HaleyFans 2.0

[Miguel]

There are parts of HaleyFans that have been woefully neglected. For instance, the performance section. That’s been on my mind for six months. One reason I haven’t invested the time to update it is the forum software itself needs to be updated. When a past update failed I fell behind in the updates. A couple of months ago I began thinking about upgrading to paid forum software that has more features.

A problem with that – apart from the expense - is the paid software doesn’t support importing data from the forum we’re currently using. I would have to convert the board to another free forum and then import the data from there into it. There’s a good chance data would be lost and configurations messed up in that process. And I would probably need to update the current forum software to initiate the process.

So I’ve dragged my feet.

Marina’s post made me consider another option. The most popular blogging software can be used as a Content Management System (CMS). Themes can be applied to make it look and feel like a website instead of a blog.

There are specialized themes too. Subject to everyone’s approval, I will purchase a music-oriented theme and implement it.

I have a particular theme in mind. Its features:

- The main page is nearly a full-screen slideshow.
- The slides can include videos that can be played and links to galleries that can be viewed.
- There is a gallery section and it’s possible to have galleries for different years/events.
- There is a section for videos. They can be categorized on a limited basis.
- There is a section to list upcoming events.
- There is a section for albums. If you have MP3s of the album’s songs, you can upload them to be played.
- You can link to iTunes or Amazon where the album can be purchased
- There is a section for videos.
- It supports nearly two dozen social media networks. I would most likely link to Haley’s Twitter page, Facebook page, Instagram page, YouTube channel, SoundCloud page and Vine page (if that’s supported).
- It's "responsive." That means it re-sizes itself depending on the device it's being viewed on (smartphone, tablet, monitor, etc). This feature might be a bit buggy on this theme.

Out with the Old and in with the New:

- The new theme/software will not use the same registration system as the forum
- I think I can add Disqus to it. That’s the same comment system used at MJ’s. I believe it allows comments from people using Twitter and Facebook handles, which should lead to increased activity by casual site visitors.
- To implement the new CMS, I will first have to move the forum off the main page of HaleyFans. I’m not sure how to do this at the moment, but I can figure it out (I think). Once I move it, you will need to access it by going to http://www.haleyfans.com/original
- Once the new system is established, I will close the old forum to new activity. I hope to archive it and have it remain viewable.
- It may be possible to create a new forum using the CMS, but I am undecided if this is needed or desirable.

Other considerations:

The hosting of the site. It’s been very buggy lately – “Resource Limit Reached.” If the problem is the amount of traffic HaleyFans gets, it’s likely compounded by forum software that’s not very efficient. If that’s the case, the new CMS might reduce the amount of downtime.

However, I don’t believe the HaleyFans account is exceeding what it’s allocated to use. It’s more likely the server is hosting hundreds of small accounts and one or two sites that push its limits. What I describe is common in the webhosting industry.

The question then is, do we stay or do we go?

If the site is to be moved it probably makes more sense to do that before updating it.

A new host might not necessarily be better. So I am considering a form of hosting called a Virtual Private Server (VPS). As I understand it, this more or less guarantees you a certain amount of resources. This form of hosting is now more affordable than it used to be. I saw an entry-level VPS plan priced at $300 a year today. That’s about double what I’ve been paying. But I don’t know anything about the host’s reliability.

Your thoughts?


ETA: HaleyCentral has been stubbornly stuck near the top forever. I think there are three reasons for that: (1) It was established early (2) It's likely run by operators of other fans sites that know about Search Engine Optimization (3) It has a feed that pulls in tweets, which probably makes it appear that it is updated more frequently than it is.