How can you give Tom root access and still have other clients?

Well, I can't speak for Tom but I feel relatively confident that he wasn't planning on screwing Tim or Nick's website while he was in there. Also, I don't see what is so different from working with Tom on this issue or letting Steven do it or hiring some freelance consultant to go in and fix it.

I feel relatively confident that he wasn't planning on screwing Tim or Nick's website while he was in there.

I forsee some creative hacking in our future. Possibly involving capybaras.

As I understand it the only way that we will have other clients is if we'd like to add them there to lower our operating costs.

I read Kristen's original offer as if we were sharing the server with the other fangeek sites, but, we would be the only php site on the server, so (I'm so non-tech) I took that to mean that the MySQL connection issue isn't an issue for other fangeek sites, just for Buffistas.

Am I even close to understanding?

One more post and then I'm gone until Sat. nite. If Kristen and Monique want to continue to deal with our headaches then I'm all for staying with them out of trust, loyalty, and general Buffistage-er-ness. I think instead of spending too much time debating the options we should come to a consensus PDQ about which way we're going to go, and then spend the rest of the week figuring out how we can afford it and if it will change the overall culture of the board.

FTR, I think we will be able to come up with the funds (even if we have to do a Buffiliates or something) and I don't think it will change the culture of the board since contributions are anonymous and nobody in this wonderful group has ever complained about who gives and who doesn't.

Ooooh! I could always ask Tim's mom for baby photos. That would be fabulous.

Kristen, why is there a picture of two-year-old me naked on shag carpeting?
I have no idea when that happened. I didn't do it!

I really am very confident we'll be able to afford a year at $2400 without doing anything crazy. Really very confident.

I read Kristen's original offer as if we were sharing the server with the other fangeek sites, but, we would be the only php site on the server, so (I'm so non-tech) I took that to mean that the MySQL connection issue isn't an issue for other fangeek sites, just for Buffistas.

Am I even close to understanding?

You're spot on. The NB.com board is from UBB, which isn't PHP.

Wait -- how much do we have to pay upfront? That's the only question I have wrt money.

And on the other client front, I'll be honest. Yes, we host 9 other sites. Some of them are paying clients. Some of them are filled with NSYNC slash. None of them use PHP or MySQL. Most of them are small sites that somehow relate to some fandom. There's one corporate site for the company I work with that should it vanish off the face of the fucking earth and no one was ever able to find our number to call here ever again, well, I wouldn't be sad. I might do the dance of the seven veils.

Anyway, I'm not saying "let's all pass out root access like it's condoms at Micky's on Thursday night". I'm saying, pick one person who knows what they're doing that I can work with. That person will have the ability to make changes and inform me of said changes.

ETA: Jesse, I'd need two months and the setup fee upfront. So, depending on whether or not you do the year long contract, that's either going to be $500 or $650.

Kristen, thanks for the info, and thanks to Steven for the renewed offer. We'll have plenty to consider before Thursday.