VB ver 4.1 sole administrator died.

[Sazzbot]

Blog is still online for a year. But we have no control and cannot approve new members. When the domain runs out, we cannot renew and the site and the blog and all the stuff written in it is gone forever once the server is erased. The administrator has been gone for a year and a half, we thought he was just avoiding us. But he had passed away.
If we buy newest version, can we just clone the site from the web? Or do we have to start from scratch?

[LockedOnLaw]

You're going to need a working copy of the SQL database in order to "clone" the site. Perhaps you could try contacting the hosting company and let them know the owner is deceased. A copy of a death certificate would probably be necessary. If the owner is deceased who has been paying for the hosting? Was it paid in advance?

[Sazzbot]

I paid for the hosting, that's how we found out he hasn't done anything on it, The domain was paid for in advance, so it renewed by itself. GoDaddy is the domain provider and they won't help a bit. URLjet (hosting service) was a little more helpful, but was happy to take the money for the hosting. Getting a death certificate may be more difficult than starting over, We have no responses from emails, texts or phone calls. We would have to hire a detective. We can pay for hosting for another 11 months. The site is on auto pilot and needs a security update, but we have been dealing with it for some time, We can just copy 6 years of posts and archive them somewhere and design a new site with a blog.
Thanks for the prompt response.

[BirdOPrey5]

What proof do you have he died? An online obituary? Did you ever make contact with his next of kin? URLjet is going to be the key to getting the database/account. If they can't contact him they may be willing to work with you. They let my members keep paying for my site but I was luckily just in a coma, and came out of it months later.


Edit- is anyone there able to approve new users, I just joined the forum as BirdOPrey5.