[Chad]

MacInsiders Update To All Members

Hi users! Hope your course selection went/is going well! Note that SOLAR closes for sectioning August 3rd so be sure to register before that date! Here are some updates for everyone regarding things happening on MacInsiders recently and over the next few days:

1) NEW SERVER COMING! DOWNTIME EXPECTED

As you may have noticed, we've been reaching capacity of our server many times this week as our site has been flooded with hundreds of students connecting on our site every hour. We're in the process of moving to a brand new server with more bandwidth and faster speed, which means better user experience for everyone. Daily readers will notice the homepage loading faster, and members will notice faster loading of the forums.

However, the transition to the new server will require 24-48 hours of downtime starting at midnight tonight as we make the move to the new server. This means when visiting MacInsiders over the next two days (starting at midnight) you may not be able to access the site or all of it's features. Don't worry, we'll be back up and running as quick as possible, just keep trying.

UPDATE: Those needing a place to vent about SOLAR during the downtime, visit our temporary "MacInsiders CHATROOM" where you can post and chat with out members while the site moves to the new server.

2) NEW MACINSIDERS "INSIDER AGENTS" TEAM

Two weeks ago we posted a call for volunteers to join our brand new "Insider Agents" team. The response was overwhelming and we thank everyone who applied! We now have over a dozen MacInsiders members who are part of this new team and you'll be able to recognize them on the forums as having orange usernames and the "Insider Agent" badge under their name.

Insider Agents will be helping bring MacInsiders to a whole new level over school year as they help others in our discussion forums, adding great new events you can attend in Hamilton and the surrounding area to our events calendar, posting great new advice articles and news, promoting MacInsiders on various websites to help spread the word (Facebook, etc), assisting with moderating our forums, and listening to your feedback and ideas for ways to improve the site and working on ways to implement new features. That's just the start, and we see this team doing some great things here to make the MacInsiders experience better than ever. A warm welcome to all the new team members!

3) BECOME A MACINSIDERS "FAN" and FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK!

MacInsiders has a Facebook Page! Check it out for status updates and information. Join us as a fan... we've already reached over 100 fans! Thanks!

We also have a twitter account. Follow us on Twitter for exclusive updates and news!

4) WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS!

Over the past few weeks over 100 new members have joined us and been actively posting questions and seeking help in our forums. Welcome to all our new members! We hope you enjoy your stay here on MacInsiders and congrats on choosing McMaster as your university of choice!


Best regards
The MacInsiders Exec

[Ownaginatios]

Originally Posted by Chad

24-48 hours of downtime starting at midnight tonight

*Starts hyperventilating and goes to the corner rocking in a fetal position*

[PTGregD]

Now how am I going to complain about SOLAR when it's my turn to pick courses tonight?!

[sew12]

Originally Posted by PTGregD

Now how am I going to complain about SOLAR when it's my turn to pick courses tonight?!

That's exactly who I was thinking of when I read that. What about the people who need to whine about SOLAR tonight.

Be sure to check in a post your grievances when the site is back. You'll probably still be waiting for SOLAR to load anyway.

[Chad]

Due to popular request

Those needing a place to vent about SOLAR during the downtime, visit our temporary "MacInsiders CHATROOM" where you can post and chat with out members while the site moves to the new server tonight. It is hosted on a different server so it will stay online.

[feonateresa]

Well this is a really good sign! After only... two and a half years? The site has grown I'd say exponentially. It's pretty cool. ;]

[lorend]

We will actually be on our third server as of when the downtime is completed, unless there is one I am forgetting about.

[jhan523]

I'm so happy, but then so sad... a day or two without MacInsiders... Oh well, it's for the better.

[PTGregD]

I'll be rocking the chatroom for sure. I'm already on!

[Chad]

Ya, it'll technically be our 3rd server change. We started out on a small server back at the beginning of 2007, and then once we hit September our growth exploded and we jumped to a larger server. Now we've more than quadrupled our traffic and members, so it's time to go even bigger and better

Looking forward to chatting with you all in the chatroom. I'll keep you posted with the updates on how it's going with the transition! Also keep following us on Twitter as we'll give live status updates!