Forum Still Plagued With Gateway Problems

[Darkroom]

It's worthy of note that after many months, this forum and it's siblings under vBulletin are still suffering from the "Gateway Time Out" problem and seems to be the only ones on the net doing so. It really is time something was done to address the problem. If it can't be done "in house" by Admin then surely it's worth employing someone who can sort the problem.

It's taken over 10 min to submit this post due to waiting for Gateway Time Out to clear.

Darkroom

[MJ224]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

Agree it has been very slow loading on some occasions, not many tho'

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I agree. Sometimes I have spent ten minutes or so composing a well-considered epistle only to lose it when I press the submit button and the site times out. Maybe I am on a blacklist somewhere.

The problem with employing an IT expert is cost. There was a request for donations a few months ago which I and many others responded to but the moneys raised can only last so long.

To be honest the forum is becoming so sterile lately that I am rapidly losing interest. I enjoy a good, honest debate and was a keen member of the debating society at school. There was a time when robust debate was allowed here; encouraged even, but of late threads have been closed mid-debate which creates something of an awkward silence.

If members are to be asked to support the forum it is only reasonable that they are allowed to enjoy it and not be overly censored.

Just my humble opinion.

(See how long this thread lasts.)

[Otto]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I haven't had a gateway timeout for ages actually. However experience has taught me that when I'm typing a post to do a ctrl^A ctrl^C now and then to copy it to the clipboard so if something crashes I still have the text. I have also noticed on occasion that when I click submit and subsequently get a timeout, the post has actually been submitted. Usually I find this out just after I've resubmitted it and so have to delete the double post!

[DerekW]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

If I want to write an essay in a forum I write it first in a text editor, polish it and then copy and paste into the forum.

However often the urge to say something is lost and you are saved from my comments.

[Darkroom]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I agree. Sometimes I have spent ten minutes or so composing a well-considered epistle only to lose it when I press the submit button and the site times out. Maybe I am on a blacklist somewhere.

The problem with employing an IT expert is cost. There was a request for donations a few months ago which I and many others responded to but the moneys raised can only last so long.

To be honest the forum is becoming so sterile lately that I am rapidly losing interest. I enjoy a good, honest debate and was a keen member of the debating society at school. There was a time when robust debate was allowed here; encouraged even, but of late threads have been closed mid-debate which creates something of an awkward silence.

If members are to be asked to support the forum it is only reasonable that they are allowed to enjoy it and not be overly censored.

Just my humble opinion.

(See how long this thread lasts.)

Agreed totally. The silence resulting from the sterility is obvious from the lack of activity within the lounge from all the usual reprobates, myself included.

Regarding the cost of paying to sort the gateway problem, reading through the old posts where the donations were being requested I seem to recall it was suggested they would be used to improve this forum but this doesn't seem to be evident yet.

Would the cost of paying for the problem to be sorted really be so great ? I know very little about servers and other IT concerns but as the Gateway problem and slow running seems to effect the 3 fora, and no others, surely it has something to do with the server or vBulletin software. If the latter, do they not have a responsibility to rectify the problem ? This forum has been running so slow today as to be almost unusable with many time outs and lost posts.

The above ongoing problems together with the level of censorship recently applied to genuine discussions and debate makes me wonder if the forum really does have a future worth contributing to. I still have no idea why the last debate was closed despite reading the posts numerous times. I would also point out the debate was actively contributed to several times by members of the Admin team yet suddenly closed without warning on the grounds of "personal comments made about members". What comments and made by whom ? Maybe somebody complained in private ? I guess we will never know.

Darkroom

[Darkroom]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

If I want to write an essay in a forum I write it first in a text editor, polish it and then copy and paste into the forum.

However often the urge to say something is lost and you are saved from my comments.

The problem is, it matters not how you compose a post if it's subsequently deleted by a Gateway Timeout when you submit it. Ok as you have a copy, you are saved the effort of re-typing it but it's still very annoying and frustrating.

Being saved from comments just goes to prove every cloud can have a silver lining

Darkroom

[Jim Ford]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I had a 'Gateway Problem'earlier today. This is the only site I ever experience it on!

Jim

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I had a 'Gateway Problem'earlier today. This is the only site I ever experience it on!

Jim

I rarely seem to get gateway problems as such but all too often the forum will just stop responding when submitting posts which then disappear into cyberspace.

In my own limited experience such problems are usually caused by incorrect gateway or DNS settings which should not take more than a few minutes to correct.

As for censorship; I accept there are limits to what should be tolerated in the way of 'free speech', but locking or deleting threads simply because a member of Admin doesn't like what is being said is a sign of weakness and insecurity; not strength or maturity. The fact that longstanding members such as John Heating Man have had their accounts terminated in recent times only serves to support this view.

I am happy to contribute to forum funds if reasonable free speech is allowed, but I will not make obsequious posts to win favour from anyone. That is not the way that I work.

[Jax]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

I rarely seem to get gateway problems as such but all too often the forum will just stop responding when submitting posts which then disappear into cyberspace.

In my own limited experience such problems are usually caused by incorrect gateway or DNS settings which should not take more than a few minutes to correct.

As for censorship; I accept there are limits to what should be tolerated in the way of 'free speech', but locking or deleting threads simply because a member of Admin doesn't like what is being said is a sign of weakness and insecurity; not strength or maturity. The fact that longstanding members such as John Heating Man have had their accounts terminated in recent times only serves to support this view.

I am happy to contribute to forum funds if reasonable free speech is allowed, but I will not make obsequious posts to win favour from anyone. That is not the way that I work.

In my limited experience, I've found different web browsers report the Gateway problem in different ways. I've had full page reports headed "Gateway Timeout" other reports stating "The Database has experienced a problem" and sometimes as Nigel reported, post simply vanishing when submitted with no report visible. This has been a problem on here since I first joined. As it is only on the 3 sites and as Jim states, nowhere else, it seems to be a problem local to this fora.

Regarding your comments on the censorship applied on here, I agree wholeheartedly with all your comments and applaud the fact you make them.

We recently had a case of a sexist, mysogynistic comment made by a member of the Admin Team and I acknowledge the person involved apologised for it but nothing was said and no censure applied by any other members of the Admin Team. Had the same comment been made by myself or other members and complained about, I can't help feeling the response may have been different.

Today, censorship has again been applied by Admin in the For Sale section of the forum. It really is beginning to feel more like a junior school than a forum comprised of very mature adult members.

On the other hand, in all these recent instances of censorship it is conceivable they could be the result of a member complaining via PM to the Admin Team. If that is actually the case, it would be far more open, understandable and reasonable if that fact was stated openly, even if the complainants identity was not disclosed. At least we would know it was not simply the single view and opinion of one Administrator.

I for one really enjoyed reading and sometimes contributing to the debates on here, heated or otherwise but recent instances of censure have poured cold water on that enjoyment. I agree with Nigel's comment about the forum becoming sterile and this can't possibly improve the chances of attracting new members.


Jax

[pdk42]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

To be honest the forum is becoming so sterile lately that I am rapidly losing interest. I enjoy a good, honest debate and was a keen member of the debating society at school. There was a time when robust debate was allowed here; encouraged even, but of late threads have been closed mid-debate which creates something of an awkward silence.

If members are to be asked to support the forum it is only reasonable that they are allowed to enjoy it and not be overly censored.

Just my humble opinion.

(See how long this thread lasts.)

Nigel - I always appreciate your contributions since they are thoughtful and well presented. I've found myself modifying my view on more than one occasion as a result of a post from you. However, what I will say is that ever since the Brexit thread, the tone of discussions here is too often turning nasty and personal. It's a real pity since we used to collectively be (a) more focused on photography, and (b) much more considerate and polite to each other!

In the wake of this it's certainly true that there has been more intervention from the mods of late; but I can't think of any occasion where anyone's views have been censored (in the sense of their opinions being removed or suppressed). Some may have been censured for things said, but I think in the main when that's happened it's been proportionate and handled delicately. We have all been guilty I'm sure of writing things in haste and pressing the submit button without the necessary thought, so I'm not trying to be preachy here - just trying to highlight a trend as I see it.

Does this make the forum sterile? I personally don't think so. There's no reason why we can't discuss things without getting personal or aggressive.

I also think, especially in light of the Brexit thread, that a "no politics" policy should be introduced. It's completely reasonable of course to have places to discuss politics, but I think that a photo forum is not the place for that since it colours members' views of each other and leads to division and hardened positions that then spill over into the photography topics.

[pdk42]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

As to the technical problems - I think it would be worth Ian making some comments as to the situation. I have to say that I've not personally had excessive levels of problems - but maybe I've just been lucky.

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

Well, it seems we are discussing the weather now. I have no objection to this in principle but do I believe it is indicative of the sterile and benign place that this forum has become of late.

However, I am more concerned that censure is not applied even headedly as there is clear political bias in these decisions. It seems to be acceptable to make racist, sexist and ageist remarks against older white, male Brexiteers for example, but mention 'snowflakes' and the thread is locked.

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

Nigel - I always appreciate your contributions since they are thoughtful and well presented. I've found myself modifying my view on more than one occasion as a result of a post from you. However, what I will say is that ever since the Brexit thread, the tone of discussions here is too often turning nasty and personal. It's a real pity since we used to collectively be (a) more focused on photography, and (b) much more considerate and polite to each other!

In the wake of this it's certainly true that there has been more intervention from the mods of late; but I can't think of any occasion where anyone's views have been censored (in the sense of their opinions being removed or suppressed). Some may have been censured for things said, but I think in the main when that's happened it's been proportionate and handled delicately. We have all been guilty I'm sure of writing things in haste and pressing the submit button without the necessary thought, so I'm not trying to be preachy here - just trying to highlight a trend as I see it.

Does this make the forum sterile? I personally don't think so. There's no reason why we can't discuss things without getting personal or aggressive.

I also think, especially in light of the Brexit thread, that a "no politics" policy should be introduced. It's completely reasonable of course to have places to discuss politics, but I think that a photo forum is not the place for that since it colours members' views of each other and leads to division and hardened positions that then spill over into the photography topics.

Sorry I missed your post Paul and thank you for your kind comments.

I agree with much of what you say but I do feel that censorship has become too heavy-handed of late, and is not even handed.

I also feel it is a sad day if we cannot discus politics from time to time. Politics affects every one of us in some way and is often not well understood. Indeed I strongly believe that politics and political principles should be discussed more, and not less. The way the country is going at the moment I fear there is a very real risk that large numbers of people will never darken the doors of a polling station again; and I say that as a Remainer.

[pdk42]

Re: Forum Sill Plagued With Gateway Problems

However, I am more concerned that censure is not applied even headedly as there is clear political bias in these decisions. It seems to be acceptable to make racist, sexist and ageist remarks against older white, male Brexiteers for example, but mention 'snowflakes' and the thread is locked.

What evidence do you have for that?