Ever since the implementation of the shoutbox here, I've been getting this error when I attempt to view forums, topic, or post:
"Connection Problems
Sorry, SMF was unable to connect to the database. This may be caused by the server being busy. Please try again later."
This error occurs about 50% of the time I try to do one of these things and a page refresh is often enough to get around it.
I am experiencing the same thing. My guess would be that it either has to do with the rapid refresh rate of the shoutbox or the shoutbox consumes too much bandwidth. And just before anybody says it, clearing the cache doesn't fix this...I've done it many times...not likes there's any way it would fix a problem like this anyways.
I'm pretty sure the majority of the community is experiencing this error. My thoughts are that the site is overloaded, it has so many things going on at once. It has people posting, all the topics, constantly updating itself, 13-20 members on at a time doing different things, and on top of all that, a new shoutbox that is being constantly used by everyone. And if this is the problem, Meiun could probably find a solution.
~Looperpuck
I can safely say that I have yet to experience this issue at all. Either I'm not on the forum often enough, or....it's doing it for a reason other than the webserver.
EDIT: Though I doubt it has anything to do with it, what browser are you all using? Firefox here.
I'm running into it often, Google Chrome.
I'm running into more frequently when more users are online on the forum. I'm also using Chrome.
I have been looking into this issue, and have conclusively pin-pointed where the issue is. I've been working in an attempt to patch the shoutbox tool to prevent this from happening in the future. You can likely expect something in the next couple of days.
Quote from: Chaos on July 07, 2010, 09:51:45 PM
I can safely say that I have yet to experience this issue at all. Either I'm not on the forum often enough, or....it's doing it for a reason other than the webserver.
EDIT: Though I doubt it has anything to do with it, what browser are you all using? Firefox here.
Well I can safely say it's not a browser issue because I am using firefox aswell.
@Scott
Glad to hear it.
It has nothing to do with browsers. This is a server utilization issue caused by negligent coding in the script. Although, I will say that this is rather bizarre, as I have used this on 3 other websites, and seen it on countless others without issue. Strange, yet that doesn't fix the problem does it?
This happened to me quite a bit earlier today, but not yesterday- and not now.
~Aqua
The shoutbox has been taken down until further notice, which should resolve all the site errors people have been having. That shoutbox seemed to have a number of efficiency issues that (even with some assistance from Scotty) were just too unreasonable to make it worthwhile in it's current state. I definitely would like us to be able to have a good chat system on here though, so I will let you guys know if I can find a replacement. Scott has also expressed some interest in seeing if he can possibly improve the old one to work better, which could serve as a possible solution as well.