Zen Forum International status

[GDPR_Anonymized001]

I apologize if this has already been asked and answered, I struggled a bit with the search function.

Has Zen Forum International shut down? The web address now returns a strange "account suspended" error.

[anjali]

I apologize if this has already been asked and answered, I struggled a bit with the search function.

Has Zen Forum International shut down? The web address now returns a strange "account suspended" error.

I've wondered that as well. Part of the error message is, "Contact your hosting provider...." It seems the service contract expired. I vaguely remember reading a while back on the board that the owner was not going to continue paying for hosting/domain service, and that there was a question about whether the forum would continue. Hopefully someone "in the know" will post. Honestly, for a while now, ZFI has been rather moribund.

[Wayfarer]

I visited there last week....my guess is, a bill hasn't been paid, the hosting service has suspended the account. I'd be surprised if it's permanent.

[Dan74]

I don't think this is intentional.

Some months back there was a discussion and Gregory W definitely wanted to have the ownership and control of the Forum back. So I imagine it's a simple oversight by someone.

[boda]

A host might also suspend an account if the site has been hacked with malware.

[DGA]

I hope they get it back up again soon. ZFI is a useful resource for many.

[Dan74]

A ZFI member inquired and got the following response from the host:

Hello,

Your account 'zenforum' was suspended in the shared server
'cpanel03.myhostcenter.com'.

Suspension Reason : While monitoring the server, it was found
that database zenforum_phpb1 in your account is unoptimized and
is causing resource/load issues in the server.

Please get back to us with your public IP address (visit
https://www.whatismyip.com/ to get the IP) so that we can
un-suspend the account and provided you access to it. Once you
get the access, you will have to optimize the databases so that
such issues does not happen in the future. You may also contact
your developer to help you with this.

Please visit the following links to get steps for optimizing
MySQL. Please check the below links for further details.

======

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/ ... ation.html



I guess that either Gregory W either doesn't have the time or there's another reason why this can't be fixed. A technical person has assured me that it is all quite elementary.

For my part, apart from some occasional gems, I've found that ZFI had devolved into a very small club with a definite flavour that didn't quite resonate with me. Not a comment on the active participants, but as a Forum I find it to be a travesty when it shrinks from a pretty vibrant place to a little chatroom dominated by a few regulars. Not sure why this happened since I was inactive for some years. Active moderation is needed both to make sure the place maintains an open vibrant character, welcoming of new-comers, that no one voice dominates and sets the tone, and to keep discussions on track and with some minimum civility. My suspicion is that somewhere along the line, probably due to inaction, some of this didn't happen.

This is a shame, since as of now, there is no actually place online (AFAIK) where Zen/Seon/Thien Buddhists actively discuss the Dharma.

_/|\_

[Dan74]

That ZFI member had also suggested the following:

"There is a free "Database Optimize & Repair Tool" designed to opimize the forum's database, the tool has a number of versions and flavors, depending on the phpBB version in use (ZFI uses something between 3.0 and 3.2).

One has to Google search:

"https://www.google.com/search?q=phpbb+D ... epair+Tool

The phpBB Database Optimize & Repair Tool is added as a module ("extension", "add-on") to the forum.

Description:

"Adds the ability to optimize and repair your phpBB database tables directly from the ACP with a phpMyAdmin-like interface. Automatically disables your board to prevent unwanted activity during the optimization. You can select specific tables (such as only those having overhead) or all of them at once. Simple to install and use."

https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/ ... pair_tool/

https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtop ... &t=2209766
"

In case someone from ZFI is reading and is able to help...

[Wayfarer]

I visited ZFI when the Santa Rosa fires happened - a couple of weeks back now - to enquire after Gregory, as he lives up that way. (He's OK, by the way.) However I did notice the last post by him on ZFI was (I think) about April, so I guessed that he had stopped participating there, or it so it seemed to me.

[boda]

It is what it is. As has been already mentioned, with Zen you pretty much run out of things to say.

Is that really the way it is? There was a Zen forum (zenforum.com) that preceded ZFI which was quite lively. It ran into some sort of trouble, but wasn't lacking in things to discuss.

Small online groups, of any sort, may run out of things to say. I remember after ZFI started and a 'critical mass' was achieved. The loss of that critical mass wasn't due to people running out of things to say. But hey, it is what it is.

"There is a free "Database Optimize & Repair Tool" designed to opimize the forum's database, the tool has a number of versions and flavors, depending on the phpBB version in use (ZFI uses something between 3.0 and 3.2).

The forum software may not have been well maintained in keeping up with current technology. For instance, it uses the same theme UI that it's had since inception. It's not even responsive. That being the case, it may not be so easy to make updates. There can be compatibility issues that require a good amount of expertise to deal with.

[anjali]

For what it's worth, last night I sent email to Gregory Wonderwheel asking if he has any message to pass on about the status of ZFI for folks reading here. Will update you if new info becomes available. Maybe someone else has contacted Gregory and has info?

[Larryo]

[anjali]

You're welcome. Happy to help you guys out where I can.

[anjali]

I wanted to give an update.

I haven't heard back from Gregory yet. This morning it occurred to me to contact Carol, who, according to the DNS record for ZFI, is still the owner. I did contact her. She said she passed ownership to Michael (pen name michaeljc on ZFI) in January of last year. Unfortunately, she no longer has contact info for Michael due to a computer crash. I've written Gregory a second email asking if he has Michael's contact info.

To extend the search, if anyone knows who Michael is IRL and how to get in touch with him, either please send me the info in PM and I will contact him, or go ahead and get in touch with him and let us know if he has a message to pass along.

[KeithA]

I wanted to give an update.

I haven't heard back from Gregory yet. This morning it occurred to me to contact Carol, who, according to the DNS record for ZFI, is still the owner. I did contact her. She said she passed ownership to Michael (pen name michaeljc on ZFI) in January of last year. Unfortunately, she no longer has contact info for Michael due to a computer crash. I've written Gregory a second email asking if he has Michael's contact info.

To extend the search, if anyone knows who Michael is IRL and how to get in touch with him, either please send me the info in PM and I will contact him, or go ahead and get in touch with him and let us know if he has a message to pass along.

Thanks so much for your efforts, Anjali. I don't recall Michael posting in the time leading up to the closing of the site, and unfortunately, I don't know him IRL.

regards,
Keith

[el gatito]

To extend the search, if anyone knows who Michael is IRL and how to get in touch with him, either please send me the info in PM and I will contact him, or go ahead and get in touch with him and let us know if he has a message to pass along.

M. has forwarded all of the login info back to Gregory, as well as all and any kind of ownership and admin rights, as per the most recent ZFI ownership status update.

[anjali]

M. has forwarded all of the login info back to Gregory, as well as all and any kind of ownership and admin rights, as per the most recent ZFI ownership status update.

Late last night I heard back from Carol again with a note that, "Gregory said he's writing to you, but 'hasn't hit send yet.'" So, at this point, I'll let things rest and wait for Gregory to respond.

[anjali]

Another update. I've heard back from Gregory in a brief email. Things are in a bit of a pickle. Earlier el gatito commented,

M. has forwarded all of the login info back to Gregory, as well as all and any kind of ownership and admin rights, as per the most recent ZFI ownership status update.

Unfortunately, it seems that information was sent in a PM to Gregory which he can't access now. Gregory has yet to contact the hosting service, since he didn't know who to contact. I forwarded el gatito's JumpLine info to him.

That's it for now.

[el gatito]

Another update. I've heard back from Gregory in a brief email. Things are in a bit of a pickle. Earlier el gatito commented,

M. has forwarded all of the login info back to Gregory, as well as all and any kind of ownership and admin rights, as per the most recent ZFI ownership status update.

Unfortunately, it seems that information was sent in a PM to Gregory which he can't access now. Gregory has yet to contact the hosting service, since he didn't know who to contact. I forwarded el gatito's JumpLine info to him.

That's it for now.

Michael sent the info to him months ago. Sending his email address to you by PM right away.

[anjali]

Michael sent the info to him months ago. Sending his email address to you by PM right away.

Thanks. Got it, and have forwarded it to Gregory. Guess Gregory never downloaded the info.

On a slightly different note, I'm guessing the sysadmin role for ZFI must be vacant. Such a person would be the logical candidate to work these issues out.