Site Timeline, Near Disasters and Achievements

11/18/09 This site goes online.

Raffy installs phpMyFAQ at his host. He invites me to write content for a new web site about Puppy Linux.

11/19/09 The Name.

I name the site Puppy Linux FAQ.

11/20/09 My first article.

I write first article titled "I am Puppyite".

11/21/09 I register domain name.

I register www.puppylinuxfaq.org and assign it to Puppy Linux FAQ.

11/24/09 An auspicious beginning.

Puppy Linux FAQ regularly sets new daily standards for page hits. I set new personal records for numbers of articles added per day.

12/21/09 A near fatal crisis rears its ugly head.

I experience one of the worst moments of my life. The site database develops serious errors. Some articles cannot be edited or deleted. I have made a seemingly innocent mistake. I add an article but forget to give it a name. This means it is visible in the front end but cannot be found or deleted in the backend.

I remember enough about the problematic article to be able to find it with the site search facility. It has an entry and the first few sentences are visible but that’s all. Then I remember to search by the article ID number and successfully pull it up but I still am unable to delete or edit it or give it a name so that it will be visible in the backend.

I am panic stricken. Then things get worse. While experimenting in the backend I repeat the same idiotic mistake and unwittingly add two more articles that I can neither find, edit or delete when I do find them. But the fecking things are clearly visible on the front page. I even see a blank entry as the number one newest FAQ. I waver between severe depression and rage at my own stupidity.

As I have no idea how to remedy this situation I do the only thing I can, I continue to add articles and hope I can find a way to fix the problem and save the most important work I have ever done.

12/23/09 I fix the database.

After sleepless nights I decide I must manually edit the database. I have never before attempted such a thing. I know diddly squat about databases. I read and review all six thousand lines looking for anything that looks like an anomaly. I have no idea what I’m looking at. After a while I identify five lines that to my untrained eyes look slightly wrong. I delete them and do a restore. To my immense relief I find I have fixed the problem. Never have I had a more white knuckle moment with computers.

12/24/09 I add one hundredth article to the Puppy Linux FAQ.

This is a red letter day. Not only do I add the one hundredth article but in the last twenty four hours this site gets over 500 hits, and that’s just for starters. In future it will get thousands and then tens of thousands of hits per day. Who knows how many hits it will eventually get!

I have found that one thing in life that has always eluded me. Not a hobby or some piddling job but a truly Great Work. Something that I can devote my whole mind and body to. I will work all through the holidays and on into the new year. And what a year it will be!

Now I know I can make computing easier and more affordable for countless numbers of people. Never again will they have to squander money on expensive “Windows Ready” hardware. Now even old computers that would otherwise take up space in land fills can be re-purposed with Puppy Linux and run rings around even the most cutting edge Windows or Mac machines. I shit you not!

This is the future, come ride it with me! I’m pulling up on the stick as hard as I can and this site is going vertical. Cover your ears, the next sound you hear will be the world’s first Internet sonic boom!

1/11/10 Puppy Linux FAQ averages 800+ hits per day.

There is no doubt whatsoever, I can and will build the most useful Linux site on the Internet.

2/14/10 Puppy Linux FAQ averages 1000+ hits per day.

Sometime within the last 48 hours this site reached an average of 1007 hits per day. I consider this a major milestone. But the site is still in it’s infancy and I plan to top that figure by many orders of magnitude.

It is no accident that the Puppy Linux FAQ is enjoying such phenomenal popularity. Puppy Linux is the ideal OS and this site is the perfect introduction.

Now is the time to tell your friends, family and co-workers that they no longer need be held prisoner by Windows. Tell them they can stop worrying about losing valuable data, stop wasting time scanning, removing malware and step up to a truly stable, virus free OS. Tell them this is the right time and the right OS to turn the page and never look back on Windows again. With your help we can spread the good word about Puppy Linux, we can do this, I know it!

11/1/10 Database restore fails.

Again I am having trouble doing a database restore. I send Raffy my most recent backup and ask him to restore it for me which of course he does.

I decide to install phpMyFAQ at Byethost free hosting and do some experiments to see if I can determine why the restore intermittently fails. I also want to see what tables I can truncate in order to shrink the database which has ballooned to 6MB. Only about 10% of that is my data.

12/16/10 I open a free hosting account at Byethost.

Little do I suspect how unreliable they are or just how much time I will waste on this misadventure.

12/31/10 I open a second account at Byethost and install Joomla.

IIRC the day after I install Joomla the server went down, comes back a day later, then remains intermittent for weeks. The day after my site's server goes down the Byethost support site goes off line. Shortly after that their forum went off line. The support remains off line for 3 weeks and the forum has never returned. No surprise there, if they brought it back now there would likely be a riot. I waste weeks trying to get something accomplished with this host, in the end I give up.

When I first heard about them I initially considered signing up for their $4 a month plan, what a mistake that would have been!

12/20/10 (approximate) Raffy and I discuss moving Puppy Linux FAQ to new host.

Raffy asks if I could move the site to a new host. He has been hosting the site for free since it started so I can hardly fault him for this. I agree and tell him I will make plans to accomplish this.

1/14/11 Spammer befouls home page of Puppy Linux FAQ.

Today a scumbag from the Peoples Republic of China puts his garbage on my home page, this isn't the first time either. This same waste-of-skin has vandalized my site before with his spam. What should I expect from people who put melamine in baby formula to make the protein level seem higher?

Once again the buggy CMS (phpMyFAQ) I'm using prevents me from deleting the spam comment. I manage to obscure it from the front page but that's all. The last time this happened I had to edit the database by hand. Now there is no time for this as I must focus on moving Puppy Linux FAQ to a new host.

To remedy this intolerable situation I make the only logical decision I can. I must abandon phpMyFAQ and recreate my site with new CMS. The road ahead now seems filled with uncertainty. Regardless of obstacles I am resolute, I will do this or die in the attempt.

1/15/11 (approximate) I plan for the future.

While glancing at a web designer magazine I come across an article about running PHP software in XAMPP. In that moment I formulate a plan whereby I will create a backup of the current site by running phpMyFAQ in XAMPP. I'll install Joomla on my hard drive too then copy and paste my content into it one article at a time. Then I will export the database, install Joomla at the host, use phpMyAdmin to empty the tables in the database and import a copy of the database made with Joomla on my hard drive.

I have no idea if I can make this work. Based on my level of knowledge about PHP and CMS at this point in time it seems either wildly optimistic or foolhardy. I begin researching how to accomplish all of this.

2/4/11 I can no longer backup Puppy Linux FAQ database.

The database backup facility in phpMyFAQ is busted, I have no idea why. I've had trouble with it before but now it is well and truly toast. I email Raffy and ask him to use phpMyAdmin to export the database manually and send it to me which of course he does. It is now apparent that I can longer risk working on the original site.

2/6/11 Raffy sets a final date for moving the Puppy Linux FAQ

I agree to move the site by the end of February. I have no idea if I can do this. So much time has already been squandered by the previously mentioned ne'er-do-well host and recalcitrant developer of the buggy CMS.

2/11/11 I find a host.

Finding a reputable host I can afford takes far more time than I would have ever imagined. While there is no shortage of hosts making ridiculous claims about the bandwidth or hard drive space they offer reputable hosts with superb support are as rare as hens teeth. Never before have I spent so much time researching or agonizing over an online purchase.

2/12/11 Puppy Linux FAQ receives it's first award!

Here's the notification:

Congratulations,

I enjoyed visiting your site. It is truly a plus for the Internet and consequently I would like to reward your efforts with the Gadzillion Award For Creative Thought on the Internet. The award (rated 3.5 by Award Sites!) is attached to this email. I will be adding a link to your site on the Gadzillion Winners Page soon.

Take Care and Keep Thinking,
Don Fowler, A Gadzillion Things To Think About.

Time permitting I will submit this site for more awards, who knows, maybe I'll get luck again.

2/23/2011 I fail to fulfill my commitment to move Puppy Linux FAQ to new host by end of February.

The writing is on the wall. I will never make the deadline. I have failed to recreate the site and move it to new host by the agreed date. I must ask Raffy for more time. I am so distraught and angry with myself I wonder if I can write the email. I am intolerant of my failures. When I fail I do that which I cannot prevent myself from doing, I punish myself mercilessly. This is my worst character flaw. But I digress.

I send Raffy an email asking if he will host the site until the end of March. Gracious as always he agrees, I am greatly relieved. The pressure I have put on myself is gone. I can begin again with renewed strength.

3/22/2011 The all new Puppy Linux FAQ is online.

Today I setup the domain servers for the new site. This final step is the culmination of months of intense effort. I am relieved and jubilant.

3/25/2011 Russoodle writes news item about Puppy Linux FAQ relaunch

Russoodle wrote a glowing review today about the Puppy Linux FAQ relaunch. He's a good guy and strong supporter of Puppy Linux!