Poll Calguns Data Migration Round 2 - Aug 3

[joefrank64k]

Would I get in trouble if I posted about this forum on their announcement thread?

I mentioned this site in OT under the “Slow or is it me?” “Thank you Kestel!!!” thread.

Hasn’t been deleted yet, but then again the site can’t load so I’m safe either way, haha!!

 

[Radman64]

The petty janitor would delete your post.

That I don't care as he didn't seem to care about the fact I lost my years of history when I had to reset my password lol.

 

[ikeo1]

Kestryll, from the FB group

Modifications against the current setup is yet another recipe for disaster. Gotta fix the issue before adding more complexity.

Would I get in trouble if I posted about this forum on their announcement thread?

I don't think that's a good way to do it. If anything just put a link in your signature and a link to your CAguns Feedback. It's subtle and not in your face. I posted before in the General discussion forum and it got deleted when I first started the site. They're ok with most sites, but the locals don't really like CAguns. I've already had some people call this a Liberal Gun Owners Only group while they hold out for Calguns. It was a very interesting conversation, but some people really think this way.

It's been super slow for me as well. Also, this "update" removed my profile image. I tried adding it once more and it gives me an error. Unable to for now.

Kes confirmed the problem I assumed it was below. They remapped a lot of things, the way we're configured here to offload images but when he moved everything back to a single source on the dedicated server, it broke everything. He has to 1.) redownload all the attachements 2.) map them to the directory.

It also looks like captcha is broken. This newest user has been stuck all day and there was a report on CAguns that it errors out. Again likely a URL configuration issue. So no new members.

My guess is the issue he's running into right now is the database is configured for cloud service. The cloud service has several different mapped urls for different services. When he went back to a dedicated server, the mappings are all over the place and he's not able to find the right entries to set the base urls along with the other attachments. Hence, kinda stuck and needed to show the debug info to see where everything is at. The directory structure itself looks like its configured properly, so its likely that there's some smaller settings he's not aware of that's he can't find to get certain pages to render properly. Instead it shows blank hence, he can't get out of maintenance.

You can tell because some of the images show up and others when you log in don't. From what I can tell from lookin at the site, there's a problem finding the ./core/ directory. Really though, he should go ahead and pay for the site on vbulletin. Then nuke uploading images. Then ask the community to remove images. Then again, that might also be a problem if the configuration is pointing to the wrong directories.

The last part to all of this is I'm pretty certain the main reason the site is slow is because of the 2000+ guests. He has to block them as its pegging the database as it spiders and indexes the site. Realistically, I don't think there's that many guests. When they were on cloud system it was a few hundred users. On that system they had some guardrails. On a dedicated server, it does not have the same security layer in front.

Bottomline, the server isn't strong enough to handle the load and its likely to stay this way for awhile while things get reconfigured. If the DB is pegged at 90-100%, its likely another migration to a larger server is going to be necessary.

For a lot of older members, the site speed can be acceptable. Younger folks are likely to be more frustrated.

 

[Radman64]

"I've already had some people call this a Liberal Gun Owners Only group while they hold out for Calguns. It was a very interesting conversation, but some people really think this way."

That's really sad to hear and completely not true!
It's like the jealousy of a older single child when the parents have another imo.

 

[ikeo1]

That's really sad to hear and completely not true!

Right, but some people just have it in their mind..

If anyone had questions about their revenue model. This is likely the reason, I doubt he'll sell or transfer the domain. This doesn't include the ads at the top of the site, just the vendor area on Calguns. $65/mo per vendor





I think CGN can afford a better hosting provider.. Keep in mind this is after collecting for 10 years and not upgrading anything. This doesn't include the member contributions either. Paying $35/mo introductory for a $70/mo host is even more funny now that I saw this.

It's painful, I feel bad for the people paying him. I can't imagine

 

[Radman64]

"I think CGN can afford a better hosting provider.. Keep in mind this is after collecting for 10 years and not upgrading anything. This doesn't include the member contributions either. Paying $35/mo introductory for a $70/mo host is even more funny now that I saw this.

It's painful, I feel bad for the people paying him. I can't imagine"

His taking over the site was at the time I was dormant due to life issues, all I know is I could not log in even though I know my password was correct as I used the same one for all military/firearms forums, USMF, G503,MVCC, Gunboards, etc. Once I got my password reset link all my past was wiped out showing me as a noob, when I complained about that the admin's told me it would be corrected, it never was. It was the only site I had that kind of issue with but I was somewhat still active with the others during that time.
Gunboards is a shell of what it once was for some reason, I'm thinking it was a change in ownership along with many others, talk about a wealth of knowledge gone.
How did he gain control ikeo, seems like a very poor choice to me ( I bet he logs into here as a guest lol).

 

[Radman64]

When I brought it up some would tell me I was vain, wtf lol.

 

[ikeo1]

How did he gain control ikeo, seems like a very poor choice to me ( I bet he logs into here as a guest lol).

It’s ok. I kind of expect it. I hope I’m not rude, just pointing out that he ain’t broke because of the site and it’s not as altruistic as many people on calguns believe. It’s his side hustle that brings in a good amount.

I discovered this once I started building this site. For me, it would be amazing to work for the community. I’m willing to bet somewhere along the line somethings changed. Calguns did so much for the community then it didn’t.

 

[Radman64]

It’s his side hustle that brings in a good amount.

Seems to me he does not want to shed a penny of it..

 

[Radman64]

Calguns did so much for the community then it didn’t.

My nephew was the one that turned me onto CGN back in 08, before CA became full commie with rules I did most of my dealings on Gunboards, long time militaria seller on eBay world wide since 2000 as I was very active in living history. I built sets that got sold to museums (they never paid shipping), low budget movie makers and hard core collectors as my set's blew away anything else listed, they all matched with correct dates along with appearance of use, from new to battlefield used lol. My best was when a former USMC commandant bought a used officers web set where all the gear was bleached out from the sun but correct for the banana wars of the 30's, not the best money wise but the prestige in what I built and presented and who bought it.

 

[BHPMK3]

Guilty pleasures are a thing.. Here hopefully we can get the news and comedy without the drama. We're going to try hard to break up squabbles fast and furious...

No update in ~2 weeks now. I noticed on calguns.org OLight is the latest member which made his first post on 8.6.24 So its likely he's still doing things for some sponsors and not approving normies. I also noticed on the FB page a post for GSSF. The people paying are getting some responses, but the community at large does not.

On that note,

• We're gearing up to support vendors and FFL's here since our traffic is getting pretty good 700-800 active members daily ~1-2k non-members coming and going.
• Also looking for volunteers to contribute news worthy posts..
• We'll be doing some promos for user generated content, reviews for products soon too.

I also sent another message offering to buy calguns.net so i can possibly fix it. I'm thinking it would be a no go, but it was worth a shot.

Hey @ikeo1, let me know how I can help in my free time. I am willing to give a hand because we need more websites/forums with active members fighting tooth and nail for our rights and helping each other.

 

[ikeo1]

Hey @ikeo1, let me know how I can help in my free time. I am willing to give a hand because we need more websites/forums with active members fighting tooth and nail for our rights and helping each other.

We mainly need help with content, ie: posting newsworthy articles and happenings here and helping one another out if possible.

Those are the best areas for us. We’re trying to be a hub of information for anything 2A CA related.

Umm, try tossing in 5.00 a month lol.
It's not a lot and you get a badge.

It’s ok. We don’t need to ask rn. It should be when people want to. We’re good for the time being, community involvement is better for us now.

The important part now is keeping the peace with the influx of people and maintaining our vibe of tolerance and decorum

 

[Barry Allen]

It’s ok. We don’t need to ask rn. It should be when people want to. We’re good for the time being, community involvement is better for us now.

The important part now is keeping the peace with the influx of people and maintaining our vibe of tolerance and decorum

With this said, are fully featured bouncing mammaries a future avatar upgrade?

 

[ikeo1]

With this said, are fully featured bouncing mammaries a future avatar upgrade?

Sorry, no. This is one of the reasons why we want to keep Calguns around. We’d like to make this site where women are welcomed and to make 2A great again.

Women made up a large portion of 2A purchases in recent years and as a pistol instructor most of my new students are women.

Thanks for understanding…

 

[bluenoise]

I, too, have been frustrated by the lack of communication and apparent stubbornness to accept assistance. I only found out about this site this morning when reading a post by ikeo1 over there.

Thank you for making this site available.

 

[ELIXIR]

Not bashing calguns at all... But I can't log in, load a page. It takes a long time. I noticed that it only works ok when I log on around 4am.

 

[ikeo1]

It looks like they've shut down the server. I think from here, I'm going to bow out of the updates since I have a bias and I don't want to create any more animosity. If anything I want the opposite and sometimes my frustrations get the better of me. I'm sure we all hope they recover.

I'll focus more on CAguns.net and the update that we'll be doing here which will optimize page load speeds even further, enable more features down the line, and work on programs to grow the 2A community.

 

[treelogger]

Personally, I really miss Appleseed Rocketman's really illuminating analysis of the Ukraine war. Someone should reach out to them and figure out whether they could continue that in a different place.

EDIT: I have tried reaching him, not sure it will get through. But if others know him personally and know where to find him, a request would not hurt.

 

[ugimports]

I, too, have been frustrated by the lack of communication and apparent stubbornness to accept assistance. I only found out about this site this morning when reading a post by ikeo1 over there.

Thank you for making this site available.

I saw more people offering assistance over there before it shut back down. Doing the back of the napkin math I'm kind of annoyed how poorly this is going. My monthly contribution there alone pays for 50% of his hosting fees. where the heck does the rest of the money go? I realize he's a private organization, but my point about the money is that it's not being spent on the infrastructure.

If I had to guess part of the reason he may not be willing to accept community help is because then the curtains will be pulled wide open. The external folks he's working with are less likely to post disparaging information.

As much grief as people give Wayne about spending money on suits (whatever different can of worms) I hope they are the same people thinking critically about where the contributions and vendor support $s are going to calguns.net. If I'm not mistaken they had to lay off at least 1 paid worker (marketing guy Dave something) about 12-18 months ago. So who is really on the payroll other then the head janitor?

Sorry, this post is more of rant because seeing it come up and go down again is a little frustrating. I finally was able to update my signature there to point to my vendor forum here...although nobody can see it right now..

ETA: looks like he finally decided to upgrade the hardware.
"Well, as most of you have noticed our 'soft rollout' of the new server has been less than optimal. In simpler terms it has sucked. This has been due to a weak CPU on the srver (4 core/8 thread) that I was told would have enough power for a forum. I am upgrading to a 'larger' server (8 core/16 thread/128GB RAM).
Check www.calguns.org or the FB Calguns Members group for updates."

 

[joefrank64k]

It's great to see you here, UGI!!

You're definitely one of the top vendors in CA.