With over 8,000 images and 17,000 files stored on this server, we are nearing capacity. Let's discuss our options.

1. We can do nothing and let the system lock up.
We have seen this happen on nationalbeadsociety.com numerous times.

2. We can delete unnecesary posts:
The main problem with server space is the current 8000 images stored on the server. The gallery images are stored on a
separate server. This is a huge undertaking. Not as huge as Evelyn's data entry work at the Bead Database, though. We need a volunteer to go through and read every post and determine relevance and delete the ones we can most easily live without. And, bear in mind the posts that consume the most server space are the ones with images. Over the past year, being aware of limited server space, I have deleted over 7000 posts and have found many of the show and tell posts often have contained relevant information which has led me to be apprehensive about removing them. There are also nearly 600 images on our server that are orphaned without a post that must be removed to create additional server space.

3. We can migrate to a new server:
Again, we need to clean up our files to minimize the bandwidth required to transfer. I'd like to explain that during the transfer time the site may be down for 3 to 5 days. This can be risky, as there can be compatibility issues which may result in the loss of all files (worst case scenario). From assurances I have from our isp, they don't think this is likely. For some reason I feel we are being told what we want to hear. There is nearly a gig of data we would need to transfer - what could possibly go wrong?! We have worked out a deal with the nationalbeadsociety.org site to use the site for a few days. Be careful, there's a junkyard dog over there who can get rather grouchy.

4, We can shut down.
We can go to other posting boards that are not user friendly that offer no spontaneous image posting and great challenges for those who are not ftp (file transfer protocol) literate.

I strongly suggest people to copy and archive any files/posts on this site that you feel of great import. This is specifically regarding the forum itself, not the articles or links page.

In closing, we'd really like to have one or two volunteers. No matter what, we still need to condense our files.