Back From The Dead
Greetings everyone,
Absence:
First, I have to apologize for the extended absence. As some of you may already know, I have been in the process of moving to a new home. During that time, my “bondage computers” and some other accessories (like monitors, keyboards, modem etc.) were packed away in boxes and relocated to the new residence with the help of some friends and family members. Needless to say, since no one in my personal life is aware that I create and share this kind of content, it would be unwise to begin setting up my “office” of sorts while several people were in and out of the home. The biggest problem was that the closing and move came very last minute and I wasn’t able to make a quick update informing everyone of what was going on because of how everyone was in and out of the old place, and unfortunately, my web host is awful on my cell phone, but that’s a different discussion. That being said, I’ve seen that there are dozens of emails and messages awaiting a response, which I will get to as soon as humanly possible. I appreciate your patience, and I promise you I will do my best to make it up and catch up with posts, images and stories.
PayPal:
Speaking of emails and messages, the largest topic of messages that I have seen so far has to be regarding PayPal and members’ inability to pay using PayPal. Most have asked what the problem is and why they can not pay. In past months, I have reached out to PayPal to find out why this is. They have told me that the issue is because the customer’s bank (your bank) is not allowing the transaction to go through. If this happens, generally you would have to contact your bank and let them know that you are trying to make a purchase (the transaction should come up as “Martin Arts Inc.” if you are curious or if the bank needs to know that for any reason.)
I may have put this explanation somewhere on the site in a permanent spot (as I have posted this a few times). But I understand that these posts tend to get lost and pushed back as time goes by, so not everyone gets to see them. I’ll try to figure out a way to make this more visible.
Credit Cards:
Many have been asking when a new credit card provider will be added as an option for payment. Unfortunately, this has proved to be much more of a headache than I could have ever imagined. The truth is, most credit card companies and processors are unwilling to support content of this type and they end up cancelling my accounts. The only one that I have found that is willing to work with me is CCBill, but after long email chains back and forth, have found that their format includes a long coding process (which I am terrible at) and which may not integrate well with my current web host (Wix), not to mention a hefty fee on my behalf. The problem is, I’ve been trying to weigh if the fee is worth the risk if it’s possible that the service may not work. What’s the point of shelling out a large amount of money to them to just be in the same spot? If they could guarantee a positive outcome, then I would do it, no question, but I know that guarantees are pretty scarce in this life. But I think I may have a solution or two.
Wix:
With all that being said, I have been seriously contemplating on moving to a different web host. I spent a great deal of time working on the current layout and creating this interface to look as close as what I could see in my head, limited by certain things from Wix’s interface, but Wix is just not providing me with what I want. The simple fact of the matter is that Wix is not providing any of us (me, you and other creators who use Wix) with the fundamental tools that we require to run and administrate a website (all of which I (and many others) have reached out to Wix to address, by the way). I cannot schedule posts, you (members) can’t cancel your credit card payments without my assistance and now they can’t provide an actual credit card processor that will accommodate my art in their partnerships of payment processors. So the question becomes, does it make sense to continue to use Wix and make the site look how I want and to be presented within about 90% of what I am looking for, but not be able to utilize the fundamentals like scheduling, credit cards and user cancellations OR should I use a different web host and be able to schedule, use CCBill and provide user cancellations, but without the look and presentation of MB like the galleries, previews and customs, etc.? This is definitely not an easy question to answer, but I am starting to lean toward moving away from Wix because I think that those fundamentals are more important than the aesthetics of the website’s interface.
I have been considering using a web host called ‘XSiteAbility’. If you’ve visited sites like ShinyBound, Captive Chrissy Marie or Serene Isley (and many more), you’ll have an understanding of what that interface looks like. After doing some research, I’ve found that XSiteAbility utilizes CCBill so that credit cards can be processed, but I have not found any way to use PayPal. To me, one of the main problems that I have seen is that every site using this host pretty much looks exactly the same, aside from their banners and a few color choices. There really isn’t any sort of way to set up a ‘gallery’ that I can see, or to give the site some individuality. So images from stories would have to be uploaded at different times and compiled by members on their hard drives after saving. If this isn’t a big deal for everyone, then it’s really not a huge deal for me. It’s not how I envisioned my website looking or being presented, but I’d rather have the fundamentals that Wix is just not willing to provide. During any sort of downtime that I have had during the moving process, I have been racking my brain trying to think of the best way to make this work. So far, the best solution that I have come up with is to continue to have MB on this Wix interface that everyone is used to for PayPal paying members, but then create some sort of a link to a ‘MartyrBondage II’ type site that uses XSiteAbility for those who want to use Credit Cards. Unfortunately, this won’t relieve the problems that I experience on Wix, but it will hopefully be able to include everyone that wants to view the stories and images. It really shouldn’t have to be this way. I shouldn’t have to jump through these ridiculous hoops to be able to bring my art to you guys, Wix should just provide this right off the bat, but I am willing to do that for everyone if necessary. You guys are the ones that matter to me and I enjoy sharing my work with you. I love getting comments about how somebody enjoyed one of my pieces, so I want to be able to continue to give you guys newer updates and images as I create them. If this isn’t too complicated of an idea, I may entertain this unless I can think of something better. As always, I’m open to input and suggestions from you guys as well. If somebody has an idea or a comment regarding whether they think this will work or not, I’d love to hear it. I’m all for making this work as smoothly as I can, so feel free to give your input. I’d love to hear what you guys think.
Future of MB.com:
Again, I have no intention of quitting or stopping anytime soon. I still have plenty of unseen images and stories, tons of scenes that are ready to render, lots of fresh ideas to start incorporating into new scenes and an unquenchable passion to see girls restrained and gagged. This was just an unfortunate and temporary hiccup and this is certainly not the way that I anticipated or wanted this decade to start, but I plan to come back better and stronger than ever before. I’m also considering adding some polls to get a better idea of what things you like to see and some things that you aren’t a fan of. I always enjoyed using them in the past because it really helps me to improve my art and site and to be able to cater to what you guys like. If I do end up going to another web host, the domain will remain as MartyrBondage.com and I will do everything in my power to make it as smooth a transition as possible for everyone, but there will certainly be a notification regarding that.
One final note, in light of the recent developments going on around the world, I just wanted to say that I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. It’s unfortunate how something like this has affected so many people in so many different ways, and I won’t cram it down your throat like the media and a lot of celebrities have, but I just hope for the best for everyone.
Well, I think that about covers everything. I will continue to post new images and stories now that everything is settling back to ‘normal’ (as far as the moving goes). I hope everyone enjoys the new content going forward!
Marty Martyr