Cave Doni

So I signed up with a few free websites with a view to installing a fanfiction program. Other people were doing it, why not me? When I went on a certain yahoo group that serves as a forum for one of the contests I take part in, I was brutally reminded of why I wanted to set up my own archiving site - to stop unwanted contact from certain individuals. I PM'ed the mod to explain why I wouldn't be back.

Well I started off with Dreamhost. I asked them for help on a support ticket, then they emailed me on a noreply@ email address to tell me they were shutting down my account for not using it. Woeful!

Then I went to Zymic, which offers the sun, moon and stars for free, then expects you to pay for it. Go to the forums for help and you're told you should be grateful for getting it all for free. Getting what for free? I can't even register my site due to some "rare error." *Eyeroll.* I ditched them, naturally.

Then I went to coffeedesigns.co.cc. They're uncontactable and their so-called forums are pretty much locked, the live chat ain't happening and their support desk is a joke. I'm waiting to find out from a friend if my program works. Getting the skin to obey me was a feat of Herculean proportions. After a week of swearing at the computer and wrangling with the scripts, I finally got it to look halfway decent and functional. I had to work out by myself how to remove unwanted users: go to the PHP section on the CPanel and delete the file from there. I've no intention of alienating my friends and potential posters, but people who behave abusively are not allowed on. If you're willing to work at stuff until you figure it out yourself, go for it. If you want help, you won't get it.

Xtreemhost isn't too bad, but they don't run the efiction program I've been trying to get to work. Going to the forums at efiction is a bit of a nightmare: post in the wrong place and you get hammered by the mod. I  thanked her and bugged out. I'll ask someone else for help with it if I decide to go with it instead of what I've got. 

I've got two fanfiction sites up ATM. The one that works (I think!) is PHP Fanfiction, and it looks pretty good visually. The efiction one is a trainwreck and I need a lot of help with getting it functional. I may end up with an alpha site for the top notch writers and a beta site for the also-rans. I haven't decided yet, but I'm learning a lot, and to be honest I am grateful for the experiences I've had, even though it's been very frustrating. I can use what I've learned for other applications, and that can only be a good thing.