Topic: Welcome Back, Good People (and tell us about any bugs)

[Ed Wenn]

Hi Everyone and welcome back to the new and improved FW forum  Sorry for the sudden outage and the lack of warning, but it was all for a good cause.

First off I'd like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to Satish (aka Indofunk) for volunteering his technical services at some point last year in a response to a cry for help when the site went offline briefly due to our host performing an upgrade that the forum software couldn't deal with. As a result of that offer, we've been talking to him for a few months about a plan to get the much-neglected forum (and other parts of the site) brought into the 21st Century in terms of software versions, security, functionality etc. The aim is to future proof things to keep it all ticking over in a more stable configuration and to prevent the forum going offline the second that there's a whisper of an upgrade in the background.

There's really never a good time to do something like this - and there's a day job to consider too - so Satish bit the bullet this weekend and went ahead with the upgrade work. This is 2021, so naturally things didn't go as smoothly as they could have, but with a lot of Googling, some clever manual workarounds, backups, restores, possibly a fair amount of coffee and a ton of PMA (look it up), Satish has everything back online....

.....we think 

Satish, myself and Damion have tested things out as much as we can without spending hours on it and to our eyes everything seems to work as before. BUT, there will likely be the odd thing that has been missed in our testing, so please let us know in this thread what it is that you're finding missing/problematic/broken etc. Obviously, there are only so many hours in the day so Satish won't be able to fix things immediately, but it will be helpful for us to have a snagging list here for reference.

LOOK & FEEL:
Now the first thing you'll no doubt have noticed is that the forum's theme has changed. It's actually currently set to the SMF default as this was one aspect of the original forum that we weren't able to preserve during the upgrade process. No matter; it's just a temporary situation and I will get to work on implementing a new theme - hopefully one which has the same uncluttered feel as the old one - as soon as possible. I will also address the missing 'Rank' icons and descriptions at the same time.

Thanks again to Satish...he really has saved the forum; without him things would have become impossible to manage.

[This-is-damion]

Just like to echo the thanks for Satish -  the hours (....and hours) spent fixing it are very much appreciated!

[Indofunk]

Hi guys. I guess I really earned my new "Global Moderator" title Of course, happy to do so, I want this forum up and running just as badly as everyone else! Best film forum and best bunch of folks on the internet. Cheers, all! And now to celebrate I think I'll scan some Agfa APX100 generously donated to me by A.Doe. Did I mention we are the best bunch of folks on the internet? (And real life!)

As for the forum, after a weekend of reinstalling and troubleshooting, all I can say is ...

[Bryan]

Thanks for all your hard work Satish, it's really appreciated!  I clicked around a bit and everything seems fine so far, I'll let you know if I notice anything. 

[irv_b]

Many many thanks to you guys Ed, Damion and seems especially Satish. You have done a grand job so far and it is always great to have the warm comforting feel, of the Filmwaster blanket embracing us.

[Ed Wenn]

Believe me, Irv; it was all Satish 

[Francois]

So glad to see this is back online.
I thought the site was gone for good...

This is how I felt all week-end

[Sandeha Lynch]

Well done - it all looks fine.

My profile pic hasn't responded yet, I've always hauled it across from my website. No change there.

[02Pilot]

Nice to see things back up and running. I was (and remain) convinced that my postcard post broke the forum, as it seemed to go offline right after I made it. Satish, I owe you a beer once direct human contact resumes.

One minor bug report: login doesn't seem to remain persistent even with the box to do so checked on the main forum page. I shows as logged in once I click into a forum, even without manually logging in again.

[Adam Doe]

Great to have the forum back up. And thanks Satish for exprertiserizing!

[Francois]

One minor bug report: login doesn't seem to remain persistent even with the box to do so checked on the main forum page. I shows as logged in once I click into a forum, even without manually logging in again.

I've had the same thing happen to me. I'm using Firefox.

But I did notice something weird. When you receive a PM, you get the message notification even if you're not logged-in.
It's like if the system knows who you are but acts like if it doesn't.

Though I wonder if clearing the cookies would have any effect?

[Francois]

I also just noticed that the forum stats are missing...

[Indofunk]

Ok, so far I'm hearing 2 bugs:
1. Login not persistent (meaning, you get auto-logged off even if you check the box to stay logged in forever)
2. Forum stats missing

I'm not experiencing #1 myself. I'm on Chrome. And I've been through a million iterations of this website over the weekend, without clearing cache, so I should definitely notice it if it's a problem. But yeah, try clearing cache and cookies and try again. Is there any specific action that you notice logs you off? Clicking on a forum, clicking on a thread, going to PMs, etc?

#2. By forum stats, do you mean that little bit near the top of the page where it says which members are logged in? I think that may be a plugin (all our customization was lost, as you may have observed 😉 ). If that's not what you mean, give me some more details please.

[Indofunk]

Oh, and Sandeha's hotlinked profile picture may be broken due to updated security settings on this new version (or it could be an admin setting somewhere that I need to allow). Would you be averse to uploading it to your forum profile instead?

Wait! That's not true 😁 My profile pic is also hotlinked, and it works. So I'm not sure why Sandeha's doesn't 🤔

[02Pilot]

Ok, so far I'm hearing 2 bugs:
1. Login not persistent (meaning, you get auto-logged off even if you check the box to stay logged in forever)
2. Forum stats missing

I'm not experiencing #1 myself. I'm on Chrome. And I've been through a million iterations of this website over the weekend, without clearing cache, so I should definitely notice it if it's a problem. But yeah, try clearing cache and cookies and try again. Is there any specific action that you notice logs you off? Clicking on a forum, clicking on a thread, going to PMs, etc?

#2. By forum stats, do you mean that little bit near the top of the page where it says which members are logged in? I think that may be a plugin (all our customization was lost, as you may have observed 😉 ). If that's not what you mean, give me some more details please.

As to #1, I'm on Firefox. There's no logging off per se, it's just that if I go to the main forum page I'm shown as logged out, no matter when I logged in most recently, and none of the forums show the "new posts" graphic. If I click on a subforum, I'm shown as logged in when I get there, even though I've done nothing but click the link.

[Indofunk]

Ok, so far I'm hearing 2 bugs:
1. Login not persistent (meaning, you get auto-logged off even if you check the box to stay logged in forever)
2. Forum stats missing

I'm not experiencing #1 myself. I'm on Chrome. And I've been through a million iterations of this website over the weekend, without clearing cache, so I should definitely notice it if it's a problem. But yeah, try clearing cache and cookies and try again. Is there any specific action that you notice logs you off? Clicking on a forum, clicking on a thread, going to PMs, etc?

#2. By forum stats, do you mean that little bit near the top of the page where it says which members are logged in? I think that may be a plugin (all our customization was lost, as you may have observed 😉 ). If that's not what you mean, give me some more details please.

As to #1, I'm on Firefox. There's no logging off per se, it's just that if I go to the main forum page I'm shown as logged out, no matter when I logged in most recently, and none of the forums show the "new posts" graphic. If I click on a subforum, I'm shown as logged in when I get there, even though I've done nothing but click the link.

Got it. So when you're on the "Home" page for the forum (you can get there by clicking Home at the top left of any screen), it doesn't show you as logged in (no profile pic at the top left, no new thread notifications under "Which board?"). But then when you click into a subforum, you suddenly see your profile pic, "Hello 02Pilot" etc. Francois, is this what you're experiencing too? It sounds like some weird caching on the Home page. What happens if you shift-refresh on that page? Or add a question mark at the end of the URL and hit enter (or just click this > https://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php? )

I just tried in Firefox and I still can't recreate it. Anyone else seeing this weird behavior?

[Indofunk]

By the way, these are the worst problems in technology 😁 When some people are having a problem, but others aren't. Much better when everyone is consistently having the same problem 😉

[02Pilot]

OK, I solved it (at least for me). It was only happening when I used my bookmark, which lacked the "index.php" at the end. I updated the bookmark to the proper syntax and now all seems to be working properly.

[Indofunk]

OK, I solved it (at least for me). It was only happening when I used my bookmark, which lacked the "index.php" at the end. I updated the bookmark to the proper syntax and now all seems to be working properly.

Definitely sounds like some sort of caching problem, because even without the index.php at the end, the file that it's loading up is ... index.php 😂

In any case, glad you resolved it 😉 Try the same thing Francois and see if it works for you.

[astrobeck]

Hey!
Here we are.
I thought we were all lost for a while....good to see everyone.

[Francois]

Ok, so far I'm hearing 2 bugs:
1. Login not persistent (meaning, you get auto-logged off even if you check the box to stay logged in forever)
2. Forum stats missing

I'm not experiencing #1 myself. I'm on Chrome. And I've been through a million iterations of this website over the weekend, without clearing cache, so I should definitely notice it if it's a problem. But yeah, try clearing cache and cookies and try again. Is there any specific action that you notice logs you off? Clicking on a forum, clicking on a thread, going to PMs, etc?

#2. By forum stats, do you mean that little bit near the top of the page where it says which members are logged in? I think that may be a plugin (all our customization was lost, as you may have observed 😉 ). If that's not what you mean, give me some more details please.

I was talking about the stats at the bottom of the main page. I used to check it out once in a while to see what's going on.

I also noticed that on chrome for Android it still has the broken site. I tried clearing the cache to no avail.
But since I have an old version of chrome, I'm just going to ditch it and use Firefox instead.

[John Robison]

Given that all things computer are like rocket science to me, I’m so grateful for the efforts volunteers put into this site. Just can’t imagine the many hours it takes to keep up with it all. All the while, slack jawed with wonder, this computer dummy gets to enjoy the good company of many like minded filmwasters.

[astrobeck]

Big thank you to Satish! 

[limr]

OK, I solved it (at least for me). It was only happening when I used my bookmark, which lacked the "index.php" at the end. I updated the bookmark to the proper syntax and now all seems to be working properly.

Interesting. I had just tested the same thing. My bookmark was bringing me to the home page of the forum but showing me as not logged in. But if I click on the Home icon at the top left, it *does* show me as logged in. The only difference was the "www" in the url.

https://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php = showed me as logged in

https://www.filmwasters.com/forum/index.php = showed me as *not* logged in

[Sandeha Lynch]

Oh, and Sandeha's hotlinked profile picture may be broken due to updated security settings on this new version (or it could be an admin setting somewhere that I need to allow). Would you be averse to uploading it to your forum profile instead?

Wait! That's not true 😁 My profile pic is also hotlinked, and it works. So I'm not sure why Sandeha's doesn't 🤔

Possibly weirder still, Satish, if I right-click on my empty/broken profile pic box, and 'Open image in new tab' ... the image opens in the new tab, no problem.

However

Note the little badges ... if I right click on a badge to open in a new tab, it should show

https://filmwasters.com/forum/Themes/default/images/badge-black.png

But it gets a 404.

 

[Indofunk]

Oh, and Sandeha's hotlinked profile picture may be broken due to updated security settings on this new version (or it could be an admin setting somewhere that I need to allow). Would you be averse to uploading it to your forum profile instead?

Wait! That's not true 😁 My profile pic is also hotlinked, and it works. So I'm not sure why Sandeha's doesn't 🤔

Possibly weirder still, Satish, if I right-click on my empty/broken profile pic box, and 'Open image in new tab' ... the image opens in the new tab, no problem.

However

Note the little badges ... if I right click on a badge to open in a new tab, it should show

https://filmwasters.com/forum/Themes/default/images/badge-black.png

But it gets a 404.

 

Badges are a known issue. We'll work on that as time permits.

Your profile pic is still a mystery to me ... does anyone else have problems with a hotlinked profile pic? And Sandeha, have you tried removing the link, saving your profile, then re-adding the link? Also try with and without http/https (ie, try http, https, and none).

@Francois, Chrome on Android works fine for me. Try cache/cookies? Also, based on Andrej/Leonore's feedback, try without the index.php and without www? Basically, we're trying to fool the browser into reloading the site from the server.

[Bryan]

I'm using Firefox and was having problems with 404 and getting logged out every time I left the site.  I went to filmwasters.com and followed the link to the forum and re-saved the it as a favorite.  Now I don't get those problems anymore. 

[kentish cob]

Can I add my thanks to the genius that is satish for his superb work... I feared the worst for our happy little community.

my profile image doesn't now appear, but that's not a biggie...

And Francois, for evermore, when I see your posts, I'll imagine you looking just so..!

Good to see you all again.

[Francois]

Had a weird experience yesterday. I pm another member and they said that my messages were showing as if they were sent by indofunk. Really weird.


EDIT: I just looked and had the same thing happen, except the message went to my spam folder.
All the messages come from Indofunk's gmail address...

[Francois]

I'm using Firefox and was having problems with 404 and getting logged out every time I left the site.  I went to filmwasters.com and followed the link to the forum and re-saved the it as a favorite.  Now I don't get those problems anymore.

Just tried this on Chrome and it worked.

[Sandeha Lynch]

Badges are a known issue. We'll work on that as time permits.

Your profile pic is still a mystery to me ... does anyone else have problems with a hotlinked profile pic? And Sandeha, have you tried removing the link, saving your profile, then re-adding the link? Also try with and without http/https (ie, try http, https, and none).

I tried hotlinking to my WordPress site and it worked straight off.

I did try without the http:// but it assumed I had no icon at all.

So why from a WP site, but not the from the webhost it used to accept???

Nah, don't even bother. 

[Indofunk]

Had a weird experience yesterday. I pm another member and they said that my messages were showing as if they were sent by indofunk. Really weird.


EDIT: I just looked and had the same thing happen, except the message went to my spam folder.
All the messages come from Indofunk's gmail address...

Can you send me a screenshot of that (pm it to me, so i can see if it comes from me 😁)? I definitely don't want to be sending everyone PMs 🤣

[Francois]

No problem. It should be in your inbox by now.

[Indofunk]

Oh great! I see it now (and same thing happened to me ... it said the email was from me 😁). Must have to do with the forum default SMTP info. I'll look into it, thanks.

[Pete_R]

Maybe not relevant but the reason it's taken me a few days to realise we are back is because my saved link to the forum was http and not https. Maybe others have the same.

[Indofunk]

Oh yeah, that was an unexpected (but very much hoped-for) benefit of upgrading ... the site is now secure!

[Francois]

On Firefox, I get the following warning on the bar.
Way better than it used to be... but I wonder why the difference?

[Indofunk]

I see that too, Francois. But the odd thing is that if I'm not logged into the forum, I only see the error when I'm in a thread. The main page and the boards show up as secure in Firefox (again, if I'm not logged in). Could it be our profile pictures? That's the only thing I see as different between threads and the main board pages if you're not logged in...

[Francois]

That's probably the case. Pics that are linked are probably sent unencrypted by various servers.
If that's the case it's not much of a security issue, just a tracking issue. I know Firefox is pretty sensitive to trackers.

[Indofunk]

Yup, that's definitely it. I removed my profile picture and now the board pages are shown as secure by Firefox. Mystery solved 😁

I suppose I can prohibit profile picture hotlinking? That would also solve Sandeha's problem by making it not a possibility anymore 🤣

[Francois]

That would fix that problem.
But I don't know if all the members would be ready to do the change...
Personally, I think it would be a good thing for overall security.

[Indofunk]

Membergroup images (the little camera icons under your username) are fixed. Sorry, it was a stupidly simple fix (download images from one directory, upload to another) that I just didn't get around to.

I know I owe the other mods a dev site so we can test out new (old) themes and apply them to the live forum, but I'm neck-deep in a recording project that's $3k in the hole and the producers have rejected the fruits of 3 months of my labor, so it's back to the drawing board on that one 😟 I'll get us a dev site soon enough, though. Anything else that's glaringly wrong that I should look into in the meantime?

[Sandeha Lynch]

Nah, relax, chill, step away from the admin keys!

[Francois]

Definitely take a break from it and work on that music project.
And if the producers are not happy after that, you can just send them your part played on a toy trumpet 

[Ed Wenn]

Of course the weak link in all of this (as always) will be yours truly. Satish has now gotten round to setting up the test forum for me to get cracking on getting a new theme sorted out, but all that really means is that my excuse for not doing something that I probably wouldn't have done anyway has now been removed 

However, fancy new theme apart, we're in a far better place with the forum in every other aspect than we were at the start of 2021.

[Francois]

I must say that so far, apart from the few minor things that are just a bit strange but not concerning, I'm quite happy with the upgrade.

[Nigel]

It shows I don’t call in here often enough, when I didn’t even know the forum had been down never mind it’s been totally rebuilt. 

Thanks Satish, this is feels like a refuge from the real world. I’m not sure what I would have done if it disappeared. 

[Francois]

Hey Nigel!
Long time no see!

[Nigel]

Hey Nigel!
Long time no see!

Hey François, it's good to see you're still here!

[Francois]

Oh yeah, keeping the lighthouse working