I've had the same problem periodically. The write-ups for my campaign log are copied over word, just so I don't lose a lot of typing.
Chief Technical Officer
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There are a couple of different issues at work in the posts above.
One of the problems is the result of instability in the applications on our webserver. The work we've been doing on the servers for the last two months, which finally rolled out Thursday afternoon, will hopefully go a long way towards fixing that.
The "backtracking" error is likely the result of users navigating through the site using multiple windows or tabs. We try to keep track of where you've come from as you move through the site so that we can display appropriate navigation aids and other content, but using multiple windows or tabs can, in some circumstances, cause the server to lose track of where you are. In many cases, if you see the backtracking error message, you can hit back once or twice, then reload the page, and it will solve the problem.
I know there was also a bug on the to-do list that involved new messageboard posts appearing in the wrong threads in rare circumstances, but I don't know if that fix was rolled out today or if it's yet to be squashed.
ReignofSteel, the problems you're having when you report being kicked back to the start page may be related to the instability issues, but there's also a possibility that you have a mangled cookie (which we use to keep your login between sessions). I'd suggest deleting all cookies from paizo.com.
-Vic.
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Senior Software Developer
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I also have a change to make to the messageboards that should make the "I worked all day on this stupid post and then I got bounced to the front page and my post was lost when I hit submit" bug go away.
It's on my to-do list, a few items down. Hopefully I'll get to that next week while Rob's adding UPS tracking (yay Rob!).
I've been saying this stuff for ages. Nobody ever listens to me. I'm sure I shout loud enough and use enough abusive words, but still, nobody ever seems to hear me. I wonder why.
Out of curiosity, what browser is everyone using? For awhile, I thought it may have been 'cause I'm using Safari.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I've been saying this stuff for ages. Nobody ever listens to me. I'm sure I shout loud enough and use enough abusive words, but still, nobody ever seems to hear me. I wonder why.
We've heard - that's why it's been on the to-do list for a while.
Out of curiosity, what browser is everyone using? For awhile, I thought it may have been 'cause I'm using Safari.
Almost everyone at Paizo uses Safari. It's not a browser thing.
-Vic.
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Senior Software Developer
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Nope, not a Safari-related issue. We use Safari extensively (it's my browser of choice, for example).
Believe me, we have been aware for some time of the failings of the messageboard software -- I get automatically emailed every single time there's an error on the site -- but there have been other, more pressing issues at hand.
However.... I'm scheduled to do a week or two of pretty much nothing but bug fixing here soon, so who knows? I may actually dig down deep enough in the pile of known issues that I'll reach the messageboard bugs....
Out of curiosity, why don't you just use a commercial message board or a freebie like the PHPBB?
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Senior Software Developer
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Out of curiosity, why don't you just use a commercial message board or a freebie like the PHPBB?
A number of reasons, but the primary one is that we want to be able to integrate the messageboards closely with the rest of the website. For example, if you search for "age of worms", you get links to the magazine issues, miniatures for the adventure path -- plus a messageboard forum and over 70 threads relating to the Age of Worms adventure path, where you can see how real people are playing the campaign. We think that helps players, DM's and everybody have a richer, better experience.
Paizo is investing heavily in its website to provide the best possible experience for its customers and fans (and believe me, speaking as one whose job depends on that investment, I think that's a Good Thing. :-)
Everything on the Paizo website is pretty much custom-built, mainly because off-the-shelf software doesn't do exactly what we want it to do. The drawback, of course, is that Paizo is not an 800 lb. gorilla, and we have to deploy our limited resources where they're needed most. For the past couple months, that's been making sure that our website is up and running at peak performance, and we've just deployed a couple new servers to make that happen. Rob's working on integrating UPS tracking into our ordering system, and I'm tasked with fixing as many bugs as I can find right now. The messageboards are mostly working as intended, so messageboard bugs tend to come after the "where the heck is my subscription"-type bugs.
That said, we all take personal points of pride in the performance of the site and the messageboards, and so the messageboards probably receive an undue amount of bugfixing attention, given that they don't (directly) generate revenue.
So long story short, we will fix these bugs ASAP. (But keep in mind just what that acronym stands for.)
I don't wish to whine so please don't take it as that. I've had the exact same problems (I use Mozilla) and just wanted to voice my desire that it get fixed. It's mildly annoying and although it's easily fixed by typing things up on notepad or other document program, such things should be unnecessary. Thanks for looking into it, I look forward to a day when I don't have to worry about these errors anymore.
I have the same problems and I use AOL. Just today I tried to submit a post and it sent me to the front page. When I tried to backtrack, it sent me to another thread.
Most of the problems I have deal with the fact that I usually have 10-20 tabs open in Firefox. :-D (Yes, I'm a messageboard junkie.)
When posting in one topic, sometimes it ends up in a completely different topic. And forget it if you're replying to two topics at the same time.
EDIT: GRRRRRR!!! ARRRRGGH! Lost a post I spent five minutes typing because when I tried to submit it, I got a "You've backtracked too far" error.
What the heck is this error, why does it keep popping up, and why can't I just hit the back button and resubmit? (I get a Missing Page error when hitting the back button.)
I've had the exact same problems as RainofSteel. In fact, when I just hit add new post to reply on this thread, I got kicked back to the Paizo home page. I have learned from experience that the Back button is useless in such cases so I just click back into the messageboards and hunt up the appropriate thread and then click "add new post" again. It usually works on the second try (it did this time) but sometimes it takes two or three more tries. I don't even bother with the reply button because of the headaches THAT causes. I regularly get the "backtracked too far" error message, even when I haven't touched the back button. I would say that about 75% of the time I have to attempt to open the new post box at least twice and also viewing the second page on long threads also apparently requires more than one try. This is frustrating and I'm glad to hear you guys are aware of it. I'll be anxiously awaiting the fix!
I'm a bit long-winded on my posts (can't you tell?) but I've learned to type as fast as possible because if I linger too long (God forbid I get up for a call of nature or something) when I get back and click "submit post" *bling* my post magically disappears and is unretrievable. Start typing again, my friend! This is also very frustrating and annoying!
Needless to say, come on technicians!!
I'm a bit long-winded on my posts (can't you tell?) but I've learned to type as fast as possible because if I linger too long (God forbid I get up for a call of nature or something) when I get back and click "submit post" *bling* my post magically disappears and is unretrievable. Start typing again, my friend! This is also very frustrating and annoying!
Needless to say, come on technicians!!
You might try selecting the text of your post and copy it before hitting submit. Then if the post doesn't "take" you can just paste the content into a new post.
- Ashavan