Annotations should be working now
If you can read this, you’re seeing the site on the new server, and annotations should be working again. I expect something will break somewhere along the line, but hopefully things are OK…
Site News
News about this site and other Pepys-related events.
Annotations switched off for server move
In a moment I’ll be switching off the ability to post annotations. I’m about to move this (and my other sites) to a new server and I need to switch off annotations to make sure nothing’s lost in the process. When everything is working on the new server I’ll post a message there. Because it can take a while for the news of a site moving to work its way around the internet, it could be hours or days until you can see the new server. Hopefully it won’t be too long!
Recent Annotations are back
You’ll be pleased to know that the Recent Annotations page is back. It used to be re-built every time an annotation was posted, which might have been one of several factors contributing to the Internal Server Errors. The page is now built whenever the page is viewed which will take some load off Movable Type’s comment-handling script (actually, the page is never built more than once every two minutes, so it may occasionally lag a minute or two behind).
I think it’s working correctly, but let me know if you notice anything particularly odd. Also, if there’s anything about the page that could be improved, so it’s a better quick overview of all that’s happening on the site, do post below or to the new discussion group.
Site maintenance over
I’ve spent the evening trying to work out why “Internal Server Errors” are generated so often when annotations are posted. I’ve tried simplifying the templates Movable Type uses to generate the site’s pages, to the point of reverting to the software’s default, very simple, templates. Although I saw some improvement I was still seeing errors around 10-20% of the time.
Site maintenance beginning
I’m about to start work on the site, to find out the cause of the “Internal Server Errors”. The appearance will change dramatically and test comments will be posted. I’ll post again when I’ve finished.
Site maintenance on Thursday
Early on Thursday evening, UK time, I’ll be doing some work on the site to try and find what’s causing the relentless “Internal Server Errors.” This means that the look of the site will change drastically, as I try out some simpler templates, and there will be a lot of test annotations appearing from me.
I’ll post a message on the front page when I begin work, and again when I’ve finished. Hopefully with some positive results…
The discussion group is moving
Everyone on the SmartGroups discussion group should have been notified already, but for everyone else… The Discussion Group is moving to Yahoo! Groups because SmartGroups seems to be increasingly unreliable — messages often arrive days after they’ve been sent. So if you want to join the new group, you can sign up here.
Annotations are back. Again.
Annotations should be back, and functioning, across the site now.
Annotations switched off temporarily
No sooner have I cleared one lot of spam, but another appears. I’ve no idea why they’ve suddenly appeared in such numbers over the past week.
Annotations are back
I’ve switched the ability to annotate back on. There’s no more spam appearing right now, but it’s possible it will appear again. If so I’ll have to think of some better solution to the problem.