the ups and downs of prisonbreakfic.net

[msgenevieve]

Hello to my fellow Prison Break fen (and everyone else who might like to read along).

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been discussing www.prisonbreakfic.net with elizabethb in a friends-locked post on her LJ. I've let her know that I'll be putting a post here, letting people know what she's told me, because so many people who have a vested

Comments

[scribblecat]

Hi! Thanks for the post and keeping us up to date.
It would be so sad to let this go, I can't even imagine the amount of time that's gone into the (I'm guessing) thousands of fics here and it's so much easier to find all the fics in one spot.
Because of the content there's a bit more ongoing mod responsibility to the fandom to take care of these as an archive, so I hope Elizabeth passes the site on to someone else seeing she has other things going on.
I'm sure if it's a matter of deleting it or handing it over, she'll do what the last person did and pass it to the care of someone in the fandom.

I don't know much about site hosting but I'd certainly contribute with time or moderation to a new owner in order to maintain it.

[msgenevieve]

Thanks!

From memory, it was one of the first archives set up when the show starting airing, and the thought of using all those old stories makes me feel very sad. I am having trouble finding all my old stories on my own LJ, and I know I posted every single one of them there, but some people wouldn't have done that - if that site is gone, those stories are gone. And it's not just the stories - it's all the feedback as well. :(

It *is* a big responsibility, which is why I don't want Elizabeth to feel obliged to keep doing it when it's obviously causing her stress (both financial and time-wise), not when there are people who are eager to help her out.

[tuesdaeschild]

Thanks for posting this and making as many people who still have an interest in the fandom aware of recent events. Openess and keeping people involved should always have been key to keeping the site up and running, I feel.

Anyway, I'm sure if the members had been kept in the loop lots of us would have been happy to make regular contributions but with the site being randomly suspended so often it made it very difficult to do that and I know from people contacting me about what was going on that disillusionment was setting in.

Like Sezza I don't know much about site hosting but if it means keeping the site up and running I'm sure I'd learn somehow! But alternately if someone else takes it on I'd happily pledge my financial, moral and moderator support if required.

It would be so sad to see the most comprehensive record of what was (and still is for some of us) a wonderful show and fandom.

Thank you, my friend. Fingers crossed we can breath new life into prisonbreakfic.net. :)

[msgenevieve]

Sorry, I missed this one!

Thanks so much for your enthusiasm - you're always a trooper! *hugs* I think a lot of people are just weary of not knowing what was going on with the site - people are more open to helping out when they're kept informed. Human nature! :)

Hopefully elizabethb is still around and reading people's thoughts and suggestions. If the site is still available in backup mode somewhere, I would really REALLY like to find a home for it sooner rather than later.

[tuesdaeschild]

No worries. :)

I think even though the show is history there's still a lot of us who have a lot of love for it and for the fandom itself so coming together to try to do something to bring our beloved site back makes me feel good.

So let's hope elizabethb appreciates the love and support the site still has and I'll do whatever I can to help bring it back. And thanks for involving me in this campaign!

*hugs*

[ms_artisan]

I've never been a part of PB fandom, but I saw this as I was passing by (*waves to Gen*) and would politely suggest the OTW's Open Doors project if you have fannish content at risk. I'm not sure that they can deal with everything that's out there, but they're very open to discussion.

[tuesdaeschild]

This seems to have promise. Fingers crossed that if nothing else can be done sanctuary can be found here. Thank you. :)

[msgenevieve]

Hello, my dearie. Is that connected to AO3?

I have started uploading all my PB fics to AO3 but it's a hard slog when I'm searching through years on my LJ to find them all. :)

[ms_artisan]

Oh, man, I know what you mean -- I found fic on my LJ the other day that I'd totally forgotten even existed! ;P

Connected, yes, as in both are projects of the Organization for Transformative Works. I honestly don't know too much about the process, but there's a bit more information on the FAQ page.

Good luck with finding a long-term solution -- losing a large fic archive sucks.

[tj_teejay]

How much space would she need for the site? I use a free hosting service for my picture gallery: bplaced.net. They offer 2GB space and even MySQL and PHP. It's completely free, and no ads. The only "drawback" is that you need to log in to your admin web interface at least once every three months. They send you heads-up e-mails if you forget. I'm quite happy, although sometimes the server speed isn't great. But, well, it's free.

It's a German provider, but from what I can see, they also offer all the interfaces and everything in English. Maybe it's an option.

[msgenevieve]

Hey there!

I honestly don't know - hopefully elizabethb (who visited this thread last night) will answer your technical questions. Your suggestion sounds like a good one!

[clair_de_lune]

Thanks a lot for the update :)

TBH, I had stopped posting over there a while ago, both because of the frequent downs of the site and because I don't like to upload fics in several places, but I really hope a solution can be found because, yes, PB fandom written history *iz sentimental*

http://fan-sites.org/ offers free hosting but I guess elizabethb already checked it. Plus, restrictions: you need to add a code for ads and to be an experienced webmaster (aka already having a website as an example to be accepted).

(If 'fundraising' is needed, maybe planning it early would help? Informing the contributors right from the start how much hosting costs yearly or monthly, letting them know how much is needed ahead of time and when the amount is reached, this kind of thing?)

[msgenevieve]

I agree, it had gotten to the stage where you never knew whether the site would be up or down, which is why I also stopped visiting.

I think a 'website hosting for dummies' would be preferable rather than something that requires lots and lots of coding savvy. :)

As for fundraising, I agree there, too. You have to be transparent and open with people from the start and let them know the goal and how much is needed, otherwise they start to get suspicious.