R & P are two letters which have been around me for ages and it was only a couple of days ago I realised how important they are to me. I don’t know why it took me so long to realise, but when I did, I felt tall (strange saying this at 6’3″, but it’s true) and elated!
RP:
- Firstly, they are my son’s initials.
- Secondly, I’ve been obsessed about a game which I played about 20 years ago called “Red Planet”. It was part of the Virtual Worlds section at the Intencity video game arcades when they were ‘big’ in Australia. Unfortunately I believe all installations were destroyed. I’ve had many thoughts and ideas in trying to make a computer/console sequel to it.. (I can dream!)
- Thirdly, I’ve been on a website/forum for almost 12 years… its initials: RP : The Recording Project
Now what kicked this realisation off was that 2 days ago, I took over the hosting of Recording Project. It has been in the works for a few weeks, but at that point 2 days ago, as the site was migrated to my account, it finally felt ‘real’. It’s also the reason I haven’t posted a blog in the last couple of days.
I had been stressed the week prior with all the hoops in transferring the domain and account and sorting everything out (along with issues in getting my phone fixed), but the afternoon after it had been migrated, and a new phone was in my hands I felt happy… really happy.
So a little ‘pitch’ as to what the site is. Recording Project is a website/forum for musicians and music makers, hobbyists and professionals to communicate, share information, share music and have it reviewed. The idea for the site started in 2003, and the site went public in late 2004.
In 2008, the original creators decided to move on, and one of the members took it over and hosted it. In the following year, there was a problem with the site on the host to do with the number of files in one directory, so I ended up updating a mod (it runs phpBB) to resolve an issue. In acknowledgement, I was made a Moderator and then not long after, an Admin of the board.
In 2008 I had put my hand up to take over the board, but missed the opportunity.
Earlier this month the user who was hosting it questioned “Does anybody care if I shut this place down?”. I instantly messaged him and asking some details about the site. Turned out the domain was due to expire at the end of the month. He had hosting and then offered for me to pay for just the domain or to pay for the domain and hosting. My personal hosting was up next month and I’ve been looking to change hosts for the last few years. I just bit the bullet.
What prompted me this time, well, for starts, the board members. I’ve got some life long friends, who I have never met in person, who I met on that board. I also feel like I can do something with it.
Also, since the site changed hands back in 2008, it’s been static. Along with that, the active user base has dropped significantly. The software hasn’t been updated (mostly due to mods) and some more ‘modern’ type features are missing from the board. I’m sure I can upgrade everything to work which will make the user experience better. It’s just going to take a while to clean everything up as mods have been added/removed, files renamed/numbered and when comparing files, looks like the editors added tabs for formatting which makes the software I use to compare files pick up a lot more differences.
But the board in general. I’ve also got some ideas to give the board more life. I believe in this site. It’s been good to me and I’m going to be good back to it and make it better! It’s not going to happen over night, ti’s going to take a lot of baby steps to get there.
So yeah, I’m now the proud owner of a website with the initials RP, which I’ve visited for years!
Time again to brush up my PHP!