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myTPM Tech Check-in
Hi all,
We've been doing a bit of maintenance on the myTPM software in the past week, and have witnessed some unexpected behavior, especially in publishing entries. If you've seen anything funky lately, please comment-- I'd like to use this thread as a clearinghouse for any new bugs, glitches or concerns that have cropped up. Please be specific in reporting, and thanks in advance!
We've been doing a bit of maintenance on the myTPM software in the past week, and have witnessed some unexpected behavior, especially in publishing entries. If you've seen anything funky lately, please comment-- I'd like to use this thread as a clearinghouse for any new bugs, glitches or concerns that have cropped up. Please be specific in reporting, and thanks in advance!
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Thanks for making a place, Al.
I don't have any reports about recent problems, but I do have two about continuing, never fixed bugs. And I am reporting them as only minor irritations, in the spirit of reporting bugs because they might cause bigger problems down the road:
1) Recommends lists on user pages still do not update properly in a timely manner, just like comments lists were not updating properly in the past before you fixed that problem. A user can cause recommends to update immediately by creating a blog post or posting a comment on one of their own threads.
2) Some users still have very funky screwed-up user pages, where their comments lists don't record their comments properly with a full set of links, and their "followers" and "following" lists are missing from next to their avatar. Here are two examples:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/bradthedad
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/tena
I have seen several others that also have this problem. It always seems to be people who have never made a blog post of their own, but I am not sure there is correlation/causation there because I have seen others who have never made a blog post whose user pages seem normal.
January 5, 2009 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just noticed another bug:
I made this test comment on my last blog post in the wee hours this morning, January 5. It is time-stamped properly on the thread itself, but on my user comments list the time stamp for it is December 30.
January 5, 2009 11:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
people who haven't started a blog yet won't have complete profiles. what kind of delay are you seeing on recommend pages for recommended posts to show up?
January 5, 2009 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
people who haven't started a blog yet won't have complete profiles
OIC! That is helpful for people to know. Perhaps you should have something stating that on your explanation page of MyTPM? People should know that there is that benefit to making a blog post, that they aren't a "full member," so to speak, until they make one?
what kind of delay are you seeing on recommend pages for recommended posts to show up?
Many days, and they get updated in big glumps, just like comments were updating before you fixed them. Not just on my list, but on others' lists, too. Actually, it really doesn't seem to update much at all until I am active on my own blog somehow, either a comment or a post, just like it was before with the comments lists. And the update of recommends when you blog or post a comment on your own blog is immediate and clear, no mistaking it. That is what my test comment was about, and I've tested it before, it will update many days of recommends immediately after one posts on one's own blog. Posting comments elsewhere doesn't do it.
January 5, 2009 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
P.S. Just FYI, I can tell that others' recommends lists are not updating properly because I see their recommends on my dashboard, but when I have checked their profiles, those recommends are not there. It's the same situation as it was for comments before you fixed comments updating--the dashboard is immediately updated, but the user profiles not.
January 5, 2009 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
this was supposed to be fixed. i'll investigate. thanks for the input, artappraiser.
January 5, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
There was a slight error in the code, where it was taking the entry creation date rather than the comment creation date. I just fixed. Your comment looks timestamped correctly now.
January 6, 2009 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey great, I feel good about bothering to mention it now, maybe that will solve the other timestamp problems some people have been reporting! I feel like I've given a helpful "crimestoppers" tip or something...heh...
January 6, 2009 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
My recommends are not at all accurate. There are a few up, but I recommend much more often than the list shows...not a major big deal, but it makes it looks like I rarely recommend anything, which just isn't accurate.
I am a frequent commenter, but I regularly have to re-log in to comment, and even though I figured out how to log in, refresh the page and resubmit, I often lose my comment in the process. As I put a lot of time and thought into my comments, it can be frustrating.
For the most part, things seem to be much improved and I REALLY appreciate your coming on to ask how we're doing. I've misplaced your e-mail address, and had been hoping you would post so I could mention the recommend issue.
Just curious...how difficult would it be to add a "private comment" feature, or other way of contacting each other privately? There are times when it would be good to make comments w/o them being seen by the whole group...
January 5, 2009 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Still my dashboard contains nothing and I am continually logged out when I switch pages.
I have deleted the cookies, without effect.
January 5, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
it looks like you aren't following anybody. this is probably why your dashboard is blank. when you switch pages do you have to re-enter your login and password, or do you just have to click "log in" and it flips to the logged in state?
January 5, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just need to click on log in.
I guess I misunderstood the concept of a dashboard. I thought since there are "comments", "posts" and etc. tabs that my comments should appear.
January 5, 2009 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
That used to confuse me too, Chris. The "Dashboard" option is used to monitor the posts, comments, recommends of the people you are following.
Choosing the "Your Blog" option instead of "Dashboard" will allow you to see all of your posts, comments, recommends etc.
January 5, 2009 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I e-mailed you about this and I replied to you only last night, but since you're here, I can't do much of anything. I can't blog or change my profile picture. This has been going on since the day I registered - which was a very long time ago.
January 5, 2009 12:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
did you get my reply? i changed your privileges. has it helped at all?
January 5, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I got the blog and I was able to change my profile picture. Thanks!
January 5, 2009 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
You want specific examples. Here's one:
Just now on an EC thread - with only 2 comments on it (I wonder why....), I tried to post a short comment. It took forever.... to get a screen telling me "WE ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED TRAFFIC!"
Um..... NO!
Well.... I just reloaded the page. And of course my teensy comment posted. It's the third one here:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman_attorney_victory_is_conceivable_--_but_not.php#comments
EC continues to work like molasses! Unprecedented!
:)
January 5, 2009 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, we're looking into the long delays on EC. Are you seeing waits when commenting on any other blogs?
January 5, 2009 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
No Al. It's been EC for a long time. And it continues to be EC. (sorry for the delay in responding... I got side-tracked with other stuff)
Other than that and the little brown lines that sometimes show up at the end of my blogs, I'm ok. (and I can live with the brown lines...)
January 5, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
those brown lines are extra blockquotes without text in them. to delete, just get rid of the unnecessary <blockquote> tags at the end of your post
January 5, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll see if I find a way to do that next time, Al. Thanks for the advice. (I'll file it in my head.) Right now, however, I had concluded they meant "three strikes" for war criminals! So I'm leaving the current ones.
Cheers!
January 5, 2009 5:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I noticed that there seems to be a problem with the TPM clock. The same comment (a reply to me) was reported as occuring at different times in the My Dashboard section vs other areas of the site. I noticed a few days ago that the same user's Comments section (bslev) listed only one time of posting for each post (maybe 20 or so of them) in his entire list; they obviously could not all have been made at the exact same time.
Meanwhile, my own comments section appears completely blank. Do I understand it right? Do I have to follow someone for my posts to show? The "Wordie does not follow anyone" message just seemed so right somehow.
Is there any way to remain signed in, or do we have to click each time? Even after signing in, I'm occasionally getting signed out upon opening a new page. It takes just a quick click to fix that, but in long threads that means scrolling way up to the top and then trying to find one's place again. I hope we will be able to return to the old system of remaining signed in indefinitely.
Thanks for working on the fixes, Al.
January 5, 2009 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
testing
January 5, 2009 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like Artappraiser, my 'recommends' don't update. Her observation that posting a reply on one's own blog would update the list is good to know, but a cumbersome way to achieve that end. I too have noticed that those 'following' users are not updated accurately. The user page will indicate that X people are following the user, but when you click on the # following that user, the next screen indicates (X - ?) people following same. Thanks for your efforts in clearing some of this up Al.
January 5, 2009 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
The system doesn't seem particularly buggy right now, but there is one long-standing annoyance that keeps surfacing (I've written in about it before):
Reader posts that override the site's default font. There are two current examples that display in bizarre typefaces, point sizes or leading: Quinn's "I've come unstuck" and another titled "Double standard for Madoff."
My guess is that this happens when a post is written in a different program, then cut-and-pasted into a blog-post box.
When that occurs, it is surely possible to strip the text of any pre-existing styles. If for some reason TPM can't do it automatically, perhaps the Your Blog page could carry explicit instructions telling posters how to do it themselves.
The Reader Blogs would look a lot better.
A far more minor quibble: on Dashboards, the Recommended list seems to lag the other listings by a lot. The titles of recommended posts would also benefit from a date stamp, much like those in the Comments list.
January 5, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry acanuck.... I deliberately override the default font, as I do at work, because I find the one I use to be easier to read. I may try writing in the one then publishing in the usual, but it still bugs me then when I go back to edit & comment.
However, my main point is that it's not Al's fault, and nor is it an accidental result of cutting & pasting. It's just me... being an obstinate bastid!
(And the Canucks got Sundin. Sorry Habs-dude.)
January 5, 2009 6:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, it is so strange to have communications with the powers that be.
I am doing fine thank you.
By the way, whether it was you or not, TPM sure got rid of that new round of insurance spam quick--I think last week.
January 5, 2009 4:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
so strange to have communications with the powers that be
Al Shaw is one of those very rare actual humanoid tech managers. And not only that, he can communicate in English, and does so, with other humans yet! I have also seen evidence that he actually looks at the ways people use the site he is associated with! Enjoy it while you can until someone else hires him away! Then we will be back to only non-techies who understandably run and hide from interaction with the users on tech questions and complaints like they might catch the plague.
January 5, 2009 9:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
We will never, ever, let someone hire Al Shaw away. If only for his humanoidal attributes.
January 6, 2009 9:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
ack!
January 5, 2009 9:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not sure if this glitch is in your bailiwick...
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/prosecutor_madoff_violated_bail_by_sending_assets.php#comment-3331497
My comment got in there three times, and I see another comment above my first one seems to be there three times.
In my case, the comment submission got stuck on the new "sorry we're having a lot of traffic" page, but apparently the submission went through fine. Hitting Refresh seems to send it again.
If you want to clean up those comments, please remove the second and third copies of mine.
January 6, 2009 12:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
More: I'm seeing a whole pile of new double or triple posted comments similar to what I noted and experienced, from other posters. Maybe you need a "duplicate post filter" or to improve the usage of that "high traffic" algorithm.
Also, the way you are doing ads is taking up a lot of processing and download time, still. And the occasional ad still "covers" part of the page making it inaccessible until after clicking on the ad (I had thought that was only Circuit City, but some other ad did it last night, once).
January 6, 2009 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi there,
I've been a commenter for some time, however, I haven't yet blogged.
That said, after I logged in, I clicked the Dashboard for the first time and got the following error:
I am therefore unable to access and view the Dashboard.
I have an Intel Mac Powerbook Pro, running Leopard OS 10.5 and am using Firefox v. 3.05 as my browser.
Thanks in advance,
Lisa db
January 6, 2009 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Al, I signed up to follow a bunch of people earlier this evening, but nothing showed up on my dashboard (and following showed no one). I just checked my dashboard and got the same error message voxpopgirl got...
January 6, 2009 2:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
make a comment to one of your own blog posts, and see if that fixes it. (give it a half hour or so though)
January 6, 2009 7:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
I tried, ant, thanks...didn't work. Today there is still nothing under "following" plus an even weirder error message on my dashboard.
January 6, 2009 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
oof. thanks for the heads up.
January 6, 2009 9:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just looked at the source for the previous link. I cannot believe the conditional style statements size in it. That's a hefty weight in unnecessary bytes to be serving.
Maybe there is some way to strip-out anything between (inclusive):
<!--[if gte mso <!--[if gte mso {variable_DecimalNum}]><xml>
</xml><![endif]-->
January 6, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Checked again, just now Al...Still nothing listed under following, and even weirder error message on dashboard!
January 6, 2009 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
A odd one Al, My first guess is that a rich-text paste into a blog post managed to override the site's default anchor tag CSS code on the whole page. (link)
My user-agent string:
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.5) Gecko/2008120122 Firefox/3.0.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
January 6, 2009 7:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
yes, it is annoying when users paste from word, and (usually unbeknownst to them) word's css overrides the page's css. we haven't found a way around that yet, unfortunately.
January 6, 2009 9:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
(1)Recently: Can't comment. Get an "error" message.
(2)For a while (several weeks): No storage in "DASHBOARD".
January 6, 2009 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Note: Notice above comment went in OK. Maybe problem #1 fixed? Still have problem #2.
one_wilson
January 6, 2009 10:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
You commented here; are you unable to comment on other blogs?
It looks like you're not following anyone, that's probably why your dashboard is blank (see the conversation above about this.
January 6, 2009 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just in case you didn't have enough on your plate already, the comments and rec numbers are not keeping pace on the side menu. DD's post shows no comments, no rec's when on the actual post he has several of each...same on several others...
January 6, 2009 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Plus, Al, the blogs are not falling off the cliff as they should be. Mine should have gone to it's doom hours ago... but it's still there. (even though at one point I believe it did disappear as it should have)
Something apparently seems to have frozen the system. Some monkey wrench - or sabotage!
January 6, 2009 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scratch that, Al. It's now gone! Not sure what was happening, unless it's only happening sometimes.
Weird!
January 6, 2009 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
we were doing some maintenance on the rec lists yesterday. definitely drop me a line if you still see them misbehaving (al at talkingpointsmemo dot com)
January 7, 2009 9:00 AM | Reply | Permalink
I haven't been able to start a blog, nothing show up when I go to "blog now".
All my comments are gone, the follows, everything. This is the second time it's all been wiped out.
Please help
January 8, 2009 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
i'm with droogy. did i get edited out? or am i just incompetent. I'll believe either.
February 28, 2009 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tried using the Dashboard for the first time. Got this message: "Can't call method "blog_id" on an undefined value at /var/www/cgi-bin/mt-current/plugins/CommunityDashboard/lib/CommunityDashboard/App/Community.pm line 32."
Cleared cookies, restarted. Didn't work on my work computer or here at home.
March 3, 2009 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink