As we were saying before we were interrupted...

[Mark Thomas]

Welcome to the new Unsung Composers Forum, which replaces the old Raff Forums, sadly hacked to death by some mindless moron.

Hopefully a repetition of that attack will be avoided through the use both of modern, more secure software and of a more secure host server. The software itself is a development of the software used to power the Raff Forums and so, although the site has a shiny new look, the way everything works should be familiar to you.

Because at this stage the integrity of the old forum's database remains suspect, it's not possible to carry any member details over from it and so you will have to register again, but that's a one-off chore.

Although we will try and retrieve the old forum's posts to be available as an archive, it may not be possible to do so unless the effects of the hacking attack can be isolated and, in any event, for now the priority had to be to get the forum back online.

Do please read the opening message on each of the other sub-forums. Alan and I are very keen to develop the site the way that you want it to develop and so your feedback is essential.

It only remains for Alan and I to say:

Welcome back!

[Steven Eldredge]

Mark,

Sad to think there are people out there with nothing better to do than attack such a website as yours!

Welcome back. I look forward to many interesting discussions of 19th century music here.

Steven Eldredge
New York City

[sdtom]

Hopefully all will go well
Thomas

[Mark Thomas]

Well, the first couple of hours have been incident free... 

[Amphissa]

Glad to see the site back online. The effort of Mark and Alan to get the discussion forum back online has involved a lot of work and dedication. Applause and thanks to you both.

[Lew]

Mark and Alan.

It's good to be back! Many thanks to you both for your hard work at re-establishing the forum and rescuing our unsung lifeline from those spiteful and malicious minds. Now we can pick up where we left off amongst our friends.

Lew

[peter_conole]

Hi Mark and Alan, and all

Congrats on what must have been a huge effort. Will stop cursing the moron (or morons) in about June 2015

regards
Peter

[TerraEpon]

Great to see the forum back relatively quickly.

It's also nice to see the Raff site isn't being flagged any more either.

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, Google have been commendably quick in restoring the Raff site to "clean" status. So, hopefully I can put this whole episode (and the attendant work) behind me now and get on with the music...

[Ilja]

Great to see we're there again - even if means I've been relegated to 'new' status...

[izdawiz]

Hello all,
I have followed and read faithly the Unsung Composer Forum for Years.. But I never gathered the courage to contribute. When our site went down recently I was in total shock!
It is true what they say . "you don't value somebody or something until it is gone"

I am delighted to see the forum is up again.I am eternally greatful to  Mark, Alan and everybody that helps put the forum back up.
Regarding all the old post and disccussion archives, are there future plans to incorporate those in this new forum.

[Jonathan]

Hi All,
Yes, I too am happy to see the forum back again after a brief interruption, as well as some familiar names!
Best regards
Jonathan

[John H White]

Congratulations, Mark, on getting my favourite forums back in business after that dastardly attack. Many thanks for acting so swiftly to cause the Unsung Phoenix to rise from its ashes. Long may it fly!
      Cheers,
           John

[Mark Thomas]

Welcome Izdawiz, after years of lurking!

Regarding all the old post and disccussion archives, are there future plans to incorporate those in this new forum.

Yes and no. Yes, there are plans in the sense that we're going to try and retrieve the old threads and posts and add them to the site as some sort of archive. No, nothing has been done about it yet because the priority had to be get a working Forum back up and running. I can't promise anything at this stage because a major issue is that the database is still infected with the malware links and silent downloads which caused the site to be suspended in the first place. If the database can reliably be cleaned then it will certainly be possible to restore the old forum. It'll not happen any time soon though.

Whilst writing, I must say how touched I am by all your messages. They really have made all the workof the last week worthwhile. Thank you.

[JimL]

Hi guys!

Great to be back!  Good work, Mark and Alan!  I wonder if the attack was personal, or if there was a simultaneous attack on other random websites as well?  Nusuth, really.  The perp had better pray that none of us ever discovers his identity, though.   Anyway, I have a bit of news.  Carl Petersson, the pianist who recorded the Flotow concertos for Sterling has exchanged several emails with me, starting just prior to the demise of our prior avatar.  I suggested he join our Forum, and will continue to do so, so don't be surprised if you start seeing posts from him in the near future.