As most of you are aware, this site was moved to a different server by my hosts after it was discovered we were using far more than our allotted CPU minutes (or resource units as they are often referred). Over time it became clear that the problem was not because this site has too many hits, but rather that there is a flaw somewhere in the board eating up all the CPU power of my server. As a way to isolate the problem, I was forced to alter a setting that effectively took all of the php instructions from this site and converted them into CGI. As a result, it was impossible to upload avatars because that required CGI. Today I received the good news that my site would be returning to it's appropriate server as I have successfully reduced the resource minutes I have been using. So, after viewing the logs, it appears when the php to CGI is in effect, the board becomes unstable and relies too heavily on the CPU. In order to limit the number of crashes you all experience, as well as not use more than my fair share of CPU minutes, the feature will be disabled indefinitely.
What this means is we will employ the same system the Town Hall uses, where you must upload your avatar to another website before being allowed to link to it here. You may also use one of the avatars from our gallery. I do apologize for this inconvenience, as I really was hoping to eliminate the "middle man" but it's a small sacrifice to make for a more stable board. And when you consider the alternative (shutting the board down), I believe you would all appreciate the course of action I am taking!
We should be returning to our normal server within the next 48 hours and hopefully the sporadic crashing and slow downs will come to a grinding halt. Thanks for your patience and understanding over these past two weeks!
Important: Many of you may now not see your own avatar (this means you uploaded it from your own computer or another site prior to this post). To get your avatar back, Edit Your Profile, click "Show gallery", go to the "Users" gallery and find your avatar there. This is the location where all uploaded avatars were stored prior to this post.
EDIT: Apparently the linking to remote avatars is not currently working either... the gallery is the only choice for the time being while I sort this out
.EDIT #2: I've made the necessary changes and everything seems to work properly!
