March 8 Update:

The Forum is now OPEN!

Click on the link at the top of the Byrneholics homepage to get to the Forum. Other links or bookmarks will not work–or they will take you to an old version of the Forum that does not work!

There are still some known problems, but the New Forum is working in general. Go ahead and try to login and post as usual.

You can contact me directly at stellakuru@gmail.com if you have problems.

The spam issue has been dealt with, we think, and the Forum should be safe now.

We know that there are issues with some of the oldest postings and also with images.

However, most of the postings are there and your accounts are there and so we decided to go live and see what happens.

Thanks to Craig, the new forum expert, who has been working on this problem for the past few days. He has done a great job!

And thanks to you for your patience over the past weeks as we worked to make the Forum stable and safe.

Stella

March 7 Update:

Over this past weekend, I hired an expert to work on the Forum problem. He tells me today that he thinks he can have the New Forum up again and working properly in two more days.

If that does not happen, I will open up a temporary forum and link to it from the main Byrneholics site.

But if it DOES happen, then the great old forum will be up again and we can get back to business!

I will not bore you with all of the details of the past 5 weeks, but I will say this problem is a big one, involving multiple databases and lots of scripting and other stuff.

I think and I hope we are on the way to recovery now. Thanks for your continued patience!

Stella

March 2 Update:

The Forum will be down until further notice.

The Forum was spammed again once we made it live yesterday. It is not pretty.

Reinforcements are being brought in–an expert in this sort of problem.

No timeline yet for you, but hopefully this will not take too long.

Until then, the Forum is closed.

Thanks for your continued patience and support during this Forum drama we are having!

March 1 Update:

The Forum is BACK!!

NOTE: You must click on the Forum link on the homepage in order to get to it.

If you have trouble logging in, please email me at stellakuru@gmail.com and I will pass on your login information to the web developer so she can investigate.

It is possible that some of you must re-register. This is a pain, but it might happen.

We are missing some smileys and some photos we shared are not linked yet, but these problems will be fixed soon.

Thanks to Leah Root, our web developer, for all of her hard work over these past weeks! She has made the Forum safer and she also cleaned up a lot of old stuff that needed to be discarded. She did a GREAT job!!!

And thanks to YOU for your patience.

Now go to the Vikings thread and start talking!!!

Stella

smile

February 26 Update:

Almost done! I talked to the web developer today and she is finishing up the creation of the NEW FORUM!

This was a complicated project, involving linking to your forum accounts, linking to all of the pictures we have shared in the threads, pointing to the smileys directory, getting all of the function buttons to work, and myriad other details.

BUT it looks like she has done it!

A few more details need to be ironed out and then the NEW FORUM will go live.

Stay tuned for that wonderful announcement.  And thanks for your continued and much appreciated patience!

Stella

smile

February 18 Update:

Progress is being made. If you do not have access to the Forum at this time, please DO NOT RE-REGISTER.

The web developer is making an entirely new Forum and is trying to bring all of the existing information into it.

This is time-consuming and very detailed work involving several different databases and lots of scripting.

I am sorry this is taking so long but the New Forum will be much more secure and stable when the job is done!

Thanks again for your patience and as soon as the New Forum is ready, I will alert you!!

February 13 Update:

The web developer has been working on the Forum problem.

She has discovered some interesting challenges–the Forum is almost 5 years old now and there is legacy information going back to the beginning which complicates matters a bit.

And there is no guarantee that, by creating a new forum, she can import all of the old forum boards and posts.

So, she is going to update the existing forum to the latest version of the software and see if that does the trick!

A report on progress will be posted here as soon as possible.

Your continued patience is appreciated!

February 7 Update:

The web designer has to be away this weekend. She will do as much as she can before she leaves and then continue on her return. So, the Forum will not be completely fixed until probably after this weekend sometime.

Thanks for your patience!

February 6

Heads Up, Everyone!

For some time Ara, who is our Forum Moderator, and I have been dealing with spam accounts that are clogging up the Forum.

I have enlisted my web developer to investigate this ongoing problem.

After looking into the problem, she recommends creating a new version of the forum, bringing as much of the existing content into it as she can, and starting over.

This seems like good advice to me. Forums like ours occasionally experience this kind of activity and starting over fresh with a new forum is a common practice.

How will this affect you? At some point, you will access the Forum and you may be asked to reset your password.

Worst case scenario: you will be asked to re-register.

If all goes well, all of the threads, postings, images, and other data will be maintained and brought over to the new forum.

Thanks for your patience during this process! I will keep you advised here at the main site as things progress.

Stella

32 Comments

  1. Thanks again for all your hard work Stella! Is there something that we can do to not involve spam when we come to the forum?
    Take Care,
    Kariboo

    • No, Kariboo, this problem does not involve any of you Forum members. I believed that the website was protected, and it was for some time, but eventually it was not. So now we are protecting it. AGAIN. Thanks for your patience.

  2. Thanks for the information about your struggle to keep the Forum “clean” from spam.
    Good Luck with the work!

  3. Hi Stella, just to let you know I (gabeforever) have not been able to access the forum for about a week.
    I only make this comment because it seems some members can get in, and others can’t. I know you are working on it and that is much appreciated.

  4. Nora and Kris,

    Working on it! Thanks for letting me know you are having trouble logging in. That information actually helps.

    And thanks for your patience!

  5. Stella, thanks for trying to help me.

    I will just say to forum friends that I am not able to log into the forum yet, and I miss to be there. I will come back when it is possible for me to do it.

  6. Gabriel's Angel

    Hello Stela I cannot acsess the Discussion Board’s Home Page either. All I get is a blank screen informing Me that this board has No forums. I cannot even log In. However I do see that it does inform Who is On-Line and Who is not. I need to be kept Up to Date with allthe Discussions! Thanks So much for Your hard work, Lori.

  7. Hi Stella,
    Just a quick question. Some members can log on.If I have to wait longer thats fine, I’m just asking.
    Thanks again,
    Kariboo

    • Hi, Kariboo. The web developer is working on creating a new forum for us. As soon as it is ready, I will alert you. Sorry for the inconvenience!

  8. Thanks for keeping me up to date!
    Kariboo

  9. Kim Serrahn

    I don’t know about anyone else but I’m a very patient person so when ever it gets fixed I know you and your team will have worked magic. HUZZARS for the Byrneing Team.

  10. So far I haven’t experienced any difficulty at all. Does that help too?

  11. Only for your info Stella when I try to go on the forum it shows a “logoff” screen, that also says “This board has no Forums”
    I know these things can take time to sort out, I would rather wait and have it all fixed up properly. That way you don’t need to do it again 2months later or whatever. Gives me more time to get ahead with Magic Flute Smurf too!

    • Thanks, Karen! I just emailed the web developer to get an update on the status of this project. Cross your fingers! And thanks for your support. I will be reading your story–can’t wait to see what happens next with these crazy guys!

      :-)

  12. Thanks for sharing the new promo photos in the Gallery. I especially love the photos with Gabriel and Emmannuelle Devos. I write it here because I have no other place to write when the Forum is closed. Hope that’s ok.

    • Thanks for not giving up on us yet, Nora!

      Glad you are enjoying the new Gallery pictures.

      Work on the Forum is progressing. Should have some news in another day or so.

      Thank you for your patience!!

      :-)

  13. sweetbud2

    don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone…

    hanging in…barely

    • Sweetbud, check the main site and the Facebook page for lots of content! The Forum will rise from the ashes soon. Thanks for your continued patience. –Stella

  14. sweetbud2

    absolutely, Stella for Star!

  15. Hi Stella!
    Love all the new stuff! You really have done a fantastic job. AGAIN THANK YOU!!!
    Take Care,
    Kariboo

  16. I miss the Forum but I am glad you are working hard to get the Forum alive again.

    I really hope the spam will go away.
    If not we will send Vikings and Earl Haraldson to attac the Spam and fight it down.

  17. If the Forum will be down for a long time is it not possible to open just a tiny forum that we can log into, and have just one thread there to discuss things?
    That would be better than “notning” because not everything is made for posting here.

    • I am putting this message in the posting above:

      Over this past weekend, I hired an expert to work on the Forum problem. He tells me today that he thinks he can have the New Forum up again and working properly in two more days.

      If that does not happen, I will open up a temporary forum and link to it from the main Byrneholics site.

      But if it DOES happen, then the great old forum will be up again and we can get back to business!

      I will not bore you with all of the details of the past 5 weeks, but I will say this problem is a big one, involving multiple databases and lots of scripting and other stuff.

      I think and I hope we are on the way to recovery now. Thanks for your continued patience!

      Stella

  18. Yaaaahhhh, cannont wait. So much is happening at present.
    Good luck Stella.

  19. Det.Logan

    It works!!! Great job Stella.

  20. HAPPY DAY, the forum is open again.
    So I have been there.
    I am so glad it is back!!!

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