After repeated attempts over the past three years to get DH to cooperate with granting shared administrative control, DH has now decided to assert his exclusive ownership of the site, and has informed the Board that they are summarily dismissed as of last night.
Our long-term goal had always been to set up a self-perpetuating volunteer Board to keep the finances and running of the site separate from the whims and circumstances of one person. This will no longer be the case.
Given that DwS is not just down at the moment, but invisible to DNS, one can only assume that this sudden change bodes ill. I hope more information is available soon.
ReplyDeleteThe delay is mainly one of getting the site to finish propagating through the Net at the new location, so I don't think that's related to the other issues.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, there are problems. And we're going to have to find out very quickly if this is going to be a community-run AND OWNED site as it was always said to be, or if we need to find something else in a big hurry.
--Phyl
Dammit! Throw up some flares if you need any help from the minions
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get in touch with Ox, the guy from TT who wanted to set up a new TT site back in May. He was kind of "voted down" because DWS already existed, and was community-owned and run.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ox is still interested.
If DWS actually comes back up, we can go into the Administrative threads and yell. But I have a feeling DH will just pull the plug.
We'd better start collecting each other's emails in a big hurry, I think.
This is Lance from People's Forum all over again, isn't it? The irony just drips off the screen.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly happened?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Arlene Greene reopened The Rant:
http://www.therant2.com/
Wait, what? We just got there! And now it's gone?
ReplyDeleteLet's keep open minds and see what's up before we panic. Time enough to panic later. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh for gods' sake, Blogger just decided I'm not who I am, and I lost an entire reassuring post describing that the site should be back shortly, and all community-ownership questions will be finalized within a few days. Grrr.
ReplyDeleteMaybe because you are logged in under your wordpress- OpenID, Phyl?
ReplyDeleteI'm happy this is here (but would of course be even happier everything but DWS itself would instead be on G+... yeah, I'm a zealous convert), but I'm feeling a bit uneasy about the most detailed explanations occurring on Jenbyknight's facebook wall.
Maybe that could be copied somewhere more accessible?
DH has been posting elsewhere too, but I might try to post somewhere extra. I can't right now, though, but when I get back, I might be able to.
ReplyDelete(And I do love Google+, but really balk at their becoming the new Overlord of Everything. So I'm not going to centralize quite everything there, I'm afraid. For one thing -- Google Docs are SLOOOOOOW. Heh.)
Back later.
(Yeah, that worries me too. But G+ feels like the social media I have been waiting for since usenet died...)
ReplyDeleteWhere are all these somewhere elses? I hate being out of the loop.
ReplyDeleteI read jen's FB wall and it made me feel more hopeful, but I completely agree that information should be somewhere where people know to look for it. Say, here!
Site is back up, but I am unable to log in. Entering my username and password just results in a page refresh.
ReplyDeleteAnd as soon as I posted that the site disappeared. I do web dev. I should know better. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't login either.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty devastating news. I finally googled DwS to try to find out what happened and found this. I'm sure a lot of the community is in the dark. I hope things can be resolved but not feeling too hopeful at all. (Sophierose729)
ReplyDeleteKeep your chin up, Sophierose/Elizabeth. DWS is a pretty enduring community. We'll get through this.
ReplyDeleteSo, are we just waiting for the site to land and settle after a migration, or is this something bigger?
ReplyDeleteWith the Board having been dissolved, I don't think anyone except DH can answer that question at this point. Whether DWS continues as a site and/or as a community (and in what form) still remains to be seen, IMO.
ReplyDeleteThanks Katy M- I hope things can be worked out some way.
ReplyDeleteDonna- not sure ether-hope the server will be back up and other issues can be resolved.
-Sophierose729
Well, I guess I'll get that time back in my day...would be a shame to lose the community, though.
ReplyDeleteI know DH is still working on it; he posted about it about an hour ago. So it will be back, don't worry. And he's agreed that whatever community ownership papers need to be drawn up and should be done as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteThere's also going to be a second tech admin, so one person doesn't have to go without sleep for 24 hours trying to fix a problem like this if it comes up. So I think we'll be fine. Don't give up yet!
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ReplyDeleteThank Goodness Phyl! Thank you for posting that!
ReplyDeleteSophierose729
Phyl, I hope you are right. PF left me with an extreme distaste for sites where one person has unilateral control.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Lionne. That's why I'm determined that we'll get this ironed out as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Adam and Wiley could be a little bit more specific about what's happening and what has happened with DH and the board. At first I was very confused, and took the original post as being an example of Adam's trademark dry, exaggerated humor.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I can see the site, but entering my username and password results in a page redraw.
ReplyDeleteAnyone able to log in?
Not yet, Vikki.
ReplyDeleteFor those who are on Facebook, it might be worth doing a search for the Table Talkers Group, and joining it. Many are already there, sharing info and comparing notes. It might be easier for original DWSers to go there.
ReplyDeleteThere's a DWS page, but it's kind of complicated to get into, so it would be easier going the other way.
Not me, so far. I'm a little confused between this and the status updates on the Facebook page.
ReplyDeleteI searched for Table Talkers Group and didn't see it. Is that the exact name?
ReplyDeleteDuh, never mind. :)
ReplyDeleteChris, the updates are slowly evolving, so things don't look quite as wretched now as they did first thing in the morning. I know it's confusing.
ReplyDeleteVikki, does that mean you found it?
Phyl, did you get my email to Kashi? I don't have Facebook so am clueless.
ReplyDeleteFlamm
I've never been able to find Table Talk on facebook ether-
ReplyDeleteSophierose729
It's back.
ReplyDeleteOh, Flamm, sorry -- I was out for much of the day after lunch, and haven't even opened my Yahoo inboxes yet. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI've been kind of pulling back a bit this afternoon, since the stress of the morning, followed by some unavoidable errand-running, got my nerves totally jangling.
But yes, it should work now. There are a couple who are still having trouble with their passwords, but it generally seems to work now.
Yes it does! Thanks, Phyl!
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm retiring for the evening. I'm tired from all this, so I can't even imagine how Kevin, DH, and Blackpaw (who made the final fix) feel, with so little sleep.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, it's not Table Talk, it's Table Talkers. http://goo.gl/7U2jI
ReplyDelete