Sharing Statistics on Mellophant

Fluctuations based on the day of the week have been common since this place started up. Clearly, we are not the types to sit around posting all weekend. But when you even out for those spikes and dips there's been an upward trend this month.

January was really, really bad. Now we're approaching averages closer to our post-Mello move jump in activity.

Each graph is to its own scale, with the busiest day in that month as its maximum:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...bots/09oct.gif
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...bots/09nov.gif
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...bots/09dec.gif
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...bots/10jan.gif
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...bots/10feb.gif

We're a small board and there's no hiding that, but yesterday we had our busiest day since September 12. Less than a week before that, we'd nearly hit the same peak. Not too shabby.

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Originally posted by Zuul

We're a small board and there's no hiding that, but yesterday we had our busiest day since September 12. Less than a week before that, we'd nearly hit the same peak. Not too shabby.

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Not only is there no hiding that, there's no shame in that, I think. I enjoy the conversations I have here. I would post 8-10 posts per day whether this board racked up 20 posts a day or 20,000.

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Originally posted by OneCentStamp

Not only is there no hiding that, there's no shame in that, I think. I enjoy the conversations I have here. I would post 8-10 posts per day whether this board racked up 20 posts a day or 20,000.

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This is true. In spite of what the penis enlargement ads tell us, being small doesn't require self-loathing.

Holy crap, we were nearly flatlined in late January. Good to see the patient has recovered to its normal robust levels.

Thanks for posting these Zuul.

Yeah, to be honest I was cringing every time I looked at the stats in January. I didn't think we'd be able to limp through and then February just sort of exploded in comparison.

I think the board would be great if it were just a tad busier but I've been enjoying it. Thanks for everything Zuul.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Zuul

Yeah, to be honest I was cringing every time I looked at the stats in January. I didn't think we'd be able to limp through and then February just sort of exploded in comparison.

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How are we finacially and as far as hosting? We clearly don't need more juice, but is Elmwood still fine with hosting us? If not, do we have the piggy bank for the move?


BTW: Can't say it enough, thanks for hosting us Elmwood.
BTW2: And thank you Zuul and the rest of the staff for keeping it going even through the dry spells and crazy spells.

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Originally posted by What Exit?

How are we finacially and as far as hosting? We clearly don't need more juice, but is Elmwood still fine with hosting us? If not, do we have the piggy bank for the move?

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We will need to move because chat is a big drain on memory and we've got enough money to handle that for a few months, at least. After that, I'll have to figure something out for longterm funding.

And, yes, elmwood is freakin' awesome and we are lucky he's been so gracious.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Zuul

In spite of what the penis enlargement ads tell us, being small doesn't require self-loathing.

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My next sig-line!

Thanks all!

A few things:

1) Yesterday night, I installed xcache (http://xcache.lighttpd.net/) in an attempt to decrease the server load. It seems to be working, even though the configuration isn't entirely tweaked yet. (The Mellophant admins have access to the Cyburbia server load average graphs, so they should be able to see the difference.)

xcache should dramatically reduce or eliminate the server burps you've been through. (Oddly, this past week the server was running smoothly despite high loads and unusually high traffic on the Cyburbia side.) When Mello moves to a new VPS, I highly recommend installing xcache.

2) I know some of you are a bit disappointed about the level of posting activity. When you consider chat activity -- really, the main feature of the site -- I think the overall picture will look a bit brighter. You can't go back in time and change the past, and the mistakes made by former board leaders won't soon be forgotten. However, I think there's a future for Mellophant, just as there is for the other smaller SDMB spinoff or offshoot boards. Maybe, instead of seeing yourself as a rival to Giraffe Boards, you can position Mellophant's shoutbox as a gathering place for the larger SDMB community?

3) You've all been great when I've got to reboot the server, or when it burps for a few minutes. :)

Quote:

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Originally posted by Zuul

We will need to move because chat is a big drain on memory and we've got enough money to handle that for a few months, at least. After that, I'll have to figure something out for longterm funding.

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Btw. what about the vBulletin license? Is that a subscription? That's something that has to be figured into our real long-term costs.

Do you have a specific hoster in mind? If not it might be a good idea to start comparing offers sooner rather than later.

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Originally posted by Feirefiz

Btw. what about the vBulletin license? Is that a subscription? That's something that has to be figured into our real long-term costs.

Do you have a specific hoster in mind? If not it might be a good idea to start comparing offers sooner rather than later.

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vBulletin has changed their licensing agreements, so that we can use this version indefinitely without further payment. When we're ready to upgrade, we'll pay again. So for now, we're fine. Obviously we will want to upgrade eventually, though.

I do have a specific hoster I'm planning on using. I did some shopping around and asked some questions and found a package that will have everything we need right now without being prohibitively expensive.