I plan to do some updates later tonight.  Right now, I’m trying a few different ways of logging in and registering.  So, the registration might appear and disappear.

UPDATE: Hmm … it turns out my default eWillys WP theme was causing some issues. That might just have been the source of a couple problems. Or, I’m just playing whack a mole …. anyhow, I’ll leave up this theme until I fix the other one.

We aren’t too far away (Monday or Tuesday) from being up and running again on a newer, much faster server.  So, why the big delay?

1) SPAM/BOT Traffic: I have reading through log files.  The spam bots/spiders are hitting the site with enough frequency that it is slowing down the site to a crawl (or using up all webhost resources altogether).  I have tried numerous strategies to reduce the strain of these on the webhost, which has helped, but not cured the resource use problem.  Even the back end, which I use to do updates, etc, is nearly unusable due to the busy server.

2) COMMENT SPAM: The amount of comment spam has dramatically increased.  Look at this chart.  It shows approx 3000 spam comments (automated comments that are junk) in September 2012.  By December that number had increased ten fold to 30,000 spam comments.  While there are defenses in place to deal with that, I suspect that is helping cause resource problems as well.

3) SERVER HOSTS: Like Goldilocks, I tried a couple different server hosts (experiences described in posts below). One proved too frustrating, one proved too limiting.  For the third try, I’ve turned to the McDonagh Brothers, web hosts and developers who, as lovers of jeeps, have a bit of self interest in seeing the site succeed.  We should be up and going monday or tuesday.

In the meantime, I’m using Facebook to provide some contact and updates: http://www.facebook.com/pages/EWillys/304123822973935

UPDATE: As part of switcherooo 2 I have decided to do some house cleaning.  Until I make the switch, you can still comment on posts, but you won’t be able to login (there were thousands of spam-created users). 

Imagine you have a mechanic that tells you your jeep is tired and worn.  He tells you that it isn’t safe to run at highway speeds. You tell him that you have to drive it at highway speeds to get to work and make money. He says that your jeep can’t do it and you need to upgrade.

Fine, you say.  If I have to ….

He points out some different places you can get a new jeep. However, there’s a catch, he says.  The new jeeps are 5 to 10 times more expensive a month to operate than your current jeep. Of course, you’ve figured as much. But, since you are paying more, you expect you’ll get the features you already have plus some extras, right?

Oh, so naive . . .

As you shop around, you find promise after promise of better features, more speed, great service, easy to use steering wheel, custom body styles and more. It’s like a street in Tijuana with signs, promises, cajoling, and more, as the shop keeps attempt to get you inside.

After walking up and down a street of dealers peddling their jeeps, you spot a dealer who will only charge five times what you currently pay per month.  This particularly dealer, we’ll call him VPS.net, was recommended by your mechanic. VPS.net promises you’ll have so much speed, you can break clear of the Earth’s atmosphere, visit the moon, see the stars, and return in a flash.

Wow.  You get the highways, stars and a moon to boot?  This sounds perfect!  I mean, I don’t mind paying more if I am getting more for my money.

But wait. What is the catch? No catch really, says Mr. VPS.net. You even get to choose the engine you want — Ford, Chevy, BMW, Jeep — We support all the different engines. We walk you through the process of installing them. So easy! We even have lots of happy customers.

You look up the customers online. Yes, they seem happy. One even has a smiling avatar. Wow!  Ok, sign me up.

So, you pay them, decide on a jeep, and pick your engine . You are ready to go. But before you leave the lot, you have to build the engine.  That’s how they save you so much money over the other dealers.  OK, fine. You’ve built an engine before, so you can do it again. But, wow, these engines are getting ever more complicated. After looking through the different engines, you find an engine expert online who recommends a Ford engine when buying a VPS.  Then, you build the engine, fasten the seat belt and  reach down for the transmission to shift it into drive.  Wait, what happened to the gear shift? hmmm . . .

Fortunately, your new jeep dealer was so excited to have you aboard, they have already sent you an email. They say if you need anything, just let us know. So, you respond. You write that you do need some help.  There is a transmission missing. You wait for a response.

But all you hear is crickets, nothing but crickets for two days.

But, that’s ok, because you have been working to install the two transmissions they offered. One was free.  We’ll call that the Chinese transmission. The other was extra. We’ll call that the Russian transmission. You, being cheap, decide to try the free one. After spending several hours trying to install the Chinese transmission, you happen run across a disclaimer on a Chinese website that claims they no longer support Ford Engines.

Well DAMN you say.  With I had known that before I tried to make that tranny work. Fine, I’ll pay extra for the Russian transmission.  However, before you get the transmission out of the box, you see another disclaimer that the Russian transmission doesn’t work at all with the Ford engine.

That’s when you realize, to run the transmission, you will have to completely remove the engine, pick another, and spend/waste a bunch more time trying to make it work.

Yes, that was my day yesterday with my new webhost, or shall I say former webhost. I am now working with a new host that specializes in WordPress sites. I have to say that I am stunned at the lack of graceful and reasonable upgrade paths from a shared hosting environment to a mid-tier hosting environment.