Hi Friends,
(Just to put a message in the place where people might be looking for it.) (related msg: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=19471)

There seems to be some problem with the forum where at least some people can't log in. Some people who are logged in can't post. (Although some people, like myself, can still post messages.) And I wouldn't be surprised if people are unable to register as well. It seems to have started approx last Wednesday (Sept 24, 2015). I've tried to contact the admin, but no answer yet (12 hours later).

I'm told that Lazur was in contact with the admin just before this apparent breakdown occurred. So we think he might know about it. In any case, I've alerted him, so please don't flood him with messages (if you actually can log in at all).

So that's all I know, at this point.

If you have an urgent need for Inkscape support [edit - and can't either post, log in, or register here] my forum is always available Inkscape Community forum.

Update -- Still no word from microUgly. I think he must not realize the full extent of the problem.

Apologies for my laxness with resolving this issues.

My hosting had upgraded PHP and the version of phpBB I we were running was not compatible.

phpBB has been upgraded which should fix all the issues.

Although you will note that things look a little different now. This is how it will look until I can find time to re-write the modifications.

For those who could not log in before, let us know if you're back in. If not, you can use my forum to contact me, as before.

Aaaaaand we're back!

Wow what a nice, clear blue header.

Yeah, I'm loving the change from the orange! Maybe we could keep this theme? Although I really did enjoy the shortcut blocks on the right, from the orange version.

Edit
Does anyone else see a numbe in the browser tab, in front of "InkscapeForum.com"? At first, it was "(2) InkscapeForum.com", and I thought it meant 2 tabs are open, because I have 2 tabs open at the moment. But now, it just changed to "(3) InkscapeForum.com". And I don't have 3 tabs open. I'm not sure what that is, or means??

Edit
I think I might have figured it out. There are 3 reports of spam messages that are open and need to be handled (which Lazur does that now). But it's probably just me and Lazur who see it.

Maybe??

Edit
Yes, that was it. This new version of the forum has some awesome new moderation features!

brynn wrote:.
.
This new version of the forum has some awesome new moderation features!

Yes, when you're in a forum or thread you can click on the Moderator Control Panel (just to the right of "Quick Links") and all sorts of bulk actions are available! In case you are worried, I can't see it in this forum but I moderate two others running under phpBB and the tools are superb.

Yes, that read unread/unanswered/active topics were the most handy sections of them all.
Guess this is a temporary change, as now there are no links, and as unhallowed as it is, there are no ads yet.



On banning, one click ban seems gone.
Now, it takes two extra steps, and most importantly by banning, the posts won't get deleted.
So a regular routine is going to the spam topic, selecting the spam poster's profile, click banning, land on a ban setting page, check if time is set to permanent, click ban, click if it's 100% sure, then go back to the previous post, because it has to be deleted manually.
That just doesn't work. Spam would be refused if there was a capcha at registering, not a static question.


Edit: oh noes, it may be even worse as there are different options on banning user names, ip adresses and mail adresses?
Hope this is just a joke.

Edit: oh noes, it may be even worse as there are different options on banning user names, ip adresses and mail adresses?
Hope this is just a joke.

That's always been there. When I first started modding, micro instructed me to only ban username and IP (iirc). (I disagree with that, and think all 3 should be banned, but I always followed his instructions.) That was before we got the 1 click ban. I guess the 1 click ban must be one of the mods he mentioned needing to re-write.

(I don't know how mods work with phpBB sw. But for SMF, there are hundreds of mods that members make available for everyone else. Mostly free, some for a price. So I don't have to write them, not that I even know how, haha! I just install them. I would have thought phpBB would be similar, but I guess it sounds like not so much.)

Btw, regarding reported spam, have you given up on handling those reports? Maybe I can opt out from that number in the browser tab, showing how many reports.... I changed my options, so we'll see.

Lazur URH wrote:Yes, that read unread/unanswered/active topics were the most handy sections

Just realized they are available at the top, under quick links.

Great!

Does anyone else have to log in every day, since the upgrade?

I've checked my cookies. I even deleted them, in case I had a corrupted session or something. But even with fresh new cookies, I find myself logged out every day.

For me it works. Did you check the 'Remember me' box when logging in? That is supposed to keep the session cookies.

Yes, I check it every time! And I've even lookeded for the cookies before I log in again. The cookies are still there, but yet, I've been logged out.

Maybe something to do with the moderator permissions?

I honestly don't know
You can check how long your cookies are supposed to be valid in Firefox:
Extras -> Page information -> Security -> Click on the button labelled Show Cookies (or similar, translated from German FF). Mine are all valid until 2016...
Or maybe I come back here too often now, so my session hasn't been terminated yet... - You can ask microugly about how long sessions are supposed to last.

All expiring 2016

must not be cookie-related

Edit
Actually this happened a really long time ago. I don't remember how it got fixed, but I think micoUgly did something on his end. But I don't have a problem logging in every day. At least I can log in. When and if he ever comes back to replace the mods, I'll ask him.

Why not send a mail? The address is in the contact info, when you login or try to register.

No, there's no contact info on login. I don't think on register either.

However, I do have contact info for the admin. But he doesn't answer my messages. It's why I gave up moderating. Long story. Go private if you want more info

Lazur URH wrote:Hope this is just a joke.

Just reached a new record time in deleting a post and banning a spammer -done in the same minute of the original post. What an achievement.

shweta321patil wrote:Hello,

How are you ?

Quite good, considering that I have deleted 184 topics made by spammers since the refresh 24 days ago.

Thank you for that, Lazur!

Lazur URH wrote:

shweta321patil wrote:Hello,

How are you ?

Quite good, considering that I have deleted 184 topics made by spammers since the refresh 24 days ago.

It sounds as though you got off quite lightly. On another forum, which I moderate, I deleted 193 threads in one day along with lots of spammers as well as banning many of their IP addresses!

Wow. That sounds horrible. Each day spammers take at least an hour of your life? There must be a far better way.

Could be one of the mods that microUgly mentioned needing to rebuild has to do with blocking spam. Although that's just a guess. Or maybe he couldn't remember how he had set it up for that custom theme. I remember he once told me it can be tricky to configure security for phpBB forums.

Personally, I'm quite ruthless with spam, and would rather accidentally delete an innocent post than leave any spam to be seen. Frivolous messages are also spam, if they don't contribute to the forum. And they only attract more and more. Although that's just my opinion, since I don't moderate anymore.

Yeah, styxlawyer, it sounds like you need some better security in that forum. Although mine is not nearly as busy as this one, in over 2 years, I've only had to delete 5 or 6 spam messages.