Receiving notifications but topic not on file for 2.0.15

[pvxplus]

I posted the below to the wrong forum so sorry if you get duplicates...

I am having the problem below on SMF 2.0.15 but posted it originally to the 2.1 support

We have just started using SMF and have had a couple of occasions when people post new topics we receive the notification email but the topic does not end up on the system. 

When I check the database, there is no record on the topics file for the posting.
The error log shows nothing. We just get the notification with no topic in the system.

Anybody got any ideas where to start looking?

[GigaWatt]

Which version of SMF are you using? Did you use your hosts auto installer to install SMF?

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Try this.

If you can get the topic ID of the supposed new topic, such as ?topic=561101
Then see if you have a topic with an ID bigger than that, such as ?topic=561102 or if not,
then post a new topic and see what the ID is, and is it bigger than the original notifications ID?

If yes on any of those, then the topic that notification referenced was actually created - and either should still be there, or was removed by someone - in which case, you may want to review your permissions, if you do not want to allow that. ( Or, activate a recycle board to collect deleted topics and posts. )

[pvxplus]

This is a new board (and I'm new to SMF) and the topic number was in the 80's.

I will try your idea of a recycle board however the original poster contacted me and indicated he didn't delete the message.

I was thinking perhaps that something failed after the notifications were sent out but before the database got updated.  I haven't looked at the internals of the SMF logic yet but wondered if perhaps the notification emails are done before the topic is written to the database and perhaps in sending a notification something had an error (or perhaps Apache process timeout occurred and the task was killed?).

I do think it odd that any notification would be sent prior the actual topic being written out -- but I suppose its possible (perhaps a spawned thread/process is used for notifications and the main thread/process died??).

Funny thing the notifications did include the text of the topic...

I checked the error logs and didn't see anything there.

[shawnb61]

It's certainly not normal behavior.   

What mods do you have installed?

Another thing to try is to run the Find and Repair any Errors function under Maintenance | Routine.   Maybe a topic or board is damaged somehow.

[GigaWatt]

I was thinking perhaps that something failed after the notifications were sent out but before the database got updated.

If you're thinking of the database entries when you're submitting a post or opening a new thread, the database is updated instantly. But, I have no idea if the notification emails are sent before the thread is actually created in the database.

In any case, it would be beneficial if you'd note the SMF version you're using, PHP version (not that I think it's related, but, it wouldn't hurt to have that info), installed modifications and whether you used your host's installer to install SMF or not.

[pvxplus]

The SMF is 2.0.15 with the following Mods installed

• 
  SMF 2.0.15 Update
• 
  SMFPacks Like Pro
• 
  GDPR Helper
• 
  Yet another YouTube BBCode tag

I also ran the find/repair errors in the Maintenance section and it reported no errors found.

One things I'm going to try is remove the ability for users to delete their own posts temporarily to see if the problem re-occurs.  I suppose its possible the user posted the topic then accidently deleted it.  I can't leave this one permanently as it is contrary to GDPR.

Any other thoughts would be much appreciated.

[Kindred]

well, it's not contrary to GDPR.  Posts contribute to a conversation. With missing posts, the conversation doe snot make sense, therefore it is vital to the continuation of the forum service that posts remain inline in the conversation/thread.

Not only is is valid to prevent the deletion, but it is valid to prevent the editing of posts after the fact.

(posts are not personal information (well, unless the user includes his real name, etc in the post)


As for what you describe, there is no way (other than the deletion of the post) that what you describe would happen.
Turn on the recycle bin, so all deleted posts go there.
and/or turn off post deletion and post editing.

[pvxplus]

I have done as suggested and will continue to monitor the situation.  Thanks for all your help.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Please do let us know of any progress either way