Forum issues today

[tater]

The Mars in 3 years thread just lost a bunch of posts, as have some others.

@goldenpeach, @Tex, @Deddly, @monstah and @sjwt, just pinging you guys since you are on. I posted in the Bring back the barn a few minutes ago, and the post disappeared. Something is fubar.

[Dman979]

Yes, we've encountered a few bugs recently, and this seems to be one of them.

Sorry about the mix-up, and we're trying to figure it out now.

[tater]

No need to be sorry, it's not like I pay for the forum, lol. I just figured you should know about it, and perhaps a thread would provide a place to post observations that might diagnose the issue. That the problems then made this thread disappear made that not really a thing, lol.

[Frybert]

It is because I'm incompetent.

[adsii1970]

Say it ain't so... I try real hard not to let morons on my friend list, @Frybert  . Seriously, you're ok with me...

[legoclone09]

Wait why is this in accouncements? I assume a mod moved the thread so more people would see it.

[HebaruSan]

Is it safe to assume that the merging of the SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Orion threads was caused by the same data corruption?

[goldenpeach]

Well, my inner amateur scientist will say we can't really assume that since we don't know the problem, but it look like the other issues we had lately.

[tater]

Is there a time stamp where the weirdness started happening?

This reminds me of a funny unix story. My roommate had just gotten a NeXT Cube to add to our various machines (total geek house), and I had an account on that machine. At some point, he rebuilt the OS, and ended up owning my account (no bueno). So I recursively chowned my account to be owned by me---dot star. I knew I had screwed up the second I hit return, reached under the desk (which took a little digging, all the while the drive is churning), and yanked the plug. Luckily it had not changed all the system ownerships to me instead of root, lol.

 

[TheEpicSquared]

Another issue: I just replied in a thread, but the reply didn't show up. I then reposted the reply. 

Just thought I'd let you mods know.  

[tater]

Have all the screwed up threads had active moderation recently?

[Red Iron Crown]

Can't discuss moderation directly like that, tater. We are working on the problem, though. 

[Camacha]

I have noticed post counters being broken too. Some people apparently have 0 posts, which is odd to read next to various of their posts.

28 minutes ago, Red Iron Crown said:

Can't discuss moderation directly like that, tater.

Why not? It is not like whether a thread has been touched by a moderator or not is a big secret. The flat out refusal to discuss any matter remotely relating to moderation raises more discussion than it squashes.

[tater]

Sorry, didn't realize that counted as discussing moderation (I assumed that was for posts like "Moderator X is a real poopy head!")  

Edited April 28, 2017 by tater

[monstah]

1 minute ago, Camacha said:

I have noticed post counters being broken too. Some people apparently have 0 posts, which is odd to read next to various of their posts.

That's not related, actually. Posts in The Lounge area (where Forum Games is) don't increase that counter, so users who create accounts and just joke around show as 0.

[tater]

EDIT: I'd add that the reason for me asking was for threads going forward. Is it safe to post in any thread right now, or are the only threads at risk those that are actively moderated (moved, closed, whatever else it is that you guys can do).

[Vanamonde]

Please see: 

At the moment we believe we have the damage stopped, @tater, but we will need to determine if the affected threads can be saved. 

[tater]

Totally missed that, @Vanamonde! Glad you figured it out.

[Kerbal-Willie]

Was this a breach in the stored passwords? Meaning should I be switching my password i use for forums? I bet SSL is looking like a good idea now if thats the case.

[Vanamonde]

2 minutes ago, Kerbal-Willie said:

Was this a breach in the stored passwords? Meaning should I be switching my password i use for forums? I bet SSL is looking like a good idea now if thats the case.

It was not that kind of problem, but it never hurts to change one's password from time to time.

[Kerbal-Willie]

Ok thanks just checking, Im very secure with my password and use many formats

Nice job finding out the issue. The moderators here are very good at what they do.

[StrandedonEarth]

I sorta figured it was something like that, or someone managed to get themselves moderator powers

[Camacha]

On 28/04/2017 at 11:50 PM, Kerbal-Willie said:

Ok thanks just checking, Im very secure with my password and use many formats

Just to make sure: you speak of your password for forums, plural. If you use any password in more than one place, you are not very secure with your password. Password re-use is one of the primary reasons people get into trouble, because a leak on one site easily leads to compromising accounts on another. Keeps things separated, keep them secure.

[Kerbal-Willie]

@Camacha, Yes many different ones.

[munlander1]

The fourm does not have a secure connection either so there is a SMALL possibility someone could get your password front there.