h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is no stretch of the truth to say that teams of volunteers worked around the clock since early Friday morning till late Sunday night to roll out the h2g2 red carpet.

h2g2’s five-stage launch
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Stage 1 began on Friday morning. Pastey and Brian reset h2g2’s database to the state it was in October 3, 2011, when h2g2’s move from the BBC’s servers to Not Panicking Ltd began. Resetting h2g2’s database tidied up all of the test data. If you are curious what test data looks like, some of it has been preserved for your reading pleasure: A87706632.

Stage 2 was the first live test of the new transfer system. The Editors, Moderators, Gurus, and senior volunteers used the transfer system to unlock their account information and access their personal spaces.

Stage 3 began on Saturday. As the Editors prepared h2g2’s new Front Page (Congratulations, Minorvogonpoet!) and the Moderators and other volunteers posted the new Terms and Conditions, the Gurus assisted the remaining volunteers through the transfer process.

Stage 4 began Saturday evening and continued through Sunday. Beta testers were selected from among the h2g2 researchers who had registered on Noesis. First a few researchers were invited over, then a few more.

Whenever the beta testers stirred up a bug, the Tech Team sprang into action. Although one monstrous bug forced the beta testers to stand down temporarily, Pastey dispatched it and testing resumed.

Toward the end of the beta testing period, all the researchers on s2g2 had been invited over to h2g2. The Tech Team exterminated bugs as they appeared and stabilized the software. (This isn’t to say the software is completely bug-free. Should you see something that isn’t working correctly, please report it at the New h2g2 Feedback page, A87706669.)

Before moving to the fifth and final stage of h2g2’s launch, representatives from each of the volunteer teams met on Skype with Robbie Stamp and Brian Larholm for a go/no go poll. Excitement grew as each person said, ‘Go’, agreeing that h2g2 and their team were ready for launch.

The Technical Team threw the switch that launched h2g2 late Sunday night. Volunteers toasted h2g2's success as researchers stepped across to the threshold into h2g2 at its new home: www.h2g2.com. Brian summed up the moment perfectly: ‘It has been a fun ride so far … amazing how things pan out.’

Sunday night’s launch opened a new chapter in h2g2’s history. Volunteers are working on site improvements to be implemented over the coming weeks and months. Keep your eyes peeled for new skins, new features, and of course lots of new Guide entries.

and thank you all so much for the wonderful new site

Wooohoooo! Well done, all!

Just

Congratulations to you and to us!

and

YES!!!!

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster smiley now works in Goo!

Ahh... you can tell when you're technical genius is a goo user...

*swoons* my hero

It's good to be back home.

yay in goo!

Yay h2g2!!

'Pastey, Pastey I love you, but we only have 612 hours to save hootoo'

Cheers to all those dedicated bugblatters busy blatting bugs.

Magwitch -

Superb work, everyone. s all round. Oh, and s, even for those who are terminally blue.

Hey, be careful. I've found a way to force people to use the One True Skin.

Brunel, right?

Right! You're being put into Goo!

Ooooh you're lucky! Something has come along for me to work on.

Noooooo!

You'll never take me alive!