New Provider, New Site, New Functionality - Excellent Service!

The new web hosting package has been purchased and I'm now working on setting it all up - and I'm pleased to report that the new provider has excellent support.

I had rewritten the site in readiness for uploading it all, and then I sat down and thought about this whole project - taking a long term view.

It soon became apparent that trying to look after what will become a huge repository of information was going to overwhelm my coding skills and time. Whilst it's 'easy' to look after now, I can see that in a year or two's time, that won't be the case.

So, I started looking for a content management system, on to which I can bolt an image gallery, forums, news pages and so on. And I found it :-)

Now, I've to build it - so whilst the site is now up, it'll be a few more days at least before I can get back to what we had; but it's a system that we really can build on for the future. So, despite the inconvenience now, in the long run it's for the best.

Thanks for bearing with me - normal service will resume as soon as possible!

David.
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Starting Again From Scratch

Right! We are back to square one - I've now been given a full refund and I can now start to look around for another web hosting provider.

With the original site having been taken down last Thusday, by this lunchtime (Monday) I still did not have any information allowing me to setup the new site. I decided that as there had been no site for around 4 days, and no sign of actually making any progress, that it would be better to get the money back and go looking elsewhere.

So, I've got a couple of providers that I'm looking to use and will attempt to get everything sorted by the end of this week (Friday 29th).

Wish me luck...

David.
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Still Waiting...

As reported on Thursday, the old site has been taken down to make way for the new site. We had to take the old site down first as the service provider could not run two separate hosting services at the same time - as we cannot point the creativeimagemaker.co.uk domain name at two places at once.

As I'm sure you are aware, I've been very unhappy with this hosting provider and when they finally took down the site (four days late), I purchased a hosting plan with their sister company. With the monies out of the account, I got a response from the site that I would be sent information allowing me to start the process of uploading the new site.

By the end of Friday I still had nothing. I sent in a support call and I'm still waiting for a response.

So, as I write this, we have no site up and running, I can't upload the new site as I don't have the server information I need and I'm guessing that I won't get a response until Monday.

I've also asked for a refund as their customer support service is just appalling. I'll try and find a company that actually responds to their customers!

I'm hugely frustrated and disappointed by this setback - but rest assured that the project is still alive and well, and I'll get the magazine back online as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience,
David Vickers.
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The Site Is Down (On Purpose!)

Finally the site is going through the update process, having been taken down by the service provider.

This was the first step in the process - the original site had to be removed to allow me to get a better web hosting agreement. The new site can then be uploaded and the domain pointed at the new server.

I'm currently waiting for some information about the new server before I can upload the version 2 site. It's slow going this update, but at least we have made some progress!

I'll keep you posted.

David.
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Version 2.0...

Well, as you may have guessed, the proposed update has not yet happened thanks to the incompetence of the hosting provider.

I've had such unhappy dealings with my service provider that I'm seriously considering changing to a completely different provider, even if it means losing the money I paid to get the 'service' to start with.

I will be lodging a formal complaint against my provider, especially as I'm now 2 days behind schedule (although at least the site is still up!).

I still want to update this week if at all possible - I'll keep you posted.

David.
A very, very unhappy 123-reg customer.
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Our first month...

Just a quick one today... the magazine has been online now for one month and we've had 2,600 visits and well over 12,100 page views.

That's absolutely brilliant, and is well beyond my expectations! I am very grateful for your support and I hope that you continue to enjoy reading the magazine.

DV. --- Click to read more ---

Version 2 To Go Live.

The current Creative Image Maker website will be updated early next week (week commencing 18th Feb) and this will mean a loss of service for a few days.

The current site does not allow us enough room for expansion as there is a limit on the number of pages allowed and it also has a fixed hierarchy of those pages. We are already near the limits on the articles section and so this update is needed. The new site provides us with much more freedom and I'm looking forward to getting it uploaded.

The new site has a familiar feel to it, although there are some minor differences - particularly in the way that articles will be displayed; with the new site, articles will appear in a new window. Navigation remains broadly similar as do the section titles.

The current site will have to be pulled first, before the new site can be uploaded; following that the domain name servers (that allow your computer to go to the site) will need to be updated and that can take 24-48 hours. I'm looking to start this on Monday, with a view to normal service resuming on Wednesday.

As an additional thing, I'm wondering whether it's worth re-instating the Gallery? I definitely want to keep the Feature Images as that seems to be a real hit, but I'm not so sure about the Gallery - especially when there's Flickr, APUG, et al. What do you think?

Also, I haven't been pushing the events / exhibitions / camera club sections as I've been concentrating on getting articles and images - do you feel that this section is worth building up (I'm happy to do it, if you think it's worth it)?

That's all. Remember that it is a magazine for you and I do value your input, we wouldn't be here without after all!

Cheers,
David.
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Latest Magazine News...

There are quite a few things to update you all on...

1. The switch to version 2.0 of the website.
2. Paper-based magazine.
3. Up-coming feature images and articles.
4. Other news.

Version 2.0

The bulk of the new website is ready, but it's always a bit of a catch-up as each week passes by as I have to upload new items to the current site and then convert them for the version 2.0 site. The quicker we can get the switchover done, the better!

The change to the new site will mean that it will be unavailable for 24-48 hours whilst the changes percolate through the internet. That switchover may well be happening this week once I'm happy that it is sorted with the hosting provider (there are currently 'issues' around finances for this - i.e. I want a refund!).

The Paper Magazine

It would appear that the idea for a print-on-demand magazine will not be happening. I received the samples from Lightning Source (whom, I must add, were extremely helpful), but the quality of image reproduction just wasn't what I had hoped for.

This is a bit of a blow in the whole plan, but undeterred I have found a good ol' traditional printer who could well save the day! It's likely that there will not be a magazine in April as I had originally hoped, but with luck June may be more realistic - and here is where you can help me... I will need to have a rough idea of how many people are interested in a proper, quality magazine so that I can obtain pricing. You can email me at info@creativeimagemaker.co.uk (subject line "Paper mag") and let me know. It'll give me an idea of whether I'm looking at printing 500 copies, or 5.

Future Features

There are so many articles in the pipeline that I want to put them all up on the site now! It's becoming hard to choose what should go up and when! This is fabulous and I'd like to thank those that have already been published and all those waiting in the wings for their work to be published. Over the next couple of months we've got...

- An article by Dorothy Kloss about building a darkroom;
- Several article by Christopher Walrath covering a range of subjects (Chris was one of the first people to contribute and he's still waiting to see his work in the magazine - sorry Chris, it's coming, honest!);
- Stan L-B writes about why light matters;
- Jason Brunner, whom some of you may recognise from the APUG forum, has written a piece about the Fotoman 6x17 camera;
- Jim Read tells us about creating cyanotypes;
- Tom Overton provides follow-on information about the use of coffee as a developer;
- Do you buy equipment from eBay? I know I do, and John Sawula has written an article about it;
- Even I am getting in on the act! I've written articles on the Nikon EM camera (a much under-rated camera), and I'll be kicking off the beginners series with a look at the equipment one needs to create your own images...
- ...and I've also got a Polaroid special planned as well (in spite of recent announcements about Polaroid!).

Feature images are going from strength to strength as well - today (10th Feb) will see not one, but two feature images! Thanks to Dennis Cordell and Alan Huntley for their kind permission to use their photographs.

Other News

As I'm sure you are all aware by now it's been an interesting time in the world of photography. Fuji unveiled their prototype medium format rangefinder - a 6x7 folding camera and we await to see if it actually makes it in to production in the future. Polaroid, on the other hand, have announced the closure of two factories with the loss of several jobs. This is a great shame to those of us who use Polaroid films - especially for image transfers and emulsion lifts as the Fuji film just doesn't work the same way. It's interesting to note that Polaroid is ready to licence the technology and I wonder who will take over the production of Polaroid films - let's hope someone does!

With that, I'll end there. Please stop by the magazine site over the week to see all the new features. It's at...

Creative Image Maker.

Thanks,
David.
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New Fuji Camera?

Looking around in various forums there is much talk of a possible new Fuji medium format camera.

The camera is currently just a prototype, but what little information I can glean and a few pictures of it, you'll find on the Creative Image Maker website - go take a look!
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Minor changes to the site...

I've made a couple of minor changes to the site which I hope will make it more useful to you.

The changes relate to the 'About' section - where there used to be a 'Meet The Team' page showing information on the contributors that helped get the project started. That page has been removed and replaced by a more useful 'Links' page that lists...

• Forums - all your favourite forums are listed here (if I've missed any out then let me know!). These forums are the ones who allowed me to post innumerable threads about the project without getting angry. Well, maybe just a little bit, but it was my own fault! So a big 'Thanks' not just to the members of those forums, but also the moderators who allowed me to post.


• Flickr - that huge resource for images. You'll find the link to the Creative Image Maker group and others as I come by them.


• Websites - belonging to contributors. A great way to find out what other photographers are doing; there's some inspirational work here.

I hope you enjoy looking through the site, please keep on popping by and giving me your feedback as I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts on the site.

Cheers,
David Vickers.
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This week in the magazine...

This week in Creative Image Maker, we've an article written by John Powers about the 8x10 camera.

John recounts of how he fell in to, or rather was drawn in to using the 8x10 camera and of his love for using this equipment to produce images that have been in several solo shows and competitions.

Andrew O'Neills 'Holy Mary Sunrays' feature image is still up for one more week, when it'll be 'replaced' by another fabulous image with a story to tell. (To be fair, it won't actually be replaced as it'll still be available for viewing!).

Cheers,
David Vickers.
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Advertising

Just a quick 'thank you' to John Tracy of The Bureau of Freelance Photographers for giving us some space in their newsletter.

John Tracy is the editor of "Market Newsletter" which is sent out to all the members of The Bureau of Freelance Photographers (http://www.thebfp.com) - an organisation dedicated to bringing news, views and opportunities within the marketplace to freelance photographers.

I contacted John just a short while wondering if I might be able to take up a little bit of space in the newletter - and they've printed a little editorial in the news section about Creative Image Maker.

If you're a UK-based photographer and wondered how people get to find out about various jobs and requirements within the industry, you really should take a look at the BFP.

Cheers,
David Vickers.
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