Happy Monday! (if there is such a thing) in Site Updates

  • Feb. 9, 2016, 5:01 a.m.
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  • Public

So I’ve heard some rumblings about Easy Diary coming to an end. If you wrote there and are moving here, welcome! I hope you like it. Wow, it’s been two years since I’ve said anything like that.

There’s still some major changes to the site that I am currently very late on - I thought I would have it done by now - but it should add a little something that people who think the site is “too sterile” should like, while leaving the option for full sterility there for those who like it. (customization vs no customization)

Also - as someone else mentioned to me - people hear about something happening on one site and wonder if it could happen here. The question being, “Will this site ever run out of database space?”

Short answer: “No, unless by accident - but easy to fix.”

Long answer:

I take a more hands-on approach to database management. The server it’s on is hosted in “the cloud”, but I still have full control of how things are installed and configured. It’s a virtual machine, meaning it’s hosted on a larger physical machine, and the size can be easily expanded to fit the site’s growing needs. If space becomes an issue, I just resize it up to the next level and we’re good. Costs may increase, but currently that’s easily offset by ad revenue - which I’d like to supplement with paid plans but I won’t promise anything at the moment because time is my biggest constraint.

So yeah. We’re good to go.


•kitkat• February 09, 2016

More customization would be great. Otherwise, I think the site is perfect the way it is!

simple mind •kitkat• ⋅ February 09, 2016

Thanks! You should like the update when I (finally) get it out. :)

Deleted user February 09, 2016

I love how minimalist this site is, some of the journals on OD and ED could burn your retinas out.

Camdengirl Deleted user ⋅ February 09, 2016

Yeah - I agree with this... Perhaps you could customise your own experience but not inflict it on others? I have the black background which I find very slick.

Deleted user Camdengirl ⋅ February 09, 2016

That would be a nice compromise.

simple mind Camdengirl ⋅ February 09, 2016

Yeah, the idea is to add a flag in the settings you can check if you only want to see things as you have them set. Or uncheck it if you want to see things as each user has it set. But there will be limits to what you can do. Mobile will look pretty much the same (because how much sense does it make to try to decorate up a phone display and still read it?). Larger desktop displays, you can customize the sides - but text will always be white on black or black on white for maximum readability.

Deleted user simple mind ⋅ February 09, 2016

Thank you!

Newzlady simple mind ⋅ February 09, 2016

You make entirely too much sense. You're doomed, I say!! Seriously, though, all this is very comforting. I don't need froo-froo.

woman in the moon simple mind ⋅ February 11, 2016

That makes sense - border but center text left alone. I trust you ... to do the right thing.

Leanne 🌈 February 09, 2016

i dig PB :) minimal is a good thing imo.

simple mind Leanne 🌈 ⋅ February 09, 2016

I'm glad there's a lot of people who like that. :)

Leanne 🌈 simple mind ⋅ February 09, 2016

:) Thanks so much for PB.

sassafras February 09, 2016

Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

simple mind sassafras ⋅ February 09, 2016

You're welcome!

Deleted user February 09, 2016

Great

ermentrude February 09, 2016

I love meeting my friends here, sterile or colourful is irrelevant; home is where friends and family are, not the way it looks.

sassafras ermentrude ⋅ February 09, 2016

Well said.

Deleted user ermentrude ⋅ February 09, 2016

What she said. I just love my friends here, and love that the site is always quick and smooth. Thank you .

Flame is Love February 09, 2016

Take my money already. Geez.

Deleted user February 09, 2016

Not surprised ED didn't last :')

Silent Echo/Quiet Storm February 09, 2016

my favorite thing about here? how simple it is. i come here to write not to see all sorts of colors and designs and things that don't add to the writing. photos are fine i just like the plain and simple. my next favorite thing? how much you care about here and how well you take care of any problems as they arise. take care,

minnie58 February 09, 2016

Call me the customization queen. I would love to be able to be more personal and creative in my space. It's what I liked about Easy Diary. Can't wait to see what you got in mind. Thanking you ahead of time. :-)

haredawg drools February 09, 2016

Yeah, I heard the same rumor, and I'm pretty much a hermit.

TruNorth February 09, 2016

I'm very appreciative of the work that goes into creating and maintaining these diary sites. I'm sorry that ED writers are losing their site and hope they settle into PB. I like customization and have my PB diary all pink - I find it very cheerful to look at!

Deleted user February 09, 2016

I feel like our big OD family is all together again, as we should be. 💚

Everything Good Rebecca February 09, 2016

Thanks for that update! I'm happy here, happier than I ever thought I'd be when OD died. I'd come here ahead of that, but really didn't expect to like it or to stay--thank you for being here and for your approach, as you described here. It matters and it has improved life for many of us.

ThisIsME February 09, 2016

At first I hated the lack of customization but actually love that in a few clicks I can change how it looks for me instead of worrying if my stuff makes it hard for other to read

middle age pearl February 09, 2016

So great to have to write this down. I am so thankful for PB and it did take me time to used to the format, I really like it. Can't wait to see what you do.

*Mrs_Bolen* February 09, 2016

Yay! Customization is very important to me. It was one of the reasons I loved the "original" place so much!

Gonewiththebreeze February 09, 2016

Thank you for all that you do! I love that I don't have to worry about this site ever because it's here to stay!

Kimber February 09, 2016

I'm all for a bit of personalization on diaries -- but there's always that one person who has to add Gothic font, purple glitter, Hello Kitty cursors and embedded music files. Thank you for sparing us. You are a saint.
:-)

PaperDragon Kimber ⋅ February 10, 2016

OMG yes! And it makes the diary unreadable. Ah, well. lol

Deleted user Kimber ⋅ March 09, 2016

I agree.

Deleted user February 09, 2016

Welcome to all our friends. Thanks for providing an open door exchange of information. I was thrilled to hear you are pro-active with future expansion. Have a nice day! :-)

Jaebella February 09, 2016

Thank you so much for PB. I don't write as often as I did the first few years on OD, but I DO write, and I love knowing that I can come here and read. Add me to the list of people who prefer things a bit sleeker and more modern, yet simpler.

PaperDragon February 10, 2016

Thank you! It's nice to know the admin is "available" here, too. I was on Easy Diary, but I'm hoping ProseBox will be more like home. I'm excited to see your upgrades!

MissMeg February 10, 2016

Still pretty please on the Entry Calendar and a better home page view that lets us see all our entries of the past 30 or so? :)

cricket_factor February 10, 2016

Never even WENT OVER to LOOK at Easy Diary.

I love Prosebox. I love these clean lines. Thanks for being here for us.

Roseoftexas February 11, 2016

I have a diary at ED as well as here...regardless of what negative comments people have to say about ED, it was free and Eric is a nice guy who tried his best...he did have to tend to his wife's illness etc...

When OD went down, folks were split between here and ED, so I write at both places...I do appreciate being able to come here...thank you...♥

Nash February 12, 2016

Thank you so much for being thoughtful and competent. These are traits growing harder to find in our world.

Jane Says February 12, 2016

I still want to give you my money! Take it! TAKE MY MONEY!!

invisible ink February 12, 2016

Great.... good to go ... a good thing.

crystal butterfly February 12, 2016

I hope that you do NOT change the format on how new entries show up on the bookmarks part. I like that very much.

Deleted user February 26, 2016

Good news! Thanks. I am just now trying to write here on a more regular basis so, the news sounds good, and lucky me I have nog written there. The expercience with OD was bad enough! Arggg.

Deleted user February 29, 2016

Awesome - thanks for this update. You sound excited and that's a good thing :) I've enjoyed Prosebox very very much since its inception two years ago.

Cobalt March 09, 2016

The one thing enhancement I would really appreciate is the ability to indent paragraphs. Anyone who's read me knows that I love to go off on massive tangents and previously (on the site that shall never again be named) I would indent my parenthetical ramblings for clarity's sake. Sometimes I'd even indent paragraphs inside of indented paragraphs.
And yes, I'm aware that sometimes I'm just too complicated to bother reading.
(Note to Self - Stop taking Self seriously.)
(Note the obligatory parenthetical note.)
Thanks, by the bye, for the hosting of this place and the just general awesome of you.
Ta! (Not to be confused with Ta-dah!)

Deleted user March 09, 2016

Are we going to have an app?

Reading_Blankie 📚 Deleted user ⋅ March 11, 2016

I don't think we need one. It works on the phone just fine! Trust me, I spent lots of time in dr waiting rooms(I recently had a child) and had no problems with using PB on my phone!

Reading_Blankie 📚 March 11, 2016

I could use a little more color! Oooh, and maybe different font styles! Maybe make me a "maroon" theme? One of my favorite colors.

I've been here a while. You know I think PB rocks. <3

Timmy™ April 07, 2016

I like sterility. Wait, that sounds funny.

On the other hand, if certain authors choose to have flying unicorns across their front page, it's certainly a handy deterrent to reading them. : D

simple mind Timmy™ ⋅ April 13, 2016

Indeed! ----:^> (that's my attempt at a flying unicorn, didn't turn out as well as I had hoped)

Lepetit pumpkinesque April 09, 2016

I never went to ED- but I am very happy to hear this from you.

Justlovely April 12, 2016

Thanks for the update. If I've never said it, thanks for this site. I have so many relationships I never wanted to lose at the end of OD, and though I've dabbled at EasyDiary, it hasn't worked out for me. I'm thankful most of "my people" came here, and we can all still write.

simple mind Justlovely ⋅ April 13, 2016

You're welcome! And I'm happy to see the site has maintained such a good community and is doing so well. :)

Talking to St. Peter April 16, 2016

Is it possible to be able to add personal pictures to an entry from your computer (by browsing to that folder) rather than adding an image with URL only?

simple mind Talking to St. Peter ⋅ April 17, 2016

No, Prosebox doesn't host images (other than icon pictures). So you need it hosted somewhere that does, like Flickr or Photobucket.

Talking to St. Peter simple mind ⋅ April 18, 2016

Thank you :-)

Owlette April 22, 2016

I initially found PB to be too sterile, I was a big fan of the customisation over at OD, but I have to say that on reflection, I like the minimalist look of PB. It feels clean.

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