(Update 07-03-07)

I've now finished working on the newly designed skin for the heatonmodelboats website (now version 3.6), which I have been running parallel to the main site on my testing domain for a few weeks. As well as changing the layout, colours and general styling, there's also a bit more JavaScript to try and even things up between different browsers. The website will now detect what browser you're running and alter the menu accordingly. If anyone uses a more obscure browser that doesn't display this in alignment - please let me know so I can add it to my script. So far it has been tested on Firefox, IE7, AOL browser and Netscape.

I've also modified the resolution checker on the home page which will continue to display the same message as before for all people browsing at a resolution of 1024x768. However, anyone visiting the site using a lower res will be given a warning message that the site menu may not appear in alignment.

Enjoy the new design...

Heatonmodelboats Webmaster

(Update 18-02-07)

The Coppermine gallery is now back online with all of the original pictures and statistics (eg number of views) having been restored. Now that we have lots more space, if anyone has any pictures you'd like to add - please email either myself or the secretary for small volumes of pictures (5MB or less). Alternatively, bring them in on CD R/W or DVD R/W to one of the Heaton club meetings and I'll get them online as soon as possible.

One other minor new item - the byethost link banner found at the bottom of the home page. Although I wasn't required to add this to the site, it's a suggested good will gesture that seemed fair enough for what we all receive in return.

Heatonmodelboats Webmaster

(Update 11-02-07)

The website has now been transferred to our new host - byethost. On viewing the site you shouldn't notice any difference at all - other than the change in banner text and the Coppermine photo gallery not being online yet. The forum has now been sorted and again, it should look and read the same as before. If any of you created an account or wrote a post during this transition phase and it isn't there anymore - unfortunately it will have been lost as it was created after I took a backup from the old servers. Please either contact me or simply sign up again.

As I said, the Coppermine photo gallery is not yet online. I'm tackling things one problem at a time and hopefully, if no other problems arise, that should be the next item on my 'to do' list. Check back soon and hopefully it will be back online too.

Heatonmodelboats Webmaster

Unfortunately our web host is closing down at the end of February - meaning I needed to find a new host for the heatonmodelboats site. I've singed up with lots of new hosts to go through the rather lengthy process of finding a free host that offers the same or better service than our current provider - free80mb.com

I do have one host that looks like it could be the new home for this site - The majority of the pages are up and running, I just need to add the databases which contain the forum and the photo gallery. Hopefully, the backup I took of the databases will allow me to create an exact copy of the forum and gallery - preserving all posts and user's accounts. Should this not work, I'll keep you all informed of the situation.

Once I've finished copying the site across; the redirection (an automatic function performed by a company that we pay to redirect users to free80mb.com when you type in heatonmodelboats.co.uk) will be changed to point to the new web host and fingers crossed, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

So, that's the bad news. The good news is the new host I'm currently working on gives our site a larger file space of 250MB over our current 80MB. In the short term, this means that pictures that had to be shrunk in order to reduce their file size can be replaced by the original high resolution versions. In the long term, the extra space will mean that more photos can be added, the forum posts won't have to be deleted when they're a certain age and generally, the site will be able to grow over the however many years it stays online for.

If there's any more news, or when the site is ready to be transferred I'll update this page with more information. In the mean time, if you'd like to check out the site at our new host the address is: heatonmo.byethost18.com If you have any problems with the website at the new host, or have any other questions about the move, feel free to contact me via the Email Forms.

Heatonmodelboats Webmaster