Forum Troubles

[pogen]

Hi All,

A number of forum users have reported issues with logging into (or out of) the Forum. I'm working on it, but it is not obvious what is going on, and it is intermittent.

My especial apologies to sleddog, who has really had the worst of it and has shown remarkable forbearance (at least so far!) for our lack of progress to date.

I may be able to do an upgrade to our software, but I need to proceed with caution so as not to break anything...

Thanks for your patience,

D.

 

[pogen]

As far as I can tell the forum login problem has fixed itself. This coincided with the change to Standard Time from Daylight Savings Time. Since the problem was with the cookie system, this could be the problem if the wrong time was used to set the cookies. I have been trying to get support on this issue with the forum software vendor, vBulletin.

If people are still having problems with logging in or out, or staying logged in, please tell me here or in an email, providing as much detail as possible. You may find that clearing the cookies for sfbaysss.org and sfbaysss.net and also your browser cache will be of help also.

Thanks,

David

 

[pogen]

Aaaaaand we're back.

 

[BobJ]

You sir, are a gentleman, a scholar AND Santa Claus.

Edit: When I posted this it said "Database Error" but it posted it anyway. It also doesn't update the thread (on the prior page) showing the latest post.

(But you're still a pretty good guy.)

 

[pogen]

Thanks Bob. I can see there are still a few problems, the "What's New" doesn't show things properly, and there are some other hangups. It may be an issue with time -- although if you look at the bottom of the page, it seems to be telling time correctly.

Here is what happened.

1. Massive server crash at our web host. Downtownhost.com.

2. The server was offline for over a week.

3. After the server came back on line, they still were having all sorts of problems reloading the mySQL databases. This took another week. Also, PHP issues.

4. They kept asking for patience on the PHP/database issues, and saying that as soon as it was working they would be in touch. This did not happen.

5. Today they said that everything was working, and that if our sites were still crippled it was our fault.

6. Since I had been waiting for the dB fix, I didn't want to mess with our files directly -- but now it looked like I had to. I found that the config.php file for the forum had been invisibly corrupted, so I restored that from a backup, and here we are, modulo a few bugs. The main SSS site seems fine and healthy. The SHTP site was really messed up, and this was due to several of it database tables being corrupt. Not the important ones (with user content), but some meta-ones that kept the menus from displaying properly and kept anyone from logging in to see what was the matter. So, I nuked those tables, and did a small amount of hand-rebuilding. So the hosting company re-install of our stuff was imperfect.

It seems we are more-or-less online, and I have been looking for a better host!

 

[sleddog]

David,
Thank you Sir!!! We salute you for your tireless work on behalf of SSS. Hope to meet someday.
~sleddog

 

[pogen]

We are not really out of the woods yet -- there is still a Forum database table that is seriously screwed up called "searchcore" , which does all sorts of things. I'm trying to learn how to repair it without losing any data along the way.

 

[pogen]

Test

Wednesday 17 Dec 13:14 PST

 

[pogen]

OK, the "What's new" button is working , but the "New Posts" menu item, and all the rightmost column "Last Post" stuff is not updated..."

 

[pogen]

OK, the "What's new" button is working , but the "New Posts" menu item, and all the rightmost column "Last Post" stuff is not updated..."

I would say that everything is working properly, but I don't want to jinx it.

At least until we hit Daylight Savings Time in 2015, and people again have problems staying logged on...

 

[BobJ]

Working well for me - thanks a BUNCH David. I was getting all shaky and jittery 'n stuff, not being able to post.

 

[pogen]

Well you are the forum's #1 poster, by a large margin...

 

[BobJ]

I could fix that but others would have to step up to fill the vacuum (I would welcome this). It gets kind of quiet around here sometimes.

 

[pogen]

Here are the top-ranked posters FWIW


BobJ* 1,252
sleddog* 607
Philpott* 508
AlanH* 432
brianb* 365
Critter* 334
pogen* 306
tiger beetle* 255
P. Broderick - Elaine* 248
Travieso* 200
ronnie simpson* 180
jfoster* 174
Ergo* 166
Mewes* 165
Eyrie* 165
Alchera* 134
haulback* 128
Culebra* 122
SSSForumAdmin* 117
Phil MacFarlane* 112
solosailor* 111
cafemontaigne* 105
WBChristie* 103
JAMcDonald* 100

 

[BobJ]

For me that's 173 posts/year, or about one every other day. That doesn't sound so bad.

Philpott got a later start but with 104 posts/year, she has blown past sleddog's 84 posts/year and is moving up fast.

We have many, many forum members who have never posted at all and many more who have only posted once.

 

[Philpott]

We have many, many forum members who have never posted at all and many more who have only posted once.

What's up with that? A club full of strong silent types? Or maybe lots of lurkers from other parts of the country and world who think that their experiences on Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin wouldn't interest others? Nah. Sailors like to read about boats. I learned how to sail in an MIT designed dinghy on Lake Mendota. My sailing instructor was an older guy, wiry, interested in teaching and always available for questions. Joe. After the classroom course we went out to the edge of the Union Terrace and he said, "The first and most important lesson is (he pointed to the lovely blue hull of an older J29 floating in the mooring field within sight of Union Terrace): "Don't Hit My Boat". Joe was like a lot of the people I've met through the SSS. And boy do I appreciate them. I wish more people would write in. I learn something from almost every post and laugh aloud at others. Maybe sailors don't like to type? nah. Maybe they are shy. nah. C'mon, sailors from afar, share something. We know you're out there.

 

[Daydreamer]

David, thanks for getting the forum up and running again.

 

[pogen]

Sorry about today's forum outage folks, for some mystery reason two of the tables in the database were nuked sometime this morning. Amazingly, I was able to get good support from our vendor today (Xmas eve), and was able to restore a partial backup.

Merry Christmas!

 

[Philpott]

Sorry about today's forum outage folks, for some mystery reason two of the tables in the database were nuked sometime this morning. Amazingly, I was able to get good support from our vendor today (Xmas eve), and was able to restore a partial backup.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks, David. I am able to log in and read everything, but anytime I want to open a jpg or respond I must log in again. You are the best. How about that exchange between the General and Skip? That might save somebody's life one day.