Thread "Should we consider a mirror host?" in forum "HA Town Hall"

Posted at 1:01AM, Jan. 29, 2014

Here something that's been bothering me recently, and by recently I mean "ever since The Duck went down for two months"

That outage probably scared off some of our readers, and worse some of our contrbutors.

If we have an alternative host comics, we could get new readers and contributors, and maybe entice some old ones back.

If we really want to we could set up a whole new website fo Heroes Alliance, and maybe the HUniverse as a whole. (Might be too ambitious)

Or we could at least consider an alternate forum. This forum isn't very good (what forum puts quotes under the reply), and besides we hardly get any posts here.

However, we shouldn't completely abandon The Duck. I've been on this site almost everyday since I joined. We'd probably lose what fanbase we have now, and it wouldn't be fair to the site.

EDIT: The fact I had to edit this post to get the formatting looking right is also another problem of this forum

Posted at 9:01AM, Jan. 29, 2014

I think in principle this is a good idea, TheDuck has lost me from the outtage and when I resume Energize I am posting it here ONLY through loyalty to existing readers but i will be posting more advance pages elsewhere.
If you do decide to mirror then I would recommend Rocketbot.com. Smaller community but very talented creators.
The only problem you might have with this type of community project that has so many contributors, you should seek approval from all involved that they are happy for their character to be hosted somewhere else.
Just a thought.

Posted at 11:01AM, Jan. 29, 2014

I have to agree that there maybe should be some kind of back-up site-or just alternative site where you can read the comics. I think the HUniverse website would be awesome, but I have no idea how tricky that would be the make, either.

Posted at 1:01PM, Jan. 29, 2014

I think it would be good to have a fallback site in case of problems with The Duck, but I'm pretty leery of stealing traffic from it. Drunk Duck is largely where HU and it's community was born and I feel loyalty to the Duck and the HA community that's grown here.

Also, given that system administration has recently been handed over to the community, I'd like to give The Duck a fair chance to improve. Honestly, I'm wondering if it's even worth having some sort of fundraiser and chip in to hire some help to get it fixed faster…

Speaking of, if we had a dedicated website, how would it be funded?

If we *do* end up with our own site, I've been thinking for a while that HA could use some developer-side tools. A private developer forum and wiki would be useful to discuss and coordinate those things that aren't for public consumption (yet). Maybe even an issue tracker to keep track of where various pages, scripts etc. are up to?

P.S. To a certain extent, the HUniverse wiki already *is* the page for the HUniverse as a whole. There's some stuff that would work best on its own dedicated site, but I'd be cautious about doubling up unnecessarily.

Posted at 3:01PM, Jan. 29, 2014

I completely agree with irrevenant. It would certainly be nice to have a back-up, but having various websites or various forums might make organizing things a lot more complicated - and it already IS complicated :p I think what we should have is a place where we can make announcements, in case the dd breaks down again, but not an actual mirror of the site. And this function could very well be integrated into the HU-wiki site. Or we could maybe move forums, and link this new forum more closely to the HU-wiki.

Posted at 9:01PM, Jan. 29, 2014

In terms of a place where we can make announcements, much as I hate the thing, a Facebook presence would be a good idea. Likewise Twitter.

I'd suggest having a Facebook and Twitter account for the whole HUniverse. That way we're likelier to have enough ongoing news to keep people checking in. (Though the HUniverse outside HA is disturbingly quiet at the moment - I think pretty much *everything* is finished or on hiatus. o_O).

Posted at 8:01AM, Jan. 30, 2014

Hey now, Karabear Comics Unlimited just finished up another Astral and Sparkle story, and the two are going to be in Crossover Melee, not to mention they're regulars in KCU. As well, Dasien has been trucking along now (granted, in HA's past, but still…).

Posted at 1:01PM, Jan. 30, 2014

D'oh, sorry Shastab!

I think I mentally discounted the Karabear crew because so many of the characters in HA#7 were temporary visitors from other dimensions. But Astral and Sparkle, at least, live in the HU, right?

I'd actually rather like to see those two play a role similar to the one Virtus used to - not part of HA proper, but they tend to keep bumping into the team.

shastab24 wrote:
Hey now, Karabear Comics Unlimited just finished up another Astral and Sparkle story, and the two are going to be in Crossover Melee, not to mention they're regulars in KCU. As well, Dasien has been trucking along now (granted, in HA's past, but still…).

Posted at 8:01PM, Jan. 30, 2014

*cough* Handsome and Ransom is updating *cough*

Posted at 8:01PM, Jan. 30, 2014

Demmit! xO I love that one too! I forgot it was set in the HUniverse. Sorry, Fuku.

*Irrevenant reaches down his throat to retrieve his foot*

So, I guess the HUniverse is still pretty active after all, just the active titles aren't as strongly tied to core continuity as (for example) SHELL and Energize used to be.

My apologies, all.

fukujinzuke wrote:
*cough* Handsome and Ransom is updating *cough*

Posted at 4:01AM, Jan. 31, 2014

Worth noting that a new Energize story will start here on the Duck on 10th April 2014. It's called Energize Unleashed and as always with an Energize story it promises big effects on the HUniverse :)

Posted at 8:01AM, Jan. 31, 2014

Since we're also talking about updates in the HUniverse, I'd like to add that I've got two in the works that should be coming pretty soon.
The first is The New Guard, and that features Tazer's team that Spudsy and Nepath originally started in "The Heroes Unite" I'll be restarting and finishing the "Hell" storyline and have a fairly long run on it to tell one big story. The gorgeous colours are by irrevenant. Expect that to update pretty soon.
The second is The Bujin, which I aim to start updating pretty much straight after this ninja issue is finished. They're both in the HUUniverse and should have some pretty cool impacts (especially the stuff that happens in The New Guard) - The Bujin is more about the little corner of the universe I've set up in the Japanese Underworld and magics etc.

Posted at 3:01PM, Jan. 31, 2014

Astral and Sparkle are two "as you need them" type characters. They do their own thing within the HUniverse, but also can easily be regular members of the team. However, my idea for continuing the Stormfront story does involve them not being in great contact with the team at large.

In fact, I may as well mention my idea of how to use them: at the end of Nepath's Energize: Stormfront pages, Exocet is called and said to be on his way. So I thought Darkness may have sent someone to intercept him, keep him preoccupied. Meanwhile, the call went out on a frequency to which the HA communicators are attuned. Remember, Astral and Sparkle got a communicator after "What You Believe". They hear the call and go to help, not thinking to coordinate and plan strategy. They arrive and are corrupted by Darkness, who uses Sparkle to try to get at the Energize Titan, and Exocet isn't there to prevent this corruption because of his aforementioned preoccupation.

There's more to it, of course (considering that's the set-up to the action as HA and Exocet then have to come in to deal with this), but I thought I'd mention.

Posted at 3:02AM, Feb. 2, 2014

We appear to have gone off topic here, let's get back on track.

Shasta, why don't make a new topic for your Stormfront story, you seen to have some good ideas, and I might share some with you there.

Back on the topic of mirror hosts; that site Rocketbot the Nepath posted looks like a good place to consider. In fact, if the H-Universe was to get it's own site, I imagine it would be similar to that one.

Not a hosting option, but another site I think could be like our own site would be this one: Enter VOID.

Also, maybe putting a link to the Wiki somewhere prominent could help in the long run.

Finally, I should tell you all now that any new site I'll sign up to I'll most likely be using the username "Azzamacazza", because that's the username I use for everything else (long story why I don't use it here)

Posted at 1:02PM, Feb. 2, 2014

Thanks for getting things back on track, AzuJOD, and apologies for derailing them with my not-entirely-accurate observation. >_>

Rocketbot looks as good a place as any to mirror hosting. I suggest we might want to post updates to the mirror a few days later than the Duck (unless the Duck is down, of course). Ideally we don't want to split our community across multiple sites so, IMO, a very clear 'main' site is important. For this to work, the Rocketbot page will have to mention it's being posted on delay there and that the main site is at the Duck.

The other side of the equation is getting the news out to everyone in event of an outage that HA is still running and can be viewed at Rocketbot. I suggest the usual: a Facebook group, Twitter Account and Google+ account (there's a way to synch updates for all those, I think?) and anything appropriate that I've missed. I think they should definitely be H-Universe accounts, and the usual "follow us on Facebook" (etc.) links can be added to all H-U Comics.

We should also mention on the pages that, in case of outage, we're mirrored on Rocketbot.

BTW, is the plan to mirror just HA, or all the HU titles?

Posted at 4:02PM, Feb. 2, 2014

There IS a facebook page for Heroes Alliance, and until a few moments ago, I had thought there was a button linking to it on the HA page. Turns out there isn't. I just tried to add one, along with a button linking to the wiki, but got an internal server error message. Oh well, I'll try to do it as soon as the duck will let me. In the meantime, the facebook page can be found here: www.facebook.com/pages/Heroes-Alliance/190788067695369

Posted at 6:02PM, Feb. 2, 2014

Demmit, I even did a search for Heroes Alliance Facebook before commenting! xO I give up!

Okay, so do we want to keep having separate pages for each title, one united (pun intended) one for the entire H-Universe, or both?

One for the whole H-Universe has a lot of appeal. Especially if there are frequent updates, it'll help readers of one title realise just how much is actually going on in the H-Universe. Maybe we could even have like mini-newsletter updates: "In the pages of Heroes Alliance, the team's battle against the evil Baku draws to a climax. Meanwhile, over in Karabear… And if you've been wondering what happened to Tazer and Co. after Energize:Hunted keep an eye out for The New Guard, launching soon."

Twitter could have more page by page updates as well as related stuff.

PS. Abt_Nihil, if you see this post first, I sent you a PQ. :)

Posted at 5:02AM, Feb. 3, 2014

I think the best options are either adding a facebook page for the HUniverse, or simply use the HA page for HUniverse updates. I'd prefer the latter, since HA isn't exactly moving at too fast a rate, so news-worthy items wouldn't be that frequent (I think all news from the HUniverse would make for ONE lively page, but not necessarily two or more). Whoever would like to post news on the HA page - please tell me and I'll make you administrators.

A twitter profile might be good too, but I'm not on twitter personally, and I couldn't manage it.

Posted at 12:02PM, Feb. 25, 2014

I'm looking at web hosting. Does anyone know roughly how many GB per month would be required to mirror HA? And what that would increase to if we want to mirror all HUniverse titles (which is, of course, the ideal)?

If I were to set up a website with a private creator's forum and wiki for planning would we use it?

I was thinking about it and I actually suspect a lot of our communication blocks would go away if we just had forums with proper messaging and email notification support.

Thanks.

Posted at 6:02PM, Feb. 28, 2014

You can go with Digital Ocean and get a VM with 20GB of storage for $5 a month. No credit cards required, you can pay through Paypal. You get 1TB of monthly bandwidth with the $5 512MB VM which should be more than enough. If it ever gets to be slow or you need more space, you can always resize the VM to 1GB, 2GB etc. Use the promo code "2014SSD" for a $10 credit.

Just please don't use Wordpress… it's a pile of shit. Use something like Jekyll or Assemble.io to generate static pages using Markdown. You can just drop in a Disquis comment widget onto each page pretty easily. No databases, caching layers, or server-side code required.

Posted at 10:07PM, Jul. 18, 2014

Well… this topic seems to have died *casts thread necromancy*
Brad was the only one to offer any sort of suggestion, question is, should we actually do it?

I'm going to be blunt, I want this project to expand, grow and reach a bigger audience, and we aren't going to do it on this site alone!

I feel like we're half-assing it if The Duck is the only place to see our comic, but our own site will show others we mean business!

Our own site could help bring back old contributors, I'd think they'd be impressed at how far we've come.

There, had to get that off my chest.

Posted at 10:07AM, Jul. 21, 2014

AzuJOD has a point, we've grown a lot since HU and lots of people are interested in this, maybe we should consider it. At the very least we should look into how to operate and maintain a website. That way when issues happen we can at the very least update our own webstite or the Duck if something happens on ours.

Posted at 11:07PM, Jul. 22, 2014

Okay, so let's talk money and ownership. Whoever buys the domain and hosting will be responsible for the monthly outgo and maintenance on an ongoing basis. How are they going to pay for it? Will everyone be chipping in? How? To what extent will be it a comic-hosting site with multiple accounts?

How will it actually work?