[BUG, FIXED] Unable to Access Multi-Thread Forums

[SoMuchTV]

At the request of Community Manager @SilverStormm, I'm creating a new thread here to document an ongoing bug that I and other users have been experiencing.

Since the site updates last April, I've experienced an issue where I'm unable to open links (on my custom home page or the "all shows" view) that go to multi-thread forums.  For example, I can open "Ted Lasso" (because that's a single thread) but I can't open "The Conners" (because that's a forum with multiple show threads.

If I have a notification, I can follow the link in it and open the thread it's for, but I can't navigate to other threads in that forum from it.

This has been happening across various browsers and platforms:  Firefox, Chrome, and Edge on a Win10 desktop; Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge on an iPhone.

What doesn't seem to make a difference:

• Logging in/out
• Changing themes
• Clearing cache
• Ad blocker vs no ad blocker
• Rebooting computer/restarting iPhone
• Network/method of internet access (wifi vs.hard-wired internet vs. using cell data)
• Using a different browser (actually that has worked sometimes but not consistently)
• Using Incognito/private browsing mode (also has worked sometimes but not consistently)

What sometimes seems to work:

• Right-clicking the forum link and selecting "open in new private/incognito window", switching to that window, and signing in.  This has worked sometimes in Firefox and Edge.

Currently I'm having a "good" spell, I can access the forums normally with Firefox on both my desktop and phone, so for me the issue is less urgent.  Chrome still seems to be non-working on both, for me.

In the Everything Else/Chit-Chat thread, other users have mentioned what sounds like the same or similar issues, starting with this link and going on for the next 2 or 3 pages:

https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/26532-chit-chat/?do=findComment&comment=6999619

Users who have mentioned this/similar issues include:

@Browncoat
@emma675
@bilgistic
@rcc

@SoMuchTV(me)

At least one of them has said they can't access this Bugs area at all; I'm hoping if I tag them here they'll be able to follow the notification link.

As background, there a couple of now-locked threads about the issue:

There was a bug thread for site upgrade issues; this is my post about the issue from last April:

 

Then a thread was created for the specific issue:

Hope that is enough information for you to go on!  Thanks for your ongoing investigation.

Edited September 14, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[Meredith Quill]

Thanks @SoMuchTV, the more information about this we can gather the better.

[emma675]

Thanks for setting this up! 

I've tried all the same things @SoMuchTVhas tried and nothing has worked on my laptop or mobile. My issues started happening a few months ago first with my laptop (mobile was fine at that point and I could access everything normally), then a few weeks ago my phone started having the same issues. I can't access any thread I don't have a notification in. I have to go into my Notifications, find an old post that was liked or commented on, click on that, and then I can access those threads. If I try to get to a thread from the main forum page, it times out and I get an error message. 

On mobile, i'm on an Android Galaxy S9, Google Chrome, version 93.0.4577.62. On my laptop, I'm on Windows 10, Chrome, version 92.0.4515.159, or Edge, version 93.0.961.44. I've tried the site on multiple browsers and always have the same issue. 

[Meredith Quill]

@emma675 I just logged in as you and posted in Test zone - can you try accessing that and/or another thread or forum that you wouldn't normally be able to now. Then let me know the outcome - I just wanna test out a theory, thanks.

[rcc]

Thanks SoMuchTv for the mention. Now I can follow and will be notified on content.

[emma675]

I just tried it on my laptop and mobile phone and it didn't work (I get the below error). I also tried to access a few other forums from the main forum page and it didn't work. 

[AllAstronauts]

Just a note on the rather unique problems you guys are having. Daily uniques here are in the thousands (I will not provide the prefix to those thousands...) - and it's just you guys with this. If this was a massive widespread problem, traffic would be down as well - that hasn't happened. To compound matters, when Silver and myself sign in as you guys to try and replicate - we can't.

We're hoping there is "something" that we are all missing in the commonality or the way the problem is being described.

Anyone willing to screenshare? And by screenshare I mean live real-time screensharing so I/we can observe in real time.

EDIT: When you see that "Community is Temporarily Unavailable" that's a hosting problem and nothing to do with the site itself.

[rcc]

5 minutes ago, AllAstronauts said:

Just a note on the rather unique problems you guys are having. Daily uniques here are in the thousands (I will not provide the prefix to those thousands...) - and it's just you guys with this. If this was a massive widespread problem, traffic would be down as well - that hasn't happened. To compound matters, when Silver and myself sign in as you guys to try and replicate - we can't.

We're hoping there is "something" that we are all missing in the commonality or the way the problem is being described.

Anyone willing to screenshare?

EDIT: When you see that "Community is Temporarily Unavailable" that's a hosting problem and nothing to do with the site itself.

I never get that message. It just does not enable me to open a thread.

[AllAstronauts]

That message is separate to your collective problem. She just caught the hosting service hiccupping (or an AWS timeout).

[Meredith Quill]

Indeed, I signed in as each of you guys (Macbook, Brave browser) to test accessing random topics and forums using the different themes and also posted in test zone as each of you, which, presumably you normally would have problems accessing:

And was unable to replicate the same issues, weird. 

[emma675]

So why would it be having issues on our end when we are signed in and not on your end when you're signed in as us? What's the difference? 

[AllAstronauts]

Exactly!

There is something missing that none of us is describing or seeing. That's why I'm asking for screen sharing to live-watch and talk.

[emma675]

I could screen share later today, if anyone is available.

[Meredith Quill]

32 minutes ago, emma675 said:

So why would it be having issues on our end when we are signed in and not on your end when you're signed in as us? What's the difference? 

Therein lies the issue that we're trying to track down. What's the commonality you guys have that we don't that's causing the problem.

[shapeshifter]

32 minutes ago, emma675 said:

So why would it be having issues on our end when we are signed in and not on your end when you're signed in as us? What's the difference? 

31 minutes ago, AllAstronauts said:

Exactly!

There is something missing that none of us is describing or seeing. That's why I'm asking for screen sharing to live-watch and talk.

Just now, SilverStormm said:

Therein lies the issue that we're trying to track down. What's the commonality you guys have that we don't that's causing the problem.

I do not have this problem, but having spent decades helping users troubleshoot tech problems, one thing not considered thus far is:

• Personal security settings?

Perhaps there is some commonality among the afflicted?

Note: Admins should feel free to consider this and riff off of it without making my post live. 

[FormerMod-a1]

10 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Personal security settings?

Possibly.  I know I have issues accessing the site when I use a VPN.   However, they aren't these exact issues, I just can't get to the site at all from some of the VPN sites. 

[SoMuchTV]

2 hours ago, AllAstronauts said:

Just a note on the rather unique problems you guys are having. Daily uniques here are in the thousands (I will not provide the prefix to those thousands...) - and it's just you guys with this. If this was a massive widespread problem, traffic would be down as well - that hasn't happened. To compound matters, when Silver and myself sign in as you guys to try and replicate - we can't.

We're hoping there is "something" that we are all missing in the commonality or the way the problem is being described.

Anyone willing to screenshare? And by screenshare I mean live real-time screensharing so I/we can observe in real time.

EDIT: When you see that "Community is Temporarily Unavailable" that's a hosting problem and nothing to do with the site itself.

I just want to say that when I'm having the issue, if I wait long enough (maybe a minute or two?), I always get that "community unavailable" message.  And those are pretty much the only times I remember seeing that message.   I just usually give up and back out if the thread doesn't respond in a few seconds, before the message has a chance to come up.

And regarding the suggestion about different security settings - I've had the issue come and go in different browsers, with no change on my part to any settings.  At one point I suspected some filtering by my ISP, but I tried using cell data and had the same issue.

ETA:  Your mention of "hosting problem" raises a flag.  I'm not a website/networking techie, but don't some forums direct traffic through different "hosting" avenues?  Could it be diverting requests for single threads through a different host than requests for forums, maybe for some users/browsers and not others?  Are we all in the same part of the world?  Just a thought, I don't know enough to fully develop it.

Edited September 14, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[emma675]

I discovered something interesting this morning while I was playing around with things. If I switch themes to IPS default, I can get into threads from my saved forums page if they have a little sub-area to the right (see below). I was able to get into the Everything Else section by clicking on the Family: The Good, the Bad, etc. link to the right:

[AllAstronauts]

Anyone around this afternoon or evening to screenshare lets set up a time

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

I discovered something interesting this morning while I was playing around with things. If I switch themes to IPS default, I can get into threads from my saved forums page if they have a little sub-area to the right (see below). I was able to get into the Everything Else section by clicking on the Family: The Good, the Bad, etc. link to the right:

I've been using that workaround as well, when I'm not able to find a "good" browser.  It makes sense & fits the pattern - those links on the right are pointing to individual threads, not full forums.  Also, once you've gotten into one of the threads, you can use the navigation at the bottom to go to "next unread topic".

I didn't realize it only works in IPS Default theme; that's pretty much the only one I use now.

Edited September 15, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[shapeshifter]

Description of problems:   

(Bug 1—navigation to content fail)

• If I go to the Forums home page and click on the link for the Bugs, Questions, & Suggestions page
  
  

  Or:

• On my Stream page if I want to go to a different Jeopardy! page by clicking the word Jeopardy! in the phrase “…topic in Jeopardy!” or to a different Stargirl page by clicking on the word Stargirl in the "...topic in Stargirl" phrase
  
  

  Or:

• If I scroll to the top of an episode page and click on the button to go to the show's main page 
  
  
   

…in all of these instances the PrimeTimer.com website server times out to the “This Community is Temporarily Available …” message page:

However, I can get to the Bugs, Questions, & Suggestions page on Safari on my iPhone by emailing myself the link and clicking on it.

 

(Bug 2—image size edit save fail --not a navigation bug, but including here because it happens on the exact same platforms and began at the same time, about 2 weeks ago, or early September 2021)   

ALSO IN SAFARI ON IPHONE: Images cannot be resized because the button for saving the size change is unresponsive. 
Chrome works. 

Bugs happen:

• ONLY on my iPhone 7 on Safari (but I could try it on my son-in-law's iPad that he leant me)
• both before and after updating to iOS 14.8
• in all Themes
• starting a few days ago

I do NOT have the problems/bugs:

• on my iPhone in Chrome
• on my Windows laptop 

Workaround for content access/navigation issue:

• Again, I CAN get to this Bugs page on Safari on my iPhone by emailing myself the link and clicking on it.
   

Edited September 27, 2021 by shapeshifter
Clarity, having to save screen grabs on phone, etc.

[emma675]

So, no one has contacted me about screen sharing to look further into the issues. Are we basically just stuck not having access to the site and unable to contribute?

[Meredith Quill]

On 9/25/2021 at 10:26 PM, emma675 said:

So, no one has contacted me about screen sharing to look further into the issues. Are we basically just stuck not having access to the site and unable to contribute?

Please PM me and I will facilitate a screen sharing session between you and the dev, thanks.

[Madtown]

This just started happening to me on this past Friday, November 5th. The only way I can seen any forums is to click on a notification. I use a Mac Book Pro and iPhone. Both have been updated recently, but shouldn't have anything to do with this. I tried to get in using Safari(I use Firefox)and couldn't get it to work using that either. I clear my history every day, which logs me out of sites and clears my cache. I have tried everything that was listed on the first post and it none of it worked. I have never had an issue like this in all the years that I have been on this site. I'm hoping someone here is working on this.

[emma675]

On 10/4/2021 at 6:14 AM, SilverStormm said:

Please PM me and I will facilitate a screen sharing session between you and the dev, thanks.

Sorry for the crazy delay, but I did pm you and haven't heard anything back. I've also come across two other posters who have started having this issue, so I'm adding their name here.  @Madtown and @realityfan26

[Meredith Quill]

18 hours ago, emma675 said:

Sorry for the crazy delay, but I did pm you and haven't heard anything back. I've also come across two other posters who have started having this issue, so I'm adding their name here.  @Madtown and @realityfan26

Odd, I haven't received a PM. I'll send one to you that you can reply to.

[shapeshifter]

FWIW, my navigation is still screwed up on my iPhone as described above (forums.primetimer.com/topic/122294-bug-unable-to-access-forum-content/?do=findComment&comment=7021297) but since that post, it is screwed up in both Safari and Chrome on the iPhone.

Also, on the iPhone, I cannot submit and edit to resize a picture to a smaller size so it isn't obnoxiously large in the thread. I have to insert the picture from my phone, and then quickly go to my (Windows 10) laptop (Chrome) to resize the picture.

However, my phone has been suggesting I update my OS to iOS 14.8.1 for a couple of weeks now (IIRC) but I'm still waiting, in part for these forums to catch up.

But maybe all y'all's programmers have been testing on the iPhone OS 14.8.1 already??

If so, I'd be happy to update and report back as to whether or not it fixes the navigation issues described upthread.

 

[rcc]

I still have the problem!

[realityfan26]

Per @SilverStormm 

I saw @emma675 mentioned I have been having problems so I thought I'd explain the only way I can access the boards. I can no longer click on the boards I follow to get access. It times out every time. I have tried clearing cookies, rebooting and nothing works. This has been going on for over a month. 

My time consuming solution is to click on streams > unread content > time period > since last visit > following > content in areas I follow. I then click on the first topic that pops up and navigate to the last post I've read which isn't all that easy. I can then click on next unread topic and can complete the reading of an entire board.

What is even more frustrating is that I have to complete that step for EVERY single show I follow!!!! Very frustrating!

[SoMuchTV]

On 11/14/2021 at 6:25 PM, realityfan26 said:

Per @SilverStormm 

I saw @emma675 mentioned I have been having problems so I thought I'd explain the only way I can access the boards. I can no longer click on the boards I follow to get access. It times out every time. I have tried clearing cookies, rebooting and nothing works. This has been going on for over a month. 

My time consuming solution is to click on streams > unread content > time period > since last visit > following > content in areas I follow. I then click on the first topic that pops up and navigate to the last post I've read which isn't all that easy. I can then click on next unread topic and can complete the reading of an entire board.

What is even more frustrating is that I have to complete that step for EVERY single show I follow!!!! Very frustrating!

This isn’t an official response, but I’ve had this issue off and on. Other workarounds to try if you haven’t already:

- try every different browser you can get access to. 
- if that fails, right click on a link that you know times out and select “open in new private window” or the equivalent. Then see if you can log in on that private window and open your stuff. Repeat that in each browser until something works. (And if you find something that works, leave that tab open!)

I’ve been able to find something that works on both pc & iPhone but there was a spell where it would change from one day to the next. 
 

good luck!

Edited November 22, 2021 by SoMuchTV

[StaceyNotStacie]

Hello,

I am unable to access topics in certain forums from the main board (All Shows or Your Shows).  For example, if I select a forum with a single topic (i.e., When Calls the Heart or The Kitchen), I am able to access the forum without any problems.  However, when I try to access a forum with multiple episode threads (i.e., The View or Grey's Anatomy) or topic threads such as Other TV Talk or Genre Talk, I am unable to access these boards.  My screen will continually search and if I scroll down, it becomes blank.  The only way I am able to access them is if I perform a search from the main board or if I pull up a previous thread that I have viewed that is still in my search engine.  I have this issue on both my PC and iPhone and with Google Chrome along with Microsoft Edge and Safari. This has been happening for quite a while (since sometime last year).  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  

[Meredith Quill]

Please know, this issue hasn't been forgotten about. With our dev currently out of action since late 2021 for personal reasons, all we can do is wait until he's back unfortunately, however, no ETA on that yet. In the meantime, @emma675 and I have tried a number of possible workarounds during the last week or so, but sadly to no avail. I can only offer my apologies for the continued inconvenience and thank you all for bearing with us.

[SoMuchTV]

I don't expect you can do anything more at this point, but in case it's useful for your troubleshooting:  The bug has resurfaced for me.  On my iPhone (latest ios), I was able to access the forums normally using Firefox, until today.  Nothing has changed in my settings, etc. that I'm aware of. Tried 3 other browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge).  Tried incognito/private browsing.  Tried restarting my phone.  Same results - able to open threads but not forums.  Since in the past it has somehow "fixed itself" for me, I'll hold out hope that will happen again.

Knock on wood, Firefox on PC (Win10) is still okay for me.

As before, if you need a volunteer for troubleshooting, message me.

[shapeshifter]

On 3/15/2022 at 9:33 AM, SilverStormm said:

Please know, this issue hasn't been forgotten about. With our dev currently out of action since late 2021 for personal reasons, all we can do is wait until he's back unfortunately, however, no ETA on that yet. In the meantime, @emma675 and I have tried a number of possible workarounds during the last week or so, but sadly to no avail. I can only offer my apologies for the continued inconvenience and thank you all for bearing with us.

I would offer to look at the code, but I know enough to know how complex that would be, even just from a security standpoint. My most recent looking at code only succeeded in spoiling Wordle for a few friends. 
For now, I'm grateful all y'all are continuing to keep this ship afloat in these perilous seas.

[shapeshifter]

Possibly helpful update:

For the last few weeks, I was unable to get to this page or any forum or page that I was not currently "following."
Since about 2:30pm EDT, I am able to get to those pages on Edge on Windows 11 and Chrome on iPhone, but not Chrome on Windows 11 or Safari on iPhone.

[SoMuchTV]

I don’t want to speak too soon and jinx anything, but it appears that after the big “badge update” (Wed evening May the Fourth) I’m now able to access forums on my phone without having to jump through any private browsing workarounds. I’ll hold my breath and see if it stays that way. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

I don’t want to speak too soon and jinx anything, but it appears that after the big “badge update” (Wed evening May the Fourth) I’m now able to access forums on my phone without having to jump through any private browsing workarounds. I’ll hold my breath and see if it stays that way. 

Whoo hoo! [oops. sorry. 👀 did I say that out loud?]
Likewise, links to forums are now working in Chrome Windows 11 and Safari on the iPhone iOS 15.4.1.

A touchdown score for the tech people! 🙌

[SoMuchTV]

Yeah, I guess I did speak too soon.  Seems to be mostly working but hit-or-miss.  On my iPhone SE(2020), most forums open but Jeopardy just gives me a blank page.  Maybe it's one of the larger ones?  But Survivor's okay, and I think it's pretty big.  I think I tried all the big-4 browsers - Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Safari.

On my desktop PC (Win10), Firefox continues to be okay and has been for several months.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yeah, I guess I did speak too soon.  Seems to be mostly working but hit-or-miss.  On my iPhone SE(2020), most forums open but Jeopardy just gives me a blank page

Yes, Jeopardy! is the one board link that’s not loading for me on my iPhone iOS 15.4.1 Safari, or on Windows 11 Chrome.

But it does link correctly with Chrome on the phone   and Edge on Windows.

I was waiting until the note about site indexing not being complete went away to report the Jeopardy!  board link fail, but since you mentioned it, I did want to at least corroborate your findings.

Edited May 5, 2022 by shapeshifter
too much italics

[SoMuchTV]

36 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

 

I was waiting until the note about site indexing not being complete went away to report the Jeopardy!  board link fail, but since you mentioned it, I did want to at least corroborate your findings.

Just as another datapoint, the Commercials forum is behaving the same way (not loading).  I don’t see any note about indexing being in progress, but that sounds like a logical explanation. 

[AllAstronauts]

Indexing has nada to do with this - that's just rebuilding the search index (99.999% sure without looking).

And.... like before, there is zero reason for any of these problems - a link is a link. Access on my Samsung Note phone (Samsung and chrome mobile browsers) is fine. All the simulated browsers I have access to when deving all check out fine (all iPhone permutations) - Jeopardy, Commercials, etc. all load up fine - desktop or otherwise.

I'd really need to see this first hand from one of you guys and if it is mainly phone I'd have to see you with a webcam or something pointed at your phone to watch (or one could record such and upload to ???) - ditto for desktop behavior.

And finally - I'm NOT discounting your travails here - we just seem to be stuck in that mechanics loop - the one where you bring in your car and say the windshield wipers are not working and then they test and they are working fine and then you leave and they are not working...

[shapeshifter]

37 minutes ago, AllAstronauts said:

Indexing has nada to do with this - that's just rebuilding the search index (99.999% sure without looking).

And.... like before, there is zero reason for any of these problems - a link is a link. Access on my Samsung Note phone (Samsung and chrome mobile browsers) is fine. All the simulated browsers I have access to when deving all check out fine (all iPhone permutations) - Jeopardy, Commercials, etc. all load up fine - desktop or otherwise.

I'd really need to see this first hand from one of you guys and if it is mainly phone I'd have to see you with a webcam or something pointed at your phone to watch (or one could record such and upload to ???) - ditto for desktop behavior.

And finally - I'm NOT discounting your travails here - we just seem to be stuck in that mechanics loop - the one where you bring in your car and say the windshield wipers are not working and then they test and they are working fine and then you leave and they are not working...

Also not working on laptop with Windows 11 in Chrome (as noted above).

Perhaps also worth noting:

• I am using the IPS Default theme (because of ad issues with other themes?)
• I am using a “stream.”

If nobody else has these issues, I’m okay with it for now.

[AllAstronauts]

Stream? Now I'm curious and will look there. I will take a screen shot from you though with you circling what you click that doesn't work (from the Win 11 Chrome laptop - windows snipping tool will do it for the screen unless you have other screenshot software - whatever floats yonder boat)

No one should be using the default theme, it's really just there for debugging (and if it is available for you now somehow, it definitely won't be when the final upgraded stuff comes through)

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, AllAstronauts said:

Stream? Now I'm curious and will look there. I will take a screen shot though with you circling what you click that doesn't work (from the Win 11 Chrome laptop - windows snipping tool will do it for the screen unless you have other screenshot software - whatever floats yonder boat)

No one should be using the default theme, it's really just there for debugging (and if it is available for you now somehow, it definitely won't be when the final upgraded stuff comes through)

Nooooo!!!  Please don't take away the  IPS Default theme option!!! It's SO much easier on the eyes than the other two.  Less cluttered, less busy, just less "jarring" in general.  As soon as I realized it was an option (I think it was suggested to help with some long-ago bug), I never went back (except for occasional trouble-shooting).

And I'm not sure what "using a 'stream'" means, but I normally access shows through the "custom home page" or "my shows" or whatever the current name is.

I'm not set up for recording my phone activity on a webcam; the best I can do is take a series of screen shots.  But I'm not sure what additional information that would give you - I click on a forum link (certain ones), and get a blank screen.  One thing I have noticed since yesterdays changes - for the forum links that work for me (which is most of them now), some seem to take longer than others to open (as much as a few seconds).  That was what made me wonder if it was the larger forums that were having the issue.

I don't know if it's really just @shapeshifterand me who are having these issues now.  There have been a lot of people (including many posters upthread) who have reported them over the last few months, and I haven't so far seen anyone else report back one way or the other.

Anyway, thanks for continuing to look into this.  Yesterday's updates were definitely a big step forward for me.

[AllAstronauts]

The new theme stuff is "closer" to the default then what is up here now. That's not entirely true, but hard to describe. There is a lot of legacy stuff (really old stuff) laying about and that's going away.

When we get closer to public release we'll create a dogfood club and I'll make a point to let you in for testing.

BTW, if the crux of the problem is getting a "forum temporarily unavailable" message on a white page that will be an upstream problem I'll need to bring up with the server provider (at which point we'll be looking at IP addresses, your internet provider, route traces, etc.) - that's a down the line thing to deal with though.

[shapeshifter]

On 5/5/2022 at 1:15 PM, AllAstronauts said:

Stream? Now I'm curious and will look there. I will take a screen shot from you though with you circling what you click that doesn't work (from the Win 11 Chrome laptop - windows snipping tool will do it for the screen unless you have other screenshot software - whatever floats yonder boat)

No one should be using the default theme, it's really just there for debugging (and if it is available for you now somehow, it definitely won't be when the final upgraded stuff comes through)

I hope this is what you need: 
Upthread on this page is a post from September, where I included screen shots:
 forums.primetimer.com/topic/127563-unable-to-access-multi-thread-forums/?do=findComment&comment=7021297 

The first part of that post, which I labeled "Bug 1—navigation to content fail" addresses the problem we're talking about.
It includes screen shots with the dysfunctional links circled in red, like:

Let me know if these are not clear enough.

The only real difference in terms of screen shots is that the formerly "temporarily unavailable" screen now shows:

Perhaps the trouble is one of these?
(from ionos.com/digitalguide/hosting/technical-matters/http-error-500-internal-server-error)

• Permission error: The permissions of the main files and folders are not set correctly.

• PHP timeout: The script tries to access an external resource and experiences a timeout.

• Incorrect code in .htaccess: The structure in a .htaccess file could be wrong.

• Error in syntax or code in CGI/Perl scripts: In some cases, scripts are incorrect. Paths, especially, can be misaligned.
   

BTW, I have switched to the Light theme and am not having the issues I had with it previously with regards to popup ads, but the link failures are the same as in the IPS Default theme.

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by shapeshifter

[AllAstronauts]

Those links are not anything special, I checked to be sure. The Jeopardy one just links to the jeopardy forum: https://forums.primetimer.com/forum/112-jeopardy/ - like any other link to the forum (and you probably already understand this but if you wanted to go to that topic in the stream, specifically that post - you would just click the title there in bold instead of the Jeopardy link). All those stream bits are the same, the forum links will just be plain links to the forum, the title links to the topic and post and so on. No different really from anything else in the software.

Anyways, these unavailable errors and the can't handle request errors I can 110% positively state have nothing to do with the theme or the underlying software. What I am curious about is where you are, and how you get your internet. This site is on the software provider's cloud system - which is just Amazon cloud stuff. Even I will get the above error messages albeit rarely (indicating there is a blip with AWS handling the load or y or z. or etc. - which will either be AWS farting out or the software provider not having enough horses bought through AWS to handle the load at that exact moment or etc...). 

However, if you are getting these errors consistently, then I start to think about those curious things mentioned above. 

In the cases of the two variations of errors:

1) The 500 error is 99% of the time a "timeout" error. You click a link, and either the server does not respond at all in the time the browser expects it to, or it gets it but still doesn't respond. That is a BROWSER error response meaning "I got nothing" - the site is probably under some form of load (or rather the provider's cloud instance is) - enough to just not talk back at that particular moment. If there was a misconfiguration or error in the software, none of the forums would work and you would get this message ALL the time.

2) The "community cannot handle the request at the moment" 504 error is coming from the cloud software. As one of the software provider's devs stated when queried on this in the support forums: "If you see this error, it usually means a hosting-side problem has occurred. There are automatic protections in place which will typically auto-resolve the problem after a few moments." Those automatic protections being new cloud server instances being brought online or if an Amazon router is blipping out, automatically dealing with such, and so on... In many respects its just a nicer version of the previous 500 error. In this case, you got through but the underlying cloud-blip still prevented the cloud from pushing out the page to you so instead the software kicks out a nicer message.

3) The "community is temporarily unavailable" is essentially the same as above. You just might have caught the site in the middle of something (there are underlying processes constantly underpinning the site - maintenance tasks, indexing, etc...) - there's other site conditions that might give this but that's all in the deep weeds and no need to go into that here. I could manually kick off a few rebuild processes on the members database table that would probably cause that message to appear - the equivalent of you walking up to someone to ask a question and them immediately picking up a nearby phone and telling you to hold up for a minute. 

If you want an indirect example of how stuff specifically like this is hell to work through, in my downtime I'll play Fallout 76 (online mmog). Single wireless router in the house. Capable of 2.4 and 5 signals. The 5 is superior bandwidth and speed, but doesn't travel through walls that well. The 2.4 is rock solid at distance but less bandwidth. My laptop (dev and gaming) will sometimes auto connect to the 5 instead of the 2.4 even through all these walls back in my office. And for the life of me when I started playing Fallout 76 again I could not figure out why the game kept disconnecting me all the time. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, 20 minutes occasionally - kicked. Stupid buggy Bethesda game...

Until I looked at my wireless connection. And saw the 5. 

Locked it on 2.4, and never really had a disconnect since. The game doesn't need much bandwidth but it needs the connection to be there. That always online-game was detecting a flaky through-the-walls-5 signal not keeping a steady connection, and tossing me. (Yes I know, get a mesh network and up my wireless game). 

So. Lot's of words leading to this: What is special about your wireless, internet use, provider, path, etc. that makes you especially susceptible to getting these errors?  It's either that or really bad luck...

 

[shapeshifter]

28 minutes ago, AllAstronauts said:

What is special about your wireless, internet use, provider, path, etc. that makes you especially susceptible to getting these errors?  It's either that or really bad luck...

I have been living in Rochester, NY since January 2021.
I'm not sure if I experienced this issue earlier. 

However, in September, I was living a few miles away and using the Greenlight ISP. 
Since November, I have been using the Spectrum ISP.
I do not know what they might both use, but I do know the Greenlight is not available at my current location yet because they are doing their own digging. 

28 minutes ago, AllAstronauts said:

If you want an indirect example of how stuff specifically like this is hell to work through, in my downtime I'll play Fallout 76 (online mmog). Single wireless router in the house. Capable of 2.4 and 5 signals. The 5 is superior bandwidth and speed, but doesn't travel through walls that well. The 2.4 is rock solid at distance but less bandwidth. My laptop (dev and gaming) will sometimes auto connect to the 5 instead of the 2.4 even through all these walls back in my office. And for the life of me when I started playing Fallout 76 again I could not figure out why the game kept disconnecting me all the time. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, 20 minutes occasionally - kicked. Stupid buggy Bethesda game...

Until I looked at my wireless connection. And saw the 5. 

Locked it on 2.4, and never really had a disconnect since. The game doesn't need much bandwidth but it needs the connection to be there. That always online-game was detecting a flaky through-the-walls-5 signal not keeping a steady connection, and tossing me. (Yes I know, get a mesh network and up my wireless game). 

I have spoken with techs at both ISPs and HP regarding why my printer can no longer scan wirelessly. They too discussed the 5 connection vs. whatever, but to no avail. I did at least manage to get it to print without being connected by a cable. I thought I saved a note about this in my how2 folder, but I can't find it. I think it was an issue of the software updates to the printer software and the software updates to the computer not being synced even though both are HP.  
Anyway, I don't Think it's the wireless connection speed, but 🤷‍♀️

Wouldn't all of this (including connection speeds) 👆 be moot, because the links Do Work in different browsers.
Since Chrome works on my iPhone but Not on my Windows laptop, might it be something to do with my own privacy settings that I inadvertently clicked in the browsers I regularly use, including when half asleep? 

If you or I stumble across any advice on Reddit or elsewhere to fix this: Great!
If not, we will go back to our day jobs and pursing World Peace.

Edited May 6, 2022 by shapeshifter
clarity

[Meredith Quill]

Pinging

@Browncoat 

@emma675

@bilgistic

@rcc

@realityfan26

@Madtown

@StaceyNotStacie

Has this issue resolved for you now?

 

[Browncoat]

Everything seems to be working for me now.  Thanks!