Source of Double Posting Problem Identified

[Michael Wechsler]

An upgrade to the system on the server has caused the double posting issue many are encountering. I expect to have this remedied tonight and I will upgrade the software that runs this forum and it should take care of the problem. Thanks for everyone's patience and great input in trying to solve this double posting issue that has only been a problem for the past week or two.

 

[cbg]

Thanks for the update! We're all just fine here!

 

[Betty3]

Ok, thanks for letting us know though I haven't had that problem but I know others have.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Apparently the problem is with the vBulletin forum software that we run. The company that bought the software and develops it has proven itself to be professionally incompetent and devoid of any responsibility to its customers. Apparently they knew a long time ago that the software had become incompatible with the latest versions of the programming language which is needed to be loaded in order for this website to run (PHP). Now this software is only compatible with unsupported versions of PHP - yes, you read correctly. They were so irresponsible that they let the software have bugs so that it doesn't work with any supported versions of the core software it needs to run (probably to focus efforts on developing more products to sell.)

At this point the fix is going to be more than just a night's work, which I thought meant an upgrade. It also involves someone with better PHP skills than myself, whom I'm going to hire and get fixed since the company doesn't even have a bug fix firmly on its agenda.

I mentioned earlier that I anticipated moving our forum to new software and had thought it would have been done earlier. Given that so much of the site was integrated, I wasn't sure it was a good idea. Now that it's clear that this beloved software has become a liability, the move may take place sooner than anticipated. I think you'll love either of the two solutions we anticipated using.

 

[Betty3]

We have patience. It will all get worked out eventually - not your fault.

Beloved software has become a liability

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I've tried to set some things on the back end that might automatically delete a doublepost. In a sense, this will solve the immediate problem until we can figure out a better fix. I'm guessing that you're going to see this wonderful software change around the Internet over the course of the next year or two. Whichever of the two solutions we finalize you can bet it will be a great upgrade and a very small learning curve.

 

[Betty3]

Noted. Betty3

 

[Betty3]

When I typed above post, it didn't double post (do 2 posts) but the info I typed posted twice in the same post - deleted the 2nd info posted. I'll see what happens when I post this post.

 

[Betty3]

See, everything is posting twice in same post but not in a second post.

See, everything is posting twice in same post but not in a second post.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm not going to edit the message - I've turned off the suppression of doubleposts. Apparently that doesn't work either or remedy the problem - it just makes it worse. Thanks for letting me know. I've made sure that those that need to have heard about the issue.

 

[Betty3]

Ok. I assume though you deleted the double info in post #8 - it had double posted also. (everything was)

 

[mightymoose]

For what it's worth, I have only seen the double posting problem when I use my laptop (Windows xp with IE and Firefox).
When I use my phone on the site there are no problems. I believe the Droid is Linux based.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Thanks mightymoose. The problem is the software on our server. It should have been updated a long time ago. The company's recommendation at this late date is to revert our system to an older and unsupported version, e.g. If you're using Windows 7, they suggest you reinstall Windows Vista on your computer so their program is compatible. I think that my highlighting the importance of this matter is attracting attention and hopefully the squeaky wheels will get some grease.