Photo: techhamlet.com
As well as noticing Jupiter in the night sky last night, you may also have clocked that the site went AWOL and was out of action for several hours. It was all my fault – in an idle moment I decided to install a few plug-in updates (the blogging equivalent of picking wax out of your ear) and the bloody house collapsed. Gone, kaput, the whole shagging kit and kaboodle.
Thanks to the wonders of daily backup, though, those good people at Siteground were able to restore the site – they’re based in the States so I just logged a ticket, went to bed and the site was back up this morning.
The only catch is that the backed up content finishes at Saturday so everything since then has fallen into that great big black hole in the ether never to be seen again. So the match report from Sunday is gone, the posts from yesterday are also gone and the MOTM poll is gone too.
All’s not lost, though. I always draft the match reports in Word so I have the next-to-final version saved and I can use this to get the report back up on the site this morning. I probably won’t bother re-doing the two other posts from yesterday but I will post something later on about the MOTM poll – I had a draft of that ready to go last night and I have all the vital numbers in my head, even if the poll itself has been atomised.
Sadly, though, all the comments posted since around Sunday afternoon are lost and gone forever. This is a bit of a pain, I know, but there’s nothing I can do about it, aside from resolving not to play fast and loose with WordPress plug-ins in future.
In the eight years the site has been in existence, this is the first ever major outage I’ve had to deal with and it’s also, as far as I can recall, the first time I’ve ever had content wiped. Hopefully, this one is a one-off, which it should be if I refrain from playing the nerd in future. After this incident, it’ll be a while before I’m tempted to do so again.
A full through root and branch investigation by Mayo county board into this unacceptable site outage should be instigated immediately. Heads will roll.
Was wondering where ya had gone to. Anyway as long as the result from Sunday has not fallen into the great big black hole, along with all our comments, and been wiped from existence, then no problem.
I presume that Liam O Neill will not order a replay of Sundays game against Monaghan in view of whats happened!!!!!
Could have been north Korea. They are specialist’s in blanket defense and dirty trick’s. Wait till we get them later in championship. Marker laid down……
We paid for resiliency WJ 😉
Jesus, WJ, you weren’t at that film. ‘The Interview’, were ya? I know Kim Jong-un made threats towards anyone who watched but even I didn’t think he’d stoop to this level.
WJ, for those of us who have not been to a match in Celtic Park in Derry before, I wonder if anybody might be willing to offer their experience and views on the best way in to the pitch for next Sunday’s game against Derry (i.e. through Strabane or through Letterkenny), and what parking is like around the pitch?
It was really a form of constipation Willie Joe. Not a lot know this, but constipation is hidden in deep places just waiting for a chance to strike. It caught you on the hop last night but from now on keep the bottle of Syrup of figs beside your computer and it will quickly be “worked out”. 😉
Thanks be to Jesus you’re back WJ, I had to resort to talking to real people last night.
Folks, season ticket attendance from Sunday should now be updated, but be sure and check it sooner rather than later and get onto them asap if you have any issues.
We’ll have some information up on the Club ’51 site on Derry later/tomorrow morning Young Fella – we are working on gathering it now.
I was there for the qualifier match back in 2007, Young Fella, but I was coming from Dublin and went through Strabane as I recall. Parking was alright that day (and that was a championship match), on a day when very little went right from our perspective.
If anyone has any other info on getting to and parking at Celtic Park, it’d be good to have it.
Attendance updated for me there alright Ann Marie so all good.
I wont be able to make Derry due to a family event, if anyone wants or is bringing someone without a season ticket and wants to use mine then let me know. I can meet ye in Claremorris any evening.
All the posts since Saturday are now back up on the site, comments lost forever, though, I’m afraid.
Good to see you back in action again WJ. I’d strongly recommend against not updating your site plugins however, update as soon as there’re released, or as soon as. With all the comments you get on the site, you could do a manual backup of the site before updating any plugins?
Re Derry: I’ve been at a few match’s there but I’ve always travelled up and down on the day. Went through Ballyshannon if I remember rightly. Parking is handy enough too I think, check out the ground locator over on club 51 site. One time we were there, meself and another lad were short on cash, ATM in shop beside pitch wasn’t working. We headed into town, colours and all. Cab pulled up, picked us up and brought us into the middle of town to the ATM at the bank. Waited for us and dropped us back to the pitch again, wouldn’t take a penny either!
Went to Derry in 07.
Never went back!
I blame the ref.
Re attendance records, as noted above, all is now sorted.
We sometimes are quick to criticise, but in this instance, it seems to be sorted without fuss. Credit where deserved.
For those who want to revisit some of the comments from the lost match report:
Match report: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:E-yl3n2fD54J:mayogaablog.com/%3Fp%3D16160+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ie
Not sure how long Google will keep that page online so WJ you might want to save it soon if you want to preserve the comments for posterity. I might have a later version cached on my own laptop at home, will have a look.
No worries man. It could happen a bishop. Or even the nice people in our
National Lottery! We will give you your penance later.
Fair play for getting her back onlind WJ.
This site is the permanent farmer at a gate for internet discussion of Mayo football.
@ Youngfella – Was there last year for a match – parked at the corner of Brandywell Rd/Lecky Rd for a quick getaway, as there is only one (close) bridge over the river to get towards Strabane. Tidy little ground with a ferocious home following – the season ticket stiles are at the northern end of the ground (ie the opposite end from the Brandywell soccer stadium which is next door).
Welcome back . Sorely missed. In hindsight it would be better if this had happened after Tyrone game. That match could have done with being put into that big black hole as could some of the comments here which followed.
Young Fella, having spent 8 years driving from Mayo to Donegal I’ve always gone Ballyshannon, Ballybofey, Letterkenny (you don’t go through it, just as far as the Dry Arch roundabout) and then onto Derry. If you turn off the main Lkenny to Derry road at Newtowncunningham it takes you in the back way to the city and you are coming to the Brandywell/ Celtic Park area without having to go through town at all. If you go up via Strabane you need to go through a few blue, white and red curbed villages (which isn’t any trouble anymore) and over the Craigavon Bridge and take a left. When Donegal played them in the first round of the championship last year I had to park near the bridge and walk up the hill but you should get a lot closer. I think it’s a great wee ground, but I’m not used to the luxury of McHale park!
Beware of the power of the followers of Kim Jong O Neill.