FurNation
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
FurNation is a website that specializes in hosting webpages with furry content. FurNation also operates a small adult-oriented comic publishing unit, producing titles such as FurNation Magazine, The Wanderer and Carpe Diem. FurNation operated the online store FurPlanet, until FurPlanet was purchased by FuzzWolf in March 2008.
- Address: http://www.furnation.com/
- Primary webmaster: Nexxus
- Secondary webmaster: Rackett
- Ran from/to: November 1996 - present
FurNation was once a major establishment in the online furry community, providing a centralized location in which to find a variety of furry related content. FurNation Multimedia claims that "established in November 1996 we are one of the three most established websites in the genre!",[1] the site does not say what the other two websites are. In that time FurNation had gained not only a name for being a major player in furry information, art, and stories, but also a reputation for its periodic downtime. Some of these times have been relatively short, while others have been quite a bit longer. Because of this, many who maintain web space on FurNation also maintain a website at another web address.
In addition, Nexxus also administers and operates the FurNation Worlds on Second Life, a 3D virtual chat community bearing FurNation's flagship name (and reportedly taking a lot of the administrators' time to run, to the detriment of the website). As of February 2007, there are ten sims, FurNation Alpha, Aqua, Asylum, Kami, Kitsune, Phoenix, Prime, Omega, Reia, and Vista.
Contents |
[edit] History
- 9 November 2001: Nexxus temporarily suspended FurNation due to Sibe's actions.
- 28 December 2004: Nexxus announces his intent to convert FurNation to AnthroNation, with the addition of Fantasy and Sci-fi websites. He also announces the FurNation toolbar.
[edit] Recent Changes on Furnation
In mid September 2007, Nexxus and Furnation's administrators made some major updates to the website. These changes were mainly to the gallery system and to the instant messaging shoutbox that is featured at the top of each page on the website. The changes to the gallery system apparently made it very hard for the artists to actually upload their artwork. According to some users, they were also confused at the way the website stored their images, making them harder to view than before. Over time, however, most users have gotten used to the new gallery system.
[edit] Criticisms
Around June 2007, Nexxus added a shoutbox to the site, which can be seen as the sole reason many non-furries joined the site. The influx of non-furries, and the departure of many of the more respected members of the site around this time, can be seen as the reason that the general quality of posts, art and otherwise, on the site, has been going "downhill" since that period.
[edit] Hacking
Around March 2008, the website was hacked and all user websites, most of which pre-dated the current incarnation which includes the gallery system and shoutbox, were lost. Because those sites were not backed up on the server, all accounts and information on those sites were lost.
In a post appearing on the front page on March 28, 2008, zerodog posted a message in which he stated "FurNation is not responsible for the maintaining or backup of any data stored on personal websites or any other hosted sites. However FurNation owned sites such as FurNation Forums and FurPlanet are backed up regularly as are their respective databases. It is ultimately the End users responsibility to keep up with there data, not ours. If data is lost we will try to recover it using recovery tools but there is NO assurances that we can."
[edit] Possible closure
On September 7, 2008, Nexxus sent the following email to FurNation users:
FurNation started in November of 1996 as a simple web hosting site. Since then it has grown to be a center peice of the furry fandom for chatting and finding new friends.
Unfortunatly, I have paid out of pocket for the service since its inception. Donations have helped, along with the income that FurPlanet generated to support the service. Since I have sold FurPlanet to Argyll Productions the server fees are once again running me into a lot of debt.
We were getting help on the server fees, but the debt I have to pay back is getting way out of control. I would like to keep the server running with donations alone, but last month we managed only 135 dollars toward the total monthly fees of 400 dollars. I do appreciate those who donated, and I put the money towards the fees.
Unfortunatly, if the present trend continues, FurNation will have to close its doors as of October 1st, 2008. I do not wish to do this, but the rising debt I am accumulating will force this issue upon me.
If you would like to keep FurNation online, please consider a donation for the service. Once again, if we have to close its been a hell of a 12 year run and I have had a great time providing this service to the community.
To donate, you can use the quick button link on the main FurNation webpage or visit the following URL:
(the URL is a PayPal link)
Sincerely,
Nexxus
FurNation Webmaster
Nexxus also posted this message to the FurNation forums.[2]
