Anomalies

[Old Grumpy]

I also had problems yesterday. In my case I got a rejection message saying 'local host refuses to connect'. I found a way round it by re-entering the Forum and logging back in with my usual password.

Yep, I got that on both phone and PC. Other websites perfectly OK. After a short time this resolved itself, but I did have to log in again with username and password. All OK today.

Edit: Just seen Andrew's message at #538

[LMcD]

Yep, I got that on both phone and PC. Other websites perfectly OK. After a short time this resolved itself, but I did have to log in again with username and password. All OK today.

Edit: Just seen Andrew's message at #538

Log-in procedure now back to normal!

[oddoneout]

The problems I was having seem to have been resolved - thank you, especially for the font size restoration, the space-saving version was proving a bit tiring!

[french frank]

I'd always thought that usernames/passwords were stored in the browser, Remember Me as a cookie in the forum software (i.e. Remember Me wouldn't retain your username)? If so they would work independently of each other.

I was informed (twice) that I couldn't move from one page to the previous one on the Lost Music Shops thread yesterday - Couldn't connect to server). And my mobile reverted from Latest Activity to Posts (also in forum database). All fine this morning.

[Andrew Slater]

I can see I'll need to explain what happened - I'll post a report later.

[Serial_Apologist]

I've noticed the forum seems a bit slow today - it has just taken a good minute for a post to register onto the Stormy Weather thread.

[Pulcinella]

I've noticed the forum seems a bit slow today - it has just taken a good minute for a post to register onto the Stormy Weather thread.

Cache probably needs clearing: still showing Draco as most recent poster.

[french frank]

Cache probably needs clearing: still showing Draco as most recent poster.

Now you (or was). Page loading here only a second or two on Stormy W.

Now me.

[Pulcinella]

Now you (or was). Page loading here only a second or two on Stormy W.

Now me.

But SA's post not showing as last one in Stormy Weather?

[french frank]

But SA's post not showing as last one in Stormy Weather?

Hmm, correct. I was wondering if it was just the very lengthy threads but it doesn't seem to apply to What classicalmusic are you ....?

The name may not change, but is the title still bold, even if you've read it?

[Andrew Slater]

Stormy Weather II and The place for jazz videos are now showing their correct posters and times. (Cache cleared.)

[Andrew Slater]

I can see I'll need to explain what happened - I'll post a report later.

Here's my report:

On Tuesday I was doing some pre-upgrade tests on a copy of the forum on my PC. I downloaded the files from the vBulletin site, and copied them to the forum server on my PC. I then inserted the config file which contains the local references to make the whole thing work, or so I thought. Unfortunately I had inadvertently inserted the config file which is used for the live forum, rather than my local one. This didn't cause a problem until I carried out the next step, which is to set the stored forum address to localhost/forums so that the forum files point to my local server. I thought I'd changed my local stored address, but because the wrong config file was installed, I'd actually changed the address on the live forum. This would prevent users doing very much, and I think it was Petrushka who got a message indicating a refusal to connect to the local host.

Once I realised what had happened, I changed the address to for3.org/forums, and everything seemed to be working. I thought nobody had noticed the short break, as nobody had complained!

Unfortunately that address was incorrect: I should have used www.for3.org/forums. This discrepancy I think caused people to have to log in again: the session cookies in all our browsers (which keep us logged-in) are associated with the forum URL, and that had changed, so users were deemed not to be logged-in. When users re-logged-in they would be given a new session cookie referring to for3.org/forums, which would still direct them to the forum, so no problem, apart from the inconvenience of having to log in again.

Now we come to the final problem, which came to light yesterday: the "What's New?" button is hard-coded to www.for3.org/forums, so with a new session cookie pointing to for3.org/forums and not www.for3.org/forums, it seems that the "What's New?" page decided users weren't logged-in, as several people noticed and posted in this thread. This is when, after some research, I realised what had happened, and I corrected the address (again!), whereupon of course, users who had logged in recently and had a session cookie with for3.org/forums, were again deemed not to be logged-in, and had to log in yet again!

I suspect that some people who had other difficulties (e.g. frenchie) were posting at the same time as I was changing the address.

I'm sorry for all the confusion and inconvenience I've caused. In order to avoid further episodes I now have a new procedure in place, whereby before doing any local testing I disconnect from the internet so I can't inadvertently connect to the live forum.

I think everything's now back to normal, but do please continue to report in this thread your observations of any unexpected forum behaviour.

Andrew

[french frank]

Thank you, Andrew. As long as you understand, that will be enough for everyone else

[Andrew Slater]

Thank you, Andrew. As long as you understand, that will be enough for everyone else

Yes, sorry: what was meant to be a succinct explanation seems to have expanded a little, I'm afraid.

[Roger Webb]

I think everything's now back to normal, but do please continue to report in this thread your observations of any unexpected forum behaviour.

Andrew

Erm, feel a bit churlish reporting it but I'm sure we're on British Summer Time now - as I'm new to the Forum perhaps this is 'normal', and come autumn we'll be back in sync with Radio 3 timings.