I won't belabor this too much, but I will provide a small history lesson.

To the best of my understanding, the Hunter's Life was started by three people: Sharon and Gordon (ShadowRider and RavenBeauty), and Darrell, after they got fed up with the rancor and potty-mouth at a site they frequented. Sharon wrote the code you see for THL. Shortly after getting THL up and running, they added another Administrator. I don't know his name. He was 'gone' before I arrived in 2004, as I recall. (Ol' John, later known as Hondo John, invited me over from a Milsurp forum we frequented.) As it was told to me by Jay Edwards, friction arose among those four, and Jay was 'brought in' to 'tame the West' as THL was at risk of turning into exactly what Sharon and Gordon had left. Jay did an excellent job, and the 'corporate culture' you see today that IS "The Hunter's Life" is almost solely due to Jay Edwards' hard work and strong will. Not much later, another administrator was added - RockinBBar.

After things settled down and were running smoothly, the site got hacked. A malicious one, and we had to start ALL OVER anew. About two years after we recovered from that,  the guy providing the server (in his garage) got a divorce and "vanished". The site was moved over to GoDaddy for hosting. Then we got hacked again. Had to start over again. About three years after that, it happened again. This time worse than ever. We have never really recovered completely from that last hack. Obviously we are back up and running, but most of the time it's on a wing and a prayer. Something of the malware remains in the source code, and that prevents us from upgrading. Since 2009-ish.

Shortly thereafter, Sharon got hurt and then pretty seriously sick. Darrel, RockinBBar and Jay essentially took over the operation of the site, but none of them could do anything about "the problem". After Gordon and Sharon decided to completely bow out, The reins were turned over to Darrell and RockinBBar, and Jay, himself terminally ill, chose to "bow out" completely as well. (Jay, a very dear friend of mine, died a couple of years later.) Shortly thereafter, I "took over" the financial responsibility of THL. I have been 'running the show' ever since.

We have never been able to 'fix' the site more than get it running. No upgrades to software. No "fixes" of the malware. We can't make changes because Sharon wrote the code, and no one really knows how to troubleshoot the problems and find the malware. We are on a server that is "four generations" back. We are about 4 years behind from the latest version of vBulletin, the environment that THL operates in. The next crash will probably be "fatal".

What has always been of ABSOLUTE importance, is the "archive". There is encyclopedic information on this forum in the archives. We never "started over" after the last crash because to do so always meant COMPLETE loss of the archives.

That has changed. I think!

Today, I bought a new account on GoDaddy. I hired some programmers to convert the existing vBulletin code to FUDforum code and put it on the new site. They are about to "copy" the existing PHP code of THL into the new site, test it, and bring over the archives. When that new site is up and running as it should, I will close the existing THL site.

Doing this gets us into "this century". We will get regular updates to software; install MUCH improved security measures, and get the archives saved "for all time". We will no longer be "walking on eggshells", hoping that we don't get hacked again. ONE of the reasons I haven't aggressively been trying to grow THL's membership is because I am afraid of getting 'bad guys' interested in us and attacking us and breaking us for the last time. Once this change is accomplished, we don't have to worry about that any more.

I'm not CERTAIN how this 'conversion' is going to work out, but we are really at a point where we simply HAVE to do SOMETHING. We are simply "waiting to die" right now. The conversion is supposed to be complet by the 13th, but I'll be happy if it is ready by the end of the month.

Keep your fingers crossed, and we start a whole new era for The Hunter's Life.

Paul

Good....Very Good!

That is very good news Paul. Thanks for your persistence with this endeavour.

I know you didn't ask, but I am keen to contribute financially to the upgrade and ongoing maintenance of THL. I think the easiest way would be through a PayPal payment, but I am not sure how to do this (I have only used it to pay for stuff ordered online). If someone can walk me through how to do this it would be appreciated (and perhaps by more than just me).

Marcus

I have my toes crossed that it all works!!! I'd cross my fingers, but then I'd need help getting them undone and straight again.

RJ

Marcus - Thank you for your generous offer. I will send a PM, and we can 'talk'. IF this all works out well, I will make the annual budget for THL public, and we can all discuss how we want to move forward.

RJ -

Paul

I'm in with a contribution of $100.00. We can't expect Paul to pay on his own.

Hi Paul,

Work out what it will cost and let us know so we can all contribute.

Cheers

Jorge

Will do. I am speaking with the developers right now.

Paul

I would toss a few bucks in the hat.

Guy missed the bonus....

Quote from: j0e_bl0ggs;147334Guy missed the bonus....

???

I'm wrestling with them now. May have just been completely ripped off. Should know by tomorrow. If I was, it won't come as a surprise. Just 'tuition' in the school of "hard knocks".

Paul

Just to keep you updated, I just posted the following on my Facebook page.

So for those thinking of hiring someone to do some programming or "internet work", I would strongly recommend that you do NOT use "Freelancer", a business located in Sydney, Australia. I posted the following on their  Facebook page, but I'm posting it here because it has probably already been removed from their page.

I would STRONGLY advise careful consideration if considering using Freelancer. I hired someone from their site. Did everything through their site that I KNEW of. Paid the thief through xoom.com. The thieves took the money and did DID NOTHING. Freelancer said that since I talked to them on Skype (to discuss details of the job AFTER they were hired) that I "violated Freelancers policies" and therefore "there is nothing we can do". They also said I should have "transacted" with them through Freelancer. However, good luck trying to find where you can "transact" on Freelancer. I'm sure there are people that have used Freelancer with success. HOWEVER, they harbor thieves, facilitate theft, and of course offer NO assistance when you get ripped off.

Also, xoom.com says they "guarantee" your payments. But the only thing they guarantee is that thieves GET the money. What I was told verbatim was "Once they pick up the payment, there is nothing we can do." I said, "So if I pay somebody for a product (not a service) and they do not deliver the product, you couldn't care less?" They said "Once they pick up the payment, there is nothing we can do." Actually, every time I asked a question, they answered with the EXACT same words. After the 5th time, they said they "would have to take the matter to a supervisor". (I can be just as pedantic as the most tenacious telephone idiot.) They kept me on hold for 5 minutes. When they came back they said "Once they pick up the payment, there is nothing we can do." SO...

Be careful of using Freelancer. I will never again. DO NOT USE xoom.com. PERIOD. They are just liars. Both companies facilitate theft.

All of that said, I took a calculated risk. The money involved wasn't 'chump change', but it wasn't money I was unwilling to risk had I been able to get the job we want accomplished. Freelancer and xoom.com are just REALLY BAD businesses. Like I said, I'm sure they can find some "happy customers" to refute my comments. You'll have to make that decision when faced with it.

So we're not quite "back to zero" because I've got the GoDaddy account set up and waiting for a REAL programmer, but we're close. The next one I hire, I'll be smarter.

Just the cost of tuition in the school of hard knocks people so love to say they are the alumni of.

More news when there is news to report.

Paul

Lesson learned, Paul. Another one to avoid at all cost is Microsmarts LLC. Nothing but thieves & criminals. ......Paul H