News:

Wondering if this will always be free?  See why free is better.

Main Menu

Alerts Help

Started by FrizzleFried, March 28, 2022, 07:51:43 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

FrizzleFried

I assume the cron running for my main site doesnt' affect the test site on the same server but in a different folder... ?

FrizzleFried

I poked around phpmyadmin ... but I'll re-try. 

FrizzleFried

I really have no idea what i am doing.

I found the background table.  There is nothing in there.  If i setup an alert it will pop in with some data (if I refresh)... then that data goes away once the alert is delivered.

Well,  the times it doesn't want to deliver the data it just sits in there...

I don't see an error nor any indicator of what may cause it to sit in there.

But again, I freely admit I have very little clue as to what i am doing.

EDIT as a matter of fact... the one that stuck is still stuck in there... multiple minutes later.

Not sure if this data is helpful ... because again (look up for the reason).

;)


{"msgOptions":{"id":842453,"subject":"Re: TEST","body":"[quote author=Sasquatch link=msg=842412 date=1648504033]<br>That mention took the longest... maybe 5 seconds.<br><br>[\/quote]<br>[member=22]Sasquatch[\/member]&nbsp;test","icon":"xx","smileys_enabled":true,"attachments":[],"approved":1,"poster_time":1648514932,"send_notifications":true,"quoted_members":{"22":{"id":"22","email_address":"[email protected]","lngfile":"","real_name":"Sasquatch"}},"mentioned_members":[]},"topicOptions":{"id":35042,"board":"13","poll":null,"lock_mode":null,"sticky_mode":null,"mark_as_read":true,"is_approved":true,"first_msg":"842408","last_msg":"842451","redirect_expires":null,"redirect_topic":null},"posterOptions":{"id":1,"name":"FrizzleFried","email":"[email protected]","update_post_count":true,"ip":"194.60.86.5"},"type":"reply","respawns":1}

shawnb61

Quote from: FrizzleFried on March 28, 2022, 08:51:58 PMI found the background table.  There is nothing in there.  If i setup an alert it will pop in with some data (if I refresh)... then that data goes away once the alert is delivered.

That's perfect!  That means requests are properly logged & getting processed on an ongoing basis. 

Isolate the problem mod, deinstall it, and you are done. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

FrizzleFried

Any pro-tips to determine which mod or I guess I should start from mod 1 (there are dates of installation from my recollection) and work my way though them.

I honestly think I may have broke the system from day one... so it's likely one of the early mods.


shawnb61

I would go in your vanilla sandbox environment.  Install them one by one, and repeat your tests after each mod install.

The first one I'd try would be the rating one, since you said that is one of the actions you took when you saw the failures.
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

FrizzleFried

I have determined the offending mod.  It's a commercial mod and I've reported the issue to the creator.  Once removed,  the system works pretty much exactly as I (and my users) expect it to (thus far).

THAT was fun.

FrizzleFried

#47
OK.  The offending mod WAS the Awesome Ratings mod from SMFHacks ...

This alert system is new for everyone and there are some growing pains as expected.  I reported the issue to the folks at SMFHacks.  Immediately they set upon to determine what was going on.  That was about midnight my time last night.  About 10 minutes ago I installed an updated version of the mod that appears to have FIXED the issue!  I am getting my alerts in a timely fashion as expected!

I highly recommend the Awesome Ratings mod from them... and I'm happy to say they are quick on the ball when it comes to support!  Awesome Ratings... Awesome Job!

EDIT: I would also like to thank everyone here for putting up with me yesterday.  After weeks of complaints about this issue I decided yesterday was the day I was GOING to get it fixed one way or another and at times I'm sure I came off as a little pissy.  Never at you folks... always at my inability to handle things myself to be honest.  Thank you for helping me work my way through this and I apologize to all the users for bumping the heck out of this thread throughout the day. 

Jon


KittyGalore

Quote from: Kindred on March 28, 2022, 09:29:01 AMI can not recreate any of the problems you are mentioning, Frizzle...    both here on Simplemachines.org and on my test site, alerts seem to happen within a reasonable time frame -- heck, my test site is barely touched by any users other then me and search engines -- and I still get alerts in a reasonable timeframe (within the hour, if not even sooner)
I have this issue on this site i have on some topics to receive alerts up till an hour ago i see the topics i receive alerts on there was nothing shown and nothing shown for them in a few days just now i opened this forum and have 46 alerts.

Using google chrome and Windows 10 on PC

.You cannot view this attachment. You cannot view this attachment.
SMF Curve 2.0x

Shades.

I'm having same problems! I've seen this post a dozen times today and just now got an alert for it, 8 hours later! ???
ShadesWeb.com - Custom Logos - My Themes on SMF | My Themes on ShadesWeb
https://shadesweb.com

BikerHound.com - Sniffing out the road ahead
https://bikerhound.com

Dream as if you'll live forever; Live as if you'll die today. - James Dean

shawnb61

#50
I think some of the confusion here is due to the fact that if you visit the thread, it will flag the alerts as being read. 

Back during the RCs, folks were complaining about being spammed by hundreds & hundreds of alerts.  So measures were taken to minimize alert spam.  E.g., if you read the thread, you will see that alert counter drop.  There is no need to alert you to go read the thread if you have since read that thread.

So, in many cases, what is happening is that the alerts go away because you've read the thread.  But you leave the thread, and something else happens & triggers a new alert, leading you to think one took hours to get to you.

So... 

If you think you see delays going forward, two requests. 
(1) Take a screenshot of the delayed alert to help us diagnose what happened.  As noted above, different alert types behave a little differently.  We need to know exactly what you are seeing.
(2) Check your browser console.  The alerts are dependent on .js, and if you're having .js issues, that will impact things as well.

Actually, 3 requests...
(3) Start a new thread.  The one was resolved.  It was due to a mod conflict.
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

FrizzleFried

I think part of the confusion was the decision to make alerts go away when you visit a page where the alert was generated.  That runs counter to what most people think SHOULD happen.  I know that I (and the majority of my users) expect an alert to remain until you click it (or ignore it by clicking READ ALL).  That seems to be the most logical behavior for such a thing.

While I do understand why you made the decisions you did,  you must realize that human beings,  being what they are,  expect things to work a certain way "naturally" ... and with it's current functionality of turning off all alerts of a page you visited ... it's really just feels "unnatural".

If there was a way to keep alerts up until a user actually ACTIVELY clicks on it... it times out... or a user click REAL ALL... I would be all over it as I am STILL getting complaints from my users (as you are here) because they don't understand what is going on... because the behavior of the alerts system runs counter to what most folks assume.

Actually... if this has to be a MOD... please,  put it in the proper place.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for the alerts system to behave in such a fashion (if only to stop my having to explain the way things do work to people over and over and over).

But to be clear ... yes ... my issues with the Alerts was related to a MOD (which has been fixed).

KittyGalore

Quote from: FrizzleFried on April 02, 2022, 10:49:30 AMI think part of the confusion was the decision to make alerts go away when you visit a page where the alert was generated.  That runs counter to what most people think SHOULD happen.  I know that I (and the majority of my users) expect an alert to remain until you click it (or ignore it by clicking READ ALL).  That seems to be the most logical behavior for such a thing.

While I do understand why you made the decisions you did,  you must realize that human beings,  being what they are,  expect things to work a certain way "naturally" ... and with it's current functionality of turning off all alerts of a page you visited ... it's really just feels "unnatural".

If there was a way to keep alerts up until a user actually ACTIVELY clicks on it... it times out... or a user click REAL ALL... I would be all over it as I am STILL getting complaints from my users (as you are here) because they don't understand what is going on... because the behavior of the alerts system runs counter to what most folks assume.

Actually... if this has to be a MOD... please,  put it in the proper place.  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for the alerts system to behave in such a fashion (if only to stop my having to explain the way things do work to people over and over and over).

But to be clear ... yes ... my issues with the Alerts was related to a MOD (which has been fixed).
I agree with you as well i want the alerts to be like you and your users. Since the 31st of March i haven't received alerts here on this forum for topics i'm watching so is it just me or is it the same for everyone here i don't know. I prefer to have the alerts to stay and be cleared by me. When i open the forum before i even enter any topic the alerts are empty so it's not just even me entering the topic for them to disappear without me releasing it. 
SMF Curve 2.0x

Arantor

On your own forum, find this code in Sources/Display.php:

Code (find) Select
        // Mark any alerts about this topic or the posts on this page as read.
        if (!empty($user_info['alerts']))
        {
            $smcFunc['db_query']('', '
                UPDATE {db_prefix}user_alerts
                SET is_read = {int:now}
                WHERE is_read = 0 AND id_member = {int:current_member}
                    AND
                    (
                        (content_id IN ({array_int:messages}) AND content_type = {string:msg})
                        OR
                        (content_id = {int:current_topic} AND (content_type = {string:topic} OR (content_type = {string:board} AND content_action = {string:topic})))
                    )',
                array(
                    'topic' => 'topic',
                    'board' => 'board',
                    'msg' => 'msg',
                    'current_member' => $user_info['id'],
                    'current_topic' => $topic,
                    'messages' => $messages,
                    'now' => time(),
                )
            );
            $user_info['alerts'] = max(0, $user_info['alerts'] - max(0, $smcFunc['db_affected_rows']()));
            updateMemberData($user_info['id'], array('alerts' => $user_info['alerts']));
        }

Code (replace) Select
        // This is where the alert updating used to be.

FrizzleFried

Awesome!  I will give it a go and see how things work out.   I will say that fixing the issue with the 3rd party MOD did alleviate the majority of the issues we were experiencing prior.

I do have a question though as well.  Has anyone else gotten multiple windows notices about the same alert ... over and over ... until you actually clear the alert by visiting the page of the alert,  or clicking read all etc?

Now, I  figure it may be the cron job but I am experiencing it on my sandbox test site mostly...

aceone

Quote from: Arantor on April 02, 2022, 12:50:01 PMOn your own forum, find this code in Sources/Display.php:
Could somebody Please made a Mod out of it?

Steve

Quote from: aceone on April 03, 2022, 05:06:46 AMCould somebody Please made a Mod out of it?
You need to ask that here: Mod Requests
DO NOT pm me for support!

Arantor

There you go. Hooks-only mod to achieve the same thing.

Steve

Quote from: Steve on April 03, 2022, 09:28:58 AM
Quote from: aceone on April 03, 2022, 05:06:46 AMCould somebody Please made a Mod out of it?
You need to ask that here: Mod Requests
Or you can catch Arantor on a good day.

(j/k Arantor  :P )
DO NOT pm me for support!

Arantor

Quote from: Steve on April 03, 2022, 10:15:27 AMOr you can catch Arantor on a good day.

No, that really is about it. ;D

Advertisement: