Evan Bailey
patreon
Outage update and data workaround
🕑 Added 2023-02-05 04:45:58 +0000 UTCHello DMs,
The outage of the official URL, improved-initiative.com, is still ongoing. Based on my conversations with Azure support last week it could be a while longer, or I might get lucky and it could be sorted next week.
In the meantime, instead of sitting on my hands, I wanted to share a couple of workarounds in case you're having difficulty with account sync or the backup URL.
The backup URL can still be accessed at https://improved-initiative.herokuapp.com/. If you've been using account sync, you'll be able to seamlessly access your data there.
If you need to retrieve your local data from the website, there's a workaround involving your HOSTS file. Your HOSTS file allows you to override where particular web domains go for your computer. On a Windows machine like mine, it's located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. Add the following line to the end:
174.129.128.48 www.improved-initiative.com
You should then be able to access the site with your browser at https://www.improved-initiative.com/e/. Be sure to include https and /e/ in the URL when you visit it in the browser, and click through any security warnings. Be aware that this workaround is not a security best practice. I can't provide personalized guidance for this process, but manipulating your hosts file is a well-documented process and can also be done on a Mac.
If you're having trouble with the DnD Beyond StatBlock Importer, you can configure it to import statblocks to another URL. Check out the settings page for the extension to change the target URL.
Again, apologies if this has cause inconvenience for your games. Thanks for the understanding and the kind words over the last week or so. I'll keep you updated as I get concrete news.
-Evan
Update 2/13
Azure Support has informed me that it will be 45-60 days from the expiry date before the domain can be recovered, which puts me out into mid March. I guess we're hanging tight until then. Having the domain down is a lot worse for me than for any one user; existing users can use the backup site but new users can't find the website through search engines. Anyways, fingers crossed for a miracle!
Comments
Stephen Kessel
Thanks! It’ll be alright. Hopefully that website comes back soon. Thanks for the updates!
Evan Bailey
Hi Stephen, sorry you haven't been able to get it to work. Unfortunately different system and network configurations can make the workaround harder to apply.
Stephen Kessel
This workaround is still not working for me for whatever reason, even with the helpful directions. Any tips?
Scott Morgan
Nevermind, I found the settings config. :)
Scott Morgan
So I'm trying to use the alt site and I'm noticing a lot of functionality is not there (Add monster at full health, rename a monster in an encounter, bonus health on a monster, etc) - I'm logged into Patreon, so not sure why these features are missing? Would appreciate any help!
Ian H.
The workaround for the importer is a life saver, pretty much ameliorates the only problem I was having. Goodluck getting the original site back, and thanks for keeping us up to date!
Fabrizio Artinelli
The workaround works perfectly. I had to change the line in the HOSTS file to 174.129.128.48 www.improved-initiative.com in order for it to work! Thank you very much Evan!
Evan Bailey
Thanks for the note, I updated the workaround with the '/e/' path trick.
everett
thank you for keeping us in the know! i hope it all gets sorted soon and thank you for all your hard work!!!
Mark (zellspell)
I was able to get the hosts hack to work. Thanks!!
Maggie Stewart
Thanks very much for these updates and workarounds! Good to know what’s going on.
Maddie M
I followed the instructions and it appears to be working (it did also require me to flush the dns, but I am seeing a "transferlocalstorage" in the network tab before being redirected to the herokuapp). But unfortunately I'm still not seeing the CSS. Thankfully I found a local backup I made myself.
Evan Bailey
The HOSTS workaround should let you access the site as if it were up normally, so I bet you can get your CSS configuration that way.
Maddie M
I had some Additional Player View CSS that I've lost. Is there a way to retrieve this?
