Moving to a New Home and Renovating
Once the National Bible Bee is concluded, Memverse is going to be simultaneously upgrading to a newer version of our framework (Ruby on Rails) and moving to a new hosting provider. The new framework will provide better performance. The new hosting provider will (we hope) provide more stability.
Here is what you need to know:
- We will give more details closer to the time but the current database will be migrated to the new server. There will probably be a brief period of down time during which Memverse will be unavailable. Our hope is that it will be no more than a few hours.
- We will be deleting from the database any users who have no memory verses in their account. If you would like to maintain your account, please make sure you add at least one memory verse.
- In future you will login using your email address.
Keep reading only if you like living on the edge
We would love people to try out the new site in advance. If you would like to do this, add the following line to your 'hosts' file:
173.255.223.25 www.memverse.com
You will know that you're on the new website because there will be a blog post that isn't on the current site. The database on the new site was copied over last night. Anything that happens on the new site will be overwritten when the migration happens. If you do try out the new site, please try and test all the various functionality and clearly report bugs. This will make the transition a less bumpy ride when it eventually happens. Remember that you will have to remove the line in the 'hosts' file to return to the original site.
Admin
upgrade, Rails 3.1, hosting
44 responses to Moving to a New Home and Renovating
I'd like to see this new site, but I don't quite understand how to get there. And will the site look any different? That would be a little weird, but I could get used to it.
Phil - We've just fixed the comment closure issue.
SavedByGrace - The site will look the same (apart from a few aesthetic updates), but the server will be different. :)
Thanks, Alex. And as I said, I don't understand how to get there, because I don't know what a host file is. What am I supposed to do with the number code? Thank you.
SBG, don't worry, the site looks almost identical. Hopefully the performance will eventually be better.
If you aren't familiar with host files, I would recommend just sticking with the current site.
I know this is off topic, but I noticed that I can edit or delete anyone's comment. Is it supposed to be this way, and if not, can you fix it?
Off topic but... I am not good at memorising anything - but I have been able to memorise 99 verses here in a few months. However, the biggest problem I have is that I constantly forget whether I should type which or that; will or shall; and to or unto. I forever get those wrong, even in chapters I otherwise know. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, is there a trick to overcoming it?
Joanne. Yes I understand. I think the best way to help you remember those certain words, is to think of the Theology, and grammer of what you're memorizing. Does is make more sense that; you will not covet? or "you shall not covet..."(Exodus 20:17) Another way that helps me, is to remember the whole sentence where I make certain mistakes. Then even if I do make a mistake, I can correct it and slowly remember it until it becomes natural. Hopefully that helps.
Love the new site Idea by the way. Maybe it can help those who memorize in the ESV to make changes easier? Thanks
Thomas - Usually you open the file with a basic text editor; for example, in Windows you would use Notepad. Then you would make the changes and save the file.
Thanks a lot Alex. With your help and my dad's help I was able to access the site. I couldn't log in though. It looks great. Thanks Andy and everyone else who helped!
Thomas - That's cool. Andy has been working hard on the new setup. Part of the change is a different "authentication" (user login) tool: you enter your email address and password on the new site... Maybe that's why you had trouble logging in.
Could someone give me a brief tutorial on how to find this new site, if it's not any trouble? It sounds great, but I don't have a clue how to get there. Thanks!
@SavedByGrace, I didn't know what host files were either, so I Googled them! There is an excellent wickepedia article on them. Do you use a Macintosh or Windows operating system?
Grace - If you don't understand it, that's OK! You don't have to do anything. We're just keeping you informed about some big changes on the backend of the site which we hope will create some improvements on the frontend. :)
SavedByGrace - You have to edit your Windows "hosts" file in C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\ to see the new site. You can do this with Notepad, but if you're not sure what you are doing, you might Google it for more information or just let it go; I know you're getting ready for Nationals. If you stop by the computer junction at Nationals on Thursday when Memverse has a presentation, I can show you the changes...
Hi.
@Andy/Alex Watt: I have a suggestion involving tags. (I don't think anyone will have any major problem with it.) While I like the tags, it seems that some of the users use them in the wrong way. I've seen tags that are complete sentences, tags that make jokes about the verse, and tags that have nothing to do with the verse at all. My suggestion is, once you upgrade to the new web design, having some of the administrators go through all the tags and delete the inappropriate ones, or perhaps even deleting all of the tags and starting over. Then you could have some control over what the tags are, and could make some rules about what the tags are allowed to be like.
I personally am not bothered by such tags, but I thought that others might be, as the tag cloud is very hard to search through. It was just an idea.
Alex, I figured out how to get to the Notepad "hosts" file, but I don't understand what to do from there. It gives me something like a tutorial, but I don't understand it fully. I entered the code mentioned in this blog post, but it didn't seem to do anything. However, if you just want me to wait for Nationals, I can do that.
I just want to say a word of encouagement to all the Bible Bee-ers going to Nationals. I know you all worked VERY hard, and your effort and hard work will be such a blessing to you all now and in later years. I am so excited for you all, and can't wait to watch it live :)
God's richest blessings...
Rachel
This is GREAT! The few changed you made are wonderful -- particularly the my progress page. But, I found that the keyboard shortcuts on the memorization page don't work. Also, there is a pretty big problem with the tags. Most of my quite reasonable tags are deleted, and some of the ones I previously deleted are back. (I might delete all my tags anyway.) Thanks! --InSoloChristo
InSoloChristo, none of the tags on your verses have been deleted. We have changed the way we calculate the tag cloud and it will slowly regenerate over time.
I think I know what you're saying. I'm kind of into all that HTML, CSS and ASP stuff, so I can understand the possible complications.
I also noticed that the popular verses by book page doesn't have a place where you can enter a book anymore. There is also something wrong with the show/hide verse button on the memorization page.
in this new web site i believe the change took place on Saturday i can only click the show verse button one time and there is no hide verse button at all i hope this is just a bug because i have had to look up verses in the Bible to complete my session because there was no way to get the right word if i didn't already know it....am i missing something? has anyone else had this problem?
Admin - The number of verses it says I have on my account page and on the leaderboard are different. Just letting you know so you can fix it. Thanks.
Kaitlyn - It looks like it is correct now. The "Leaderboard" page is cached and so it may sometimes be a little bit behind the latest verse counts. :)
O.K. this is really my fault but we put my brother on Memverse using my e-mail address and + something like notes or contacts but I can't remember what it was. Is there any way one of the employees could figure that out ? It is not on his public profile.
Thanks GB. Good to hear.
The migration has been a lot rockier than anticipated. We are still scrambling to get rid of the remaining problems.
I really enjoyed meeting you all at nationals!! It was so fun to actually see you all in person, after having talked to you on here for several months.
I can't wait to see the new site. I don't really understand how to see the new site though.
Carissa - The migration to the new home/server has been made. There aren't many cosmetic differences, but I agree with God's bondslave that the new charts on the Progress page and One Church are awesome.
Wow, I love the new one church leaderboard page, both for the graphics and especially for the accuracy of past data. It is hard to believe we are close to dipping under 900 active users. Can we get this back up?
@Carissa BB - I wish I could have met all of you that went to Nationals! Just be sure and make it next year and I will try too, so that we can all meet together...hey! Maybe we could have a memverse party! :) lol
Thank you, volunteers, for all the work you do here on Memverse. I like all the new changes, and I have also found that loading goes faster. Thanks.
@BBJ11- A memverse party? That sounds interesting! I wish I made it to nationals this year, but I was in the Timothy track. At least my two older brothers made it.
Please pray for Chloe, Gracie & Nikie Brown because they will lose their home. [They are good friends of mine.]
Here is another great site for Scripture memory http://scripturetyper.com/ It is esspecially great for learning verses (whereas memverse is stronger in reviewing verses)
Andy, is this move part of the reason that so many of the current blogs are closed to new comments?