Hello there,
First of all - sincere apologies for the initial delay on the revamping of the website. Myself and John were, ourselves, frustrated at the length of time it took for the site to get back up and running. Secondly, I wish to offer my apologies on the length of time it has taken us to get back to members and address all your concerns – we’ve spent a lot of the time over the last few days trying to come to terms with the extent of the new site’s issues, but we’ve finally got our head above water (though with all the snow, we’re still getting wet).
Some people have reported that they have lost comments on work, and that they've also lost points. I would like to reassure you all that these issues are being addressed. I am told that all this information has been saved and backed up, but due to unforeseen software problems, things are taking a little to longer to update. Members’ points should be corrected by Monday, but if this isn’t the case by Tuesday, I would ask all those experiencing problems to get in touch with me directly via e-mail: Thomas@writing4all.ie
In regards to the issue of the disappearing comments, this is the current situation: some 95% of the 39,000 comments from the old site have automatically been transferred to the new site, but we are encountering problems with the remaining 5%. Those 5% of comments are still stored and saved, but our webmaster may have to upload them in a different way – that is to say it might take him a little longer to upload the messages manually, but once the comments are up, the messages won’t be affected. At present, we are unsure as to why some comments won’t automatically transfer, so if any of you have examples of writings which have lost comments, could you please get in touch with me, quoting your username and title of the piece? This will enable us to track down those missing comments and work out how to deal with the remaining 5%.
As for the problem of the comment approval, that has now been fixed, so everyone should be able to post comments without the fear of being in some Orwellian nightmare where only John and I can approve such comments. It was never our intention to be in this situation – trust us, we don’t want to read and approve 300 comments a day! – but just the result of default security settings on the new website. As I've said, they've now been tweaked, so you should see those comments posting as soon as you hit 'Save.'
One of the biggest problems at the moment seems to centre around the issue of accessing writings. It is imperative on a site like this that members have full and easy access to their writings, and that the writings of others can also be accessed. Without these things, the site becomes pointless, I know. Again, we are very frustrated that this issue has arisen, and we have alerted our webmaster to the problem. He is currently working on improving the system, but if things don't improve anytime soon, we're considering withdrawing his food and water. Though, I suspect that may just exacerbate the problem.
I suppose the crux of my message is this: we are listening, and we are trying our best to make this site as good as it should be, and as good as all your excellent writing deserves it to be. I hope it doesn’t seem like we’re passing the buck on all the problems you’re encountering, but in some ways, we are now in the hands of the computer gods/our web-man. I just hope that all our members can continue to enjoy using the site, and also continue helping one another as everyone grows accustomed to how the new setup works.
In the meantime, I hope that you can forgive us for all the hassle, and continue to be patient as we all get used to the new layout of the site, as well as some of the new features (which we’ll be sure to brag about once everything is working). But yes, if you do experience any problems with the site – from something very small to something very big – please do get in touch with me at the e-mail address above. As many of you have said: this is a special site, and I think it’s worth the special patience. That said, if it’s not all working by this time next week, I may have to give our web-man a special visit.
With sincere apologies,
Thomas Morris
Assistant Editor, Writing4all
Oh yes, one more thing. Happy Christmas to all.
Ok, rant over. I wish you and all your family a very happy Christmas.
