It has been an interesting week - on Wednesday our server was blasted by yet another malicious attack that infected over 170,000 files! So if you have been trying to access the site in the last couple of days, and found it down, or "forbidden" (sounds frightening!), rest assured that it was automatically blocked 'for your protection!'. Of course, we discovered that the attack exploited a weakness in the old, nay, antique software that ran the website, so you can blame it on me, for taking so long in upgrading the site. As best as we can tell, none of your personal contact information was compromised, only the files that drive the display of the website.
So, on to the good news! The old site is gone! I've had enough chasing malware and trying to plug the holes in the old site long enough to get transferred over to the new site, so I'm done with it. The new site is online!
What you are looking at is the new site - same old content, but whole new look and feel, as well as functionality.
On my end, it's a whole new underlying architecture, which is not only easy to update, but much, much more robust in terms of vulnerability to attacks. This translates to a lot less work for me.
On your end, the most important thing to know is that all the content is still there - we aren't dropping anything, it may just not be on the site yet. (There is, as you will see, still a lot to be done.) More exciting are the many, many improvements that have been incorporated that will make ssn-680.org a whole new experience for all of you. New features that you will like:
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- Original content - all the content is still there - nothing lost in the transition. Some may not be visible yet, because we still have to install certain features, but when we are done, it will all still be there!
- Responsive layouts - this means that when you view the site using your smart-phone or tablet, the site will automatically scale images, adjust menus, and most importantly, automatically adjust the width of the site to match your display. (we didn't even know this would be necessary, let alone possible, back in 2008 when we started putting this site together!)
- Text scaling - this feature is getting more and more important as us 'old guys' get older! Down in the lower right corner of every page, there are three 'A's in different sizes. If the text on the page is hard to read or uncomfortable, click the left 'A' to make it smaller, or the right 'A' to make it larger, as many times as you need. Once you set the size you like, it will keep through all the pages on the site, and if it works correctly, will be that size the next time you return to the site! You can always click the middle 'A' to restore the text to it's original size.
- Many more features I'll save for another update.
Be aware that the site is not complete. You may experience:
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- Missing pages, features, or images. We haven't installed every feature yet!
- Odd or inconsistent formatting. There is a lot of cleanup yet to be done!
- The Master Sailing List has not yet been ported over. (Don't panic Terry and Mark! It's on the priority list!)
- The Crew Gallery isn't activated yet. (Also on the priority list - it's the next big item.)
So it's back to the heady days of 2008 when the site first went up. There is a lot of work going on, things are changing every day, so check in frequently and report any issues you find using the Help Requests, Feature Requests, and Bug Reports sections of the Scuttlebutt >> Web Site section. Be patient and remember that it is a work in progress, and you should do just fine.
I hope you enjoy this site. It has been a lot of work, but I consider it only a small token of the appreciation I feel for the friends I served with back in the 80's, the men of the USS William H. Bates!
Oh, and watch out for missing deckplates!
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