Issues with the front page in Site Updates (Josh)
Revised: 05/05/2023 10:51 a.m.
- April 27, 2023, 10:16 a.m.
- |
- Public
Hey everybody,
About 20 hours ago, for reasons unknown, the front page stopped updating. Additionally, anytime you try to publish an entry of any kind, you will see a panda. HOWEVER, the entry will still be saved and show up in bookmarks.
Not sure what’s going on, and am attempting to secure some of my developer’s time today to dig into it. Everything looks stable on the server side, so at least there’s not an issue there.
My hypothesis is that this has something to do with the spammers escalating to thousands of entries an hour across multiple accounts. Can’t confirm anything yet, but seems like the obvious bet.
Will update this post with progress as it’s made, and post another once things are back to normal.
Hey, at least this fixes the spam problem, right? …Right? Sigh.
Thanks as always for your patience.
Update 4/29: Still working on tracking down the issue, no luck just yet. Developer has a new baby (🎉) so his availability is limited these days. We’ll get there!
Update 5/4: The developer is still working to track down the issue, but it’s unfortunately been slow going. Will update again as things get closer. Sorry it’s taking a while, everyone.
Update 5/5: Starting to see the occasional entry pop onto the front page, which is promising. Word from the dev is he’s targeting Saturday evening for a fix. Crossed fingers!
Last updated May 05, 2023
Shattered ⋅ April 27, 2023
A report button would be fantastic.
Asenath Waite Shattered ⋅ April 27, 2023
I third this.
WomanOfSteele ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you for your time and effort to figure this out!
GypsyWynd ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you, as always, for all you do for this site.
Jane Says ⋅ April 27, 2023
Two-factor authentication on login might be a good way to stem the tide. Thanks for looking into it.
Shattered Jane Says ⋅ April 27, 2023
This is a good idea too.
Sleepy-Eyed John Jane Says ⋅ May 06, 2023
I think I'd be okay with that. For starting a PB, pretty much nothing else though.
The Gal Who Gets It ⋅ April 27, 2023
So grateful for you!
Deleted user ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thanks for checking into it.
Mr. Mofo ⋅ April 27, 2023
Can't Mochi just chase down and kill the spam bots?
synapse ⋅ April 27, 2023
grateful to see you on the case! My offer to help with some footwork is still open, just let me know how I can help.
Park Row Fallout ⋅ April 27, 2023
I figured you'd be on it, but glad to see the communication. Good luck and I hope you're doing well!
Ferret Mom ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you! I'm feeling a little better about it now.
thesunnyabyss ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you!
A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ April 27, 2023
As always, I thought I was just living in the past.
Forest Firefly A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ April 27, 2023
Best response.
simple mind ⋅ April 27, 2023
Weird. My memory is super rusty, but as I recall the front page entries are cached (for like a minute at a time) so it doesn't have to hit the database every time someone visits the front page. So for some reason the cache stopped updating.
Parliament ⋅ April 27, 2023
Drop this fucker in ChatGPT and let our Overlord script a solution for you. ;-)
Deleted user Parliament ⋅ April 29, 2023
Outstanding!
Jinn ⋅ April 27, 2023
Hi Josh ! Glad to see you are here !
Jodie ⋅ April 27, 2023
I am wondering if we see spammers anywhere on the site if we canhave tools to delete them for ever from everyone? Because the way it kis now we can just delete or block them from the pperson who is blocking or deleting so they won't see it again?
I hope this gets fixed once and for all...and thank you so much...
Jigger ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thanks, Josh!
Gonewiththebreeze ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you for taking care of our site - I know you’ll figure it out and prosebox will be better than ever
sadandlonelygirl ⋅ April 27, 2023
Thank you Josh! I can't imagine the effort that you have to put in to run this wonderful site! My mental health thank you for that and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Really mad at scammers for taking advantage of such a wholesome website. They just don't have any conscience I guess.
Asenath Waite ⋅ April 28, 2023
Checks in every few hours to see if anything has changed
I guess I'll light a candle and some incense, and think healing thoughts for Prosebox.
josh Asenath Waite ⋅ April 28, 2023
Sage might help
TTO ⋅ April 28, 2023
Thanks for keeping us updated :)
Deleted user ⋅ April 29, 2023
Honestly? I think the most effective way of handling this is to charge people a one-time sign-up fee of a dollar or two every time they create an account. All people. The reason these spammers are so prolific is that it's easy and free to sign up. Charging a buck or two will also cut down on the trolls who keep deleting accounts and creating new ones when they figure out no one is reading their crap and people are blocking them. Sometimes you have to pay for quality, and I don't think a one-time sign-up fee of a buck or two is too much to ask of anyone.
littlefallsmets ⋅ April 29, 2023
I'm so glad to know this is what it is, I feared I'd pissed someone off and got soft-blocked or something.
Jodie ⋅ April 29, 2023
Is there a way we can help you bu also deleteing these spammers? Maybe figure out a way we can have a delete button and they will go away forever?
Jinn ⋅ April 29, 2023
It’s reassuring to know you are keeping track of it . Thanks!!
TellTaleHeart ⋅ April 29, 2023
Thank you for all you and your team do!
thesunnyabyss ⋅ April 30, 2023
Thanks Josh!
Out of Doubt: End time ⋅ April 30, 2023
So exactly when is that going to be fixed and the spam bots are dealt with? I'll even do a captcha just to post entries if it'll stop the spam bots that have been hanging around for months.
Justlovely ⋅ May 02, 2023
Thanks for the information update. on 5/1, I'm just posting for the first time in a few weeks, so it was good to see this entry and know what's going on.
Out of Doubt: End time ⋅ May 04, 2023
It's been a week. The issue is still there.
TactileFeedback ⋅ May 04, 2023
So weird. I keep trying and running through ideas. I can't figure it out either. A handful of newer entries have posted, but when you click on them they are broken.
Database corruption? Check your disk sizes? Running out of space? Hmm. Maybe they are just too big to process on the hardware. Oh no. You may have to rebuild databases. cringe Well, that's better than nothing, right? Sometimes databases "fall over" as my husband says. IDK. I don't understand it and neither does he. And it just breaks and stays broken.
If I can help test/troubleshoot. LMK. sigh I can try.
thesunnyabyss ⋅ May 04, 2023
Thanks for the update!
Jinn ⋅ May 05, 2023
Thanks for letting us know .
Jodie ⋅ May 05, 2023
Thank you so much for taking the time to figure this all out for us. Justa FYI when I post my entries I see the oanda then I have to go backwards and I see my entry on the front page but it also shows up with the title missing but it's still posted. Is this part of the issue?
LordJunon 🧀🧀🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🧀🧀 ⋅ May 05, 2023
Well i'm an airhead and didn't see the updates. I was wondering what was going on. Hah.
Starhawk ⋅ May 05, 2023
Perhaps it's related to the feed queueing for the front page, but my Bookmarks->Latest is not accurate, either. Not an emergency but maybe worth putting eyeballs onto.
JustSurviveSomehow ⋅ May 05, 2023
It looks like in the last hour or so, the front page has been updating. Fingers crossed!