Portfolio52 Website Unavailable / Down

[radix]

Putting on my web developer hat: the best way to migrate a site like this is to get access to all the files & source code -- stuff you can't get by scraping the visible web pages. The biggest value item would be the underlying database/data store information. Unfortunately the hosting service probably won't release those files to anyone except the site owner (the missing Alex).

Does anyone know if someone else besides Alex designed or created the site software? If so, the original developer might be open to sharing the original files & source code. That would make it much easier to preserve or recreate the site elsewhere.

[kevork]

Rob also mentioned the upkeep of the website seems to have cost $150/month. I'm not sure if he had access to that information or was guessing.

[GandalfPC]

Seems pretty extreme for the cost - should be able to run for a fraction of that on AWS

[montenzi]

Seems pretty extreme for the cost - should be able to run for a fraction of that on AWS

Agree! I use DigitalOcean for my personal server, and I believe the cost for a self-hosted VPS with a commercial control panel would likely be in the $40–80 range for a relatively busy site.
For $160 you can get 32GB RAM. 8 vCPUs,10TB traffic, 400 GiB SSD. It's too much.

[Honeybee]

Having to work around this message EVERY click - makes it very hard work looking up decks
I wish I knew how to turn off this warning

I think somebody has been doing a bit of work on the problem as today I don't have to jump through hoops as I am NOT getting the 'Your Connection is not Private' message every time I go to a new P52 page

[Honeybee]

A most interesting development from X-Decks

https://mailchi.mp/x-decks/fresh_deck_f ... 433284ca38

Warm regards and Happy New Year,

At the 2022 52+ Joker Convention, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Alex Chin. Initially, I hoped to offer X-Decks’ support and assistance with Portfolio52. But during our conversation, Alex surprised me with the alternate idea of what if X-Decks took over Portfolio52?

This was unexpected—not only because Alex was considering stepping back from the platform but also because he trusted me to carry forward the legacy of Portfolio52. After the show, we continued discussing the transition but on November 4, 2022, I received what would be the final message from Alex, marking a pivotal moment in this journey.

Fast forward to early 2024, Portfolio52 experienced a multi-month outage, the third major warning sign for the platform. We decided it was time to take action. We knew the security certificate was coming due in November and what would happen if it wasn't renewed so we preserved all the P52 data before it happened. After most of the year brainstorming, and planning, we are thrilled to announce Decklopedia.com, officially under construction as of January 1, 2025 and will have 26,000 +/- decks of content!

[kevork]

A most interesting development from X-Decks

They should talk to Manu since he has built DeckCollect, and see if they can't combine their efforts.

[felicityk]

A most interesting development from X-Decks

https://mailchi.mp/x-decks/fresh_deck_f ... 433284ca38

I want to highlight that X-Decks is soliciting ideas for added features and improvements to the format. The email address to contact is near the end of the message, if you click on the link Honeybee provided.