Since so many of your seem to be unable to read the forums....

Well, seems a lot of people can look at the announcement stickies, you know those big red icons at the top of every board you enter, so I'll post it here too.

GALLERY IS STILL DOWN.

You'd think with the lack of new info that people would realize we don't have any new stuff. I know a lot of people don't like the silence, but there you have it.

Now the reason why? Simple fact that we're trying to make sure we don't get hacked again. We weren't sure what caused it that last 2 times, and we just want to make sure there are no leaks in the code that would allow backdoor access. It's very disconcerning to do all that work to get the gallery back up and stuff tagged and then lose it all :\

Mind you we are also busy with real life stuff so it's hard to get it done in a timely fashion, and I'm not about to get someone I hardly know to do the work for us (unless I were to pay a pro) because I don't want to risk having this person stick something malicious into the coding.

You can sort of see where I'm coming from.

Again, we're just as unhappy with the gallery being down AGAIN as everyone else.

Darknest Back Up

Ok, the main forums are up. Some things aren't fully operational (ie: badges, the gallery, avatars are gone, etc.), just a few things that need to be tweaked here and there.

Rainfall has put up a global announcement so if you find any errors, bugs and what not just let us know (on the forums, not here).

Slow and Steady

Ok, the server's back up and Jason is slowly getting sites back up and running. A lot of work is involved and he's checking things out to look for wholes in the code. Hopefully we can avoid another hack from happening.

Darknest will be up when it's up and I'll be sure to post it there, but be happy knowing we have control over the server again and Jason and I will be looking at a much better place to house the server that's much closer to him.

Time to Ditch This Company....

EDIT April 10: Some questions answered below

Low and behold, it seems when shit hits the fan it's one BIG pile.

Looks like the lovely company that houses Jason's (the server guy) server that Darknest (as well as OekakiCentral, Drawntobondage.ca and a host of other artist sites) is on does officially all bugger off on the weekends. So no after hours/weekend support should something go wrong.

Once Jason did get a hold of them they take anywhere from 15 mins to an hour to reboot the server every time, making extremely difficult for Jason to work on the server. All we know is this: some stuff on the server is corrupt.

Today Jason was able to get a system tech to go over and deal with the server. The company personel were late meeting up with him and had to take time to set up a station (which should be already available) for him to work with the server. So that's money down the drain for an hour of work the tech couldn't do because he had to wait.

Well, the tech did what he was told to but now there's another problem. Good Friday is up so Jason can't call them if something happens, they won't be there on the weekend, and we're finding out if they'll even be open on Monday.

We're also investigating if the corruption is not so much a hack attempt as a power problem at the company. They mentioned to Jason that Saturday there will be no power to the build all day. No explaintion.

So that's what we're dealing with, and as soon as Jason can he'll be moving the server to a new and closer place. We had no idea this company would be such a pain.

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EDIT April 10: Some questions answered

Q: Has there been any significant loss of data?

As far as I know, the database, web files and images are fine. Jason won't know the full extent until he has a chance to look at the server. So lets hope for the best.

Q: What about DtB.ca memberships?

Not much I can do to extend memberships for the lost time since Verotel doesn't give me that option. Best I can do is give 1-2 extra updates to make up for the lost week.

Q: So do you know when the server will be back online?

Not a clue. If the company was easier to contact and work with this wouldn't of been a problem and the server would of been up last weekend. We're HOPING this week, so cross your fingers.

Gallery is now FINALLY live!

That looooong awaited moment is here and the Darknest gallery is finally back up and running.

We finally discovered the problem with shimmie not running, and with Rainfall's help upload a ton of images to get the gallery started off again!

In order to upload, tag and comment you'll have to create an account on DN's shimmie gallery.

Also, we still have lots of works (about 620 images) that need help being tagged! Look for the 'tagme' tag and help the gallery out (be sure to delete the 'tagme' off the image once you've done that so it's taken out of the queue).

NOTE From Rainfall:
And a quick reference on how to tag images:

- Tag characters with "race race-gender" - ie, an image with a female night elf would be tagged night_elf-f night_elf ("futa" is considered a gender)
- Tag couplings with "m/f", "futa/f", "f/f", "f-solo", "m-solo", "futa-solo" etc.
- Tag authors, if you know them, in the Source box.

Getting Access to DN

If you can't get to Darknest then try the following:

- clear you browser cache
- flush your dns (google it to see how)

If that doesn't work then you're going to have to be patient until your connection eventually clues in that DN is there :P

Darknest Is Back Up!

Yup, DN is now back up though for some it might be awhile until your dns flushes and you can see the boards. Right now only the forum exists as I'm looking for new software to use for the gallery. It doesn't look pretty at the moment but I'm working on a new template for DN when I get the chance this week :)

EDIT: Use the main URL!