Golden-Road.net
Front Office => The Front Office => Topic started by: Marc on January 02, 2021, 02:16:11 PM
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Hey everyone. So about the past couple of weeks...
There are two financial components in running this site. First is the domain name registration, with allows us to lease the name golden-road.net. The second is the hosting, which allows for the storage and bandwidth transfer of our data. I have paid for both of these components over the years, with John taking over the payments for the hosting a couple of years back.
With respect to the registration, I have used a company called webdirecthosting.com since this site was founded. It's a simple renewal transaction which occurs once per year, on December 18th, and runs about $18/year, give or take. But webdirecthosting.com is not always the best in responding. Each year, I update my email address and my mailing address with them (I have not actively used marc@golden-road.net since about 2008), but each year said update fails to take in their system...so I never receive their renewal notices. This year, I made effort to contact them, but I have still not received a response as I am typing this message. Fortunately, I stumbled across a company called ENON, of which webdirecthosting is a reseller. I don't want to pretend to understand all of this stuff, but long story short, our site registration is now handled by ENON, and my credit card remains on file with them for domain auto-renewal each year. Woohoo!
I have always maintained, and still do, that we keep this site up and running for you guys....aka 'our subscribers' as a wise man once put it. I fully realize that I have been an absentee owner these past few years, but I assure you that I lurk, and that Pluto TV plays on my iPad as I navigate the ups and downs of my workday. While The Price is Right is not the same show that I grew up with -- I still have tremendous respect for the institution and the legacy of the show, and it will always hold a place in my heart. I now have a daughter who is going to be six years old tomorrow...and she too gets excited whenever Cliffhangers comes on!
Happy holidays to all. Be good to yourselves, your families, and those you care about.
Marc
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It's cool, Boss. Thanks for keeping the site up and running for nearly two decades.
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Thanks for the explanation, Marc. I'm glad to see you're still around and lurking. And hopefully with the auto-renew we can put these incidents to rest once and for all.
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Thanks for keeping this site going for so long!
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We appreciate you and John more than you’ll ever know, Marc!
I’ve brought up in the Discord chat the idea of a Patreon account being set up that we can contribute to. Relatively speaking, it doesn’t sound like the site costs a whole lot to maintain, but I would absolutely contribute a good $5-$10/month personally to help keep it running. Not everyone here is in a position to do that — and understandably so — but those of us who can would not only be able to cover the costs of keeping the site up, but we should also be able to pay for expanded server space, among other neat things that are out of reach right now. How cool would it be if forum members could post photos directly to the site without having to link to a third party source? That’s where Patreon comes into play, and I’m all for it. Y’all have held the burden of maintaining this site for us with no telling how much spent over the years to keep it up. Let us give back!
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Thanks for all your best work in keeping the site going Marc.
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Thanks for the transparency Marc. Glad you're enjoying PLUTO.
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Thank you for letting us know, and for keeping this site running. I've been a reader for almost 20 years and a member for over 10, and this site means a lot to me.
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I kind of figured something was up when the site was down this long. It seems to have gotten worse over the years. Thanks for letting us know, Marc.
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What took you so long?
Thanks for the special 2-week winter break!
I gotta admit I'm nervous about the thought of maintaining a website with as many active members as it has. I'm just glad the staff are able to do it at no cost to its readers. Even if it means we get the occasional technical difficulties, at least we now know there will still be a site.
(By the way, I am also in a position to support monthly through Patreon if the idea actually goes forward.)
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Even if the website goes down 2 weeks per year, that's still 50 weeks of excellence you're paying for that we members get to enjoy for free. Thanks for everything you've done and continue to do to keep this site up!
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Marc, thank you very much. I think you had nothing to apologize for, but the fact that you did and explained what happened validates what a great guy you are. I have had so much appreciation for you as it relates to finding G-R dot net, and how much of an ultra fan you are.
Like you, I haven't been around as much as I once was during the old days (well, prior to this season), but I still follow the show, and I have still followed the site (albeit as a lurker more than an active poster). Similar to Jeff P and you and many others, family and real life comes first.
To close, the website could've been down for as long as need be, but after your dedication as mentioned, I knew that it would've been handled when it was handled. I'm sorry that it has been such a problem. However, I'm glad that the site is back up and running, and that you continue to support the best Price is Right forum ever.
I hope you had a nice holiday season. Happy early birthday to your daughter, and enjoy 2021!
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Marc, you and 'ClockGameJohn' (or is it 'ClockGameJon'?) have ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKING IDEA of how awesome this site is. I've been a member for years, and I am proud to be part of an awesome site for one of the 'ALL TIME GREATEST GAME SHOWS ON EARTH'!!! 'Here's to more fun, RIGHT AFTER THESE MESSAGES!!!'
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I joined this site back in 2003 when I was 13 years old- and I've loved it since! (MSN lurker- OMG, I feel so old now!) This is usually my first stop when I browse my usual sites, even before email, Facebook, and my rodeo sites. I watch Price, both todays' shows and yesteryear, religiously, and I am literally counting down the days until I can fly back out to LA and try my luck again on the show!
I have the utmost respect for Marc and John (aka Sally, from way back in the day) and I am ready for the several months of episodes to begin. Thank you, Marc and John for keeping the lights on and for having this site for us.
And, I too get excited when they play Cliff Hangers! :-)
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Well, I’m just glad things returned back to normal here. 🙂
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Marc, I want to thank you for this wonderful site and your continued financial support of it, I've been a member since 2003 but I was here lurking a while before that, while I don't post much anymore, rest assured I'm here almost every day to read the recaps and read different posts and am very appreciative of that small part of my daily routine. I also want to say that if there were a patreon made for the site, I'd gladly be able to help with the occasional few bucks when I can. Thanks again, Marc, and welcome back everyone! :)
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Appreciate the explanation and being able to participate in a forum such as this.
Brian
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Thank you for the explanation, Marc. Kinda had a feeling there was something amiss with regards to why the domain wasn't auto renewing.
Thought about reaching out to offer my domain provider for registration purposes as I've been using auto renew successfully with them for over fourteen years.
Glad you've got it sorted out into the foreseeable future!
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Thanks for the explanation there Marc and Happy Birthday to your daughter!
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Thank you for the explanation there Marc, it's great that the site's been up and running again after some days. I wish your daughter a blessed birthday too!
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Thanks for explaining why the site was down for two weeks Marc, I hope your daughter had a wonderful birthday yesterday. I may not have the money to contribute to one. I'm also in favor of using Patreon or even Buy Me A Coffee to help pay the bills to keep the site going if the idea of that goes forward.
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Thank you for all you have done over the years with this site! I'm glad all's well that ends well :)
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Thank you Marc and John for your years of hard work at the site!
Happy New Year and welcome back everyone!!!
Joe
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Cool.
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So this explains the "This domain is expired" message that I recently got. I had mentioned that in a different thread.