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Bugs!
You report 'em, we exterminate 'em.
This site is like a living thing, an ecosystem of symbiotic code. As such, things change rapidly, and not all changes are visible on the front end. All this change means that sometimes things go awry. Each week, your friends on the NowPublic development team line up the most pernicious bugs... and crush them.
Blank pageloads? Erroneous error messages? Malfunctioning tools? We want to hear about it. If you find a bug, you can report it here, if someone else hasn't posted it first.
Also, each week we will be posting a list of what bugs got bashed.
If you're not sure if it's a bug or not, feel free to contact me with a private message.
=|=|=|={< <- That's supposed to be an insect; a walking stick or something.
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Comments (71)
at 18:23 on February 14th, 2008
Thank you, Orkin Man! (Statement is not an endorsement of any brand or product.)
at 14:01 on February 16th, 2008
Bug Bulletin:
Internet Explorer users will notice that, in story creation mode, that little bar atop the story box is gone... This is a temporary fix to a bug that the developers are working feverishly to squash.
at 17:33 on February 16th, 2008
Done! A big thank-you to nk and pgaliba for sorting it all out, and to all who reported it.
at 12:36 on February 23rd, 2008
For those who noticed that "reporting from" is missing... do not adjust your set. We're doing a database update, so location information is currently invisible, but not lost or destroyed. You are not going to end up as The Contributor from Nowhere. The update should be done within 48 hours.
at 10:58 on March 1st, 2008
This past week's bugfixes include:
Repairing the comma-separated searcing logic for the Youtube search tool!
A test category, so that Jordan's tests don't clog up subscribers' inboxes!
More security for signup emails!
(The above sounds better if read aloud with the voice of the guy who lists the prizes on game shows)
at 16:53 on March 5th, 2008
Gremlins have attacked the Internet! Some malicious code is making its way around the Web, attempting to execute actin scripts via ads. It's affecting hundreds of sites, including MSN and... us. Our developers and product managers are working on it as we speak- in the meantime, should anything weird happen when you access a NowPublic page, let me know right away, along with the URL of the page you were visiting.
at 16:53 on March 5th, 2008
Gremlins have attacked the Internet! Some malicious code is making its way around the Web, attempting to execute actin scripts via ads. It's affecting hundreds of sites, including MSN and... us. Our developers and product managers are working on it as we speak- in the meantime, should anything weird happen when you access a NowPublic page, let me know right away, along with the URL of the page you were visiting.
at 17:21 on March 5th, 2008
UPDATE: Found and fixed.
Evidently some as-yet-unknown malefactor busted into one of the ads.NowPublic itself has not been compromised by this, and the ad has been removed until the ad-server can fix/secure it.
at 00:24 on May 23rd, 2008
Those malicious people are clever from time to time.
The good guys are clever also.
at 17:55 on March 5th, 2008
Hello Jordan,
For what it's worth, some time ago a hacker got into Blogger and hijacked many blogger's sites, even adding posts! That might also be something to be on the look-out for here.
~ Swan
at 15:12 on March 10th, 2008
Good morning everyone!
I just uploaded a story with photographs and put it in the SPORTS channel - however, it's now appearing in the HEALTH channel - and should be returned to sports. The article is about Gebre Selassie wanting to withdraw from the Olympic marathon.
If someone could change it please? I've tried twice! Thanks in advance,
~ Swan
at 07:09 on March 14th, 2008
I would enjoy the site more if I wasn't constantly having to page down. When I'm trying to read an article, I can only get a sentence read when the page reloads back to the top. I'd appreciate it if you guys could fix that problem.
Thanks, JACK
at 14:35 on March 14th, 2008
Hello all,
I give up, I've just spent three hours on a story using the Highlight tool, only to lose it again as I was uploading -
everything - all my research - gone.
I could cry just from frustration as this is not the first time it's happened to me. Once you think you've perfected a story, it's impossible to
get that same enthusiasm back again - so I honestly believe that there
are several really great stories that have found themselves in the
ether instead of Now Public.
On top of that, I was reporting it
here and as I hit enter, I lost that too - and told that I didn't have
any authority to add a comment!
I won't be using the Highlight tool again until someone tells us it consistently works well. If there is still developmental work going on with the tool, could we please have added:
See you all tomorrow, no story from me today,
~ Swan
at 12:44 on March 15th, 2008
Sigh. Last night, maybe around 3:30 ish, I tried 5, FIVE, times to upload a highlight and a great deal of original commentary. Every time I got a note saying that they were having trouble publishing, and if I got this message again, to tell them.
I finally just gave up, too.
One whole block on my front page is missing--just a white box.
at 08:27 on March 16th, 2008
Pep, I feel your pain and I am taking a vicoden. Try writing a large article.
Swan, I ahve asked for a spell check many times, The Lord and all of NP knows I need it. Remember I am the Journalist that travels with a proof reader
at 13:10 on June 11th, 2008
Sorry to see this note - especially since the same thing hit me a few times too and I remember the frustration.
I have some advice that I know is good and I often forget it myself - so perhaps it's worth repeating:
Try using your regular editor to research, prepare and edit your work. When you are done (just the text,) you can copy/paste and upload to your account.
I saw a Google Talks video where a software developer was talking about an editor that he wrote for updating (Joomla?) sites. He provides a standard text editor that you can edit in and, when ready, just push a button that sends the article to the site via a simple XML interface. Coding for this is very easy - hopefully the concept will become more popular when more people start using the software.
HTH
at 16:14 on March 16th, 2008
Bug check-in:Those missing white blocks are misdirected ads, whose owners have created with faulty code... they used to slow down pageloads something fierce, but the devs readjusted the load order... if you feel like waiting for (I kid you not) two minutes, the ads in question will actually load, but most of us don't spend that long on a given page.
Other fixes this week: some errors with signup were fixed, as well as the rendering of the Super Tracker.
My favorite fix, though, was the retooling of our email system. Aside from my not getting so much spam, there are benefits for us all: that's right, reliable story creation via email! You can compose a story in your email client (or gmail, hotmail, etc) and send it to news@nowpublic.com. Make sure to use an email address that's linked to your profile (you can store up to three at a time); once sent, the story will appear within moments here on NowPublic, filed under your username. Stories via email default to the World category, and cannot store tags; the subject line of the email becomes the headline, and the body of the email becomes the story-- perfect for sending in eyewitness reports... Should you ever get the slow-Firefox Blues, you can even add the Highlight blockquote commands if you're feeling frisky!
at 13:01 on March 19th, 2008
I attempted to add/edit "my blogs" in Safari, and this came up:
at 17:32 on March 23rd, 2008
Sounds nasty... which version of Safari/ 'Fox? Have you been able to get it to work since?
at 19:19 on March 23rd, 2008
I just tried again, but no luck. I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.12.
I also attempted to using Safari 3.0.4, but all that came up was a blank box - nothing else.
I just want to remove the blogs I have registered, as I no longer post to them. Could you do this for me?
at 08:12 on March 28th, 2008
I see that I am not alone in the NowPublic world..Look at my heroic fight with the highlight tool (today and yesterday):
March 27, 2008 A FORMATTING REMARK.
Uploading the article from my blog with the highligh tool, preserve the formatting in the NowPublic editor, but in the 'publish phase' the formatting is lost and all the paragraphs clump together in an unreadable mess!! See for yourself..
In the preview mode the formatting is correct, as the reader should view it, but after publishing it is again a mess...
March 28, 2008 After removing the post from NowPublic and trying again to upload with the highlight tool without success, I had no choice but to editing directly with the NowPublic editor where there is no possibility to include pictures in the text...so what is going wrong with the highlight tool?
Being a graphic artist, it is frustrating that I cannot enhance the text with pictures because the highlight tool is not working.
at 17:27 on March 28th, 2008
Indeed a heroic effort; thanks for reporting this. Format errors, like the many-headed hydra, can be fearsome indeed! We actually found more than one "issue" that we're looking at, and hope to fix very soon.
at 17:38 on March 28th, 2008
Thank you Lord!
at 10:30 on April 17th, 2008
We're currently experiencing technical difficulties with publishing to blogs... if you're using Highlight, you'll get an error message, though your story will indeed appear on NowPublic. We're working on it, as well as the extremely annoying issue with TinyMCE (wherein the text box will not accept your letters, no matter how nicely you ask)... reloading the page solves this one, but it's a short-term workaround as we work to solve the problem permanently.
at 13:02 on April 18th, 2008
Yes! Publish-to-blog seems to be working again, as I was able to add some much-needed content to my own blog via Highlight.
at 01:43 on April 20th, 2008
Hi
Publish to Blog isnt working
In firefox toolbar when clicked you can see manage your blog button; but when you click on it an empty page appears.
In explorer you can see a "select blogs" button next to publish. When clicked "add your blog" link appears and when you click an error page appears
at 10:21 on April 22nd, 2008
Hi Everyone and especially to any and everyone that may be able to fix this! I am using Internet Explorer.
Yesterday morning, April 21, as I viewed my latest article, 'An Evening in Philly with Obama', in Edit mode, it appeared fine, spaces and all. I published. However, as you can see if you go to the page, everything is all bunched together.
I have attempted to add spacing, even deleting the entire story in Edit mode and adding it again. No good. As I reported to Jordan over the weekend, this happened before as I worked on an older story,'A Part of My American Story', as I was doing 'housekeeping', fixing/reinserting links that had mysteriously disappeared, again spacing and paragraphs missing, videos or photos out of sequence as posted. This all occurred at some point before I tried to edit, which is why I was fixing it.
This is the first time the bunching up has occurred when I have added an article. Also, when I posted comments at my latest article, the same bunching up happened.
When I post this comment, I am expecting it to bunch up. There are five paragraphs with spaces between them. Let's see what happens! I hope I am pleasantly surprised!
I'm back! Okay, since it didn't bunch up here, I quickly went to my story and tried to edit to add spacing and paragraphs. No luck!
at 14:28 on April 22nd, 2008
If you're on a PC, try Firefox. still lots of problems, but....
at 00:11 on April 23rd, 2008
Thanks for the suggestion, Rene.
at 14:31 on April 22nd, 2008
The cute little 'Add Link' panel has gone from Firefox with all it's added choices, for target and title and type of link. Oh, it's back today. sorry. great.