Contest Zoo Maps

[Goosifer]

 

2 hours ago, Savannahjan said:

I've been thinking about adding a secondary site for file storage.

 

This is a great idea, and the secondary site can be made to look like your forum so that nobody would tell a difference that they're "leaving" Tek to download an animal file.

 

One of the things I've been looking into is coding up a simple static HTML/CSS site that would serve as nothing more than a file link aggregator for the Northern Skies files. No PHP/SQL requests, no user registrations, just pure HTML and a stylesheet. Github Pages is the most popular place to host something like this for free. The great thing about this strategy is if Github pages ever goes down or says I need to leave, I can just copy/paste the same HTML/CSS files elsewhere like nothing ever happened because there isn't an SQL database to migrate. All I need to worry about is figuring out a solution for how or where to host the actual files to link, but I have some $7 or less ideas. I like your suggestion of a Google Drive.

 

I can let you know if it works out. Sadly I'm a poor boy while in school, but I'd be more than happy do donate my time coding something similar for Tek if I can help. Sadly this would only address the download files. I know how big SQL databases can get, but that's a whole other beast and I'll openly admit I'm terrified of databases.

[(Admin)Cricket]

We are certainly open to suggestions!  I have downloaded what I think we would need for a Google Drive.  I just haven't a clue how to get started to implement it.  I haven't taken the time to do so yet.

[Goosifer]

The only downside with Google Drive is it doesn't have a way to hotlink files, only explore someone's online folder directory. No way to provide file descriptions or thumbnails. A creative way around this would be to pair every zip file with an image and readme file with the same name so that all three are listed together. Like this:

 

 

I think I've just talked myself into using Google Drive. This wouldn't be awful for my usecase haha.

[(Admin)Savannahjan]

We've been focusing on the anniversary and contests, but very soon, sometime this summer, we will have to work on it.   We've been using Invision Power Board software and Hostgator host services for almost 17 years.  I can't imagine trying to migrate somewhere else, and certainly we could not change software now.   If we moved 1/2 our downloads to another location, we would solve our space issues here at the main site. 

 

Once we start working on this later this summer, we will certainly consult with you Goosifer and settle on a plan of attack. 

[Fern]

You could use the same stuff as DD, DG and ZA. That is Open Source so you are not paying those fees. And you can upgrade when they do. There are add-ons that could be used for downloads as I remember we used them briefly when DD first opened back in 2006.

[pukkie]

And they have a gazllion of files