How did this site begin? (site history)

I was just curious as to if there is any way to get the history or orgins of this site. I am just curious as to who started it, why they started it, who runs the whole show and how it caught on and became what it is now. Just interested because this place is great and I would like to give some props to those that started the ball rolling. Is there a site history section under site or anything?
- Jonah

"ball rolling" haha that was unintentional - i crack me up

LOL, John "The Godfather" would be the overseer, the one who began it all ...

gimme 15 mins, I'm gonna be a while typing....

All started for me about August 2002. I joined a site called geckoisland, the first site i ever joined. They used a content management system called postnuke. I loved it, it was so easy to use, nice looking, and felt high tech. Geckoisland became my home, I spent so much time in it's chat room talking with herpers, and posting on the forums. It was heaven. Then I met a dude who called himself Leo-Land, we hung out a lot, chatted, ect. He had a site called Leo-Land also. At around mid 2003 geckoisland.com started to die, the owner just lost interest. So I migrated myself over to leo-land.net. I became a moderator there due to my friendship with the owner, had a lot of fun. I was completely alone there though, it was all leopard gecko people. So I went to places like ssnakess and KS, didn't like it.

Jeff, aka Leo-Land used postnuke too, just like geckoisland. And Jeff, being my friend, taught me how to run it, and then I kept learning. So in July 2003 Jeff supplied me with webspace. I created what is this site at ball.leo-land.net, it was so basic. I had about 30 users because I spammed it in chat rooms. The site had a metalic theme, very little content, blank forums from lack of activity, ect. Jeanne, the admin now, joined from when I showed the site to a yahoo group. So did all my old school members such as Randy and Sassafrass. It was fun. Jeff however moved from florida to colorado. And he was gone a lot, I couldn't get his help with the server. So I switched to new webspace at ball.geckoisland.com.

All the members were deleted during the switch, and the site started over basically. We were known as Ball Python Kingdom, so I assumed the name Ballkingdom. The site started up again, Jeanne and Randy were dubbed admins and helped out a LOT as the site grew. I was learning the ins and outs of postnuke, having a ball. But then we got a troll, a mass troll. Twice a day the guy would troll the site. He had a rotating IP address so he was hard to bann. I finally traced him down, and confronted him. The owner of the site that hosted me got pissed that I'd confronted the troll, as opposed to dropping the issue like he'd told me to do. So he kicked me off the webserver. He was afraid the troll would go to his site.

So I was left with a decision, go back to ball.leo-land.net, or get a domain. A user had told me that nobody would take me seriously if I didn't have a domain. With some quick searching I found this domain and liked it. I bought some space really cheap and moved all my files over. I had a friend, Matt Koss, help with some problesm that occured during the move. And also had to new domain setup. ball-pythons.net was born.

Things went on as usual, with massive additions, ect. Hits were doubling each month. Content was being added, members were joining, ect. Things were going good. We were encountering problems with e-mails, so I had a friend move the site over to his server, the ones I'm on now. Went real easy, had some problems with people's browsers pointing to the old server.

So the site came to here. I switched themes, members came. Things kept getting better. Constant building, as is the case now, was being done.

And no there is Bp.net...

There is a lot to add, anyone feel free to add content to the story.

Given a good hour I could write down a real thourough story. The site really has gone through a lot of work, changes, ect. Been real tricky, but those are the highlights. We started out as a crappy site with a subdomain on a free webspace.

wow - what a cool story (and evolution) thanks!

I'm a web forum dumbass so can you tell me what it means that the site got "Trolled"?

Thanks Don John.

Guest, feel free to join the site. I'm thinkin bout making these two forums members only also.

Trolled is when someone joins the site to just post swears, insults, ect.

And/or to get a rise out of members and derail threads off-topic ...

Hey John...thanks for sharing the story. I think it'd be a great idea to take the time to write out the full story and put a link somewhere on the homepage for it. Lots of folks would be interested!

Wow, I always wondered how this site was started. That is a very interesting story. I'm so very glad I found this place a few months ago. It's helped me many a time when I needed it. Everyone and I do mean everyone, is simply wonderful. I don't get to visit as often as I did when I first found it ( due to a new job), however when I get a chance to log on to the net, it's the first place I go.

Cool...I'm 'old school'. ;)

I wish I had more time to devote to this place...I'd like to be able to help out. This site has grown into something wonderful....props to all who have helped! :)

you never even mentioned the becoming of the shizzle. i am ashamed in you, godfather.

Yeah.....the fortune of this site changed forever when I registered. No applause needed, people. I know you are thankful that The Dave has bestowed you all with his presence. :D

what would we be without a beard.

Not a pretty thought, Will. ;)