Website Update

[literally lauren]

By way of a temporary work-around: I'm in the habit of keeping desktop word/notepad versions of posts when I'm typing up especially lengthy essay corrections or explanations owing to my ridiculously unstable internets, Usually that would be because I'd be working on things sporadically over a couple of hours or even days, so it was easier to rely on an offline copy and I'd just delete the copy once I'd posted it, but for those inclined to give really extensive advice, maybe just keep back-ups of some stuff until this is sorted out, especially given another server move is anticipated for this week.

I know it's not ideal, and maybe someone tech-savvier than I could find a way to access cached versions of stuff that was lost since I know pi, sloth et al. had a whole bunch of useful posts regarding ATARs and preferences. Still, the site is way more operational than it was during the big server switch when we couldn't even access anything, and I think AN is far too valuable to contemplate boycotting

[Glasses]

and I think AN is far too valuable to contemplate boycotting

This. I don't care if the whole site resets or whatever - I'm not boycotting AN. Ever.
The generosity and selflessness of the many people on this site (e.g. - Brenden, Lauren, Heidi, Thushan, Pi, Joseph/Nick, etc.) is one of the most incredible things ever. It's not very often that you come across people who are so altruistic and willing to help others; nor do I believe there is another organisation/website/anything that comes equal to what AN provides its users with. From FREE lectures, advice, study assistance, essay marking, etc. to just having a group of people behind you through your VCE and university journeys - everything that AN does is unequivocally brilliant.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not going anywhere.

EDIT: I'd also like to note that the Results/ATAR Service Site crashed on Monday - so if the Victorian Government's servers can fuck up, then you know - AN's can too!

[heids]

Same as Lauren, I have a Word document (lol it's called 'rubbish dump' in caps ) where I write or copy all long AN posts.  Before the new site, AN used to lose stuff all the time when you mistakenly clicked the back button on the browser or w/e - that's actually one thing that's improved!

And Glasses, you expressed my thoughts too beautifully :')

[keltingmeith]

This. I don't care if the whole site resets or whatever - I'm not boycotting AN. Ever.
The generosity and selflessness of the many people on this site (e.g. - Lauren) is one of the most incredible things ever. It's not very often that you come across people who are so altruistic and willing to help others; nor do I believe there is another organisation/website/anything that comes equal to what AN provides its users with. From FREE lectures, advice, study assistance, essay marking, etc. to just having a group of people behind you through your VCE and university journeys - everything that AN does is unequivocally brilliant.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not going anywhere.

EDIT: I'd also like to note that the Results/ATAR Service Site crashed on Monday - so if the Victorian Government's servers can fuck up, then you know - AN's can too!

[Callum@1373]

This. I don't care if the whole site resets or whatever - I'm not boycotting AN. Ever.
The generosity and selflessness of the many people on this site (e.g. - Lauren) is one of the most incredible things ever. It's not very often that you come across people who are so altruistic and willing to help others; nor do I believe there is another organisation/website/anything that comes equal to what AN provides its users with. From FREE lectures, advice, study assistance, essay marking, etc. to just having a group of people behind you through your VCE and university journeys - everything that AN does is unequivocally brilliant.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not going anywhere.

EDIT: I'd also like to note that the Results/ATAR Service Site crashed on Monday - so if the Victorian Government's servers can fuck up, then you know - AN's can too!

I was gonna say this but it literally epitomizes what I was gonna say

It's a tech issue, chill out people. In year 9 I had a science teacher who was awesome, and one occasion he accidentally marked me on one question wrong. I don't hate him for it...

[cosine]

How can I contact someone affiliated with ATARNotes? I contacted the email [email protected] would this be fine?

[keltingmeith]

How can I contact someone affiliated with ATARNotes? I contacted the email [email protected] would this be fine?

Yup - that should get you into contact with the team. n.n

[Joseph41]

A much-needed post of appreciation for those running this wonderful community.

Much like a good umpire, they seem to be entirely underappreciated until something goes not quite right.

Keep on trucking.

[slothpomba]

Hey Brenden, really appreciate you giving the feedback. Especially not just to us but the wider community as a whole (which we're really all about).

I do apologies if my post came off as negative, maybe Pi's did as well. I can't speak for him exactly but we never intended to really ever cast a negative light on it or bag someones hard work. I don't think we were ever actually going to boycott it as much as not bother posting if the posts weren't going to go through, as soon as that was fixed it was business as usual.

For all the old timers, we're here because we love this community, its vision and what it really does for students in practice, day in and day out. it was just disappointing to have it crash at the most important time of year. I think it was exacerbated by somewhat of a lack of communication and warning of why to the users of this site (the mods got a bit more). We never really intended to be negative and i think something positive has come out of this all in that we got an explanation for the users to understand far better why this is happening and why this is necessary.

I'm fairly interested in tech and the move to AWS/etc is a really great choice and i think it should fix so many of the issues we've been having. It's really strange in that you need 99% of the computer power for that 1% avalanche time of year. For a more ordinary understanding, imagine how busy shops are during Christmas vs 3am on a Tuesday. You suddenly need to ramp it up for this huge thing but its only a few times here and there, it's a difficult problem to solve.

[Aaron]

You suddenly need to ramp it up for this huge thing but its only a few times here and there, it's a difficult problem to solve.

Hence why the solution being AWS is a really valuable one. Scalability is something you can't get easily with a regular dedicated server. Cloud is definitely the future. That way, you can increase resources especially in the days leading up to ATAR release.

[brenden]

For all the old timers, we're here because we love this community, its vision and what it really does for students in practice, day in and day out. it was just disappointing to have it crash at the most important time of year. I think it was exacerbated by somewhat of a lack of communication and warning of why to the users of this site (the mods got a bit more). We never really intended to be negative and i think something positive has come out of this all in that we got an explanation for the users to understand far better why this is happening and why this is necessary.

I think the two parts to this section is really the essence of everything. Not only was it just unfathomably ludicrous to have the site down at pretty much the only vital times of year, but there are things the community just should have known about. I think in hindsight it would have been good to keep people updated throughout this year on things that were happening... plans for a new website, etc. There's actually no reason for people not to know this, and the things we've been doing throughout the year aren't really 'secre't. It's good for people to know about lectures coming up etc.  etc.

I think what I'm personally taking out of this is that the community should be intimately involved in everything relevant. I'm going to start an update thread where I'll perhaps post on a weekly basis with just general minor and major developments to ATAR Notes. I can already think of a few things that people don't know just because I haven't told them, even though it's completely their business to know. I'll make a thread and post it back here.

[heids]

The site speed yesterday and today has been beautiful - and not a single error message encountered so far.

Thank you