Mike Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 I just noticed that at the bottom of the screen there's a drop box with the various forums listed and if I choose "MAIN" and click go it does not seem to work...Any other ones seem to work fine...Also now if I go to the top of the screen and click on the > MAIN > button it takes me there no prob...I'm getting intermittent page not found and I even got a CGI header error but when I hit the back and then tried again it was fine.. Hmmmm I'll also start using my other account of just Mike... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 17, 2003 Author Share Posted March 17, 2003 Scot.. is there a way that you can delete my Mike account and then rename Mike2 to just Mike?I really don't want to lose my "status" of posts and such... If not I guess I can makeup 6 posts.. -Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Mike, is there a way that you can delete my Mike account and then rename Mike2 to just Mike?Done! I hope it's what you wanted. Let me know if not.I just noticed that at the bottom of the screen there's a drop box with the various forums listed and if I choose "MAIN" and click go it does not seem to work...I think this is because there is only one category. Actually, I wish I could ditch the "Main" thing altogether. It's on my list to figure out if that's possible.I'm getting intermittent page not found and I even got a CGI header error but when I hit the back and then tried again it was fine.Please, everyone, report problems like this one. I encountered a few like that (no error messages, but page not found) on the evening of 3/16. I believe my webhost is having some sort of problem with my server, because it also happened about a week ago, and my server went down a few times for about 5 mins ea. (probably a reboot).-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paracelsus Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Originally posted by Scot...Please, everyone, report problems like this one. I encountered a few like that (no error messages, but page not found) on the evening of 3/16. I believe my webhost is having some sort of problem with my server, because it also happened about a week ago, and my server went down a few times for about 5 mins ea. (probably a reboot). -- Scot Hi Scot, Yes, I noticed the outage Sunday, 3/16. Don't recall the time. I know Arena2045 couldn't access the BB either (we were on Trillian when I received the error). We just assumed you were doing some maintenance. If I come across this in the future, I'll take note of the time and approximate interval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Thanks, Paracelsus. I haven't taken the board down at all except for last Friday when I changed the URL, and that was only for about 10 minutes. So I do think there are issues. I guess time will tell. I appreciate the bug reports. Hope I'm not rushing this on throwing open the doors today!-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Just my 2 ¢...I think Scot is right about the category listing. On my IPB community it doesn't take you to the category listing either.And about the site outage that Paracelsus mentioned...I wasn't able to access any part of your site, the newsletter or the forum. I was on my satellite connection and Paracelsus was on AOL dial-up (like he said, we were using Trillian to IM when we both noticed that there were issues).ALSO:I don't know if your web host is having problems (or if its just net problems) but I just experienced another scotsnewsletter.com (entire site + forum) outage.It occurred around 2:10 PM Central Time (03-18-03) on both my Satellite and Dial-Up accounts (on two different computers). I was finally able to gain access around 3:05 PM on both connections.I don’t know if this is related to the BB or just your host/server. You may want to investigate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 19, 2003 Share Posted March 19, 2003 Thanks, Arena2045. I'm about to send out the newsletter, so I guess we're going to find out. The good news that it's late enough on the east coast that folks may wonder in more gradually. If I run into problems, the first thing I'm going to do is take down those other two forums (and redirect them). So if there's anything there you want to save or whatever, I recommend doing that soon.Thanks for your detailed post.-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benhenry Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 Is the Track This Topic function working? I don't think it's working for me, unless I misunderstand how to use it...I click "Track This Topic" when I see a thread that is of high interest. I can see them listed under the "View Topics" section under the "Subscriptions" heading in "My Controls"...But I have never received any kind of email from the forum notifying me that someone has posted something new. And several times when I have returned to check... there have been new articles from the members. Please advise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 I actually noticed this yesterday too. I am getting some, but not enough, email notifications. I believe this is related to the same phpMail problem that's affecting registrations. My options for switching to smtp are limited. But I think it's time I tried it to see whether it causes new problems or solves this problem. One of the reasons I went with this board software is that it is more flexible than some on this point.Thanks for letting me know, benhenry. You may start to see a difference almost right away.-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benhenry Posted March 23, 2003 Share Posted March 23, 2003 I actually noticed this yesterday too. ... You may start to see a difference almost right away.-- ScotHi ScotYep, I notice a difference already! I didn't get a notification for the post I just quoted, but I did get a notification from a different topic that I had subscribed to. Now that quality is assured, quantity becomes a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Thanks Scot,Noticed the difference right away too :)I had gone in to check on my email address because I realized I wasn't getting emails and when I tried to go in to track a topic it said I was already tracking them ...catch22 Glad it is working now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 24, 2003 Share Posted March 24, 2003 Thanks Benhenry and LilBambi. I've noticed a difference too! Mainly that registrations are finally validating normally. I should have made the change earlier. Ah, well, live and learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 Tried to add a .png avatar yesterday but it wouldn't work. Got this message:Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.The error returned was: You are not allowed to upload that type of file as an avatar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 What value is this? Board Message Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.The error returned was: Flood control is enabled on this board, please wait 30 seconds before replying or posting a new topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 When will attachments be supported? I don't have an external place to load them to. Also, loading them externally isn't a good idea because while this board may be working, the location with the attachment might not, leading to a garbled post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryder Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 What value is this? Board Message Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.The error returned was: Flood control is enabled on this board, please wait 30 seconds before replying or posting a new topicFlood control is just there to prevent people from running some program and flooding the forum with useless posts. If you have never seen a flood in action you are lucky. I have seen boards get hit with dozens upon dozens of posts per minute for hours on end. It makes it impossible for the real members to use the forum do to the sheer volume of useless posts. I have seen it happen to groups on USENET for days. They call it a sporge.As for your other questions, Arena or the "Big Crowdie" - aka Scot , will have to address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted March 25, 2003 Share Posted March 25, 2003 ibe98765,- .PNG Avatars: The following file types are allowed: .gif .jpeg .jpg .swf .png. HOWEVER, if you are uploading the avatar, the avatar I believe is limited to a size of 20k. Scot will have to chime in on the correct size, since I have forgotten what he said he set it to.So if the .png file was more than 20k then you would get an error. Also make sure that the image is no more than 144 pixels x 144 pixels.- Flood Control: Stryder is 100% correct. This also stops people who try to increase their post counts by posting one reply, then continuing on with another seconds latter, and so on.- Attachments: This probably won’t happen, if it does the option to upload attachments will be a ways off.There is a similar topic that brought up this same question. Some people even offered a few MB on their servers (really for screen shots)...http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/forums/inde...=ST&f=9&t=65&s= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 ibe98765,- .PNG Avatars: The following file types are allowed: .gif .jpeg .jpg .swf .png. HOWEVER, if you are uploading the avatar, the avatar I believe is limited to a size of 20k. Scot will have to chime in on the correct size, since I have forgotten what he said he set it to.So if the .png file was more than 20k then you would get an error. Also make sure that the image is no more than 144 pixels x 144 pixels.- Flood Control: Stryder is 100% correct. This also stops people who try to increase their post counts by posting one reply, then continuing on with another seconds latter, and so on.- Attachments: This probably won’t happen, if it does the option to upload attachments will be a ways off.There is a similar topic that brought up this same question. Some people even offered a few MB on their servers (really for screen shots)...http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/forums/inde...=ST&f=9&t=65&s= 1. My png avatar was less than 20k. Has anyone tried to upload something in .png format?3. Why do say that uploading of attachments won't happen? Do you have some special knowledge? In private email with Scott, he has said that he DOES want this to happen and thought it was part of the software.Storage is cheap. Other forums support screenshot attachements (like Woody's Office watch, for instance). Without attachment support, I will probably gravitate away from participating here since it takes too much extra work to describe a problem without having visual graphics support. While it is nice of others to provide some sharable web space, uploading the attachment really needs to be part of creating the message to make the best use of everyone's time. And what happens if the person/organization providing the free web space goes out of business or shuts down the site? ZIP - there goes all the visual doc and historial posts here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whm Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 When I click the "Mark this forum as read" I get returned to the main page but the forum button still shows messages and if I go back into the forum the messages are not marked.Clicking "Mark all posts as read" on the main page does indeed mark all messages and grays out all the forum buttons. That works.But the individual forums should be marked and when you get returned to the main page, the associated button should be grayed out. Doesn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted March 31, 2003 Author Share Posted March 31, 2003 When I click the "Mark this forum as read" I get returned to the main page but the forum button still shows messages and if I go back into the forum the messages are not marked.Yes... I also noticed this small oversight... although I will say that if you logout and then login again it will "grey out" appropriately... but what a PITB that is... -- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Hmmm. I will have to check into this Mark Forum as Read problem.-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 ibe98765, ...if you are uploading the avatar, the avatar I believe is limited to a size of 20k. Scot will have to chime in on the correct size, since I have forgotten what he said he set it to.Arena is correct (as usual), the maximum size for Avatars is 20K and .PNG format is allowed according to the Admin tool. I have not tried to .PNG file myself, and ibe98765, you may be the first to try. So if there's a problem, this is something we can look into. You mght want to send me the file.Why do say that uploading of attachments won't happen? Do you have some special knowledge? In private email with Scott, he has said that he DOES want this to happen and thought it was part of the software.I think what I may have said is, that so far as I know, it is possible to upload attachments. That was over a week ago. I have since come across the control that limits that (in a wholly diff. part of the Admin tool) and I have opted not to turn on attachments at this time. Arena2045 is our Community Moderator, and he tends to know what's going on around here half the time even before I do.I would like to be able to permit attachments. In particular, I would like to be able to make it easier for people to show screenshots to each other. And I will continue to consider ways to make that easier. Right now, with a new forum, there's enough to do without throwing open the doors to potential new headaches, though. So, for now, Arena is right.One thing I may do as a half step is allow moderators to help users post files on my server. I'm still puzzling out how best to do that at this time. So please bear with us.-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scot Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 "Flood control is enabled on this board, please wait 30 seconds before replying or posting a new topic."Just a note: Registered users who are logged in only have to wait 20 seconds at this time. That is the default setting of the IPB software. Many other bulletin boards have a default setting of 30 seconds. I have tried no BB software that did not have a built-in flood-control setting. It's mandatory these days.If you are a validated, registered member (not someone waiting for validatation) and you are seeing a 30-second delay, please let me know about it.-- Scot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 "Flood control is enabled on this board, please wait 30 seconds before replying or posting a new topic."Just a note: Registered users who are logged in only have to wait 20 seconds at this time. That is the default setting of the IPB software. Many other bulletin boards have a default setting of 30 seconds. I have tried no BB software that did not have a built-in flood-control setting. It's mandatory these days.If you are a validated, registered member (not someone waiting for validatation) and you are seeing a 30-second delay, please let me know about it.-- Scot I was registered and I did get the 30 second limit. You might want to experiment with this and see if it was just a temporary experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 ibe98765,...if you are uploading the avatar, the avatar I believe is limited to a size of 20k. Scot will have to chime in on the correct size, since I have forgotten what he said he set it to.Arena is correct (as usual), the maximum size for Avatars is 20K and .PNG format is allowed according to the Admin tool. I have not tried to .PNG file myself, and ibe98765, you may be the first to try. So if there's a problem, this is something we can look into. You mght want to send me the file. Nope - PNG defintely doesn't work. Just tried it with an 18k sample (87x108 pixels). Got the error below:Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.The error returned was: You are not allowed to upload that type of file as an avatar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 About the Flood Control time limit...I think 30 seconds is basically standard for most BB… I’ve however seen boards in which a 60-90 second flood control limit is set. I don’t think 10 extra seconds will hurt.About uploading .PNG avatars…There is clearly an issue in which Scot (the only Admin) will have to investigate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Storage is cheap. Other forums support screenshot attachements (like Woody's Office watch, for instance). Without attachment support, I will probably gravitate away from participating here since it takes too much extra work to describe a problem without having visual graphics support. While it is nice of others to provide some sharable web space, uploading the attachment really needs to be part of creating the message to make the best use of everyone's time. And what happens if the person/organization providing the free web space goes out of business or shuts down the site? ZIP - there goes all the visual doc and historial posts here. This is coming from a Webmaster and long time Mod/Admin for a few BB Communities…Yes storage is cheap, but so is web hosting!You can get reliable web hosting with your own domain, email, CGI, etc. for only $5 a month.With a site, you can host your own screen shots and files. By having an established website, even if you only use it to host files and not a web page, it frees your dependency on other FREE web hosts. Another benefit of having a personal website is that it doesn’t force the BB owner to allow full access to users to post attachments. * If attachments can be truly limited to image only files then that is a valid exception, which could be considered with limitations.I would take personal offence if users posted any of the following on my BB if I had uploading/attachments enabled:Hacks / Cracks / Warez / etc…SpywareNon-Public Alphas / BetasLeaked Alphas / BetasCopyrighted material with out permissionAttachments which are either purposely or mistakenly infected with virusesEtc…I don’t want to be held responsible if a user on my BB posts any of the items listed above, in which a law is broken or damage is done to a computer.Without attachment support, I will probably gravitate away from participating here since it takes too much extra work to describe a problem without having visual graphics supportSorry to hear that, but a large number of support/Q&A BB’s don’t offer attachments… There are alternatives to having the option to post attachments to posts, I hope you will consider such options.The above is that of my personal opinion, nothing more, nothing less.Just remember that Scot is investigating the possibility of offering image only uploads, if it’s possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arena2045 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 One possible alternative would be for users to pay a fee to have the option to upload files. That type of membership fee could then be applied to cover the hosting costs (for the attachments of that particular user).Or have a separate section of the BB for paying subscribers/members only, in which they have full uploading capabilities.I still think getting a personal website is more practical for hosting files and screen shots.And there is one more thing I forgot to mention above. Yes storage may be cheap (for a few images), but bandwidth (for many images and large communities) is a whole other issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 One possible alternative would be for users to pay a fee to have the option to upload files. That type of membership fee could then be applied to cover the hosting costs (for the attachments of that particular user).Or have a separate section of the BB for paying subscribers/members only, in which they have full uploading capabilities.I still think getting a personal website is more practical for hosting files and screen shots.And there is one more thing I forgot to mention above. Yes storage may be cheap (for a few images), but bandwidth (for many images and large communities) is a whole other issue.As I said before - the problem with hosting images seperate form the post is:What happens when/if the service goes bust? You lose the files and probably the ability to understand the post. Then it has not value.It is possible to allow only image files and to restrict their size. Other's do it and therefore , it can be done here. IMO, it's an essential component of any modern web forum. So let's figure how to do it and what works for this forum instead of making excuses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 What happens when/if the service goes bust? You lose the files and probably the ability to understand the post. Then it has not value.It is possible to allow only image files and to restrict their size. Other's do it and therefore , it can be done here. IMO, it's an essential component of any modern web forum. So let's figure how to do it and what works for this forum instead of making excuses...What happens if any service/system goes bust... no difference... Usually when a company is going to shutdown they have ample time to let you know that they are... and will notify their clients about the situation so that they can get an alternative up and running...Others do it??? Who? I would bet they charge a fee for it... although I've not come across any boards that offer it... **** even pc mag is now charging for dl's of their FREE utilities to pay for the bandwidth... costs will always come back to bite you in the @ss...No one is making excuses... It may not be what Scot want's or needs to do... We're looking into this... Also it may not be possible to simply limit the type of file... this is also being looked into...Look this boa is just starting up and it's growing faster than most people could have hoped for... There will be some growing pains and a learning curve for everything... Relax and enjoy the board...-- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts