We've recently been working hard on some issues related to system performance. There's nothing more important to us than the reliability and speed of our applications, and we know it's important to you as well. So, we wanted to fill you in on some improvements we've made over the past month.

Random slowness issue resolved

First off, we've corrected an issue in our LightCMS, WaterCMS, and SkyCMS products that was causing random and occasional slowdowns. These episodes would result in pages taking longer than normal to load. You may have never even experienced this issue, but just in case you did, we wanted to let you know that it has been resolved.

This occasional slowness was caused by an issue in one of our vendors' third party applications, and was in no way related to the capabilities of our hosting infrastructure or our applications. We worked with experts at all of our vendor companies as well as outside contractors to resolve this issue. Now that it has been corrected, system performance is solid and lightning-fast with plenty of server headroom at all times.

Nonetheless, we continue to work hard to stay two steps ahead in supporting our growth. LightCMS in particular has gained a ton of popularity lately, resulting in continually increasing traffic loads. You can be sure that we are prepared to continue scaling up as needed to stay ahead of the demand.

Performance enhancements

As a part of the process of digging through the system in search of the above-mentioned issue, we have made and continue to make tweaks and changes to improve system performance. The result is that things are running faster than ever and will continue to improve in the future.

New system status page

Finally, in an effort to better communicate with you about performance-related issues, we've created a system status page. This page will serve as a one-stop location for information related to performance and uptime on all of our company's products. You can view the page here:

http://status.elementfusion.com

We'll be posting information about any performance-related issues as we have it available in order to keep you up to speed on what is happening. So, if you have a concern about performance on one of our products, you can check this page to get your information first hand.

Great days ahead

We've got some great plans for more improvements and features to come in the weeks and months ahead so stay tuned. As always, we appreciate your support of our company and our products.

Thanksgiving Day is in two days and Christmas is just a month away.  The holidays are upon us.  For many, the chance to spend time with family, friends and loved ones makes this the most wonderful time of the whole year.  For some, spending time with family, friends and loved ones is reason enough to crawl into a hole and not come out until the holidays are done.

No matter how you feel about the holidays, we have something that will make your gatherings and parties easier — a free website!  There are a number of ways a free website can keep you organized and/or help you stay sane.  I'll list a few ways that I have used my own family holiday websites, but I encourage you to think of others and leave them in the comments for all to enjoy.

1. Sleeping arrangements. This year at Christmas, our family has grown by three people through two births and an engagement.  It is important to know where everyone will sleep, and who may have to get hotel rooms.  Knowing this information ahead of time can save many headaches, so list it on the website.
2. Food items. So, grandma and grandpa are cooking the turkey and ham, but everyone else needs to bring their own dishes of mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and corn. Why not put assignments on the website? It can also be helpful to communicate when you will be eating out and where.
3. Present wishlists. Don't know what your eleven year old nephew is into?  Take a look at the family holiday website and see what he likes. There is nothing worse then buying him something Pokemon, then finding out that he was "like so over that two years ago."
4. Clothing sizes. You forgot that little Dax is no longer little Dax and that shirt you bought him back in August is no longer going to fit him.  Don't let that happen to others. Gather up and publish everyone's sizes (I recommend that you get people's permission first), so clothing gifts will fit perfectly, whether or not they like your style.
5. Arrivals and departures. The travel schedule can affect so many things including sleeping arrangements and food items, among other things. So, put it on the website and everyone will be informed. That way, you'll knowing when that family of five is on the way and also when you'll finally be able to breathe that sigh of relief.
6. Photo gallery. Maybe you have some family members that can't make it, but you still want them to share in the joy.  Upload pictures to a photo gallery on your holiday website and they'll be able to see all of the fun you are having and how much you miss them.

Again, these are just a few ideas that I put to use on our family's site.  If you have other ideas that have helped you in the past or if this has spurred on any others, please share them in the comments below.  To sign up for a free site, visit embracewater.com, click the "Sign-up now" button in the middle left and about 2 minutes later you will be all set. 

Note: I have attached the "Our Holiday Gathering" logo that is in the top right hand corner of this post (see link below) so that you can use it as a logo for your website if you wish.  You can see a modified template below that uses it as the logo. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Element Fusion!