[OT] The future of the dixonary.net site

14 views
Skip to first unread message

Daniel B Widdis

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 1:41:10 AM1/28/22
to Dixonary

Sometime more than a decade ago, I registered the dixonary.net domain through Google and we had a nice-ish website with that domain, I got my cool dixonary.net email address (and offered it to others but nobody took it) and we played the game for a while.

 

In 2012 they stopped offering new accounts to the cool free (other than domain renewal fee) product we had but let us keep it.  No problem.  We kept playing the game.

 

A few years ago they decided to shut down the product we were on and “migrate” our “legacy free” account to a new product.   Mostly the same view for the handful of you who visit the site to search used words or read Paul’s awesome “Real Rules” or other stuff.  The custom domain broke but no big deal.

 

Well, finally after over a decade (or two?) of freeloading off of Google, they are finally saying “pay us or leave”.  (I’m paraphrasing but that’s the gist of it.)

 

I’m faced with the following options:

  • Let the dixonary.net site disappear and pay nothing, and do no actual work
  • Keep the current dixonary.net site and pay $6 per month and hopefully the domain name will work with the pages as they are, and do no actual work
  • Move the site somewhere else cheap ( looks like $1 to $2 per month is easy to get) and have to do work to set up a new site with whatever cheap tools are provided for that cheap cost
  • Move the site to the same webserver I’m already paying for with the tapcis.com domain and bboards and archive of rounds and have to do work to set up a new site but it’s a lot more flexible to really fine tune whatever we want the site to be

 

I’m leaning toward the latter two options but also don’t really have webmastering skills and am not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze.

 

So this is basically a call for help.  I don’t mind paying a bit for hosting if we have a useful site, but I am not the best person to set up a useful site and I think some of you are.

 

 

Shani Naylor

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 3:53:08 AM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
While I don't have the web skills that are needed, I'm more than happy to make a contribution to the cost (even if it's not a lot, it shouldn't fall to the same person/people).

I'd also like to express my gratitude to the people who work behind the scenes to keep the game running smoothly. We couldn't do it without you, so thank you very much!!

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Dixonary" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to dixonary+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/2C596788-CA04-491A-945C-9E3C5596E47D%40dixonary.net.

Johnb - co.uk

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 6:05:06 AM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
Fully in agreement with Shani
JohnnyB

Tim Lodge

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 6:51:20 AM1/28/22
to Dixonary
Dan

Let me say first of all that I'd be happy to contribute to any costs of maintaining a website and that I appreciate the work of those who have set up and maintained the current system.  However, the curent dixonary.net does what we want, by acting as a repostory for rules and game history..  Why is Google asking us to pay for it?  Everything I've been able to read on the Web says that Google Sites is free, unless you exceed a storage limit. I've not been able to find out definitively what that limit is, but it looks as if it's 15 GB over all the Google free services.  If we've exceeded that, my suggestion would be to bite the bullet and pay for keeping the curent site .  The annual cost would be around $5-$6 per player if shared between all the current players - well worth it in my opinion.

--  Tim L

Tim Lodge

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 6:53:19 AM1/28/22
to Dixonary
Delete 'repostory' and insert 'repository'.

Fein, Deborah

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 8:28:34 AM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
Absolutely - ditto to what Shani said.
Deb F. 

​
Deborah Fein, Ph.D.
UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor
Department of Psychological Sciences
Department of Pediatrics
University of Connecticut
debora...@uconn.edu

From: dixo...@googlegroups.com <dixo...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Shani Naylor <shani....@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2022 3:52 AM
To: dixo...@googlegroups.com <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] [OT] The future of the dixonary.net site
 

*Message sent from a system outside of UConn.*

Johnb - co.uk

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 11:04:03 AM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
Google have ceased their free groups etc - in fact they did so 10 years ago but now (as of next July) they are making it stick - pay up or lose it... it impacts me (john-barrs.co.uk) and it impacts the website I run as admin --- I haven't yet found out what it is going to cost me for each  site - Dan, have you?
JohnnyB

Daniel B. Widdis

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 12:39:58 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary
"Why is Google asking us to pay for it?"  -- To make money, of course!   

"Google Workspaces" is the new product, and it includes a lot of stuff we don't use.  It's marketed to small businesses owners who have their own domain and want professionally managed email.  Not unlike the Exchange (Office 365) product that Microsoft sells subscriptions to, and keeps me employed.  

Basically if I want to use my @dixonary.net email past June, I have to pay for business-level support.

All we're really using from our "Workspaces" are our Google Site, the underlying Google Docs, and my email.  

When we first started, our "site" included the dixonary.net domain for all the subpages.   With the current "legacy free" product, we're basically stuck with a redirect link.   I probably wouldn't mind the $6/month to keep my email and to have the custom domain actually work again.  But I'd want to verify that's actually going to happen.  The advantage of this is that I don't actually have to do anything with our existing setup (other than provide my credit card info).

Alternatively we could migrate to a (free) google site and google docs elsewhere, and I could go back to my regular email for Dixonary.  It'd be cheaper (free).  But require me (or someone) to actually move the site.   Is it worth saving $6/month for all that effort?  I don't know....


Daniel B. Widdis

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 12:43:16 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary
The cost for the cheapest plan is $6 US per user (or equivalent in your currency).  On dixonary.net we currently have two users (Paul created an account to more easily deal with the site, but I can delete it.)   If you're the only email user at those custom domains that'd be the cost for you too.

Efrem G Mallach

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 12:52:46 PM1/28/22
to 'Mike Shefler' via Dixonary
Agree with what everyone has already said. 

As it happens, I have some web development skills. I looked at the source code behind the dixonary.net home page. It uses Google-specific code, such as the JsAction library (the benefits of which are insignificant on a site of this size) and has what one poster on stackoverflow.com (specific page here) called "aggressively obfuscated code." Class names, for example, are deliberately obscure. (Examples: X6jHbb, GOJTSe, and other random six-character strings.)

And there is no way a home page of this complexity level needs 4,820 style rules (I let Firefox count them) with 26,405 lines (after reformatting with one item per line) in its largest style sheet. Nothing needs 4,820 style rules. Nothing. Anywhere. 

I don't know who wrote this code, I'm fairly sure it wasn't you and that a lot of it was inserted automatically, but I'm VERY reluctant to get involved in modifying the existing site. The same poster I quoted earlier cautioned the person to whom he/she was replying "You will be digging through very convoluted code with basically no identifiable names... you will most likely have a hard time getting something meaningful out of it." And that was written for an audience of professional web developers. I may have some skills in that area, I know what I'm doing, but I'm an experienced professional. 

One thought might be to get free hosting and a free interim subdomain name (that is, something like dixonary.freehostia.com) from a service such as freehostia or atspace.cc. (I have no personal interest in either. There are surely more, perhaps better.) Then we could set up a new site there. File size limits on free sites may keep us from moving all the content to the test site, but we could get the structure working with partial/dummy content or decide, after we get into it, that it's not worth the effort. If it works, we bite the bullet on the nominal cost someplace, import the content, and transfer the domain name. Any free or cheap hosting service would give us at least a handful of email addresses. If it doesn't, we can go for option 2 (pony up the cost to keep it where it is). I'd join those who will pay a share of $6/month for this. I'll take July. 

Efrem

========================

Chowie

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 2:17:17 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary
I'm ignorant on this, but why can't we use email to continue this game? I never go to that website. I see no point in it, but what do I know.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/46F3F0AE-CE99-43E0-A323-575357F74ABD%40gmail.com.

Judy Madnick

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 2:24:39 PM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
I just noticed that there are 69 members of dixo...@googlegroups.com. Some are duplicates, but I was surprised to see so many members...and so few definitions! Also, is anyone uncomfortable about the fact that there are a lot of nonparticipants who have access to our email addresses?
 
Judy
 
 

Original Message
From: Chowie <chow...@gmail.com>
Date: 1/28/2022 2:17:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] [OT] The future of the dixonary.net site

Efrem G Mallach

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 2:29:05 PM1/28/22
to 'Mike Shefler' via Dixonary
Apologies to all - in the bold red text below, I mean to say "I'm NOT an experienced professional," with strong emphasis on "not." I know my limits. Modifying the existing site is way past them.

Efrem

=========================

Chowie

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 3:41:34 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary
I do not want strangers to have my phone #or address.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/0143393D011C0E18241F004008%40LAPTOP-NG0A64CK.

Daniel B Widdis

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 3:55:47 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary

“One thought might be to get free hosting and a free interim subdomain name”

 

I currently am paying for the server where the tapcis.com site is hosted.   It is completely free (as an add on) to add any code we want to that server, even in completely basic HTML if that’s what someone wants to do.    Dixonary.tapcis.com is trivial to add…. I’m sure I can figure how to redirect dixonary.net there.

 

 

 

From: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Efrem G Mallach <efrem....@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2022 at 9:52 AM
To: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] [OT] The future of the dixonary.net site

 

Agree with what everyone has already said. 

Daniel B Widdis

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 3:56:41 PM1/28/22
to Dixonary

A lot of the people on the list are/were former players.  Some only played one round.

Efrem G Mallach

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 3:56:55 PM1/28/22
to 'France International/Mike Shefler' via Dixonary
Aren't they all, or perhaps nearly all, previous participants - some of whom tried the game and decided it wasn't their thing, and a few of whom are now playing the game in a better place where they always come in second?

Efrem

Shani Naylor

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 4:59:09 PM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
A better place??



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/98112263-195C-42E6-A1A2-0097976AD768%40gmail.com.

Judy Madnick

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 5:06:04 PM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
I was just surprised to see such a long list!
 
Judy

Original Message
From: "Daniel B Widdis" <wid...@dixonary.net>
Date: 1/28/2022 3:56:38 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixonary] [OT] The future of the dixonary.net site

A lot of the people on the list are/were former players.  Some only played one round.

 

From: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chowie <chow...@gmail.com>


Reply-To: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2022 at 12:41 PM
To: Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com>

Efrem G Mallach

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 10:23:40 PM1/28/22
to 'France International/Mike Shefler' via Dixonary
I guess that depends on what description of the afterlife you subscribe to, and, in some of those, which way the scales tipped when their lives here were judged. I will not venture an opinion as to whether playing Dixonary should count for them or against them in that weighing.

Efrem

Shani Naylor

unread,
Jan 28, 2022, 10:27:59 PM1/28/22
to dixo...@googlegroups.com
Ah ha! I should have figured that out.



To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/617DC158-8E54-4B6E-B4E3-189BBB1783F2%40gmail.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages