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Database Glitches

by Marauder by Midnight @ 02/05/08 23:14  
Dear Authors,

You all must know by now that we've been having some serious problems with the archive due to both the hacker situation and the sheer size of the archive. Our priority these past few days have been limiting the glitches, but they are beginning to mount to the point where we may need to initiate a temporary queue shutdown. Over the course of the next few days, we will be trying to do a site upgrade, which will hopefully fix the problems we're having. The number and frequency of glitches may escalate over this period, but we ask you to bear with us.

There are several ways you members can help us:

+ Do not submit any new chapters or stories to the queue starting from now. Doing so will add unnecessary strain to our already wobbly system and may threaten the existence of every single story and author stored on the database.
+ Back up your stories and/or reviews just in case the worst happens. We will try not to cause an MNFF apocalypse, but no promises can be made.
+ If you have a fic you've wanted to get rid of or an abandoned fic you aren't going to continue, now is the time: just go in and delete it from the archive yourself.
+ Queue wait time is much, much longer at the moment due to, again, our focus on stabilizing the database. We will try to mod stories as often as we can, but complaining about your wait time will only serve to deter us from our main goal which is to make sure this site continues to exist.

Here are a few glitches that have already been noted and that we will try to correct over the next few weeks.

+ Edit bio information - Reported error is "Method Not Implemented: POST to /user.php not supported."
+ Switch categories and Add stories/chapters - Reported error is "That category is locked. Please select a sub-category."

Several people had reported errors when contacting users via the "Contact" button on user profiles; that error has now been fixed.

Finally, as we are updating behind-the-scenes codes, we will, as humans, make mistakes. Therefore you will see some pages/functions glitching. Please do not report it until 24 hours after first experiencing the particular glitch. That way, you do not waste your time reporting a glitch we know about and will have already fixed; if it is not fixed within 24 hours, most likely we don't know about it and would like you to contact us.

We will keep you updated on glitches and fixes. We will also notify you when you can begin submitting stories in a (nearly) error-free environment.

If you have any questions about this don't hesitate to post them here, but please don't waste our time with off-topic ones that should go elsewhere. As you can see, we have more than enough to do at the moment.

Thank you ever so much for your patience and cooperation.

EDIT: If your story suddenly disappeared from the queue, please don't be afraid. It is not a glitch. Your email provider merely weeds MuggleNet Fan Fiction emails out and refuses to send your rejection letter. Instead of posting in the comments, please post here at the Beta Forums.

UPDATE: We do NOT have an estimated time for when the queue will be "reopened" or when the update will be done because we're running into some difficulties with a third party. Now that that has been answered, please stop asking the same questions in the comments section. Please take the time to at least skim the already existing comments.

Comments
pike007 written on 02/18/08 12:29

is the number of favourites that people have affecting the site and would the whole process be speeded up if we each had less favourites?


pike007 written on 02/18/08 12:31

p.s all mods rock and we (everyone who has ever heard of this site) really appreciate all the effort that you are putting in to get our beloved site better


Roxy Black written on 02/18/08 15:43

The favourites shouldn't affect the system, but thank you pike007 and Sedragore for the thought and encouraging messages.


Kerichi written on 02/18/08 18:31

When I read pike007's post I felt like Gingy from Shrek. "No, not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!" I'm so relieved readers aren't asked to dump favorites. Some writers cling to the knowledge that readers are looking forward to updates and the thought of being dumped is enough to make a non-gingerbread girl go to a happy place and sing 'On the Good Ship, Lollipop!' :D


abbs866 written on 02/18/08 20:49

*Passes out chamomile tea* Poor modlies. I hope you all get this under control soon, and good luck!


dreamgirl65 written on 02/19/08 9:48

How long do you think we will have to wait before we can submit new chapters to our stories?


CloewithLOVE written on 02/19/08 9:49

Dear Mods, Our hearts go out to you wishing you the best of luck. Thank you for all your paitence when it covers ours questions and concerns. If we delete our favorites will it releave your stress. Like Kerichi said it does give autors a feeling that people are actually caring about our ideas however, if it helps you I am willing to delete my favorites. Good luck! Happy Valentines' day! *gives out chocolate and roses* Best of luck.


HermionePotter written on 02/19/08 16:51

I dont care how long this takes, I think you guys are doing a wonderful job. This has been one of my favorite sites for a very long time, and I can cooperate with any downtime, no matter how long. Keep up the good work, and good luck to you all.


songbook99 written on 02/19/08 16:56

dreamgirl65, we still do not have a firm date for the update. If you cannot wait, you can submit your story. We just ask that those who can wait to submit do wait.

CloewithLOVE, like Roxy said a few posts ago, the favorites should not affect the archive itself. The only impact favorites really have is to occasionally overwhelm the email system when the update emails get sent out.


justin ferguson written on 02/19/08 17:48

Thanks for all the work you're doing to fix this sight, mods! As people have said, we will help in any way we can. I can wait to post the next chapter of my story. I actually haven't encountered any of the glitches - yet, thankfully. Good luck, and I hope this sight is fixed soon! We love y'all!


Trivia Camlee written on 02/19/08 20:56

Thanks Mods for all the question answering and behind the sences work that is going on; we all really appreciate it! I hope the site up grade goes over well. Good luck, and thanks again!


tomsgal written on 02/20/08 10:30

I don't mean to be pushy but how long is it going to take to get back to normal?
Thanks!!


songbook99 written on 02/20/08 10:40

tomsgal, please see my response from yesterday. We still do not have an exact date for the upgrade and, until we do, we cannot give an exact date for when things will be going back to normal as the glitches will be solved by the upgrade.


Grimmrook written on 02/20/08 14:49

Okay, just to let yall know, I'll be deleting the latest chapter from Epilogues III, the one that got stuck in the queue. Hope that helps.


songbook99 written on 02/20/08 15:49

Grimmrook, thank you for the notification. I'm sorry we weren't able to get it to move out of the queue.


Grimmrook written on 02/20/08 19:14

No big. Just let me know when it's safe to post again.


adidas012 written on 02/21/08 16:00

when do you think we can send in stories again?


songbook99 written on 02/21/08 20:03

adidas012, we will let you know as soon as we have a firm date for the upgrade.


Ravenclaw_Soprano written on 02/21/08 20:45

Best of luck, modlies. I'm about to delete my story (as I'm not too fond of it), but let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. *pulls out Hershey's kisses and hands them out to all the modlies*


Angel of Dreams written on 02/22/08 8:24

Just to mention that there's a glitch in whenever I attempt to 'add new chapter'. I can get to the page to write the author's notes and the chapter, but I can't preview or post the chapter. Just thought you'd like to know.