the website has been up since I subscribed to this service on June 27, 2008. You can click on that "uptime" box to see the statistics.
The orange "SL" box is the actual server load. The number on the left should be below 5.00 for optimal service. The % number on the right should be below 100%. As I type this, we are having issues with the server and the box states "8.98, 225%" which is VERY bad. I have contacted the service department to find out what's up with the server!
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2/6/2009
Upgraded the forum this morning to address a security vulnerability. Please let me know if you see any errors.
:knuppel2:
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7/10/2009
Spruced things up around the website and forum. Maybe you guys can tell. :)
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7/15/2009
I installed an important security patch to the forum tonight. So as usual, let me know if you guys encounter any odd issues resulting from this patch.