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I mentioned last week that I had to take the forums temporarily to deal with a security issue. Here’s what it was: basically the site got hacked. As far as I can tell, someone used the forums to upload a script that made its way into the main web site and caused pages to load slowly. I think it may also have been attempting to do deeper damage by redirecting site visitors, but I didn’t see any evidence of this first hand.

The forums were the only section of the web site where users could upload files as avatars, pictures, or other attachments. And that’s always going to pose a security risk. So after thinking things over, I’ve decided to take a new approach in relaunching the forums. I didn’t want to bring you a stripped down forum that doesn’t offer personalization options. But I don’t have the time or expertise to wage a full out battle against malicious hackers. So instead I’m outsourcing the forums to Ning, a service that can handle threats in a more secure fashion. You can find the new forums by clicking the forums link in navigation bar at the top of this page. Or you can bookmark the new page for the Liliputing Forum.

As an added bonus, the new forums are part of a larger Liliputing Community site that offers users the ability to upload photos, videos, create personal profiles, and generally get their social networking on. There’s even a built-in instant messaging feature that will let you chat in real-time with other users that are online. Oh yeah, you can also post threaded messages in the forums section. I’m still tinkering with the new site, so feel free to share any suggestions, either here or at the Liliputing Community/Forum page. I’m even open to changing the name if you think “community” sounds too cheesy.

I didn’t want to make all the old posts that you’ve uploaded over the past few months disappear in a poof of smoke. So I’ve brought back the old forums as well, but just for archival purposes. You can still read over all of the posts at www.liliputing.com/forums, but I’ve disabled new member registrations and new posts from existing members.