Lead Adventure Forum
General => Announcements and forum stuff => Forum News => Topic started by: WargamesIllustrated on September 02, 2025, 02:17:08 PM
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Hi everyone,
As many of you know, the Lead Adventure Forum has been plagued with outages over the past few months. The initial culprit was a surge in AI-driven bot crawlers, which we managed to fend off with Cloudflare’s security tools (have no fear, none of your data has been compromised; that’s not what these do).
Unfortunately, the deeper problem lies with our hosting: the site still runs on IONOS’ now-discontinued Managed Dedicated Server package, which has grown increasingly unstable.
We’re now seeing daily downtime, and the support from IONOS has been, frankly, unhelpful.
We need to act and fix a forum that has not had any meaningful updates for about a decade! Before that, I want to answer a few inevitable questions:
Q: What’s the situation right now?
Despite repeated attempts (and chats with IONOS support), we haven’t been able to properly diagnose or fix the errors that are ongoing. The limitations of the package the LAF is hosted on mean we have no direct access to the server, logs, or core tools we need.
Q: What’s the plan?
We’re not giving up. Instead, we’re moving the forum to a new Bluehost unmanaged dedicated server. This will finally give us full control: direct access to logs, the ability to restart the server ourselves, manage server requirements, keep things up to date, and handle issues ourselves, without being stuck waiting on poor support.
Q: What does this mean in the short term?
The migration is a big step and will require the forum to go offline. This could take upwards of a week while we transfer all files, move the database, and configure the new server.
During that time, you’ll see a holding page and will not be able to post; this prevents new posts or uploads from being lost when the switch completes.
If the migration runs longer than a week, we’ll keep you updated via the Wargames Illustrated and North Star Facebook pages, so make sure to give them a follow.
Date for migration: Monday 8 September
Expected downtime: up to one week
Q: Will everything be fixed once the LAF is live again?
We’d love to say yes, but realistically, we will need to do more work. This is a very old Simple Machines Forum installation (last updated in the mid-2010s), and moving it to a new server will likely surface quirks and issues we’ll need to iron out. That’s where you come in: once we’re live again, we’ll need your help stress-testing and reporting problems.
The good news: once the dust settles, we’ll be ready to update the look and performance of the forum. We’ll talk to moderators about their requirements, share previews of the forum’s possible new look, and get your feedback on which features you’d like us to keep whilst we upgrade to the latest Simple Machines Forum version.
This process may take a while, but it’s the only way that we can keep the LAF going, maintain the huge archive of posts and uploads, and add stability to the forum overall.
Thank you all for your patience during these rough months and for the extra patience that will be needed ahead. We know the outages have been frustrating; we’re confident this migration is the first big step toward getting the forum back on solid ground.
Joe
Web and Media Developer
For Wargames Illustrated and North Star - joint operators of the LAF
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Thanks for the heads-up, and for taking on the hard work of preserving and nurturing the LAF. In a world full of Social Media ephemera, the long memory of an active and thriving forum is more precious than ever.
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Thanks for the work! Can only agree with Garanhir!
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Thanks for all the effort!
Have enjoyed these forums for 17 years and visit it daily.
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I enjoy the forum and I hope have been a useful contributor.
It's great news that LAF has a future mapped out ahead of where we are now.
At risk of seeming selfish, quite a few of us have project logs (not just the word but also the images) hosted as threads on LAF. Is there any risk that this content might be lost? Is there anything that we need to do ahead of the 8th? For example, is it possible to download an entire thread as a PDF backup????
Thanks for all that you are doing.
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I'm really glad to hear the forum is being given a full workover - It's nice to know it's going to keep going and won't end up lost to the winds of time when a server somewhere finally dies.
As much as the site could probably use a bit of a refresh, don't go changing too much - this is one of the last bastions of old fashioned internet that still sees regular use - the weird emojis and odd green colour are all part of the charm :)
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I enjoy the forum and I hope have been a useful contributor.
It's great news that LAF has a future mapped out ahead of where we are now.
At risk of seeming selfish, quite a few of us have project logs (not just the word but also the images) hosted as threads on LAF. Is there any risk that this content might be lost? Is there anything that we need to do ahead of the 8th? For example, is it possible to download an entire thread as a PDF backup????
Thanks for all that you are doing.
No data will be lost in the move. This is a complete migration. :)
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Best of luck with the move guys and I’m sure we all appreciate the hard work you are putting in to keep LAF going.
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I also make LAF part of my daily regular view, so good luck with the change over and thanks for all your efforts.
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Thank you for the previous, behind the scenes and upcoming work.
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Thank you LAF Team for all your hard work, and for this nice wee forum in general.
Please do keep the colours and weird emojis if poss :P
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Thanks Joe for the update, and to everyone that makes LAF what it is
Look forward to a shiny new clubhouse 8)
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Fingers crossed everyone, good luck and hopefully see you on the other side ;) :D
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That’s good news! Don’t want to lose the laf! It’s so much better than social media! So many people I’ve met thru this wonderful site! Long may it continue!
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Thank you for the continuing support - LAF is an amazing source of inspiration and information and vastly more useful than the majority of social media out there for the hobby. Really glad to see it retaining support over the years.
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Thanks chaps, for all the time and effort you're going to. Know one thing from all the Brethren, it's much appreciated.
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The forum is part of my daily routine and is my favorite social media that I interact with regularly. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! :-* Let us know if you would like members to contribute monetarily or otherwise so that this is not a drain on your resources.
Mike Demana
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Thanks from me as well and as already been mentioned the current user interface is familiar to us all it would be a shame to have it changed too dramatically.
Cheers
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I feel your pain, migrations are tricky. But if Ionos is as bad as I suspect with older product support.
Your making the best choice you can and thank you for this and the moderators for all they do.
Good luck :D
It will be hard missing my daily fix but I think I can do it, cold turkey for a few days...
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That’s good news! Don’t want to lose the laf! It’s so much better than social media! So many people I’ve met thru this wonderful site! Long may it continue!
Well said, I agree fully.
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I second all of the thanks and appreciations yet expressed by fellow members. LAF has been entertaining and inspiring me for many years and I‘m more than happy to learn that good spirits will make it keep going. Best of luck and many, many thanks to all who make it happen!
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Yup, I'd like to chime in with the others. More than ever, a proper forum is of so much value. Thanks for the effort of running LAF for all of us.
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Yes; many thanks for keeping this venerable communication line open to us, both creaky oldtimers and energetic young ones alike. As the age old adage tells us: the only constant is change, so I'm looking forward to where you'll be taking the platform; I'm confident it's in capable hands :)
Now to prepare for the inevitable withdrawal symptoms... lol
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Good luck with the move. I’m sure you’ve done your homework and are aware of potential issues. However, as a cautionary tale, another forum I’m on did this about eighteen months ago and it caused them a lot of problems. New software was a short term issue that some just couldn’t get to grips with and left as a result. I didn’t get this at all. If you move, you are going somewhere that you will need to learn new software, so why move? The major issue though was that the site lost all its photographic history. The new hosts said the pictures could be migrated along with the text, but they couldn’t follow through on this promise, so all posts prior to the move became pretty much unusable overnight. As a result, in the short/medium term we lost sixty percent or so of the membership as a direct result of the migration. This site seems extremely well run though, so I’m sure this won’t be an issue….
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Good luck. Tech issues like this is the stuff of my nightmares. Be brave! I hope you pass all your tech skill rolls and morale tests.
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Thanks guys for keeping LAF working. Even my wife recognises the green pages.
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Thank you for the heads up and the update. LAF is an essential part of my morning routine and has allowed me to meet so many great people in this hobby.
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Good luck with the move, but what's going to distract me from work next week ???
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As others have said, many thanks for all your ongoing work on this especially in recent months. And all good wishes for the great migration...
May I add my vote for keeping the appearance and functions of the forum as close to the current one as the new software permits?
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I'm not on facebook so if it takes longer than a week can someone send me a pigeon. ;D
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Thanks for the info. Good luck with the move.
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No data will be lost in the move. This is a complete migration. :)
That's great news. Thanks for all you're doing
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A. Thank you for the update. It's good to know what's going on, as well as what ain't.
B. Thank you for the LAF. I echo what the others have said about its value.
C. I don't do faceplant, er, I mean facebook. But I'll likely begin checking in here on/about 15 Sept. to see if it's back up yet. One day, it will be. I'm not always a patient man (just ask my wife), but I'll get by until then... 8)
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Great news!
Many thanks!!!
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Echoing the the thanks of others for keeping the forum going and the efforts to fix it.
I'm not a frequent poster, but I browse it every day, so I shall eagerly look forward to when it returns!
Many thanks!!
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Thanks for all of your work with the forum. It’s very much appreciated
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Just joining the chorus of thank yous - this is by far the nicest corner of the internet I inhabit, and I am very grateful to all the mods and also all the members who make this such a great place.
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Just echoing what others have said. This is a great place to hang out and is a regular go to for me. Thank you so much for all the hard work sorting it out. Trust it will all go smoothly.
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This is great news in terms of the server migration, IONOS are...not good.
However I'm concerned at the suggested downtime and that there may be issues to iron out on the new server.
A server migration should have next to zero risk of many post migration issues, and literally zero risk of data loss.
Downtime needn't be any longer than the time it takes to import a fresh database copy, test via hosts file, and change DNS.
Hopefully its just an exaggeration to set expectations in the case of problems!
Im sure its in hand but I love the forum too much to take the risk of saying nothing and it going wrong over saying something and patronisingly repeating the existing plan ;) :)
Hopefully, that looks like this (some steps simplified!):
LAF stays online until the point noted later.
Create new server instances
Configure basic software which doesn't have a version dependency for SMF (Apache and mysql, and the email service, amongst others, can likely all be current release version).
Configure version specific dependencies which might include mysql and will almost certainly need an older php version. Using Remi repositories and php-fpm its possible and quite easy to run an old version alongside a newer one so that the upgrade to SMF can later be done on the same server.
So by this point we should have a server capable of running the version of SMF that LAF is using.
Add LAF to a git repo (current server).
Take a database export (current server).
Clone the git repo (new server).
Rsync the database from current to new server. (Scp it down to local machine and back up if firewall proves a problem).
Configure the db connection on new server if not already done.
Point local hosts file at new server IP and test.
Probably the most difficult step: Resolve any inevitably missed php extensions etc lol And any other obvious server related bugs.
Rsync the media from current to new server.
Retest - it should just work now with all images present etc.
*Only now* is it necessary to put the holding page up on current server.
Reexport, transfer, and import database to capture the last data.
Quickly retest, only basics as little should have changed.
Repoint DNS.
Cancel old server after a suitable paranoia overlap period.
Now, a second instance of the forum can be created on the new server but on the new software version and a parallel php process.
Then a similar process can be used to test and dry-run the forum software update safely without risking the actual forum.
I've helped before and would be more than happy to help again even if just with planning, please just ask.
Godspeed - there's a lot of us who love and rely on this forum! :)
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Ugh, sorry, I feel like I'm being a pain.
Bluehost are not well regarded, its owned by Newfold Digital. Have a poke around reddit, they're not a good option.
I would look at:
Zume
Gandi
ANS (we host multi million sites with ANS...!)
Or if going fully unmanaged just go with Digital Ocean, they never have hardware issues (in our case 40+ dev servers on DO for years with zero issues).
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Thanks to Joe for the post spelling out what is next.
In case some of you don't know, I'll give you some recent history of LAF.
My name is Nick and I'm the owner of North Star. https://www.northstarfigures.com/
Back in 2017 I was approached by the owner and founder of LAF, Alex. He basically wanted to walk away from LAF, for personal reasons, but didn't want it to die or lose it's character. I was a long term 'LAFer', and equally I didn't want it to end so I agreed to take it on. IT is not my thing, so I approached my chums at Wargames Illustrated to ask if they could take that side on. They agreed, and so it has been a joint effort between North Star & WI to keep LAF going.
Apart from the banner adverts you see, we have not interfered with the nature of The Lead Adventure Forum. I don't think anyone could accuse us of making it a North Star or WI 'vehicle'. A lot of the hard work is done by the moderators, volunteers who keep this forum from degenerating into the kind of internet squabble fests that you find elsewhere. A huge thank you to them.
None of us make any money from LAF. We have the banner adverts running, there is the Paypal donation button, but neither compensate for the time taken running the forum, nor the money it costs for it's place on the Server. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact and something we chose to do.
I hope you'll all keep being active participants in The Lead Adventure Forum, in this age of Social Media it's becoming a bit of a 'Shire' on the internet and that is thanks to you.
Cheers
Nick
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It is indeed a shire (which spells remarkably close to something significantly less attractive!)
Thank you mods, Nick, NS and WI!
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All the best with the move and see you hopefully in tip top shape on the other side.
Please email everyone as I have quite a few mates not on Facebook.
Cheers
Matt
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Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Best wishes for the move and keep up the great work. As with others, LAF is my favourite destination on the interwebs!
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Thanks for the update, may it go smoothly with little to no hiccups. :D
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Echoing what so many fellow LAFers have said above. This is one of if not my favorite internet locale and has provided tremendous value in fun and friends over many years -- plus one ongoing campaign that began more than 4 years ago and has lasted longer than any other miniature gaming experience I've had in my half-century in the hobby. Thank you to Nick & Alex and all the moderators for their sterling efforts over the years and into this upcoming next chapter, which hopefully will be a tremendous success!
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I would like to agree with everything positive that other LAFers (hope that doesn't disappear :'() have voiced.
I do NOT have any success with E-leck-trickery or tech o_o ,so can only watch & admire those who do, good luck.
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I'm another daily viewer and would just like to add my thanks and support to everyone else's.
LAF is indeed a "Shire" in a world that's all to often much too Mordor!
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I really enjoy LAF. I visit every day.
I like the build something competition and the long running project threads.
It is a very friendly place and I have even met some members at Salute and Cannonade.
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I voice same as everyone else but I would like to add a big THANK YOU for making this possible.
Keep it up
Z
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Good luck and thank you for your efforts
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Good luck folks! Hopefully this will be smooth sailing for all involved.
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Sounds like a good idea. Would it help if as many of us who can deleted any unneeded PM's?
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Hope all goes well and thank you for running LAF!
Will have to donate...!
Alex
Philadelphia, PA, USA
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See you on the other side and good luck.
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Good luck and thanks for all the fish!
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Thanks for the heads up Joe and good luck with it all.
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Good luck and thanks for all the fish!
Make sure you carry a towel when hitch-hiking :D lol
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My favorite place to go on the internet.
Just look at the total logged in time I have on the site. ;D
A good reminder to donate some money.
A BIG THANK YOU to all that keep this Forum going. :)
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Another daily LAF visitor here. Best of luck with the move!
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Im just here to say "Good luck, we're all counting on you"
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Another daily visitor to the site, I hope it all goes well and many thanks for all the hard work, time and effort people put in to make this the best miniatures site on the net.
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Thanks for all the hard work, and good luck with the move!
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Good luck with this.
I look forward to seeing how it all goes and the new look of the forum too :D
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I'm also a daily visitor, thank you for all you do. Good luck and see you on the other side.
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I also visit daily and while I don't post that much, the yearly Build Something Competition is my favorite time of the year. Thank you for all the work and I hope all goes well with the transfer.
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Wishing you all the best of luck! Really hope everything goes
well. While I'm not super active, I do enjoy LAF and look forward to seeing it continue.
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So, will there be a celebratory party on the other side of the 'course correction'!? lol
Perhaps a few new emojis can be added sometime soon - I've always felt a need for a "green with envy" emoji when looking at some of the spectacular work shown in The lafShire. :D
It will be hard, withdrawals and all, but best of luck and see you all on the other side (though still participating until the shut down certainly). :o
Hmm, how does a site like this throw a party? ;)
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I have only one request. keep the site easy to use. I have had several sites I frequented update and they ended up almost impossible to use afterward.
Good luck.
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Good luck!
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I rely on LAF for information and inspiration. Thank you for all your work in keeping it going. I hope the migration goes as smoothly as possible!
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At the current top banner of the website you might want to add the timeline at which LAF will be off-line. Not sure if that is planned at the offline time but it would be an additional info bit which would be useful to have.
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Thank you for all the work and effort you put into keeping the forum alive!
LAF is truly a special place, one I've been visiting almost daily for many years. There's so much geek knowledge and creativity on so many different topics gathered here that I'm always thrilled and fascinated. Furthermore, the atmosphere is always respectful and motivating. Places like this are very rare on the internet these days. Thank you!
Regarding the new feel and look: Please change as little as possible. I feel comfortable.
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I have only one request. keep the site easy to use. I have had several sites I frequented update and they ended up almost impossible to use afterward.
Good luck.
I second this sentiment, for the same reason!
Best of luck with the update and I hope it all goes smoothly!
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At the current top banner of the website you might want to add the timeline at which LAF will be off-line. Not sure if that is planned at the offline time but it would be an additional info bit which would be useful to have.
A countdown clock always adds excitement :D
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LAF-9000: Will I dream?
Dr. Chandra: Of course, all intelligent beings dream.
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Thanks for all the good work, and good luck with the move.
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Thanks for all the work in keeping LAF around, both now and in the future. Good luck with the move, I've done a few server transitions myself and they all sucked for various reasons, mostly due to unexpected things.
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Good luck with the move. Never an easy job but will be worth it in the end.
See you on the other side.
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These changes can be tricky but fingers crossed everything goes well, all the best and thanks for everything you have done.
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I know enough about this sort of thing to understand the challenges.
Thank you for all your diligent effort.
Good luck.
Cheers
JJ
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Thank you and good luck.
See you on the other side as they say.
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A wonderful resource you provide and maintain.
Fantastic that you're taking the necessary steps to ensure its continued existence and availability.
Thank you.
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Thank you again.
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Agreed with all those above - thanks so much for making this happen.
One request for the new site - if possible please help avoid it being categorised as a "Games" website, as this results in it being blocked at my workplace. ;)
Cheers all - see you on the other side!
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I want to add my voice of encouragement for this endeavour. LAF is the last holdout of any sort online presence or community I engage with, and I value it deeply. Even if I mostly lurk. Thanks, all, for everything done so far to keep the lights on and good luck with the migration.
I look forward to seeing everyone on the other side!
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we're still here..?
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we're still here..?
Its only 9am in the UK 🙂
Also hopefully theyre following my outline plan and preparing everything in parallel as there's no need to go offline for more than a few hours.
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I'm in the UK
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I'm in the UK
Well, I'm just saying it's only the start of the working day and however they tackle it, this is a big job, and probably not top priority as LAF is a labour of love as Nick has pointed out. So... let's enjoy a few more hours before they get stuck in? :D
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Go go gadet-o-forum updates! 8)
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And, welcome back - it’s been a tough week but we made it through.
Thanks for all the work that’s been.
Doug
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Back again, hooray !! :)
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I really did miss the place this last week. I had made a bit of a conscious decision to utilise the forum more again (having not been nearly as active as years back) just as it was announced we were going dark for a week. Thank you to the owners for their efforts and for preserving this little internet oasis.
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Hooray!
I haven't seen the official announcement (?) but we appear to be back! Thanks Joe et al.
It was ... troubling... not having daily LAF access lol
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Huzzah, you're back. Many, many thanks to everyone who did all the complicated work to bring things online once more...
I forgot to note the dates of the downtime and found my self checking daily...
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Yes, excellent to see the forum back, and many thanks for all the work that this return represents.
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Awesome stuff admin! Been a long lost week lol
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Yes, well done. Happy to have it back.
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Yup, glad to be back. It was really annoying having to do work at work lol
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Annnnnnnnnnnd, were back, whoop, whoop! :D
Nice work and thank you
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Just did my daily refresh on the LAF tab - and its back!
Cool. Well done on the technical side behind the scenes.
I have to say I have got more painted in the last week, than for ages. Not sure if there is a correlation here, or simply that I have a new project that I am enjoying getting on with.
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Hurrah!
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Thanks to everyone who was involved for their work on the server move! I am very glad to see LAF back!
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That was a smooooooth update!
Site remembered me and everything.
Well done admin team!
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Thanks to all the whoevers for all the whatevers for keeping LAF going!
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Well done to the LAF team on sorting the migrationwhateveryoucallit very professional.
Love the new sofa in the clubhouse 8)
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So glad it’s back!!
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Huzzah! And thanks for all the work to get it migrated and back up and running again.
(I can now return to lurking in the corners and occasionally posting when I have something interesting to add! lol )