# Problem with forum page setup



## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

All of a sudden when I click on a forum, the various threads on the page (I use per page) are all in a random order. Prior to this morning they most recent posts were at the top and dates got older as I scrolled down the page. An example is that on the Public Forum page, Shad had two push pins that were always at the top of the page. Now they are about halfway down on the page. The first post is dated November 8. I have to go down on the page to find November 12. I have tried this on three different computers. Is there a setting somewhere on the site that I can change to fix this?

Chuck


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## redbeard (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks! 
I was beginning to doubt my sanity..................................... 
Larry


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I think anybody that plays with toy trains has to doubt their sanity.... (or is it the other way 'round?)









I looked around for a fix, but cannot find one we, the users, can effect.

Anyway, I had not noticed the problem because I view the forums in a slightly different way...

Click on "Not Read" and you will get a list of all the topics that I have not seen (or set to "read" status) and that way there is usually no more than a dozen or two in the list. The first time you do this you will probably get a huge list, but just look a the few you are interested in, then click the "Mark all read" link/button at the bottom and that will mark them all as having been seen and they will no longer show up until someone adds a posting to them.

It also shows topics from ALL the forums instead of just one so I can learn from and participate in those discussions without having to call each of the forums up one at a time to check for new topics I might be interested in.

Try it that way, you might like it better!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 12 Nov 2012 02:03 PM 
All of a sudden when I click on a forum, the various threads on the page (I use 20 per page) are all in a random order.  Prior to this morning they most recent posts were at the top and dates got older as I scrolled down the page.  An example is that on the Public Forum page, Shad had two push pins that were always at the top of the page.  Now they are about halfway down on the page.  The first post is dated November 8.  I have to go down on the page to find November 12.  I have tried this on three different computers.  Is there a setting somewhere on the site that I can change to fix this?
 
Chuck


Sorry, I wanted to add a correction to my earlier post. I must have hit quote,rather than edit. My fingers are still getting used to the iPad.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I find the same problem all day today!! 

It is a server/program/site issue gone awry!! 

And I am not interested in reading every post here, so that will not work for me.. 

I am certain it is not anything a single poster can change on their end either!!! 

Where's Chad when you need Him!!? ha!!! 

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys!! It is nice to know that I'm not going crazy alone.

Chuck


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 12 Nov 2012 02:53 PM 
Thanks guys!! It is nice to know that I'm not going crazy alone. Chuck So we're all going crazy... Thanks for confirming it, Chuck. Both about the pages going screwy and going crazy..... Old age, eh?????


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Hey I refuse to,... 
.......'ack now ledege'... 

i'mgoingcraZee! 

or never will Go cRAZy.. 

I'm old tho, hod tha happpen..? 

Guess i'LL stick to Trains than, ..darn it!! 

))) }}}}


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Cold today also! 

last week I was in cut-off shorts and no T-shirt.. now I can't get warm at all........... weird, now what - mus B global warm'n, maybe! 

What happended!??


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## fyrekop (Sep 20, 2011)

Slow news day yesterday in Sierra Vista but good for G scale folks. Local model RR club made the Front Page of the local rag including a large phot of a youngster watching the small G Scale layout they have next to the building. 
Dirk it was cool here to this AM when I rode my motorcycle in the Vet's Day Parade. 34 degrees seems colder when riding.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Allen, You must gotten the day off for Veterans Day!! Don't think I have had that day off too many times in My life!! 

Add a windshield to your scoooter man!! 

Send that youngster up here - I'll OPEN up his eyes - indeed!!! 

I had frozen standing water Sunday am... brrr!! 

D


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Made a post on My thread....... 

Never moved to the head of the list!!??????????????????????????? 

Dirk - We try harder!! ha


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Dirk: you deserve to be at the top of your forum. Where are the MODS when we need them? This appears to be a real problem, it would be nice if someone in power acknowledged that there is a problem and someone is working on it. Chuck


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Glade you folks posted this problem. I also thought my PC was messed up. Later RJD


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 12 Nov 2012 05:25 PM 
Dirk: you deserve to be at the top of your forum. Where are the MODS when we need them? This appears to be a real problem, it would be nice if someone in power acknowledged that there is a problem and someone is working on it. Chuck Chuck

Yes there seems to have been a change, and I've put in a message to Shad. So do you feel all warm and fuzzy now?


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, oh yes, warm and fuzzy. But on the serious side, I noticed this problem about 8AM today. It seems to me that a notice should have gone out about a problem earlier, if it was known. Thanks for the update. In situations like this, we all assume that it is our local problem. Is this an instance when we should use the alert message? Chuck


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Cold all day... 

just out of HOT shower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

NOW - I'm all all warm and fuzzzy too!! turtle neck shirt to-boot!! 

Chuck -- THX Buddy. !!! I ONlY belong on top, when no one else has a more recent post, than I do!! Shad's day off is all!! He needs one sometimes! 

WE certainly had FUN regardless, !!! 

IF I was much y oun.. ger Maybe I could be at the TOp of My Form!! but ya' all know what happens!!! hehe EW EGA!! m. oops. oh my... tht'll nevr doo 

Dirk - DMS Ry. 
http://dmsry.blogspot.com/


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Chuck - Yes, thanks for starting this thread!!! 

It is a big relief when one has that dreaded 'cabin fever'.... 

never know what will come out of some people's mouths!!!! 

hehe - :~ )


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 12 Nov 2012 06:13 PM 
Steve, oh yes, warm and fuzzy. But on the serious side, I noticed this problem about 8AM today. It seems to me that a notice should have gone out about a problem earlier, if it was known. Thanks for the update. In situations like this, we all assume that it is our local problem. Is this an instance when we should use the alert message? Chuck Chuck

I responded to your posting and put in a notification to Shad as soon as I became aware of the problem, and yes, you could use the Alert option. However, do remember please, being a moderator is not the primary job of any of the moderators that I know of. Additionally, I use the *Not Read* page so that I see all the topics that are new or have new content posted to them so I would never see the problem without going to a specific *Forum* first page.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, thanks for the explanation. I understand that you guys have other things to do. At least the problem is being attended to. That is all we can ask. Chuck


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Wish we had an alert button for the chatroon. 

The chatroom hasin't worked right in weeks.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Hey Randy, If you look all the ways to the bottom of the forum page under ''WebSsite ?'s'' a thread is there about Chat room issues!! 

Good luck, D


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

OK gentlemen, as of 13NOV2012 2:05 AM EST the problem seems to have been corrected, because on my system all of the pinned topics in the various forums have returned to their proper place.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Not for me... there are no pinned topics in the "Public" forum and the top item was last posted to 03 Nov 2012 07:33 AM and the next reply was posted 07 Nov 2012 08:36 AM 

The rest of the list is a jumble of dates swinging from nov 07 to 06 to Sep 25, 23, 26, Oct 02, Sep 29, Oct 02... etc. 
i.e.: Not sorted by date.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes sir, it has slipped back once again as of 13NOV2012 3:35 AM EST, but Shad is aware and working on the problem.

See topic:

Public Forum/Topic: forum Issues[/b]


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## barnmichael (Jan 2, 2008)

Well, it's happening again. At first I thought it was me, but it looks like it is a forum bug. 

Michael


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

basically, it never stopped happening once it started... it was "fixed" for a day or so. 

I would say no need to comment further until it's fixed. 

Greg


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## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

Is it ever going to be fixed?? It's driving me nuts!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By SteveC on 15 Dec 2012 04:10 PM
That is why it has been suggested that until the sorting problem gets resolved, it might be a better choice to use either the *Active Topics* page or the *Not Read* page to review the new topics or the existing topics that have new content posted to them. Since it seems that so far the sort order has not been affected on those two pages. I know that this covers a greater scope of forums that you may usually peruse, however, the forum that each topic originates upon is listed just below the topic's Title/Subject.

See the following topics for previous discussion of the problem:









Public forum/Topic: Problem with forum page setup[/b]

Public Forum/Topic: forum issues[/b] 

Forum Bugs and Testing Forum/Topic: Sorting of post updates[/b]

Public Forum/Topic: Slow Site[/b]


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

At least on my computer the unread topics are listed in boldface. So after each perusal of a forum I simply click on the "mark all read" button at the bottom of the page. The next time i visit I only need to look for the boldface titles to see what has new postings. The advantage for me is the threads are all in order and I can follow the conversations. 

Hope this helps. 

PS When Shad gets around to correcting this I hope he gives at least 48 hours warning. As I only visit once a day it would help if I knew when the site will be messed up.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, the problem is to try to find the current or new topics, because you might have to scan 7 or more pages of topics to find the highlighted ones... most SEEM to be early on in the list... first couple of pages. 

Greg


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Now this thread is even goofed up. Yikes. Later RJD


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## aopagary (Jun 30, 2008)

when i look at most forums here, it seems like some drastic step was taken in Jan 2008 which are the oldest topics that are still listed. has anyone thought of the possibility that the forum content and/or dates spanned may have hopped some software boundary? perhaps there needs to be another purge of the oldest years posts hopefully archiving topics of sustaining interest.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

If you remember, Shad was able to "fix" the problem, and it "held" for a day or so. 

He has a theory on what the problem is, just needs time and $$ to do it apparently. 

Yes, wasn't the main software changed to the new stuff then? That date seems to have nothing to do with the problem that started in October 2012. 

Greg


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By aopagary on 13 Jan 2013 08:00 PM 
when i look at most forums here, it seems like some drastic step was taken in Jan 2008 which are the oldest topics that are still listed. has anyone thought of the possibility that the forum content and/or dates spanned may have hopped some software boundary? perhaps there needs to be another purge of the oldest years posts hopefully archiving topics of sustaining interest. Gary

In Jan. 2008 is when the MLS forum software was changed from the old Snitz software, to the current DNN based software. However, that change over of software has no connection to the current problem.


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## aopagary (Jun 30, 2008)

Posted By SteveC on 14 Jan 2013 04:41 AM 
.... However, that change over of software has no connection to the current problem.







well, if you think about it, the change-over introduced new software. that software seems to have worked for years. software doesn't tend to change itself, but the data it has to handle typically does. the only things that change with data in forums is the amount of posts (always increasing) and the span between the oldest and newest dates (again, always increasing). all i'm saying is that's where i'd look first. archive the oldest year or two and see if the forum operation doesn't return to operating (sorting) correctly.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By aopagary on 14 Jan 2013 06:12 AM 
if you think about it, the change-over introduced new software. that software seems to have worked for years. software doesn't tend to change itself, but the data it has to handle typically does. the only things that change with data in forums is the amount of posts (always increasing) and the span between the oldest and newest dates (again, always increasing). all i'm saying is that's where i'd look first. archive the oldest year or two and see if the forum operation doesn't return to operating (sorting) correctly. OK, now I follow your drift and you may very well have a point.









Don't take me wrong, but your comment regarding software as a static entity gave me a good hearty laugh, I think you'd be hard pressed to find any commercial or open-source software that doesn't have at least 1 or 2 software updates/upgrades every calender quarter, if not more.







Yes I know, that maintenance in a server environment is handled much differently than what you find in the personal computer arena.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I took it wrong too, I see your point. 

Although, it would be very poor software indeed that could not handle 5 years of posts. 

And PLEASE don't mention archives again! It has been very painful having a bunch of good stuff "tucked away" from general access, and the search function. 

This should not be such a problem. 

Greg


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Today I came across a post by Shad in the bugs and tests forum. There is hope!!

Posted By ShadsTrains on 25 Jan 2013 04:55 PM 
I now have all the pieces I need to make the server configuration changes. I'll be shipping it to the datacenter Monday and will start the process of reconfiguration late next week. We're still looking at a few more weeks of this. I apologize. I wanted this done back over the holidays, but it just didn't pan out. 

Thanks, 

Shad 

Chuck


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes... I read that Friday also... I wish they had consolidated all of these threads into one, not 5 different ones. 

Greg


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

If the site is going to be down for a while, I hope Shad will give us 24 or 48 hours warning. I only check the site in the morning and would like to know.


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

Sooo when is this site going to be fixed???


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

According to Shad's post, he hopes later this week.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 11 Jan 2013 08:57 PM 
Posted By SteveC on 15 Dec 2012 04:10 PM
That is why it has been suggested that until the sorting problem gets resolved, it might be a better choice to use either the *Active Topics* page or the *Not Read* page to review the new topics or the existing topics that have new content posted to them. Since it seems that so far the sort order has not been affected on those two pages. I know that this covers a greater scope of forums that you may usually peruse, however, the forum that each topic originates upon is listed just below the topic's Title/Subject.

See the following topics for previous discussion of the problem:









Public forum/Topic: Problem with forum page setup[/b]

Public Forum/Topic: forum issues[/b] 

Forum Bugs and Testing Forum/Topic: Sorting of post updates[/b]

Public Forum/Topic: Slow Site[/b]


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