Update Notes on Fixing Extreme Lag Issue

[Jason]

This topic will provide updates on my attempts to solve the extreme lag issue.

To keep black hat hackers from taking advantage, this entire board (Website & Forums) will now be restricted to members of the forum. So you'll have to log in.

I also won't provide too many details. You'll see me saying things like, "reinstalled SMF" or "testing lag of database" and noting when I find leads that might lead me to the solution. Some might find it interesting and it'll let you know that I really am trying to fix it.

This topic will be unlocked so you may ask questions or make comments.

[Jason]

I'll be making another run at fixing the issue tomorrow night starting at 6 pm and continuing to 10 pm, possibly. Note that this is the regular time and day for server maintenance as has been previously announced here. Just as a reminder, please note this time so you're not compelled to email me about issues during the window. There likely will be issues during this time as I muck about with software and settings. See you on the flip-side!

[Jason]

This afternoon, I used a test server and re-installed the forum software from scratch on it, restored the database (which stores all the posts) and other files such as attachments and themes. The idea is to start with a clean install in case one of the files is corrupted. And if that's it, this will fix it.

I'm going to do some testing on this clean install in the next few days. I may even open it up to you guys for testing trying to break it. So I won't be doing any maintenance tonight. I'm pretty sick of looking at a computer screen right now. Who'da thunk it?

[Jason]

There is an issue with posting even semi-large attachments. I'll fix this tomorrow.

[Jason]

Large attachments seem to be fixed now. You can now attach files up to 2.5 MB in size and up to 4 per post which I think is the same settings as before. It's likely that only graphics like screenshots are going to be that big. It tells you these allowances when you make a post under attachments area near the bottom of the post.

If your screenshot is larger, you're going to have to use your favorite image editor to downsize it. I use Gwenview as a viewer and an editor. You can either save it with higher compression probably under the File menu as 'Save As...' or 'Export'. Or you can use a 'resize' function which is normally under the 'Edit' menu and just lower the resolution.

However, with 2.5 MB, you can likely attach a full-screen at 1920 x 1080 even with detailed wallpaper. It's usually when you screenshot dual-monitors each with fancy wallpaper that you'll likely go over.

If you need to make larger non-graphic posts like sharing a presentation or a multi-page PDF, email them to me and I will post them for you.

If there are enough complaints, I MAY raise the file sizes.

Complimentary screenshot attached using both screens sized down by 50% which each have fancy wallpapers from Picture of the Day (Astronomy) on the left, and on the right, Picture of the Day (Bing)

[Jason]

I still have to install the front-page to the website which is supplied by the Drupal CMS (content management system) on the new server that the beta forum is on. However, I won't do that until we're pretty sure that the forum is working so I don't introduce another variable.

But I did fix the link on the main page so you can get to this beta forum from https://plugintolinux.ca.

[Jason]

Guys, let me know if you're still experiencing extreme lag. After about a dozen posts, I'm not seeing any but I want to gather more input.

[buster]

" still experiencing extreme lag"

None at all.  Works fine.

[fox]

Ditto.

[Jason]

That's good to hear, guys. It leads me to think that some files were corrupted that was causing the issue. Or maybe it was the database software. I was hoping a fresh install of the entire LAMP (Linux, Apache MySQL, PHP) stack would fix things. Maybe this is it. Fingers crossed. Knock on wood, etc.

[Jason]

So far I haven't heard about any more lag issues from the steady members who use the forum. This is great! There appears to be another issue with the forum that I'll post about in a separate topic.