A couple of new forum teething issues

Marathon

I don't seem to be able to upload my avatar picture. I've been trying since yesterday on (Mac) Chrome, Safari and Firefox, the response is listed below:

No data received
Unable to load the webpage because the server sent no data.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
Error 324 (net::ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE): The server closed the connection without sending any data.

The other thing is all the forum content is centered on the middle part of my (wide)screen monitor. There are swathes of empty white space on either side. Is there a way to spread out the topics, links etc?

brydeemer

I don't know about the uploading error. But the reason things are centered and don't stretch, is because humans can only read lines that are so long before they lose their place. If the posts stretched across the entire screen they would be almost impossible to read.

Bry

DavidAkers

I also have a weird thing in IE where the post or save buttons don't show. They are there, and work if I hit where they should be, but I can't see them. It's not a problem in Safari on the iPad, and I haven't tried yet in Chrome or Firefox.

-David

mwhitt80

I'm having the same problem as david on my workPC, but not my home pc (I use IE there too). It's odd and probably has to do with the version I'm using at the office. I can live with it though

brydeemer

They are aware of the IE bug and are working on a fix.

As always, the moral of the story is, don't use IE!

Bry

DavidAkers

I'm using IE8 on XP at work, which is where I noticed the problem.

-David

brydeemer

I'm using IE8 on XP at work, which is where I noticed the problem.

-David

Can you please post a screenshot?

Bry

DavidAkers

Here you go.

-David

Marathon

I don't know about the uploading error. But the reason things are centered and don't stretch, is because humans can only read lines that are so long before they lose their place. If the posts stretched across the entire screen they would be almost impossible to read.

Bry

I see what you're saying about line length. Strangely enough the layout is perfect on my android tablet, filling the screen portrait and landscape.

brydeemer

David,

What's wrong with the font? It looks fine to me?

Bry

WetRats

David,

What's wrong with the font? It looks fine to me?

Bry

On my PC at work the font is all jaggy & pixelated. Have tried to get a screenshot, but my Windows Fu is weak.

DavidAkers

David,

What's wrong with the font? It looks fine to me?

Bry

It's not the font. It's the missing "Post comment" button next to the "Save Draft" link. It works when I click where it should be, but you can't see it on IE8 on XP, at least on my machine.

electric_mayhem

just an update, on Chrome this works perfectly, no problems at all...

ctowner1

I'm viewing the forum on Chrome and it's really hard to read. Everything's kind of fuzzy. Is there some way to fix this?

e
L nny

ctowner1

oh wait...looks like it's there, but invisible.

e
L nny

Marathon

Well I've managed to upload my avatar pic, although I needed to get onto a different internet connection to do it. Something to do with my router setup I suppose.

WetRats

What makes this forum so vulnerable to spammers?

How are they blasting through the Captchas when I can barely suss the damn things out?

Zhurrie

Yeah, the spam is a bit out of control and will only get worse if not dealt with. I know you guys are trying hard, but this may have been a bit too much of a leap without more resources.

John_Steed

just an update, on Chrome this works perfectly, no problems at all...

ditto

Trev

Mobile site is awesome but no way to edit a post.

electric_mayhem

What makes this forum so vulnerable to spammers?

How are they blasting through the Captchas when I can barely suss the damn things out?

I never know if I am to add a space or keep the words together, I hate them things....

David_D

Has there really been that much more spam than the old place? I haven't been able to be on that much since the launch, and I know I have zapped a few, but I used to have to regularly do that in the old forum as well.

WetRats

They may just stand out more in the so-far-relatively-pristine environment.

Zhurrie

David, vanilla forums have a lot more vulnerable points and it does take more care and feeding to keep up. I work in IT and security (I've done very large and transactional sites and servers and have worked in govt/defense and currently in the banking sector) and it has some nasty weaknesses to scripting, spoofing, and cross site scripting. It usually requires a good bit of resources to really customize it and harden it, and more importantly keep it hardened. All the toys and bells and whistles come with a price unfortunately. I'm not knocking the site or you or anyone's work, just saying it can be a big bite to chew off. Trust me I want nothing but the best for you all and the site. Just keep up with the patches and potential vulnerabilities because if you fall behind it can be bad, that was what I was saying.

David_D

Fair enough, and good to know that there are things to look out for as things go forward. I am just saying that, at least so far for me, I have not found the spamming to be out of control. It seems about on par with the old forum. Which is to say, I have probably deleted the same amount of spam threads in the last week or so here as I would of at the old place. But, we'll see how it goes.

Zhurrie

Definitely keep an eye on their github/bugtrack and do your best to protect against XSS attacks because they can be nasty and there are tons.

John_Steed

Fair enough, and good to know that there are things to look out for as things go forward. I am just saying that, at least so far for me, I have not found the spamming to be out of control. It seems about on par with the old forum. Which is to say, I have probably deleted the same amount of spam threads in the last week or so here as I would of at the old place. But, we'll see how it goes.

Hey Mr. Spam-Killer

If you need some deputies to help keep them spammers off I'd be a volunteer.

B-)

WetRats

Hey Mr. Spam-Killer

If you need some deputies to help keep them spammers off I'd be a volunteer.

B-)

Let's form a posse!

brydeemer

Definitely keep an eye on their github/bugtrack and do your best to protect against XSS attacks because they can be nasty and there are tons.

I don't have to worry about any of that, because we are hosting with Vanilla themselves, so we get all the updates automatically. I don't do any of the server stuff.

Bry

mwhitt80

Bryan,
Is there any way you can take the time limit off our being able to edit posts? I know for stuff in the binding forum we would go back and edit posts that were months old. Even stuff like the "what have you been reading - comics" threads would get edited monthly by a lot of users.
I'm running into an issue with it over in the binding forum right now.

brydeemer

Bryan,
Is there any way you can take the time limit off our being able to edit posts? I know for stuff in the binding forum we would go back and edit posts that were months old. Even stuff like the "what have you been reading - comics" threads would get edited monthly by a lot of users.
I'm running into an issue with it over in the binding forum right now.

Fair enough. I'll do that now.

Bry