Welcome to the brand-spanking-new FictCo Monthly Newsletter! FictCo clients will also recieve this newsletter by email, about once a month.
The Newsletter will contain information about server issues and improvements, tips for making your site run better, and plugs for our clients' websites. Please take a moment to read through this month's edition, as it contains important information about your contact info and your new, more powerful server.
AUGUST 2005 NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. KEEP YOUR CONTACT INFO CURRENT
2. PLANS UPGRADED: mySQL
3. BIG NEWS: SERVER UPGRADE
4. SUPPORT SITE UPDATED: FIGHT SPAM
5. CLIENT PROFILES
1. KEEP YOUR CONTACT INFO CURRENT
You will receive automated warnings from the server at your main account email (account reaching quota, etc.) To see what this address is, and change it if necessary, log into your admin panel (yourdomain.com/admin/) and click on "Update Contact Email" under "Account Management". If you don't know how to log into your admin panel, there's more info available here.
2. PLANS UPGRADED
All plans have been upgraded to include a mySQL database. If you don't know what this means, don't worry, it won't affect you at all. If you're a Movable Type user, we'll be sending out an email about how you can use this to provide a more stable MT experience.
3: THIS MONTH'S BIG NEWS: SERVER UPGRADE IMMINENT
FictCo clients' websites keep getting more and more popular, so we're upgrading your server to a Dual Xeon system with RAID-1 mirrored drives. This will not only better handle the current load (and take care of the occasional sluggishness some users have experienced recently), but will allow plenty of elbow room for future growth. So go ahead and do that Salon.com interview -- we can handle the traffic.
The upgrade will also enhance the reliability of the drives in your server in order to prevent outages such as the one that happened two weeks ago due to drive failure. If you want to know more about the new drive setup, drop us a line.
The new server is currently on order; when it arrives we will work with you and the data center to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible to your service. We'll be in touch with more information before the transfer takes place.
4. SUPPORT SITE UPDATED
We've updated http://www.fictco.info to include a price list for ala carte options, some tips for fighting spam, and a stern warning about trackback pings (which have been responsible for some server sluggishness in the past.)
* The Spam Prevention Tips include javascript code that you can put in place of a "mailto:" link on your site to prevent spiders from harvesting your email address for spammers to use. More info.
* The Trackback Pings Warning recommends that Movable Type users disable the trackback ping functionality. More info.
Ala Carte Pricing Info includes charges for Additional Traffic, Space, POP accounts, additional MySQL databases. More info.
Our support site is your conduit for FictCo news between these monthly newsletters. If there is any crucial information (such as the new server transfer), we will contact you again, but -- to keep email volume down -- minor notices will be posted only on the support site.
5. CLIENT PROFILES: THE EARLY DAYS
Each newsletter, we'll plug a different client or group of clients. (If you'd prefer not to be profiled, drop us a line and let us know.) This month, we're profiling two award-winning clients who have been with us since FictCo's earliest days; author Anne Ursu and marketing agency Creative Priority.
ANNE URSU is the author of SPILLING CLARENCE (A Barnes & Noble Great New Writers Pick, Booksense 76 Pick, and 2003 "New Voice" Minnesota Book Award Winner) and THE DISAPPARATION OF JAMES. She is also the editor of the inexplicably popular Minnesota Twins fanblog Batgirl, and she has written for Salon.com, ESPN.com and Glamour Magazine. Her latest novel, THE SHADOW THEIVES, the first book in a trilogy for children, will hit the shelves May 2006. We've read all of Anne's novels, and recommend them highly. http://www.anneursu.com
And with that, we come to the end of this month's newsletter. If there's anything you'd like to see covered in this newsletter in the future, please let us know. Otherwise, we'll see you again next month.
Date of Maintenance: 11PM EST August 17, 2005 - 7AM EST August 18, 2005
Overview of Maintenance Window: Scheduled precautionary - no downtime expected.
Description of Maintenance Window: Data Center will be performing standard power maintenance in its datacenter. This will not affect customer performance, and no downtime is expected.
Affected Service Types: IP network traffic will not be affected.
Posted by JVG at 08.16.2005