Issues requiring resolution

[Sdaji]

Its been a problem for a long time (even before SniperCap took over .... Probably why no one uses it. You will be in the middle of a conversation and it will log you out with no warning. Also my chat button has suddenly become really big...

Yeah, exactly the same problem we were having. We persisted for a while but it makes the chat unusable.

This is one question I'm sure you've had a million times already and are probably sick of answering, so I apologise before asking it, but is it absolutely sure that there are no backups available for the lost threads? It seems amazing that given what APS is/was over more than a decade, not a single backup exists for anything in the whole snake area. Not having a go at you of course, you've only just taken it over, but surely backups were being made at some point in the previous 10 years. Like many others I put thousands of posts into that area, and even up to the point it was lost (years after I'd been posting in it) I sometimes had people contacting me saying they'd like some of the information or pictures I'd put up there from various posts over the last decade. Of course, I was only one of many people contributing over that time, so there was enormous value in what has been lost. If not I suppose it's slackness on the part of previous admin or that they're unwilling to hand over backups for whatever reason, obviously not your fault at all.

 

[Stuart]

Yeah, exactly the same problem we were having. We persisted for a while but it makes the chat unusable.

This is one question I'm sure you've had a million times already and are probably sick of answering, so I apologise before asking it, but is it absolutely sure that there are no backups available for the lost threads? It seems amazing that given what APS is/was over more than a decade, not a single backup exists for anything in the whole snake area. Not having a go at you of course, you've only just taken it over, but surely backups were being made at some point in the previous 10 years. Like many others I put thousands of posts into that area, and even up to the point it was lost (years after I'd been posting in it) I sometimes had people contacting me saying they'd like some of the information or pictures I'd put up there from various posts over the last decade. Of course, I was only one of many people contributing over that time, so there was enormous value in what has been lost. If not I suppose it's slackness on the part of previous admin or that they're unwilling to hand over backups for whatever reason, obviously not your fault at all.

All good mate, I am happy to answer any and all questions where I can so no apologies necessary.

I did chat with Adam and he did look into the backups situation before I took over but unfortunately after his final move to his new hosting provider a while back, the backups had not been configured to be captured correctly. The system did not generate alarms and due to real life, he never got around to checking them and making sure they were being captured. If there are any other legacy backups elsewhere, I did not get copies of them but that's not to say they weren't handed over as I did get everything Adam had on the site in the form of documentation and otherwise but nothing DB or forum files wise as it may very well be they sit somewhere in the ether or were deleted accidentally one day. I do believe Adam tried hard to find any backups but was unsuccessful and it was one of the reasons that led to me taking over ownership of APS.

These days I have the server software capturing backups 4 times a week, the server backup system creating backups nightly as well as an FTP setup to transfer backups directly from the server to an offsite hosting backup. On top of that, so that I can ease my paranoia, I also download all the forum software, database and files to my own machine and store regular copies of them.

Losing those 4 forums were one of the biggest hits to APS and something I don't think we will ever recover from, particularly (as you say) there was a decade of information shared in them. However I really hope I can prevent something like this happening again.

I wish it was better news...

 

[Stuart]

I'm not sure if this has already been brought up, but the chat program seems very flaky. I was trying it out with someone and on each attempt within a few minutes one of us would drop out of the chat room. Since it was both of us I doubt it was a fault with either of our systems or connections.

Its been a problem for a long time (even before SniperCap took over .... Probably why no one uses it. You will be in the middle of a conversation and it will log you out with no warning. Also my chat button has suddenly become really big...

Ok, I think I found the issue and have adjusted some timeout values on the chat. Could you let me know if its still being a pain?

 

[Sdaji]

Haha, I suppose we've all come across countless situations where we only worry about backups after they're critically needed. Massive shame in this case, but such is life, and not really without precedent.

If there's nothing which can be done there's no use crying over spilled milk, and certainly no point blaming the guy who came along after the problem occurred. Thanks for taking the time to answer

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, another issue I noticed (you're probably either loving or hating me at this point!), people seem to think they've posted pictures in this thread and probably others, but they're not showing up on my monitor (I'm using a laptop, not a phone).

https://aussiepythons.com/forum/sho...-Your-Ants!-The-Antaresia-Appreciation-Thread!

I can see the pictures in previous posts, but not the last two, from different users.

 

[CrazyNut]

Actually I can't. I can't access chat at the moment. Also chat button is still really big (bigger then usual)

 

[vampstorso]

LOL at your edit note Sdaji! Brilliant stuff!

 

[Sdaji]

LOL at your edit note Sdaji! Brilliant stuff!

I can justifiably be accused of having a bad sense of humour, but I can never be accused of not having one.

 

[Stuart]

Haha, I suppose we've all come across countless situations where we only worry about backups after they're critically needed. Massive shame in this case, but such is life, and not really without precedent.

If there's nothing which can be done there's no use crying over spilled milk, and certainly no point blaming the guy who came along after the problem occurred. Thanks for taking the time to answer

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, another issue I noticed (you're probably either loving or hating me at this point!), people seem to think they've posted pictures in this thread and probably others, but they're not showing up on my monitor (I'm using a laptop, not a phone).

https://aussiepythons.com/forum/sho...-Your-Ants!-The-Antaresia-Appreciation-Thread!

I can see the pictures in previous posts, but not the last two, from different users.

Gah, I missed this post sorry, not sure how.

I am looking into it and will let you know what I find

 

[Stuart]

In regards to Chat issues.

• Issue where avatars were not showing properly is fixed
• Timeout issue where people were being kicked out of chat is fixed
• Mobile chat issue has been enabled and should be working as advised.

Feel free to test and yell out if any more issues are noticed.

 

[BrownHash]

Not sure if this has been brought up (did a quick scan of thread but could find it), but i find that the notices at the top of the page, in the yellow, are quite large and dominating when browsing in my phone. It only seems to occur on the main page for the web site. View attachment 316071

 

[Stuart]

Not sure if this has been brought up (did a quick scan of thread but could find it), but i find that the notices at the top of the page, in the yellow, are quite large and dominating when browsing in my phone. It only seems to occur on the main page for the web site.

Nope, definitely a new one and I'll look at it today. I can't replicate it in Tapatalk but I can see the issue in Chrome on Android.

Stu

 

[Stuart]

Not sure if this has been brought up (did a quick scan of thread but could find it), but i find that the notices at the top of the page, in the yellow, are quite large and dominating when browsing in my phone. It only seems to occur on the main page for the web site.

Looks like its a coding issue that will take a bit to fix. I have removed one of the notices and will start working away at getting the text smaller over the next week.

Stu

 

[BrownHash]

Looks like its a coding issue that will take a bit to fix. I have removed one of the notices and will start working away at getting the text smaller over the next week.

Stu

Cheers.

 

[Waterrat]

Stuart, just something to think about: The name "Aussie Pythons & Snakes" ... aren't pythons snakes? Also one of the forum headings: "Australian Lizards & Varanids" ... aren't varanids lizards? These may be little things but it sets the standards. JMO

 

[Stuart]

Thanks Michael. At this point in time I don't think I could progress with a name change for a few reasons however the thoughts on double naming, particularly in forums is very valid though so thanks for that, it is easy to rename those.

Stu

 

[CrazyNut]

Stuart, just something to think about: The name "Aussie Pythons & Snakes" ... aren't pythons snakes? Also one of the forum headings: "Australian Lizards & Varanids" ... aren't varanids lizards? These may be little things but it sets the standards. JMO

I personally don't have a problem with the title especially since green tree snake and green tree python are completely different so its not too bad but yeh technically ypur right haha but the bonus is it allows us to abbreviate to APS the Varanids and lizard thing is a very valid point though.

 

[Stuart]

The issue with attachments not showing correctly has been identified. I'll start fixing this today but as there are 36Gb of attachments, it might take a bit.

EDIT: I'll update the Vbulletin Version tonight and see how we go

Stu

 

[Stuart]

I have found and resolved the suspected issue where pics were not showing in threads. Unfortunately the posts with missing attachments will need to be pruned but we should hopefully see this issue resolved.

Please let me know if you see any posts going forward where the attachments just disappear
Stu

 

[Stuart]

Just a quick update.

I have been monitoring the attachement issue and since yesterday things look to be pretty steady and working as they should. If you do see otherwise however, please yell out..

 

[Stuart]

Its been reported that certain forums are not showing on the home page. Checking this out