FORUM INTERUPTIONS - Updated 2-5

Over the next 2 weeks or so, we will be upgrading the forum software to run more efficiently, so that the forums load more quickly with less stress on the server. While these upgrades will be (for the most part) "transparent" to the user, expect some odd behavior until the task is complete. If you experience any difficulty, error screens, etc., please feel free to report them to me so I can keep everyone posted on our progress.

As of this evening, there appears to be some problems with the log-in page, and we have reports of error screens when photos/topics (I just got one posting this). These will be resolved ASAP.

Thanks to all of you for your patience!

See last post below for latest update.

Jim, when I posted a photo this morning (Friday, Jan 18) I got this message:

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, editor@naturephotographers.net and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/2.0.54 (Fedora) Server at www.naturephotographers.net Port 80

FWIW, when posting last night I ran into the exact same error screen that Lia detailed when posting images. Despite the error screens, the uploads were all successful.

Jim,

For some reason, I have been unable to login at home since yesterday but at work, everything is fine. When I first joined last year, I had to figure out the right settings on my firewall for this site which turned out to be allowing persistent cookies. (Typically, I have only session cookies and javascript allowed and this is fine for almost all sites.) This morning, I tried allowing everything for this site to see if firewall settings were again the problem but that didn't solve the problem. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Brad.

Thanks for the notice Jim, and for your continued efforts to keep everything running silky smooth! It's very much appreciated!

I should add my gratitude and second what Bill said. I've enjoyed NPN tremendously in my first year! Jim, you and Donna are doing a great job.

Regarding my comments above, I'm going to make sure I have the latest version of Firefox and I just remembered I didn't even try on Internet Explorer (doh!)

What happens to me is when I click on an image for viewing and commenting (in the ESS-gallery), I get an error-message when I want to return to the index (by clicking "return to index") It says "software-error" in larger and bold black letters and shows some nice lines of computer-language.
Anyone has experienced this? I am not sure if this is because of the maintenance.

Update 1/21

What a week this has been...

First, I've been away on business travel since last Tuesday with the usual limited resources in keeping up with NPN tasks. On Thursday, I got knocked on my rear-end with a nasty case of the flu, which pretty much took me out of the loop altogether. And of course during all of this, Dave has been working behind the scenes on a major revamp of the forum software (with all of the usual problems that occur during such a process). So my apologies to all for not keeping this thread updated, which I will now be doing.

It would appear that the log-in issues are resolved, as are the error screens when posting a new topic or photo. Along with some minor forum navigation issues, "page 2" and higher of all thumbnail pages (NPN and PhotoPortfolios) and all forums do not always render. You may also notice that the forums are running slower than normal - this is because of the changes that needed to be done at the start to operate the revised software.

It will probably be another week or two before the forums are fully functional again. As always, this stuff is never fun but hopefully the improvements that will result will be worth inconvenience. Thanks again to all for your patience!

Thanks for the update and all that you do to keep NPN going strong, Jim! Hope you kicked that nasty flu bug out the door!

Thanks Jim for all your hard work.

OK, as of now all seems to be running smoothly. There may be more rough road ahead but we'll try to keep it to a minimum.

Thanks again to all for your patience!

Jim,

The 2nd and 3rd pages etc are still missing from the UKNP regional forum's...

T

Jim - I also can't see anything other than page 1 of the forums. And using the "Next Topic" link in the General discussion forum takes me to some page of the UKNP forum.

Yes, the "second page drop-out" error will be an ongoing battle for the next week or so until all the upgrades are complete.

Thanks for bearing with us!

Update 1/27

As expected, some of the errors are reoccuring. This week the changes needed to eliminate those errors entirely should be complete.

Thanks again for your patience!

Jim,

Looks like all the paging, next/prev image links and all forum pages have been resolved. At least they're all working for me now.

I also noticed one little subtle change. You now have a gray box around the current page number. I think that's new, I hadn't noticed it before. Are there other little changes you can summarize for us? Looks good.

I did want to report that currently I'm unable to access the "Flagged" images link. I get the following "Software Error":

You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'from flag where flag_user_id='LJRACK'' at line 1 at /usr/local/etc/system_common.pl line 4.
For help, please send mail to the webmaster (editor@naturephotographers.net), giving this error message and the time and date of the error.

Thanks for all your work!

Lon

update: Also, it's only from with ES&S that I get the error. Selecting the "flagged" link in other areas of NPN don't exhibit the error - however, there are no images displayed that I've flagged in ES&S

ALSO.... on the ES&S page, selecting "all photos" from anyone results in just a refresh of the page and does not go to the individuals "all photos" page.

Lon, you have indeed spotted the telltale sign of the revised software now operating the IC galleries. We made the switch-over earlier today.

Thanks for pointing out the gremlins - I'll report them to Dave so he can handle them.

The discussion/regional group forums will be next. We expect to have them operating on the revised software within the next 5 days.

In terms of difference, there is not much obvious to see. The difference is "under the hood" to enable more efficient operation and less load on the server. These changes will set the stage for some new features that will be added later in the year.

Update

It looks like the flagged photos issue is resolved.

Update 1-30

The image critique galleries are now operating on the revised software. As of this morning (EST), all seems to be working properly.

The next step is to switch the discussion and regional forums over to the revised software. We expect to be doing so in the next day or so.

If you enounter any problems, please be sure to contact me directly or report the problem in a reply in this thread. Thanks again for your help and patience!

Thanks Jim! Great job, as usual.

Jim - I may have found another problem. The "All Photos By" link beside the thumbnails isn't working for me (on Mozilla).

Thanks David, we'll get that fixed.

Hi, Jim. A few days ago I started having problems on NPN. Don't know if it's related to the upgrading or not. Whatever photo forum I click on first, I'm stuck there. Say, I'm in flora then click on ESS, I'm sent right back to flora. It says ESS, or man and nature or fauna at the top, but I'm still in flora. The discussion forums and others work fine, just problems with the photo forums. I'm using firefox. Any suggestions. Thanks.

David, All Photos fixed.

Michael, delete temporary Internet files. I fixed that problem this morning (had to update some links).

Jim,

At this point I get all my photos and only all my photos under terri's signon or mine. I'm signing in using Safari from a MAC.

Pat, I just tried signing on as you and as Terri and all is well - I get the correct set of photos under "My Photos." You're either using the wrong log-on info or it's a temporary Internet file issue with the browser. Try clearing cookies and temporary Internet files, make sure the log-on info is correct and try again.

Update 1-31

The revised image critique gallery software appears to be functioning properly. At some point today, we will undergo the same process with the discussion/regional group forums - switch over to the revised software. If you encounter any problems, please report them to me via email or in this thread.

If all goes well, the NPN galleries/forums will be "100%" within the next few days. These upgrades will lay the foundation for some new features that will be added over coming months.

Thanks again to all for your patience during this process!

Sorry, Jim. Clearing files didn't work. I tried both internet explorer and firefox. Any more suggestions. Thanks.

Michael, all seems OK from here. Which navigation menu are you using?

Jim,

ES&S is seriously messed up this morning. Mostly blank thumbnails with the names. And in the upper right popup window, clicking on General Discussion goes to Digital Imaging and vice versa.

- Dan

Anyone else seeing what Dan is describing? All looks fine from here from 2 different PCs.

Dan, clear temporary Internet files and see if that helps.

BTW, be sure to state PC or Mac and browser being used.

Clear sailing here, Jim. Mac OS10.2.8, Firefox.

Thanks Hank! Hopefully we can figure out what Dan is up against...

I've noticed something wierd in the last few minutes Jim, and can repeat it about half the time.

I've got the General Discussion page tabbed in Firefox as my entry point to NPN, rather than going through the front page and all. But in the last little bit, sometimes when I hit that tab when moving from another site, I come to the Digital Discussion page. But here's the rest of the kicker- It's still labeled General Discussion. Clicking General Discussion on your nav page takes me on to the GD page as it should, but that first entry from off site directly to the GD page seems a little "quirky."

Hank, try book marking this forum using the following URL;

http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vf2&ns=1

Hey Hank,

I had the same problem a couple of nights ago with the Image Critique pages .. regardless which one I clicked on, all I could see was the landscape page .. I was using safari .. switched over to Firefox and it worked fine. Seems to be OK now though.

Cheers

Carl

That comes through clean, Jim.

Carl, it may have been the old links that were still on the site. I updated them yesterday morning to resolve that issue, so give safari another try (if you want).

Thanks!

Hank, Ok good! To bookmark any forum or gallery, enter it via the Forum Index page and then bookmark before opening any photo or post.

I bet my bookmark was one of the old links Jim. I didn't think to crosscheck it with the new one you provided before deleting.

Jim - I can't seem to sort any of the forums by Reply...only by Date posted. I tried clearing my cache, and restarting the browser with no luck.

Just to say that I have exactly the same problem for the last few days - which ever photo gallery I view first, thats the one whose photos I always see regardless of which forum I select. The name of the forum below the Nature Photographers top graphic changes, but the photos don't.

This behavior only happens when I navigate using the Forum Index in the top left corner. If I use the Select Forum drop down list, I see the correct photos for the forum. I'm using Safari on Mac OS X 10.5.1

Hope that helps - let me know if you would like any further info or me to try anything else, thanks, Jonathan.

Jim,

Overall, things are working really well - at least for me. I'm not seeing Jonathan's issue using the "forum index" link. Seems to work fine.

I didn't notice this until I read David's post, but I do notice that currently there isn't a difference between sorting by post or comment.

Thanks for all work!

Lon

Jonathan, you need to clear your temporary Internet files!

Lon, I see it too - we'll get that fixed ASAP!

Edit - OK, fixed!

Jim,

Excellent! Looks like everything's working on all fronts - as far as I can tell.

Thanks!
Lon

Jim,

Many thanks, I just needed to delete the cookies and login again - now fixed.

Jonathan

It's working fine now, Jim. Thanks.

Thanks to all for the updates - they are VERY much appreciated!

Whenever you do this type of upgrade, you never know what kinds of problems you will run into. With your collective feedback, we're able to identify issues quickly and deal with them.

Thanks again to all for your patience and help!

Jim,

I can log in fine now and can sign on with Terri's password and user id but the system recognizes either my id or hers as me.

Pat, please contact me offline. I have tested both of your registrations and they both work properly.

Hi Jim,

I'm having a problem with the IC galleries. I can only get the first page of any gallery. If I click on a page number or either of the arrows, I get the first page again.

I experience this with Firefox and Opera on Linux (2 different machines) and Firefox and Safari on OSX.

[EDIT] I just tried a couple of the discussion forums and found the same thing.

Mark, I see that too. We'll get a look at that today.

I'm having the same issue as Mark on Firefox and IE6 on XP. I've cleared my cache and the issue has not been resolved.

Thanks again Jim for all the work you've been putting into the system.

Mel-

Jim,

Working with IE and Vista here, I can go to the photo Critiques Galleries, All photos and see tne 1st page, when I click any other number, the first page shows up.

I cleared my temp internet files, and that didn't help.

I just checked and the same thing is happening when I went to Avian.

Lia, we'll get it fixed ASAP.

I just checked a couple of the Galleries. It is now working! At l;east for me running Firefox on XP Pro. Good Work Jim!

Jim, it seems to be working this morning, I can navigate from page to page on the all photos gallery.

Ya'll are doing great getting these issues handled fast!

It looks like Dave got a handle on it. Let me know if you find anything else not working properly!

Don't know if this is important, but General topics from my email loads with no text.

Jim, I was viewing the Critiques Galleries, All photos section, went to go back to it, and the only thing that showed was the two rows of number links.

well, now it is working again, hic cups?

One more thing though, I haven't been posting much lately, neither images nor comments, but I did post on Margo Pinkerton's Black Sky image. When you go to my comment on her post and click the section in my comments for "all posts" one of two things happens, one is a page with all blank thumbnails.

The second is a long list of thumbnails that I know I didn't make any comments on.

Right now the blank thumbnail thing is occurring.

Lia, I see that too. Will get a fix on it ASAP.

Thanks Jim, for a minute I thought I had gone around the bend and was commenting in my sleep.

Update 2-5

The error described above by Lia above has been corrected!