Filmwasters
Which Board? => Main Forum => Topic started by: Ed Wenn on April 29, 2017, 11:22:30 PM
-
Hi All, I've been doing some testing and it appears that despite appearances to the contrary, the forum IS working....kind of. For most operations you will get to see what you should be seeing if you refresh your screen at least twice...sometimes 3 or 4 times. In other words, if you post a new topic, or reply to an existing one, you won't see the new content straightaway as you'd expect, but if you refresh the topic page, or the main forum listing you will eventually see the new content.
This is incredibly annoying because you only know to do that if you've posted something yourself - i.e. how do you know what you should be seeing unless you know it should be there?
Incidentally, this method also resolves the problem of being given the wrong identity. Keep refreshing and you will eventually end up back as yourself (although this doesn't work 100% of the time in every screen).
I'm going off to Google these symptoms and see if anything reveals itself.
-
It's worth noting that it seems to help if you use In Private Browsing mode (Microsoft Edge browser), or Incognito mode (Google Chrome browser). I'm not sure if the refreshing tip that I mentioned above will work without that....but by all means try it out and feedback here.
Safari will have a similar mode I'm sure; I just don't know what it's called.
-
NOTE: I have also uninstalled Tapatalk in case that was causing problems. I read a few articles which singled out the Tapatalk plugin as being the cause of user login issues etc. so thought it was worth covering that off. It doesn't seem to have made a difference though unfortunately.
-
Final update: I have temporarily disabled the Personal Messages feature. This will be re-activated once we have a working forum again.
-
Ed,
Sure you've already seen this but, just in case. Seems we're not the only forum having similar problems. A couple of reports on the SMF forum of the same problems. Someone suggested disabling Varnish if that helps.
https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553580.0 (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553580.0)
https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0 (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0)
-
More I look at this the more it seems like a caching problem. I think we are getting served pages cached by other users. Would explain the wrong names and also why recent posts aren't always showing up. The multiple refreshes could mean you eventually get the latest page version.
I've also noticed my browser is often saying "waiting for homepage.ntlworld.com". Not sure where ntlworld comes into it (basically Virgin Media) but maybe that's where the issue is.
-
I tried the refresh thing and it seems to be working, I'm myself again. The only issue I see is the "new" highlights next to threads don't go away after I look at something. I'm using an iPad if that means anything.
-
I've also noticed my browser is often saying "waiting for homepage.ntlworld.com". Not sure where ntlworld comes into it (basically Virgin Media) but maybe that's where the issue is.
Interesting you mention this, I did get this as well on one occasion but didn't connect it with the forum problems. Virginmedia is my provider.
The various private modes do not seem to make a difference for me. Used chrome, Safari, Firefox.
-
More I look at this the more it seems like a caching problem. I think we are getting served pages cached by other users. Would explain the wrong names and also why recent posts aren't always showing up. The multiple refreshes could mean you eventually get the latest page version.
I've also noticed my browser is often saying "waiting for homepage.ntlworld.com". Not sure where ntlworld comes into it (basically Virgin Media) but maybe that's where the issue is.
Yeah, wasn't this what ferrania suffered from too when they had the shop open the first time? -jojonas
Holla to my borrowed accounts; mike (happyforest), kayos, kai-san, macarron and bryan.
-
I've also noticed my browser is often saying "waiting for homepage.ntlworld.com". Not sure where ntlworld comes into it (basically Virgin Media) but maybe that's where the issue is.
Interesting you mention this, I did get this as well on one occasion but didn't connect it with the forum problems. Virginmedia is my provider.
I have nothing to do with Virgin and a trace doesn't show any recognisable link via them either so I don't know why I should be getting the message.
-
A <ctrl>F5 seems to clear things up. That is a refresh that clears the local browser cache, so it would seem that somehow the server is not sending a 'clean' response. Forcing it to do so makes it behave a little better.
-
I had a look at the smf support forum
https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0 (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0)
Looks like it is a problem with the host software "Varnish". Post #15 is really worrying.
-
Well.... This morning it seems a bit better...
-
Hi All, I tried to disable PMs earlier (as mentioned above), but because it was late at night and I'd just spent a couple of hours doing just about everything I could think of to try and troubleshoot and sort out the issues we've been experiencing, I didn't do it correctly. Sorry for the confusion and thanks to those of you who emailed me to say that they could still use the PM system.
I just re-visited it with a clearer head though and think I have now done it properly ;D If you could check and let me know that would be great. You may have to close down your browser session for it to take effect. I wouldn't know because you can't disable PMs for the Admin account. I think I have a test account here somewhere so I'll try that, but if you get a chance to check and feedback that would be helpful.
In the meantime, I'll see if I can dig up anything more about the crazy stuff we're seeing. Thanks a million for bearing with us and for looking into it yourselves. I agree that it looks like being a caching-related problem and I'm glad that some of you have been able to get the "refresh" trick to work for you to some extent; it's been a lifesaver for me.
-
The messages module seems disabled do far since I can't see it.
Will clear my cookies and see what happens.
Yep, PM are disabled.
Still says I'm MacAaron...
-
The messages module seems disabled do far since I can't see it.
Will clear my cookies and see what happens.
Yep, PM are disabled.
Still says I'm MacAaron...
Agreed. No sign of messages. I've been x100art this morning - but it refreshes to me, most of the time. However, I can read new threads, exit that part of the forum and they're still shown as "new / unread".
-
Hi All, today I'm finding that every time I change pages on the forum I just have to hold down the SHIFT key and either press F5, or reload the page from the browser control and I get to see the correct information on the page as myself. I'm trying this from the office (now that I'm back in the real world after the long weekend in the UK) and I'm using Chrome and Internet Explorer on a Windows computer.
I'm also going to contact Bluehost today and see if they can shed any light on why this has just started happening.
UPDATE: Scratch that, I can't access the Bluehost live chat support from inside my company's network, so that will have to wait until this evening.
-
Thanks Ed.
Take your time, I think we're getting used to the oddity....
-
Continuing the discussion of the other thread, now closed, I am nobody quite often :-[ BUT as Ed commented, when I reload the page (Command + R for Safari browser) there it's me back again and can post :)
So whenever you feel soulless, just reload yourselves ;D
-
I've been myself for quite a while, I have been a few people tho...
-
It appears we are all feeling ourselves again. ;)
-
I'll have to check things out. I had to redo my login this morning.
-
I really enjoyed impersonating all the nice people on the forum here. ;D
-
It appears we are all feeling ourselves again. ;)
Yes, today was the first time since the weirdness began that I arrived as myself.
-
I was just Bryan when I checked the site. But at least it's back to its speedy self. Maybe it was just a cache issue on my part.
-
So far, I've been just me, but I'm wondering if I re-visit pages that I've previously loaded, whether that will make a difference. Let's find out....
-
Interesting. I appear to be just me and me alone. Here's hoping etc.
-
I was just Bryan when I checked the site. But at least it's back to its speedy self. Maybe it was just a cache issue on my part.
I've been myself all day so you can't be me anymore! I do seem to be in a different time zone so now I don't know where I am. It's 12:30 PM local time for me but I'm seeing posts that happened at 8:30 PM. Unless I'm seeing into the future.
-
So far so good...
I didn't know that the site was made by DeLorean... no wonder it broke in a strange way ;D
-
Yeah, the time thing is weird. I just approved a forum registration request that claims to have been made in 2013!! Clearly I need to check the forum time settings...except I'm loathe to change anything in case we become each other again.
-
I was still Bryan when I first came on the site a few moments ago...
It looks like everything is OK, but I just went into incognito mode and got access to Astrobeck's and Silvergrainclassics' user profiles with access to the editing functions and everything...
Will try with TOR to see if I can't get access to other stuff...
Yikes!
I can access the same accounts from a totally anonymous connection!
Lucky, I tried and the delete and check buttons don't work... or I hope they don't :-\
(sorry if I wrecked something... :-\ )
-
Well, now I'm REALLY confused because I'm in Incognito mode now, logged on as my Test account and I can only see the stuff I'd expect to. Not a whiff of anyone else. Weird.
-
I guess you've read this thread already, Ed?
https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0 (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=553551.0)
-
Try accessing the site using the onion router (torproject.org). It's a portable anonymizing browser that uses three steps of encryption to reach the site.
-
I'm very happy to finally be here, I just wanted to say that! I've been trying for months to register an account and finally got approved! thank you to the admin that manually approved my account ;D
-
You have to thank Ed for that :)
-
I'm still Bryan - every time. OK after a refresh. Have cleared local cache, deleted cookies and flushed the dns cache but still always get served up an old version of the main forum page with Bryan as the last person to log in and me as him.
Blah!
-
I'm still Bryan - every time. OK after a refresh. Have cleared local cache, deleted cookies and flushed the dns cache but still always get served up an old version of the main forum page with Bryan as the last person to log in and me as him.
Blah!
I was still Bryan when I first came on the site a few moments ago...
You all get to be me while I'm Kayos this morning. I thought I was doing so good being myself the last few days. I did have to log in to post this which made me myself again.
-
Still not myself....
-
Still not myself....
Try some tea and bed rest, that should get you feeling better ... ;D
-
As for me, knock on wood, I seem to be myself consistently for the past few hours on Chrome. I haven't tried incognito mode because I don't want to start up the problems again ;D However, Tapatalk is dead in the water. It asks me to log in, does not accept my password, and claims there are no topics (not no "new" topics, simply no threads at all) on FW :D Not that big a deal, I'll only check FW when I'm at home. Anyways, I hate looking at all of your lovely pictures on a tiny phone ;D
-
I'm surprised to actually see my mug on the first try!
I'm starting to wonder if all that mess wasn't caused by tapatalk in some way?
-
I've found changing my landing page has helped. I previously went straight to the main forum but now go to the index first and I'm me all the time (touch some plastic simulated wood stuff).
-
Still myself this morning.
Though it's a bit strange that the first time I open the first page it shows me as logged off, but when I press the login button I instantly see my picture on top but still need to enter my credentials to gain access.
-
Nope... not anymore.
This is getting really annoying :(
-
Peter's suggestion helped at least once for me. Tapatalk is still dead. Though, Francois, I can't see how Tapatalk could've killed the forum since it's a client-side app. Unless the forum itself has to install software to talk to Tapatalk (which now I realize must be true)? Another forum I'm on and can still access via Tapatalk has not had similar problems, maybe there was a very recent forum update that killed it? I'll ask the admins at the other forum.
-
Peter's suggestion helped at least once for me. Tapatalk is still dead. Though, Francois, I can't see how Tapatalk could've killed the forum since it's a client-side app. Unless the forum itself has to install software to talk to Tapatalk (which now I realize must be true)? Another forum I'm on and can still access via Tapatalk has not had similar problems, maybe there was a very recent forum update that killed it? I'll ask the admins at the other forum.
Ed deliberately disabled Tapatalk in case it was a cause of issues. See his post further up.
-
Well at least it seems to be relatively stable at present. Occasionally I'm somebody else when I first go in but the refresh trick seems to work consistanly 1st time now.
However I wonder if anybody knows what happened yet to casue the issue in the 1st place.
However big thanks to Ed for looking at this.
Mike
-
Seems it is a trick by Bluehost and some other webhosters urging people to conclude more expensive contracts to avoid problems that are intentionally made for this purpose. Happy greetings from built-in obsolescence. May the storm blow them away.
-
I'm me today.
-
I've just spent nearly 10 minutes trying to post...and having 5 different user IDs appear instead of me. This is really getting old.
-
Seems it is a trick by Bluehost and some other webhosters urging people to conclude more expensive contracts to avoid problems that are intentionally made for this purpose. Happy greetings from built-in obsolescence. May the storm blow them away.
wow that sounds just really sad...
-
Well, crap. For the first time in several days, I was again not myself when I first arrived. It would seem the bug has not been thoroughly squashed.
-
The bug is definitely still there and I have absolutely no idea about what is going on!
-
The PM system is still down as well. That's a drag as I have addresses and contact info in there that I cannot access.
-
On Windows 10 and Chrome here. Has been all good since the initial fix.
-
OK here since a few days on the mac and running safari without doing anything really.
doesn't work on the phone though
-
On win 10 and Firefox I still get the problem.
On chrome for Android I am forced to login when I get to the main page. But as soon as I press login, it shows my picture and all my info is already entered.
The stay logged on button doesn't work.
-
The stay logged on button doesn't work.
Seems to be working for me.
My current problem is with my tablet (Android). How do you force a refresh on a tablet with no keyboard?
-
One thing I found, especially with my iPad but also with Firefox, if I click from "Which Board" to "Main Forum" it will switch me to someone else. Lately it's been switching me to Kayos a lot. If I click from "Which Board" to the last post in the Right hand column it keeps it as myself. After that I stay myself while I'm in "Main Forum".
-
One thing I found, especially with my iPad but also with Firefox, if I click from "Which Board" to "Main Forum" it will switch me to someone else. Lately it's been switching me to Kayos a lot. If I click from "Which Board" to the last post in the Right hand column it keeps it as myself. After that I stay myself while I'm in "Main Forum".
Bryan every time I open FW I start as you, and the software thinks it's May 3. (Safari) If I log out I become me again, but if I do much else I turn into Becky. I'm being careful to make sure it's me before I post until someone can figure out the puzzle.
-
The stay logged on button doesn't work.
Seems to be working for me.
My current problem is with my tablet (Android). How do you force a refresh on a tablet with no keyboard?
I think the refresh button is just next to the URL bar... I never noticed really.
But don't ask me how to force refresh the thing. The only way I know of is to go into the settings/apps and clear the cache...
-
The only way I know of is to go into the settings/apps and clear the cache...
That's a point. I'll try it.
-
The PM system is still down as well. That's a drag as I have addresses and contact info in there that I cannot access.
Hi, I have mentioned this before, but I have deliberately turned off the PM system the other week as a number of people got in touch with me to say that they could read each others' messages. Sorry it's causing you problems. I'll open it up again as soon as everything sorts itself out.
-
Hi all, I must say I'm surprised (and annoyed) that we're still having problems. I've not used the forum for a few days, but I stopped having problems of any sort quite a while ago. Windows 10 with Edge and Chrome browsers. No special cache settings, or Incognito modes required. It all just works as normal.
Tapatalk has been removed for the time being, so if you use that to access the forum from phones/tablets, you'll definitely have issues there. I will re-install it at some point ASAP. It was on my list for this week, but lots of other things got in the way.
To be clear though; there was no 'fix'. I suspect Bluehost are playing silly buggers with the underlying server configuration and at the point when I stopped experiencing issues, I assumed they'd worked out the kinks and that everything was good again. To me, it seemed like maybe they'd updated a caching component and hadn't tuned it properly...something along those lines.
Those of you still having problems, if you haven't cleared out your browser cache and delete all cookies and saved passwords etc. then I'd strongly recommend you do this. It's a huge PITA for the next week, because every site you visit (which requires authentication) will need a password, but it's probably not a bad thing to do once in a while anyway. I did this on all my browsers a fortnight and this site has worked perfectly for me for quite a while. I guess it's a combination of clearing my browser out and Bluehost taming their voracious caching software.
-
There are still problems as I have had to re-register myself on the forum as my login details weren't accepted. When I did come to login I was someone else again, now I am myself.
-
Wow!
It's the first day I haven't had any problems with the site! 8)
Maybe it fixed itself by magic...
-
I commonly use Tapatalk to access this forum, so being it disabled I have not been able to enter for a couple of weeks... until today. I am working on a computer right now and I am me all the time :) No more confusing personalities ;D
It seems that all is running fine now. Next step: activate Tapatalk access ;)
Thanks.
-
Still myself.... Pfew!
-
I'm still having problems when I click to the main forum, sometimes I'm myself, sometimes I'm Kayos and sometimes I'm logged out. I don't think it's really logging me out because it says I've been logged in for 44 days, even after I intentionally log out.
-
I'm still having problems when I click to the main forum, sometimes I'm myself, sometimes I'm Kayos and sometimes I'm logged out. I don't think it's really logging me out because it says I've been logged in for 44 days, even after I intentionally log out.
The "total time logged in" is cumulative. I'm at 44 days, too :)
-
I'm still having problems when I click to the main forum, sometimes I'm myself, sometimes I'm Kayos and sometimes I'm logged out. I don't think it's really logging me out because it says I've been logged in for 44 days, even after I intentionally log out.
The "total time logged in" is cumulative. I'm at 44 days, too :)
So does it max out at 44?
-
I'm still having problems when I click to the main forum, sometimes I'm myself, sometimes I'm Kayos and sometimes I'm logged out. I don't think it's really logging me out because it says I've been logged in for 44 days, even after I intentionally log out.
The "total time logged in" is cumulative. I'm at 44 days, too :)
So does it max out at 44?
Indofunk
Total time logged in:
44 days, 3 hours and 44 minutes.
Probably not :)
-
I'm still having problems when I click to the main forum, sometimes I'm myself, sometimes I'm Kayos and sometimes I'm logged out. I don't think it's really logging me out because it says I've been logged in for 44 days, even after I intentionally log out.
The "total time logged in" is cumulative. I'm at 44 days, too :)
So does it max out at 44?
Indofunk
Total time logged in:
44 days, 3 hours and 44 minutes.
Probably not :)
I'm at 44 days, 14 hours and 29 minutes.
-
51 days, 21 hours, 28 minutes.....
-
3 days, 14 hours and 19 minutes...
sounds like a Scorsese movie title...or something... 8)
-
I used to have that silly number of days too :D always logged in somewhere (specially when ticking that box for always signed in)
-
It's been a full 24 hours since my post above but it has only moved ahead by about one hour so it's clearly not accurate. 44 days, 15 hours and 17 minutes.
-
I'm twice as efficient as you guys! :P
19 days, 12 hours and 21 minutes
-
It's been a full 24 hours since my post above but it has only moved ahead by about one hour so it's clearly not accurate. 44 days, 15 hours and 17 minutes.
I think the system records only the last 60 minute chunk of activity.
-
One thing I just noticed is that somehow my time zone got reset to GMT +2 whereas it is actually GMT -5. Anyone else notice a time change?
-
One thing I just noticed is that somehow my time zone got reset to GMT +2 whereas it is actually GMT -5. Anyone else notice a time change?
It's been like that for me since the problems started.
-
I was mostly Bryan, maybe we swapped?
I've not had problems for a while now
-
I really haven't noticed that.... I'll have to check it out.
Yeah, you're right. 15:51 when it's 8:51 on my clock.
-
I was mostly Bryan, maybe we swapped?
I've not had problems for a while now
;D As funny as that is, I wonder if there's some truth to the theory... :D
-
Hi everyone. I meant to mention that while I was messing about trying to fix things a few weeks ago, I changed the time zone of the forum to my local time. So for those of you who noticed the difference and who now get a strange time instead of your local time....well, apologies, but that's what I've had every time I visited here since 2006 :o and I figured it was long overdue that we Brits had a bit of sensible time-stamping on Filmwasters.
Don't worry though; in 2027 I'll move to the time zone local for South East Asian visitors.
;D ;D