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Database Errors and very slow forum

post #1 of 52
Thread Starter 
There are many threads and there's much info about this on the Commmunity Boards which will be helpful for you to read.
post #2 of 52
Fragrantica
post #3 of 52
Basenotes has been this way since I joined. I'm kind of resigned to it. You can read all about it elsewhere, or on some internet blogs that have addressed the issue. I'm sure using a few intuitive search terms will get you there.
post #4 of 52
It's been having its ups and downs recently.
post #5 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by hednic View Post

It's been having its ups and downs recently.

I've been here since Jan 2012, and it's always been much slower than any other forum I've been on, not to mention the numerous down times it's had
post #6 of 52
It was really bad awhile ago to where you couldn't even browse it properly. They fixed that and now it's just a few database errors here and there. I personally don't mind that since it's a free forum with the option to pay a membership.
post #7 of 52
Has been like this for a while.
post #8 of 52
There do seem to have been huge problems with spammers, but please bear in mind that it's free, can't be easy to run on that basis, and I'm sure that much is still being done to sort it out.
See:-
http://www.basenotes.net/threads/323...February-2013)

There are faster alternatives, but Basenotes has so many people with so much experience if answers are needed to questions that I'm certainly staying here.
post #9 of 52
Frankly, basenotes needs help with its tech work. I was under the impression that the owners had outsourced it, but it's still pretty inefficient.
post #10 of 52
Yesterday and the day before I had problems. A real bummer, because after years and years I had finally got around to compiling my wardrobe......and I was really enjoying it/getting into it......but it became painfully slow ~ so I gave up and decided to start compiling my wardrobe on fragrantica.
Now it seems to be okay !
post #11 of 52
That's life
post #12 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlsweeney View Post

It was really bad awhile ago to where you couldn't even browse it properly. They fixed that and now it's just a few database errors here and there. I personally don't mind that since it's a free forum with the option to pay a membership.

Agree entirely, though I do wish above all that basenotes would overhaul their fragrance directory and include a photo and olfactory pyramid of each fragrance. It does seem weird that when I need info on a specific fragrance I often have to switch to Scent Direct, (which is only an online shop) in order to get detailed information on a fragrance.
post #13 of 52
Thank you for mentioning Scent Direct. That site has information I need. I wish I knew about it earlier.
post #14 of 52
Agree that would be an improvement, hopefully may come one day?
I think that photos could be valuable in helping to date vintages too, which is something a lot of people are interested in.
There's a searchable site with dated adverts here, not sure how comprehensive:-
http://hprints.com/search.php
post #15 of 52
Great site, but by far the most troublesome one I have ever used regularly.
post #16 of 52
Annoying as hell! Very rarely does it work smoothly nowadays.
post #17 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigsteve View Post

Great site, but by far the most troublesome one I have ever used regularly.

Agree, the best part is when I tried to reply to this thread, I got a database error

I prefer BN to other forums, as the sex of the BN are displayed most of the time, while this is not THE deciding factor (I never buy w/o testing), I would prefer to read the review of a guy who has tested a masculine frag, compared to that of the ladies, don't get me wrong here, I read thru every ladies review of a frag as well...

I like the find by note feature of fragrantica.com the most on any of the frag forums I've seen...
post #18 of 52
Yeah, the "database errors" have been showing up more frequently than I recall in the past as of late.
post #19 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by badarun View Post

Agree, the best part is when I tried to reply to this thread, I got a database error

I prefer BN to other forums, as the sex of the BN are displayed most of the time, while this is not THE deciding factor (I never buy w/o testing), I would prefer to read the review of a guy who has tested a masculine frag, compared to that of the ladies, don't get me wrong here, I read thru every ladies review of a frag as well...

I like the find by note feature of fragrantica.com the most on any of the frag forums I've seen...

Yup. BN crashed when I replied to this the first time too.

I prefer the forums here. They're excellent and the community is diverse.

I prefer looking up scents on fragrantica. The graphs for projection and longevity are nice along with the info on seasons. The way the notes are shown is excellent, especially the column on the right where they're listed by how many people have detected them in a fragrance. Really well done.
post #20 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodSmells View Post

The forum is very slow to respond. It often it says "Database Error".

Why doesn't the basenotes forum work?

It's not a bug, it's a feature.
post #21 of 52
Is the downtime on Basenotes directly proportional to growth of Fragrantica?
post #22 of 52
Been getting tons of DB errors, hard to log in. Bummer.

Fragrantica, not really a fan of, I never really go on it.

Prefer BN. Too bad about the bugs, thought they were getting fixed. I think FG may have a larger staff than BN, not sure though. It stinks when BN has problems though!
post #23 of 52
I'm apprehensive about writing long responses.

It may be up while I open a thread but the the time I write a response, it'll be down and I'll loose my response.
post #24 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'Homme Blanc Individuel View Post

I prefer looking up scents on fragrantica. The graphs for projection and longevity are nice along with the info on seasons. The way the notes are shown is excellent, especially the column on the right where they're listed by how many people have detected them in a fragrance. Really well done.

Exactly..even I refer to fragrantica for the notes pyramid and moreover they've indexed more products than BN but the community at BN forum is far better than that of fragrantica. Also, the reviews at BN are much better and precise, obviously because the BN community has more dedicated and experienced members. :-)
But BN should consider upgrading their system
post #25 of 52
I agree what the hell. They make so much money from the donations but still cant manage to fix that problem.
post #26 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedonist222 View Post

I'm apprehensive about writing long responses.

It may be up while I open a thread but the the time I write a response, it'll be down and I'll loose my response.

Thought I was the only one. I lose long posts all the time, and then say "Screw it" and end up writing a one-sentence post.
post #27 of 52
Ive been in web dev for years, in one form or another and I would give the customer user experience a D. Do you think that giving Basenotes you 60.00 will better your experience here ? Unfortunately, there is not another place to go to get the depth of information we are all looking for.
post #28 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nersh View Post

Unfortunately, there is not another place to go to get the depth of information we are all looking for.

YES. The community here is 95% of the value of the site for me. The expertise found here is absolutely superb. I like that this forum seems less geared toward "what frag's gonna get me laid" and more toward the art side of perfume, yet even though basenotes leans more toward art and niche, it seems grounded in reality too, meaning that people here expect a scent to wear well rather than just being art for art's sake. I respect that a lot.
post #29 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nersh View Post

Ive been in web dev for years, in one form or another and I would give the customer user experience a D. Do you think that giving Basenotes you 60.00 will better your experience here ? Unfortunately, there is not another place to go to get the depth of information we are all looking for.

I agree. I have been a computer programmer / web developer / database administrator for many years, and have set up entire websites for several Fortune 500 companies. I think you are being generous when you give it a D. This is not a new problem - if you look through very old posts, it looks like this has been an ongoing issue in one form or another for many years.

I am guessing the site is largely just chugging along on its own with very little DB maintenance (until it slows to a crawl), and consists of just a basic hardware configuration. A server or two in someone's basement type of setup it woud seem. I picture someone in their basement with a MySql manual trying to teach himself something about databases so he can figure out how to get it kicking again if only for a while...

But as pointed out, the people who have contributed to this site with the countless posts filled with insights and opinions (along with a better wardrobe function) is what gives this site it's advantage over Fragrantica, which has it's own advantages (a properly functioning front end and database being among them).

I guess Basenotes is what it is --- we just need to accept it and enjoy it - when we can. Now, I will click "Post Quick Reply" and see if it works...
post #30 of 52
It gets extremely frustrating when you see an error and a bug on your page, that is a 5 minute fix, and it goes on all weekend, or all week, for that matter.
post #31 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nersh View Post

It gets extremely frustrating when you see an error and a bug on your page, that is a 5 minute fix, and it goes on all weekend, or all week, for that matter.

Maybe we should think of it as part of the Basenotes charm... Like the shifter on a Ferrari or the batch variations of Aventus...
post #32 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by dougczar View Post

Maybe we should think of it as part of the Basenotes charm... Like the shifter on a Ferrari or the batch variations of Aventus...

I consider it one step past charm since people pay for the plus membership. Cant think of the word for it....
post #33 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by dougczar View Post

Maybe we should think of it as part of the Basenotes charm... Like the shifter on a Ferrari or the batch variations of Aventus...

Yes, I have come to think of these issues as something akin to the A*Men/B*Men rubber type outer coating on the bottles. LOL.
post #34 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by dougczar View Post

I guess Basenotes is what it is

No matter what has been said, and lots of drama in the past will change this. Basically, we just have to deal with it. Both you and I see this as an opportunity, of sorts. Unfortunately I dont have the time for another project of this scale.

Once the platform and interface changes, someday, will we call this Vintage Basenotes ?

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nersh View Post

Once the platform and interface changes, someday, will we call this Vintage Basenotes ?

You know that was funny. And I am certain this thread will be removed.
post #35 of 52
@ hedonist222 - Unfortunately, that's part of the reason my posts are often short/hurried/bit confused & edited.
If trying to post a longer one, it may help to 'copy' the text from time to time - then you can paste it back, presuming your browser doesn't crash. There is an 'autosave' feature that kicks in occasionally.
post #36 of 52
When i joined, it was slow as molasses and hard to navigate. I gave up. Came back a few years later, slightly different look, still slow as molasses.

But my friends are here.

Its kind of like the corner pub. Its dirty, lousy service, watered down drinks...But its always a good time somehow.
post #37 of 52
Well said, aphexacid
post #38 of 52
Fragrantica just doesn't have the quality forums. I have been an active user here for a year. The worst thing is when I sit down to put a bunch of reviews into the database. half way through the site freezes up and I am stuck smelling my arm and jotting stuff down on scrap paper. I have downloaded my entire wardrobe and "have tried list" as well as all of my 200+ reviews b/c I just know one day it will crash forever...I also hate looking like a putz with double posts b/c the site posts something twice...
post #39 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by lpp View Post

@ hedonist222 - Unfortunately, that's part of the reason my posts are often short/hurried/bit confused & edited.
If trying to post a longer one, it may help to 'copy' the text from time to time - then you can paste it back, presuming your browser doesn't crash. There is an 'autosave' feature that kicks in occasionally.

Exactly, I do the same, whenever I fear that the connection will screw up a post, I copy the text before hitting the "reply" button.
post #40 of 52
It was better when the wardrobe and directory was offline. As much as I like Basenotes it's probably the most problematic website I've come across. Needs a complete overhaul, but of course that takes money and time.
post #41 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by lpp View Post

@ hedonist222 - Unfortunately, that's part of the reason my posts are often short/hurried/bit confused & edited.
If trying to post a longer one, it may help to 'copy' the text from time to time - then you can paste it back, presuming your browser doesn't crash. There is an 'autosave' feature that kicks in occasionally.

THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS! THIS!

I don't even attempt to post a short comment here without first doing a select-all/copy of whatever I typed.
post #42 of 52
Well, that works, for now

Have u looked at the numbers of viewers & unregistered 'visitors', against the number of subscribers....?
post #43 of 52
The fact that this thread is still here is testament enough.
post #44 of 52
I dont know what you guys are talking about. I am on the site for hours everyday and I have never experienced any down time. and its blazing fast.















































not!
post #45 of 52
Yes, it's plain frustrating. In answer to some of the posts.

The tech side is being outsourced, but it's not ready yet. It is getting there though.

I currently have my host and another outside person looking into it, and a lot of it involved switching things off, and seeing if it helps, so it's a bit of a long drawn out process.

The server can sometimes run for hours with no problem, even at the busiest times of day, so it's not necessarily the amount of people on the boards, there is probably something in a script that causes a big intense hit server, and finding that will solve the problem. There's lots of GB's of log files to look through to find a pattern.

One thing I'm trying at the moment is to split the older men's forum posts into an archive forum to see if that has any effect.

All I can do is apologise (lots), and let you know that it's something that's being worked on, and there will be light at the end of the crashy tunnel. ETA as soon as I know...
post #46 of 52
Thank you for your time and effort.
post #47 of 52
Good luck & thank you!
post #48 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant View Post

One thing I'm trying at the moment is to split the older men's forum posts into an archive forum to see if that has any effect.

Yeah I don't think it did....
post #49 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant View Post

Yeah I don't think it did....

Oh, please don't kill the option of posting on old threads, sometimes it's very convenient to bring an old thread back to life.
post #50 of 52
I just bide my time on Scented Salamander or Now Smell This until it's working again (after reporting to Grant). Maybe Bill Gates could help -- he's very philanthropic nowadays.
post #51 of 52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaern View Post

I just bide my time on Scented Salamander or Now Smell This until it's working again (after reporting to Grant). Maybe Bill Gates could help -- he's very philanthropic nowadays.

No, this site doesn't use Microsoft products - it uses freeware stuff - PHP / MySQL, and the forum is vBulletin... Had it been built on a Microsoft platform, it probably wouldn't be so buggy, and thus wouldn't need his help...
post #52 of 52
Thanks for the update.
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