modem7
10k Member
I received a PM (a reply PM) about 8 hours ago from a 'new' member (8 posts). The PM is blank.
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Please fix the PM system
- Thread starter Chuck(G)
- Start date
VERAULT
Veteran Member
I had the same problem right after the upgrade. Also a new member . all his messages came blank.. All my messages to him were blank. I thought i was being spammed till he had the idea of sending an image of his text... Sounds like your seeing the issue as well.
modem7
10k Member
At post #16 (a few days ago), administrator ajacocks made a change to the vBulletin configuration that may have fixed the PM problem. My post #21 informs ajacocks that the 'blank/empty' PM problem still exists.
Further to that. 10 hours ago, I used the 'Compose New' button to send a test PM to the subject member. He got that okay, and 2 hours ago, he sent me back a test PM via the 'Compose New' button (i.e. not a reply to my PM). His PM is not blank.
Perhaps the problem scope is: PM replies to and from 'new' members.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
Could very well be. But I sent a PM to Glitch and he didn't get the messages and neither of us are new members.
modem7
10k Member
Hmm. The subject PM had content yesterday, but today, is empty.
(Is the PM content now hidden from my view, or did something empty it at the database level?)
So far, we aren’t sure what is going on with the PM system. Any information that you share might help, as we are still investigating.
Thanks!
- Alex
Thanks!
- Alex
modem7
10k Member
This morning, all of the PM's from the 'new' member are now empty. Some of those PM's are 'Compose New' and some replies. To me, it's almost as if, every XX hours, there is a background process doing something. Perhaps a manually run script.
PM's from two 'old' members are unaffected (well, so far). The earliest of those is dated 22MAY.
Feel free to look at my PM's (which I expect that you can do at the database level). There is nothing sensitive in them. There are not many PM's present bacause I decided to delete all of my PM's at the time of the recent vBulletin upgrade. The 'new' member that I write of is Blazer. The two 'old' members are liqmat and vwestlife.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
So does anyone have any news on this issue?
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
It seems the problem is perceived as a "non-issue" and then again, all of the mods may be on summer vacation.
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VERAULT
Veteran Member
Restoring from a backup to the original Forum software prior to the upgrade seems like a good idea. And here is why... That is how we did major platform upgrades in the hospital settings I worked in. We would install the upgraded system onto a "TEST" platform/server with a copy of the database (doesn't have to be complete.. an old copy, or a partial copy works fine). Give a bunch of random senior members access to the test system and have them test basic features. There will be bugs, there always are. Once they are ironed out, do a system wide upgrade on the active database. You never do a major upgrade on a live system without a test environment and actual testers whom are no involved in the background upgrade itself (users).
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This is getting to sound like a broken record ...
- The moderators have not disappeared or have gone on vacation. We are still working.
- The moderators did not plan or participate in the upgrade. We have tried to fix the problems, but we didn't know any more about it than you did before it happened.
- It's too late now, the upgrade is done. All that can be done is fix things as we move forward.
- If you want to send feedback get it to the right people: https://vcfed.org/wp/about/governance/ . Erik and Bob in particular were very involved in the upgrade.
We're working on it, but it's not obvious what the issue with the PM system is. Additionally, there was testing after the upgrade, and the problem with the PM system wasn't apparent.
Please do bear with us.
- Alex
Please do bear with us.
- Alex
vwestlife
Veteran Member
So now the moderators are throwing the site admins under the bus!? Did they really just dump the forum upgrade on you with no discussion beforehand?
Can we vote them out?
Can we vote them out?
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Can someone satisfy a bit of curiosity for me? How many other fora are using this version of vBulletin? Can I visit a couple of them to see how they're faring? I sincerely hope that vcfed isn't the test bed for someone's bleeding edge software...
vwestlife
Veteran Member
All the other forums I belong to are either sticking with old versions of vBulletin or switched to XenForo.
This isn't new news ... I've already explained that the moderators were not involved, and have referred people to Erik and other board members directly.
The upgrade needed to happen. My intention here is to get people to stop bitching about the moderators for something they can't control. We're not in a position to demand fixes from the forum software provider. The BoD planned the change, executed it, and is paying the bills - they have the most leverage to demand fixes to forum software problems.
Remember, it's an all volunteer organization. People have day jobs too.
vwestlife
Veteran Member
Then why not start bitching to Erik and Bob to demand fixes from them, instead of just throwing up your hands and saying there's nothing you can do?
What are they going to do, kick you out? They clearly have no interest in running this place themselves, and who else are they going to find to run a forum based on a platform that virtually every other forum abandoned?
They should have noticed when VerticalScope, the largest operator of Internet forums (600+ of them), took a look at the new vBulletin, said "Oh, hell no!" and ran away to XenForo.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
I haven't pointed the finger at anyone at all in regards to this upgrade. I have no idea who has worked on the upgrade and to what capacity. My point was that it seemed the upgrade wasn't planned properly and didn't involve the right people for testing. As a user I have some gripes. I'm not alone in that... I think we all just want functionality back we had in the past.
Because I have other things to do with my life?
All of the board has been made aware of the problems. Erik, Bob, myself, Alexander (a newer mod) have fixed some of them. For the long running persistent problems, keep asking for answers, but ask the right people.
I've chased problems on the forums for years, and I have stepped back recently to give others a turn. In the words of Jon Snow ,"My watch has ended."
vwestlife
Veteran Member
Sorry if I sounded unnecessarily harsh to you. I know you've been working hard to make the best of a bad situation.
Our main frustration is that we see absolutely no proof that the board members are doing the same thing. It looks like Erik hasn't posted anything on the forum in over a month!
Our main frustration is that we see absolutely no proof that the board members are doing the same thing. It looks like Erik hasn't posted anything on the forum in over a month!