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Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 12:56 pm
by Rick Lanham
He apparently is or was in the Seattle area:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-bennett-36137412" target="_blank" target="_blank

Here's his Twitter:
https://twitter.com/silentera" target="_blank

Rick

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 2:41 pm
by didi-5
All that unique data gone - how sad. Even if a Kickstarter is a goer, the fact every page has been pulled is not good news unless the site owner has a website back-up.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 9:50 am
by Mark Zimmer
Yeah, we had to rebuild our website, which has an enormous database to generate pages much like silentera did, and it was no joke. I'd be surprised if we see it back again----overjoyed, but surprised.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 11:09 am
by silentfilm
It depends on how the website was generated in the first place. My website is on my PC using relative links. I could move it to another web site domain in the time it takes to FTP all of the files and photos to a new web server.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 3:14 pm
by Michael Arlt
I hope it doesn't stay away for long, Silent Era was a great site.
I was there all the time either checking out the "lost films" area, or the dvd reviews.
It's a shame that it's gone now.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 6:15 am
by Silencebound
Very sad to learnt about this unexpectedly situation. They knew and recorded my finding of the long time lost film "Pictureland", and already shown in there. Probably someone of Silentera site seemingly has slow-down for time being, and . . . . Whoa, what a bitter shame. :(

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 7:16 pm
by silentfilm
A guy named Joe Thoma on Facebook sent Mr. Bennett's wife and email, and got a response saying that Carl just didn't have the time to keep up the website anymore.

I'm still surprised that he didn't just keep the site up, rather than take it down.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 1:18 pm
by SilentsPlease
silentfilm wrote:A guy named Joe Thoma on Facebook sent Mr. Bennett's wife and email, and got a response saying that Carl just didn't have the time to keep up the website anymore.

I'm still surprised that he didn't just keep the site up, rather than take it down.
Which is why I think the reason might have something to do with cost also, not just time. They didn't lie, for time might be the reason too. But they just might not have told you all the truth. Money can be a complicated issue.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 1:08 am
by Brent
It just doesn’t make any sense to spend the better part of two decades building Silent Era up to be the biggest silent film-specific database on the internet, only to then kill it completely. There are now several people, myself included, offering to facilitate hosting the final incarnation of the site as an archived resource, à la The Bioscope. I sincerely hope Carl will read what’s being written here and elsewhere to that effect and contact one of us. Until then, RIP Silent Era...

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:04 pm
by LampyMeier2007
The site works here : http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/Y/Yolanda1924.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 6:21 pm
by Brent
The entire site now works again, as long as you enter it anywhere other than the home page – which means all those backlinks are safe. :) There are new posts on the Facebook page too.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 8:41 pm
by MaryGH
Brent wrote:The entire site now works again, as long as you enter it anywhere other than the home page – which means all those backlinks are safe. :) There are new posts on the Facebook page too.

So it is.

Silent Era was one of the first sites I was visiting when I started doing research on Tom Tyler. He has a little bit of information which definitely helped. I'm happy to see it is back and running again.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 8:54 pm
by MaryGH
Silent Era has more than 24,500 pages?

Has Carl considered using a CMS for a site that big?

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sat May 28, 2016 10:42 pm
by kaleidoscopeworld
It's now back up, and the following note is posted on the front page:
OK, I Admit It.

I overreacted and gave up in frustration.

I intended to walk away from all this and live a different life — perhaps, attempt to recapture my days decades ago as an amateur musician. Maybe, I would have the midlife crisis that my wife says came ten years too late. However, in the past weeks, many Silent Era readers expressed their disappointment that the site was no longer available and their appreciation for the years of work that went into it.

I feel that I owe everyone an explanation, but, that can come later. Meanwhile, the Silent Era website is back online, and I am busy writing and compiling data. Sheepishly, I hope everyone will read the more than 24,500 pages of the Silent Era website and take time to enjoy the films that we all love so much.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 6:38 am
by mwalls
This is truly wonderful news. What would happen in an ideal world is if he would take in a "partner". As everyone expressed such a loss when he chose to shut it down, having only one person manage the whole thing is tenuous. Having at least two with the keys would make it more viable.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 6:41 am
by boblipton
mwalls wrote:This is truly wonderful news. What would happen in an ideal world is if he would take in a "partner". As everyone expressed such a loss when he chose to shut it down, having only one person manage the whole thing is tenuous. Having at least two with the keys would make it more viable.
I imagine that a letter expressing how grateful the writer is for the board and offering to help would not be taken amiss, even if the offer is declined.

Bob

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 7:33 am
by drednm
Great news, Carl.....let me know if I can help out as I have free time.....

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 8:39 am
by Rick Lanham
Here is his contact page, read the part about how the email address listed may change as necessary to avoid spam:
http://www.silentera.com/info/contact.html" target="_blank

And use his Amazon links to go to Amazon just before shopping. There's no extra cost to you, and it will help him pay the costs of the site.

Rick

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 1:30 pm
by mwalls
Rick,

Thanks for the link to the e-mail for Carl. I just did send an e-mail offering my labor for any tasks he wants to send my way.

Matthew

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 3:41 pm
by bigshot
He should export the site as a database and sell it on a DVD-R.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 5:58 pm
by alostworld192593
It's back!!!!

http://www.silentera.com" target="_blank

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 7:31 pm
by Scoundrel
Welcome back ... !!!!

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 12:13 pm
by MaryGH
bigshot wrote:He should export the site as a database and sell it on a DVD-R.
Better yet, migrate it to something like Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal......his website is obviously big enough to require a content management system of some kind

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 4:29 pm
by Decrepit FilmFan
Besides being thrilled that the site is back online, I'm flabbergasted to learn that it is a one-man labor of love. Due to the vast amount of data housed there, and its (once) frequent updates, I always assumed it to be maintained by a decent size staff. My hat comes off to the creator for his herculean efforts!

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 10:37 am
by Rollo Treadway
Image

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 10:55 am
by Jim Roots
Rollo Treadway wrote:Image
My, what big eyes you have, Grandma!

Jim

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 3:41 pm
by Kevin2
The Silent Era website is back!

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:09 am
by R. Cat
Very happy that this website is back. It's easy to take websites for granted, but they don't create themselves and those that cater to special interests require nurturing.

Thank you, Carl.

Re: The Silent Era website shuts down

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:27 am
by westegg
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D