- Joined
- Feb 17, 2002
- Messages
- 14,663
- Reaction score
- 105
I received notice that a couple of the topics in the Clothing forum were broken and did some investigating. I found one corrupt post db file that was messing up the database and removed it from where it could do damage, hopefully. This means one post will probably have mysteriously vanished and at the moment there is no way to figure out which (that I know of). It wasn't very recent. However, the backup function on the maintenance CP is still crashing late in the process with an Internal Server Error (the same one that you all probably see from time to time) which gives me no indication of what the problem is.
A larger problem, however, is that the forum (happily) is outgrowing the type of database it is running on (unhappily). I was not informed of this at the beginning, but the "DBM" type database is not suitable for heavy use and thousands of posts and tends to get corrupted. The other good option is a mySQL db, but it appears my web server (with whom I am increasingly unhappy) does not support that at this time. So I will probably be hunting for a new server for the forum and/or trying to get mySQL installed on my current server, and then migrating to mySQL on some server. All of this should be seamless with a little downtime and I will be sure to back up the whole forum a couple of times on different computers so we can always at least reference the info that is already here.
Hopefully, I will be able to get this done pretty soon, and it should run better and less glitchily(?) after the process.
In the meantime, PLEASE, (I suppose I should have pinned this somewhere at the beginning of the forum), DO NOT EVER compose anything large and original (like a custom shirt manifesto, etc.) in the "Enter your Post" box. This applies to ALL Internet forums; believe me, I know, having been frustrated by various glitches in all the systems and login problems, cookie problems, cable modem going out, etc. ALWAYS simply start a "new text file" or similar on your computer's Desktop, compose your piece, saving regularly, and then cut and paste it into the Post box. It will take you about 5 more seconds and save you much torn out hair and me and others the empathic disappointment of losing a composition on my forum. This is not, of course, to blame anyone, as it is not glaringly obvious especially to a forum neophyte; it is simply to try to prevent the loss of original composition in the future.
And on that note, it's been a good year around here, looks like people are still enjoying it, so I guess I will renew the domain name (the 60-day warning email just came a couple days ago). Happy belated holidays and have a good and safe (and of course stylish) New Year's celebration.
J.
A larger problem, however, is that the forum (happily) is outgrowing the type of database it is running on (unhappily). I was not informed of this at the beginning, but the "DBM" type database is not suitable for heavy use and thousands of posts and tends to get corrupted. The other good option is a mySQL db, but it appears my web server (with whom I am increasingly unhappy) does not support that at this time. So I will probably be hunting for a new server for the forum and/or trying to get mySQL installed on my current server, and then migrating to mySQL on some server. All of this should be seamless with a little downtime and I will be sure to back up the whole forum a couple of times on different computers so we can always at least reference the info that is already here.
Hopefully, I will be able to get this done pretty soon, and it should run better and less glitchily(?) after the process.
In the meantime, PLEASE, (I suppose I should have pinned this somewhere at the beginning of the forum), DO NOT EVER compose anything large and original (like a custom shirt manifesto, etc.) in the "Enter your Post" box. This applies to ALL Internet forums; believe me, I know, having been frustrated by various glitches in all the systems and login problems, cookie problems, cable modem going out, etc. ALWAYS simply start a "new text file" or similar on your computer's Desktop, compose your piece, saving regularly, and then cut and paste it into the Post box. It will take you about 5 more seconds and save you much torn out hair and me and others the empathic disappointment of losing a composition on my forum. This is not, of course, to blame anyone, as it is not glaringly obvious especially to a forum neophyte; it is simply to try to prevent the loss of original composition in the future.
And on that note, it's been a good year around here, looks like people are still enjoying it, so I guess I will renew the domain name (the 60-day warning email just came a couple days ago). Happy belated holidays and have a good and safe (and of course stylish) New Year's celebration.
J.
