Discussion about bugs and backups :)

[mgr]

Now you got me, two topics in one thread to answer (Ok, ok ok - I could have made two threads instead of one when splitting off this part, but another split??? )

@blackdid:

just short: I'm not at all annoyed or angry or whatever emotions you fear for an arguable topic selection - moderators and above have the split and merge option And I split the topic with the first reason that it can survive some thread-cleaning from raphjd

@blackdid:

…
Thx for your explanation, these little bugs are not urgent to fix, Tom's health is THE priority.

Thanks for your wishes for Tom. I agree completely that his health is in fact THE priority. I had a phone talk with him this evening and of course told him also about your good wishes for his health. He also told me to say thank you for him.  :hug:

@blackdid:

This brings a new question : should we create (or does it exist) a thread concerning non-Forum bugs ?

IIRC here is a sticky thread about site feature requests - IMHO bug fixing can also be regarded as a feature

@Kinsey6:

…
Please slap me around for a while.

Don't force me to split this topic again and move your request to our (still to revive) Spanking SIG

But now to your more serious parts:

@Kinsey6:

My QUESTION is – ...

A major crash like this is dependent upon back-ups.  I know that Tom remains ill and often unavailable.

At this time, are site back-ups being accomplished to avoid this in the future.

Those back-ups are VERY PLURAL:

1. the MySQL database
2. the server directory for torrents
3. the server directory for torrent pictures
4. the server area for other locations that escape me now
5. a detail of mods and detailed site-changes that are available to re-install as needed

I am just concerned that after our recent crash being resolved many months later without clarity about back-up procedures being done -- maybe they are, but not acknowledged.

Even NEW options (forum downloads, forum "save drafts") are being added WITHOUT US (as members) knowing if these add-ons are being backed up.

Sorry for a LOL - but of course we do regular backups!

1. Database: is completely backed up twice a day with the backup files themselves not remaining on the server but on several computers not only in our data-center but also on private computers (Tom's and mine). (These backups also include the separate forum databases.)

2-4) We backup the other server directories also regularly - alas the Server crashed while the transfer from the server to our private computers was currently running - that brought the result that we did not have a recent backup available but only an older one Keep in mind, that just the backup from the site (scripts, torrents and pictures) has a compressed size of > 5 GB ) and incremental backups need a real good strategy if you want to have lesser backup sizes and not too many incremental backup media.

5. forum backups: (change log) is done by me - I don't alter directly on our server but only at home. So each and every change in the forum is automatically saved on my computer at home (besides the above mentioned regular backups).

Besides: that crash in January brought us to thinking about a better strategy to make and divert backups - behind the scenes there is a lot happening just in this direction - the only problem is to change a lot of our current backup procedures (without losing backups though) and get an even better emergency management in the future.
Another additional problem in January was that the complete file system on our main server was defective - we had to set-up the rented server completely with drive partitioning and formatting, a new operating system and all applications, sites … I'm still astonished that we managed to get that done in just a few days (many thanks to Tom who worked his a** off in that time which was not really good for his health ).

I think that our current backup strategy is working (although there will always be place to improving). That does not mean we are really secured against all and every crash that can and will happen with computers - but (let me bring a lighter tone in this posting now :)) I think we are better secured than all those members who complain on our help desk about "having lost all their torrent and video files" after a crash (without any backup and of course directly after their download rights were taken away) Even in thirty years as a programmer/system operator/customer support member/manager - I never experienced so many crashes/formatted hard drives like in around 6 months on our help desk

[Kinsey6]

Thank you, mgr, for a well-explained response.

I had only asked this once in private … now in public.  Your response is extremely thorough and I hope that each and every member gives respect to this arduous task.

[blackdid]

@Kinsey6:

Thank you, mgr, for a well-explained response.
I had only asked this once in private … now in public.  Your response is extremely thorough and I hope that each and every member gives respect to this arduous task.

Yes mgr, great respect to your arduous backup task (among other daily tasks)  :clap2:
In french we'd say "Chapeau bas"
In english I dont know how to translate it, maybe "Hats off" ? (like Led Zeppelin's song "Hats off to Roy Harper"…maybe)

[blackdid]

@uwsguy102:

blackdid…Your security settings don't allow me to see what videos you have....

[Thx to raphjd who created this topic concerning bugs unrelated to the Forum]

Hi all  
A few days ago, uwsguy102 wrote something very important in the above quoted line, when he said "he couldn't access my profile due to my security settings"

As I didn't have any security settings at the time (I just became Power User a few hours ago), it showed the well-know bug, confirmed by Uwe then Mgr, when a new account can be created "hidden" to all other users (only the staff members can see it) and this is a real issue.

Now that I am power user, here is what i notice : you'll find in the attached pic a "Privacy level" that just appeared at the very end end of my "Profile settings"
(btw, Uwe, I confirm you this "Privacy level" just appeared right now, because you PM me on September 4th, writing "You should see that option already: Profile > Profile Settings > at the very bottom" : no, it doesn't appear until you're Power User, I confirm it)

The question is : why does this privacy level appear unchecked in the pic ?
Shouldn't it be checked on "Normal" or "Low" or "Strong" ?

It's the 1st time that I see this kind of "radio button" unchecked in a form : usually, a radio button must have one of its options checked (on the contrary, it's normal for a "check button" like the new "DVD-R" button to appear normally unchecked when it's shown for the 1st time)

Couldn't this unchecked button ("Privacy Level") be related to the known bug of new account created and hidden because they are mysteriously created with a checked "Strong Privacy Level" (3rd option in the pic), according to Uwe's words in PM : " As said, Alien X account got affected by a bug, setting the account privacy already at creation to strong (he even can't change, because he isn't Power User)."

uwsguy102, in case you read this, I've forced my unchecked "Privacy Level" to Normal : could you please confirm that my Profile is visible now ?
tia  

[uwsguy102]

@blackdid:

uwsguy102, in case you read this, I've forced my unchecked "Privacy Level" to Normal : could you please confirm that my Profile is visible now ?
tia  

I just checked your profile, and it was completely….................. VISIBLE!!!!!!!

Cheers!

[blackdid]

@uwsguy102, thx a lot for your prompt answer

I got another question for the staff : is the following a bug or not ?
The Search torrent window returns sometimes non expected results.
Before uploading a new torrent, I search the following, including dead torrents :
Alex Slater menover30

It returns one result, but there is not a single "Alex" in the result, in fact there are 4 "Alexander" (including the opened 66 files list) :
http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=52684

If the search is based on whole words only (and not on prefix, or words within words), then this torrent shouldn't appear in results, do we agree ?

[mgr]

@blackdid:

The question is : why does this privacy level appear unchecked in the pic ?
Shouldn't it be checked on "Normal" or "Low" or "Strong" ?

There you see the visual part of our security bug

@blackdid:

Couldn't this unchecked button ("Privacy Level") be related to the known bug of new account created and hidden because they are mysteriously created with a checked "Strong Privacy Level" (3rd option in the pic), according to Uwe's words in PM : " As said, Alien X account got affected by a bug, setting the account privacy already at creation to strong (he even can't change, because he isn't Power User)."

In fact if (and how) this bug shows up depends on the way you interrogate this setting in different contexts:

f.x. if ($user['privacy'] >= 1)
or  if ($user['privacy'] <= 2)
or whatever the best and easiest method it is to interrogate this value in different places.

So to fix this bug (= not defined value for the radio box) is either to interrogate this value "fool proof" in every query or to rely on the correct setting (which looks easy at first because we set it ourselves and only have to check the values in a user's profile script). And there it is where the bug has to be hit: when a new profile is created to set that value to a correct state (= Normal). A repair run over the database is not really difficult for existing accounts, but doing so without the correct setting when creating a new account dos not make any sense :(.

[alienx]

Anybody called my name?!? >:D :cool2:

3. User Alienx posted something a few days ago in the Forum, here :
   http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=6325

In the left column of his post, under his name, there's written "Uploaded: 36.28 GB"

But his profile can't be seen : "alienx's security settings doesn't allow to show you the Profile!"

In explanatation by "mgr" is this declared as a bug. So, thanks to a bug, I have reached security intended for Power user without being a PU actually. My question is: Why should any user get better security than other, just because he is a beginner? There should be set maximal security by default for all users without an exception, and if somebody sees no need for this better security, then he might be able to set it to lower level.

ax

PS. Sorry for my english, it's not my native language. I hope my opinion is nevertheless understandable.

[blackdid]

Hi Mgr 
Do you have any idea why the 3 links in the attached pic look so dark (black link on dark grey background, then greyed when hovering the link)

In case you need to see the original description, it's here :
http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=86845

It's very different on the Forum where :

• black link on light grey background is much more visible
• hovering turns the link to yellow
  tia

[mgr]

Thanks for pointing this out!

As a reason for different styles between the site and the forum: the two have completely different style sheets (.css files) located in different places so it may happen that some style definitions are different (although I tried to make the forum stylesheet definition similar to the site ones).

As to the noted links in torrent definitions: It looks like there is a typo in the class definition for those links so the correct hover definition is not applied but another one

Sadly we are currently (due to Tom's sickness) not really able to change this typo immediately.

Remarkably though: you are the first one to note that case after 4 years Thanks again (honestly) to make my to-do lists for the site longer :lovp:

[blackdid]

@mgr:

Thanks again (honestly) to make my to-do lists for the site longer :lovp:

hahaha i like that, thx Mgr !
If I make your to-do list longer, they'll never fire you from the site because you'll always be busy

Unfortunately I guess I just found another little problem, described at the very end of this post :
http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=1818.msg53573#msg53573

To make it short, there were 7 pics attached at the end of the message (I saw them clearly after I posted the message 1st time, and opened them) . But as soon as I edited the message to correct some typos, pics 6 & 7 disappeared and I couldn't attach them again, no matter how many times I tried (I hope it's not because there are small pics that are "hidden" by the sentence "« Last Edit: Today at 05:47:46 pm by blackdid »)

[Kinsey6]

@blackdid:

… there were 7 pics attached at the end of the message (I saw them clearly after I posted the message 1st time, and opened them) . But as soon as I edited the message to correct some typos, pics 6 & 7 disappeared and I couldn't attach them again, no matter how many times I tried

This is a known-to-Staff bug in the SMF forum software and has been reported to SMF technical gurus.  We are still awaiting action on their end.

[blackdid]

Thx Tim 

[alienx]

So so :cool2:

still no response? http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=12409.msg52360#msg52360 ::)

ax

[blackdid]

@alienx:

Anybody called my name?!? >:D :cool2:
In explanatation by "mgr" is this declared as a bug. So, thanks to a bug, I have reached security intended for Power user without being a PU actually. My question is: Why should any user get better security than other, just because he is a beginner? There should be set maximal security by default for all users without an exception, and if somebody sees no need for this better security, then he might be able to set it to lower level.
ax

Hey alienx is back  
Well…it's certainly not me who may bring a good answer, especially after what I wrote here :
http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=1818.msg53621#msg53621

Imho, there's absolutely nothing important to hide in a profile, for people who choosed the "low privacy level"
It hides your uploaded torrents (is it so important that others don't see what you uploaded ?), your ratio and other minor things.

In fact it brings a major problem concerning the PM button, which isn't reachable easily, compared to the "normal privacy level" . I'm just losing time now trying to thank people who gave me major SBP for my posts (new and old), browsing endlessly through dozens of "snatched pages" at the end of my posts, trying to find their user names and PM button in the snatched display, just because they have a "low privacy level" but no PM button under the message found in the attached pic

Gladly I just found one of them and he accepted PM (or I would have lost time for nothing), though he selected "low privacy level". Now I'm still searching for another one, because it's important for me to thank people (also THEY may find you impolite not sending them a little word, we all see things differently)

There's a big contradiction in the site : how can someone select "low privacy level" and at same time be able to "accept all PM" when there is no PM button under the message "user xxx security settings doesn't allow you to show the profile", as shown in the attached pic ?

Imho, that's a bug : selecting "low privacy level" should have been programmed this way :

1. Either you allow the user to select "accept all PM", then you add him a PM button under the attached pic
2. Either GT deactivates the option "accept all PM" for this type of users ("low privacy level") and no need of PM button to contact them.

In fact, there's no need to have 3 categories of "privacy level" when 2 would have been enough :

1. Normal one : with PM button everywhere and your profile shown
2. Maximum security : all is hidden, no PM button anywhere

Which means no "low security level" at all, this level I just don't understand its use, except it brings a lot of complications with its missing PM button !

Well, it's just my opinion...which is certainly not shared by the majority lol

=====
PS: of course, what worked with user #1 didn't work with user #2

• user #1 : I finally PM him and the message sent normally
• user #2 : I finally PM him and it ended with "This user does not accept PMs" : just another waste of time with this "low privacy level" :crazy2:

[NeoStrada]

@mgr:

As to the noted links in torrent definitions: It looks like there is a typo in the class definition for those links so the correct hover definition is not applied but another one

an "off the top of my head" here. it looks like missing quotation in the template rather than something a typo would produce. The generated html is

[http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=86606](http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=86606)

where it should have been

[http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=86606](http://tracker.gaytor.rent/details.php?id=86606)

causing unpredictable behaviour depending on the browser. it might even have looked 'all well' to the template coder.

somewhere in the bulk template for that section there'll be a line that goes something like: (just guessing at the var names)

"[$msg]($url)"

which should be

"[$msg](\"$url\")"

or something to the same effect.

so, I'm bit of a code geek, can't help myself when there's a problem I can stick my nose in.

[mgr]

The typo I meant is caused by the class definition "rev" not being correctly defined in the css file

I agree though, all attribute values in a HTML file should be quoted - but as long as the type of our output HTML is "only" HTML 4 transitional (and not yet XHTML) the quoting is "only" a strong recommendation from W3C and all current (known to me) browsers support unquoted attribute values.

[blackdid]

@CableguyLive:

…I'll open my profile, I didn't know it was hidden.  How do I unhide it??  I'll look for the settings and fix it ASAP...

Hi CableguyLive  
It's a bug in GT and you shouldn't be able to unhide it (your profile is sometimes created hidden and you can't do anything about it to unhide it, until you become a Power User)

Please have a look at the attached pic, you'll notice how your profile appears hidden to all users

If you read my post in the preceding page, you'll see how this situation is complicated :
http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=12409.msg50787#msg50787

So I guess your profile will stay hidden until you become a Power User (i.e. be a member for at least 4 weeks, upload 40GB, ratio > 1.05) . Me and many others were in the same situation until we became power users.

As I'll never know what torrents you already uploaded, please PM a link of the last one (or indicate it here in your answer, if any) so I can thank you there with 20SBP , as you were the 1st one who found the good answer in the Hairy Chest topic game :
http://community.gaytor.rent/index.php?topic=13070.msg56513#msg56513

[CableguyLive]

I've read the discussion and your right, it's out of my hands. I'm screwed because I have not up loaded anything.  I'm looking for an easy software for copying the DVD's to an AVI format but I haven't mastered the process yet.  I'm new to the torrent sharing system but I'm learning. I like this group of people, everyone is very friendly and more then willing to help. Thank you.
Please feel free to call me by name.

Peace
Rich

[mgr]

I have to ask once more:

@CableguyLive:

…
I'm looking for an easy software for copying the DVD's to an AVI format but I haven't mastered the process yet.
...

Why bother to reduce the quality of a DVD by converting the DVD to an AVI file? Does only the size bother you and not the quality of the resulting video ???