BUDDY HYPHEN BAKER SERVICES
CHANGE TIMELINE INFORMATION
CONDITION ALERT: Orange (Maintenance to Network Websites)
(BB DOT Services Website Network Update Page is HERE)
Good Morning:
The purpose of this posting is to alert my users to a few changes that have been contemplated for the past 8 to 9 months and some of them have come to pass due to changes that have happened in my professional life as well as my personal life. The changes stem from having a new vision for the pages of the BBUS and BBDC websites.
RATIONALE and HISTORY
Buddy Hyphen Baker Dot US started in 2008, has always been a dream of mine since early 1998 – When I started BBUS, I was unsure of where I wanted to go, and when I first built my website via Tallahassee Free-Net, I was learning how to code the webpage using Linux and Unix. Anyone who has been doing coding for as long as I have understands that there are things that change with time, and that there are tons of ways to make websites. I learned to code with the help of my research skills, and from books and friends that do it and share their knowledge – Most of what BBUS code was in the early stages was due to coding changes, and learned and executed under the direction of the TFN Admins, and supported by their kind and gentle hands. They have been a driving force behind why this place exists, and will continue to exist!
In Mid March 2017, I decided that I wanted to add another domain, and expand BBUS to include additional services. In April 2017, TUMC appointed and confirmed me as the next Director of the Thrift Store where I was serving the community as the Operations Manager – When this happened, I then saw that there was potential for me to add these new services. My life had changed, the mission of the BBUS site remained, but I wanted to be sure that the Thrift Store could be combined into the mix: So, I came up with the idea that the BBUS site would remain my personal site, while I begin another domain for business purposes.
THE PLAN (Merge/Change BBUS Root Domain Page)
Sometime between Thanksgiving and the end of 2017, I will be reworking the website. What I want to do is to make BBUS root site go to a Portal Page, where users can then choose to go to either Buddy Hyphen Baker DOT com (The Store) or BBUS (This site) The portal page will have links to allow for users to choose where they want to go, and they will be able to go there easily. The current root of BBUS will be redirected so that people will hopefully not notice the difference. In the meantime, the root of BBUS will be disabled, or reworded so that users know of the change. This way, all of the changes will be able to be maintained easily, and I will no longer have to hard code the sites by hand. I will also RENEW Both BB Dot Com and BB Dot Us so that they will be active for the foreseeable future.
FAQ’s ABOUT THE CHANGES
WHAT WILL WE SEE DURING THE CHANGE?:
BBUS will continue to function, however, the main page of the site will be merged on the DOT COM side – All pages and services, such as Blogs, Forums, and other services will be available, but this will give us the chance to remove a quite outdated page that sits at the root (buddy-baker.us/) of the domain. Then, the Portal Page will be like an intersection in the road – as you sit at a traffic light – you then choose where you want to go – and then click, and it would go there. BBDC will be the site that will require most of the work, because BBUS has all of the information we will serve.
WILL THIS BE EASIER TO MAINTAIN AND UPDATE?:
YES – This will be a TON easier, because when you manage 2 websites, you have to update them frequently – BBDC will be updated as well, but BBUS will not need as much updating as the DOT com side. BBDC is the page that will require changes to layout and format, while BBUS has most of this already set. You have to realize that in February and March of 2016, we had just a page that said “IT WORKS” for a long while, while I sat at console restoring data files from the Lenny install of 2010-2012 – I will be able to add functionality to the website as we improve the way she looks and responds. Also, updates to BBUS content and linkages will enable anyone wanting information on our status can be informed from the main page, while the information resides where it always has.
This will also allow me to clean up BBUS site links that we have maintained since 2010-2102 – The last major overhaul of these was done in 2016 when we redid BBUS and set the format we wanted. No Changes to BBUS Layout/Menu System is planned, because this works for BBUS, and we do not see any need to change menu layouts at this time. The Theme of BBUS will also remain the same.
BBDC is a different type of site, for a different type of purpose. For this site, I wanted to match the TUMC Theme, website format and setup, so that any editors and page admins can make changes as necessary and that the site flows and is transparent. When complete, TUMC will merge our Store Page with the Church Website, meaning that hopefully, the page can be maintained quickly and easily. BBDC will still be the domain where the Store Site is maintained, however, we will work out how the site is to be updated, so information is as current as possible.
WILL DOWNTIME TO THE SERVER BE NECESSARY?:
Being that this is an update to multiple websites on the BBUS Network, I would have to say that you should expect that there may be a period of downtime while changes take place on the websites. There may be website configuration files or system files that may have to be updated or upgraded – There may be files that need to be backed up, archived, moved or deleted, depending on what is going on – we will also have to back up database files (because if there is a problem with a database corruption or a file is corrupted or improperly changed, we will be able to restore the file and make the necessary corrections.) Also, if we make the jump to upgrade Cardinal’s OS Version, then we will be able to do this easier if we are able to have a complete DB backup in case of any strange occurrences – and if we did that, we would be making a data backup anyway, because we would have to have something to fall back on in case of a crash.
So, yes, downtime, can be expected, and hopefully, will be kept to a minimum during the website updates. the only thing that may hamper this is if we have to shutdown services or have an extended offline period due to adverse (Condition RED Status) conditions.
The aim throughout all of this is to consolidate and make BB DOT Com and US services better – In that way, it will hopefully mean less work for me t0 provide my users with the best online experience possible!
Thank You for your Attention and Interest in BBUS and BBDC Service Offerings!
Sincerely,
Brian S. “Buddy” Baker
System Admin
BB DOT Services
(November 24. 2017 @12:24 PM EST)
