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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
indigo_mouse written on 02/06/08 20:23

On more careful reading I realized that my story disapeared because it was rejected. I did read the submission rules most carefully.

Since it was my first story, I don't really know why it would be rejected, although I did experience the bug with "That category is locked. Please select a sub-category." Perhaps I did not submit it correctly? I didn't realize it was a bug (thought it was an undocumented feature). I was able to see it for an hour or so after I submitted it (as I played with formatting).

If you have time could you shed some light on this?


witch6 written on 02/06/08 21:16

Do you want us not to leave reviews? You have asked the authors to save the reviews, so is it better if we didn't leave any? If the answer is yes, does it apply to all reviews, or just those one line reviews ("I loved it", "it sucked!", etc.)? Thanks for making this site what it is! We are more than ready to help you out with the repairs, even if it means we can't write or review. Let's just hope this site gets back to normal soon.


Marauder by Midnight written on 02/06/08 22:24

indigo_mouse - Since your story was rejected so quickly, most likely you submitted in more than one category. Make sure only ONE option shows up in the white box when selecting categories. Please read our FAQ for more info on that.

witch6 - Reviews should be okay. I just can't guarantee that it's fully functional (though I haven't received any complaints). I'm going to stress that you all BACK UP YOUR STORIES.


indigo_mouse written on 02/06/08 22:32

Thanks Marauder - I will try again when things are stabilized. I would hate to think my story was so completely without merit that it was rejected that fast.
And I was having trouble submitting it - the afore mentioned "That category is locked. Please select a sub-category." problem.


nesit721 written on 02/07/08 0:45

I'm just here to say THANK YOU to all of the Modly Mods who have been working so very hard with all of these glitches and problems. Just keep up the hard work, and know that we support you! *Curses hackers and anyone else who caused problems*


A H written on 02/07/08 2:33

Hey all you loverly Mods,

I was wondering whether you had the modly option to see which stories have been updated or not? If not, I've seen quite a few and I could report them to you, just as a bit of extra help.

-Arianna


Insecurity written on 02/07/08 4:37

*hugs teh mods* You're doing a fantastic job and let's just hope it all works out well! I have every faith that you will work this out. *passes around the Yorkshire Tea to boost spirits*

Lau x


go go ravenclaw written on 02/07/08 5:29

Thank you, you lovely mods! We all really appreciate your efforts to pull the sight together after that vicious hacker attack. CRUCIO to all the hackers!


written on 02/07/08 5:35

AH: We do have the option to see when stories were last updated. Thank you for the offer, though.

And thanks for the tea, Insecurity. We need it.


ClayPotter written on 02/07/08 7:19

I submitted my first story here the afternoon of Feb. 5th (before the advisory was posted). After the "That category is locked..." bug hit me I continued the process and amazingly got the story posted. Of course it has not been approved yet. If you need to delete it to make your lives easier, I will be glad to re-submit it once we get the all clear. Just let me know.

Sorry if I caused you any inconvenience.


ClayPotter written on 02/07/08 7:24

I must add that I just checked my account and I have no stories to manage. Since this is my first submission on this website, I'm not sure if my story didn't show up because it has not been approved yet, or because you all are having these technical difficulties. The name of the story is "The Potion Master's Assistant." Any instruction would be greatly appreciated, at your convenience, of course.


Marauder by Midnight written on 02/07/08 13:41

ClayPotter - So far, we haven't gotten any complaints of disappearing stories that weren't accounted for with a no letter so it's most likely that you didn't get your rejection letter. If that is the case, resubmit and put a note at the top of the story text (story text, mind you; not Author's Note) that you did not receive your last letter, and the moderator will accommodate to make sure you do receive your next one.

Also, you can post in our aptly named "I didn't get a rejection letter thread.


Allymarieus written on 02/07/08 15:15

Thank you Mods-- I definitely appreciate all of your work! Hearts...


REMi iS AWESOME written on 02/07/08 15:38

I submitted a one shot last night and i need to fix some of it. Is it safe to fix it??


harry_victoria written on 02/07/08 15:39

You mods are doing a great job keeping the site up and running. Without y'all, we'd never have the great site that we have today. You deserve a round of applause.

I really encourage others who have stories/poetry that they really don't like to delete them. I'd rather have a few, or even one great story that it is better than having a bunch that I don't like.

--Victoria.


Vindictus Viridian written on 02/07/08 15:48

REMi iS AWESOME:
In general, editing after you've submitted screws up the formatting. This has been the case for months, so we tell people it's a bad idea. You're better off either repasting the new version in the box and deleting the old altogether or deleting the fic and starting over. In general, edit one more time before submitting than you think you really need to. It saves hassle later. The edit function seems to be working less well every time we look.


Lady Alanna written on 02/07/08 16:23

Merlin, this is a hassle, isn't it? I wish the best of luck to the mods during the site cleanup! I'll delete the stuff I've got in the queue for now until you have the place up and running properly again! If you have to shut the queue down for a few days, go ahead! It'll be sad to not be able to submit anything, but it'll be better in the long run. Best of luck to you all!!! ~Amelia


Scheherazade written on 02/07/08 17:02

I hope you guys have the best of luck when working on this site, and that nothing bad happens to all the wonderful fics and authors here. If you guys do need a temp mod reader, I'd love to help in any capacity. Also, how do I save my stories and reviews offline? I did it once before, but forgot how to do it. Thanks in advance! :-)


justin ferguson written on 02/07/08 17:34

Thanks mods! I recently submitted a chapter to my story, Heir of the Dark Lord. The chapter is called, Chapter One: Attack at Hogwarts. Do you want me to delete it and repost it after the glitches are fixed, or just leave it? Thanks again!


myownmuggle written on 02/07/08 18:17

Scheherazade: Your best bet is to copy and paste into a Word document and save that to your computer.

justin ferguson: This has already been asked answered about other stories.

PLEASE do not post here and ask why one of your stories has disappeared or if your should delete on that is in the queue. Repeatedly asking the same questions takes time away from us being in the queue and working to correct our problems with the archive.