PROBLEMS WITH THIS (NAS) FORUM - February 2018

An update regarding missing images. For the problem of images being posted and then disappearing afterwards, we believe that we have identified a software bug. This is fixed by a patch available from the suppliers. We are planning to apply the patch. That is designed to prevent any more images from vanishing. I do not yet have a time-scale for this, but obviously we will do it as soon as possible.

We are trying to recover the images that are already missing. This may or may not be possible. I'll post updates when we have them. Apologies for any inconvenience or confusion that this has caused.

I'll look separately at the notifications issue, not least because there is a thread for that.

Regards

(Later edit: sorry, but we have been unable to recover the missing images. Our backups are designed to protect the messaging database in the first instance. This problem is rather untypical for a forum, and the affected images are also missing from our backups.)

We've looked into the view count issue as well. It should be fixed. Something "broke". Sorry to have several issues at once. We have a patch from the software suppliers to fix the image issue, but we'll have to test it before we can apply it here, so I can't guarantee no more lost images in the meantime. See a separate thread for email notifications.

The number of registered users is difficult to state meaningfully. Because we use single sign-on, the total number of people with potential access is the number who have registered with the NAS for any reason, including for example our Web shop, membership, and making donations to help fund our work, as well as this Community - they are all people with sign-ons that could be used to participate here as well as on our www site. That's bigger than the number of users that we've logged here. On the other hand, some users who have been logged here have not been back for some time, i.e. years, so it's debatable whether they are still meaningful users. Forums are always like that - a large number of users may just mean that you've been around a long time, as has this forum.

What we're all looking for, I think, is a wide range of current users.

Oh, and we started the NAS12345 sequence at a randomly-chosen number  We just wanted a way to protect anyone whose sign-in username was close to that person's real name, not having been chosen with forum privacy in mind. It's not intended to have any particular meaning for any reason.

We've looked into the view count issue as well. It should be fixed. Something "broke". Sorry to have several issues at once. We have a patch from the software suppliers to fix the image issue, but we'll have to test it before we can apply it here, so I can't guarantee no more lost images in the meantime. See a separate thread for email notifications.

The number of registered users is difficult to state meaningfully. Because we use single sign-on, the total number of people with potential access is the number who have registered with the NAS for any reason, including for example our Web shop, membership, and making donations to help fund our work, as well as this Community - they are all people with sign-ons that could be used to participate here as well as on our www site. That's bigger than the number of users that we've logged here. On the other hand, some users who have been logged here have not been back for some time, i.e. years, so it's debatable whether they are still meaningful users. Forums are always like that - a large number of users may just mean that you've been around a long time, as has this forum.

What we're all looking for, I think, is a wide range of current users.

Oh, and we started the NAS12345 sequence at a randomly-chosen number  We just wanted a way to protect anyone whose sign-in username was close to that person's real name, not having been chosen with forum privacy in mind. It's not intended to have any particular meaning for any reason.

I have spent some time working through that thread, trying to understand which messages had disappeared. There are a couple of general mentions of missing messages, but unfortunately those don't allow me to identify the messages involved. There are also some specific ones:

• Disambiguating Cynosure, in the message linked above, references this message which, as DC states, quotes a previous message (about a looong post), again from DC, that cannot now be found. I found that original post two messages higher in the thread than the one that quoted it.
•  posted about a previous message, reassuring oktanol about an "argument", but not being able to find that message again. I found it two messages above Oktanol's second message. By chance these two sets of messages are clustered together:

Could it be therefore that this is caused, not by actual disappearing messages, but by the problem that you have discussed in locating messages in threads? Alternatively, it's remotely possible that some word caused a message and its replies to go into moderation (so it was hidden for a day or two) - but that's very unlikely, because you're all recognised as established members, and the system uses this "reputation" to exempt you from most moderation.

I'm afraid I haven't yet posted enough to see either this or the red dot with my own messages 

May I make a couple of suggestions? First, I'd say that, with all forums, long threads get complex and hard to use. With "linear" forums, people tend to quote each other heavily, just to show to which messages they are replying. That's less an issue here because of the way that messages are indented to show replies, so threads are shorter without all the quotes. Nonetheless, this method has its problems too, as we're seeing. On both forum types, I'd consider starting a new thread if part of a discussion wanders onto a new topic - as I have alluded to for new forum issues.

Secondly, as you may know, you can search within a thread to locate a known message. So, to find the references above to "looong messages", I expanded all the Load Nexts and then used Control-F (on a desktop) to search for "looong". You can see in the screenshot that I did the same for "argu" (i.e. argue, argument). On an Android device, Find in Page is on the browser's ellipsis/overflow menu (the three dots at top right).

Sorry for another looong message.

http://community.autism.org.uk/user/notifications

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

...Reposting that and then quoting is *not* at all easy to do...

I did the quote first in this message. Then I moved my cursor to the start of the message (i.e. the start of the quote), added a carriage return, and pasted in the link above the quote.

I would always get the quote first (by highlighting it in the other contributor's message and using the Quote option that appears), then build my message around it.

Does that help at all? If not, could you describe more what you're trying to do?

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

Did no-one heed the Link which I Posted before? 

http://community.autism.org.uk/user/notifications

...Reposting that and then quoting is *not* at all easy to do...

To the very gracious WebPM... You interact with us differently from NAS, is what I always say....

- Disappearing Posts. This is a direct link to an instance of "disappearing Posts", which I myself stated at the time. The link is to my own Post. (...FYI: - I never edit my own Posts after they have been answered to.):

http://community.autism.org.uk/f/health-and-wellbeing/11904/a-shame-the-snow-has-gone/65837#65837

- "The red dot" - If a User has begun a lot of Threads, or has subscibed to them, then the "Red Dot" will never disappear! Did no-one heed the Link which I Posted before? 

- So many things to address, so few places to address them in... I may, here, have unintentionally begun another "NAS Improvements, comments", etc. Thread, and I did not entirely mean to do so...! NAS should have done that, not myself. And WEBPM has replied here, and not NAS (!)... WebPM, by now, you have contributed so much that you might even actually be able to see *your own* comments disappearing at times, which indicates just how much more helpful you are...! 

(Yes, I keep flattering you. No, I still cannot EMail or PM.)

Yeah, same. I know it's completely irrational of me to be irritated by it but I can't seem to ignore it either - I've even called it names in my head then thought "What am I doing?", then realised I'm not only talking to myself but also answering myself! Then I remember this is a sign of true madness, so I laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Then I wonder if I really AM going mad!!!

Then I remember that overthinking things is a very Aspie thing to do so I relax and remember to breathe   :)   

I’m the same with the red dot Endymion, I’m just learning to live with it but I’d like it better if it would go away because I can’t seem to stop trying to get rid of it, with the same results! Insanity! Lol! And it never seems to cease being irritating! Lol! I think I just laugh at myself now when I feel irritated. I see the funny side of being so p****d off with a little red dot! Lol! 

No Thank You. I'll just leave it as it is. Irritating as the red dot is, it's not preventing me from using the site so I guess I can learn to live with it. 

I'll consider my knuckles rapped for suggesting the password sharing thing. DC has a point that sharing your password is generally bad practice, especially if someone just claims to be an officer of as service provider. Also you should consider what information that password protects (which isn't that much in the case of passwords here). The main thing I wanted was for Endymion to know that I was using the account.

Endymion, if you'd like me to pursue this, I'll use the admin system to force in a different password. Then, when I've finished, you can use the password reset to change it back again. In general, you change your password in My Account.

You can PM someone by hovering over that user's name next to a message that that person has posted. However, we recommend that you only accept PMs from friends on this system, and that you only accept friend requests from people you know from discussions here - so you won't necessarily be able to PM everyone. Endymion, I'll send you a PM just as a demonstration. You'll get a flag alerting you to it, up with the one that's causing a problem.

Regards

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

Closing this Post... no, it is not normal procedure as far as I know - and I would still appreciate some support about me saying this here and now...

However well intentioned it is never good practice to give a password to someone as it can lead to you giving out passwords more easily in future.

I had the same problem a while ago but it seemed to correct itself.

I stopped using the lightning symbol to view posts and viewed them by clicking the links in the e-mail notifications. Perhaps this helped "clear" the problem (although I have no evidence that was the case).

With regards to PM s - I keep saying that I cannot do this, and again I somewhat impeach anyone reading to explain it better than I can...!

(There *are* bad people watching this site... if they do Post here, then I shall attempt to say something about it. That is all I can do.)

"...Don't Panic!" ...   ;-)

"Hackers" are just "Computer Programmers" under a different name. The term "Hacker" is very fuzzy, and, as I said, there are good and bad hackers. I myself know how to "Hack", yet means that I know a bit about the depths of computers (Languages, Protocols, RS-232, x86... that sort of Jargon)...!

Closing this Post... no, it is not normal procedure as far as I know - and I would still appreciate some support about me saying this here and now...

Oh! Jeez! Honestly I didn't mean anything bad, or illegal, by that!! I just thought to 'hack' meant getting into something without a password, I didn't know it was illegal if the person let you do it to them. I probably should have used a different word but I couldn't think of any, although 'Programming' is probably what I should have said. 

The only reason I said about the password and PM is because the WebPM mentioned it so I assumed it was normal procedure. I guess now that you mention it though, I don't exactly know who 'WebPM' really is so you're probably right about it being a really bad idea  :/   

It's fine. I'll just learn to live with the fake notifications, it's not a serious problem it's just irritating. 

Greetings... I just happened to be looking over this Forum, and so I see this anyway...! I am not WebPM, yet, A couple of things, here...

It is not a good idea to discuss "Hacking", even though there is, of course good and bad "Hacking". I think that you are assuming that WebPM can solve (almost) all problems in that manner - via PROGRAMMING... - yet, the thing is, "we" as users are not supposed to acknowledge that or discuss that we know that...! (Hopefully certain others will support what I mean, if this is not understood...?) For example, I myslf began a Thread addressing "Computer Programming", sort of, yet it was well that certain details were not discussed at length upon it...

Endymion said:

So I need to give you my password to see what you can make of it, but I don't know how to send a private message!?

DO NOT DO THIS!!! Whatever you do, ever, PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.

Finally... perhaps this may help. In order to "Private Message" (PM), you must "Friend" someone, as far as I know. Go to your own settings and check that section...

I dare not write much more just now... can someone else *please* give another perspective apart from my own, here...?

Hi again WebPM and Thank You for trying to help sort this out!

I signed in to the online community on my partner's phone and the red dot was still on the lighning symbol with the number 2 in it.

Back on my Chromebook, I went into my settings (eventually managed it) and cleared my Browsing data including Cache and Cookies (whatever all that is) and when I signed back into the online community (which took a little longer after the clearance) the red dot remains the same.

So I need to give you my password to see what you can make of it, but I don't know how to send a private message!? I'm also not sure how to change my password? When are you 'here' to send private messages to, assuming they have to be done 'live'? Can't you just 'hack' in or something?  

To be honest, I'm not sure of the cause of this; I can't recall any similar report from anyone else. Some standard things to try would be:

• Clear your cache - instructions for Chromebook
• If you are able, use a different computer or device to sign in (even if you have to borrow one for the purpose - make sure you sign out afterwards)

These are both testing the idea that there is something about your particular configuration that is causing the issue. The other possibility is that it relates to your account. I don't have a way to see how that is working. The only possibility would be for you to change your password to a temporary one, and send it to me by private message (not here in public, of course!) Then I could take a look before you changed your password again.

Hi DC, I tried clearing / switching off all notifications completely the other day and the red dot remained  :(    I'll give it another go and check in again tomorrow night. 

Also, I didn't get a notification that your message was here! My notifications really do seem to be broken, somehow. I'm just being plagued by this red dot like a very singular case of acne. 

...Greetings, myself again (!)... That your "Red Dot" still "has number 2 in it"... may well be because of what I said: If you no longer want said DOT then you must turn off all notifications quite constantly, and then clear all of the ones showing, in that order. If this is true, then my Posting here, now, should tally-up,  so long as you have "Notifications" for *This* Thread still switched on...

I've just clicked again on the red dot (with the number 2 in it) and then clicked on 'View All'.

On my 'Your Notifications' page, on the left it showed 'All Notifications' . I changed the option on the right to 'That Aren't Read' and the message comes up saying 'You don't have any notifications that match your filter'. 

Despite this, the red dot still has the number 2 in it.  

Thank You for getting back to me!!!

When I click on the red dot (on the lightning bolt) it shows my 'notifications'. 

When I go down the list and tick off 'as read' any new ones, I was STILL left with the number 1 in the red dot.

Tonight when I logged on and did the same thing, I'm now left with the number 2 in the red dot.

When I click on the red dot (now showing number 2) there are no unread notifications listed at all!?!?Instead, it just shows a box with 'view all' on the left and 'settings' on the right. 

If I click on either of these and try to find these 'ghost' notifications I just see those I've already read - there are no unread ones!! So why am I not able to clear this red dot completely even when I have read ALL of the listed notifications? What does this number 2 mean if it clearly isn't showing me any unread notifications?

Can you make it disappear? Or is it telling me that i have 2 of something else? I don't have blogs or anything else, all i do on here is read and chat on the threads. If this number 2 isn't about thread notifications, what else could it possibly be 2 of? Or is it just broken?