avatar update: good news and bad

news about changes and fixes to the board, and a place to post any technical queries.

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avatar update: good news and bad

Post by sine nomine » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:16 pm

okay, first the good news: i had a backup on my home machine of all avatars up to 8 jan 2005. so if you had a reserved avatar that you sent in before then, you're good. i'm going to see if i can scrounge up some more form my browser cache, but it doesn't look good for that. still, the majority of them are back.

that's the bad news: if you reload the page and don't see your avatar, it hasn't been restored. if it was a public one, choose another; there's still a possibility that you may get it back but as i said, it's unlikely. if you had a reserved avatar, you should probably resend it. a very few people had avatars that started as public but were made reserved (because no one else at all was using that av). if you're in that group, let your avatar wranglers know. it'd be really helpful if you could tell them what gallery it started out in.

what happened (techy stuff ahead, but i'll try to make it understandable):

i made a mistake, one of those unix mistakes that's really easy to make and that most people have made at least once (usually only once, because it sucks so hard to make it).

first, in linux and unix (we're actually on linux), when you delete a file it is gone. no recycle bins, just file gone. so once the files were deleted, the only hope was a backup. i turned out to have one, but it was about a year old.

in linux, btw, instead of calling things folders, we call them directories. i'm going to use folder here, but if i forget and say directory, you know what i mean. and i know most of you know that, but i wanted to make sure everyone did.

buslist.org and busmail.org both live on the same computer, but in different folders. so there's a folder that's buslist.org, and inside that folder is another for the board called phpBB, and so on.

when the board went from busmail to buslist, all of the files that make the board work had to be copied over to the buslist/phpBB folder so they'd work right. i copied the files instead of moving them just to be sure the new setup would work; if i broke it, i could just copy the folders again.

because the avatar folders were pretty huge, i decided to leave them in place instead of copying them over. in linux, you can make something called a symbolic link, which is very like a shortcut. that's what i did.

there is one huge difference between a symbolic link and a shortcut. when you look at a basic list of file names, you can't tell a symbolic link from an actual file or folder. that makes it really really easy to forget that something is a shortcut and not an actual real folder.

i forgot.

i was doing some basic housekeeping last thursday or friday. i wanted to delete files and folders we didn't really need anymore so we'd have more disk space free. one of the things i deleted was the old busmail copy of the board files.

because i forgot that the avatars on buslist were just shortcuts to the ones in the busmail folder, i deleted the ones in the busmail folder. so i killed all the avatars and because linux is unforgiving, i couldn't get them back.

so that's basically it. i've gotten back all i can, and i'm really really sorry. needless to say, this is a mistake i will not repeat. i didn't realize that i'd done it at first because the browser use to read the board at work doesn't show pictures.

:oops:

deb
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[blockquote]Facts are not frightening. But if you try to avoid them,
turn your back and run, then that is frightening. -- Krishnamurti[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Why are we so frightened of what is?
What is the good of running away if whatever we are is always there? -- Krishnamurti[/blockquote]

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Post by mallie » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:28 pm

Ouch. But it is good to know what happened and have an idea how things are likely to go. Deb, everyone makes mistakes at times, and this sounds like something easy to do and is just a total pain in the arse. Don't worry too much - even if linux is unforgiving, we won't be.

Even for people whose avatars disappear when you hit refresh, you might still be able to hit back and save the picture (if you don't still have what you sent in). This is what I've done anyway ;)

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Post by Priceless » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:17 pm

ouch thats bad, but we all make mistakes, thats part of being human.
Its ok.

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Post by Guest » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:55 pm

sounds like an easy mistake to make. nevermind. everyone makes mistakes and i doubt anyone will hold it against you.

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dbms
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Post by dbms » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:04 am

Deb
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Post by CicatrizedLilAngle » Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:53 am

I'm confused (I don't understand the technical explanation anyway).

I was using an avatar from the public gallery. Does that mean it's gone or what? Do I need to send in a new avatar?
And yes, I *am* an angle. Because angles can be obtuse. And angel seemed too much of a cliche.

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Post by friarygirl » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:10 am

I think you need to reselect your avatar - the gallery is working again. Anyway that's what I did today, and I've got mine back again now. :multi: :multi: :multi:
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Post by CicatrizedLilAngle » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:35 am

friarygirl wrote:I think you need to reselect your avatar - the gallery is working again. Anyway that's what I did today, and I've got mine back again now. :multi: :multi: :multi:
How odd. Maybe there's something wrong with me. I don't see your avatar (even when I hit refresh). I'll go and select an avatar though. Maybe I'll get a new one this time.

Edit to add: I can now see mine but still can't see yours.
It looks weird not having my nun there.
And yes, I *am* an angle. Because angles can be obtuse. And angel seemed too much of a cliche.

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Post by friarygirl » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:16 am

CicatrizedLilAngle wrote:It looks weird not having my nun there.
Errrr... I can see your avatar, but it's a cute little kitten in a box, not a nun anymore (I used to like your nun).... Or did you chose a new one?

*confuzzled*
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Post by CicatrizedLilAngle » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:29 am

I couldn't find my nun! I looked all over, but didn't see her.

::cries::
And yes, I *am* an angle. Because angles can be obtuse. And angel seemed too much of a cliche.

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Post by GLaDOS » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:42 am

CicatrizedLilAngle wrote:I couldn't find my nun! I looked all over, but didn't see her.

::cries::
I think it's in the fantasy_people folder, the first one. I think. O_o
This was a triumph.

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Post by jordan » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:43 am

now that things seem to be back and running i thought i'd finally ask. I'm confused and can't figure out how to get my own avatar. where are the galleries??? not sure if this is a stupid question or not. It's probably staring me right in the face. :oops:
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not your star
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Post by not your star » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:58 am

Thanks for letting us know :) Im glad most of the avatars have made it back safely.

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Post by baroque » Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:59 am

Thank you, Deb!
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Post by Stellaria » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:23 am

jordan wrote:I'm confused and can't figure out how to get my own avatar. where are the galleries???
There should be a button somewhere on top of every page that says "Profile", next to the "PM" and "FAQ" buttons. Clicking that will take you to your profile, where you can adjust things such as your time zone or add a signature. At the bottom of the profile page, it says "Avatar control panel" and a button "Show gallery" that will take you to the avatar galleries. Good hunting!
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Post by Christopher » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:00 am

Thanks for you hard work deb!
My avatar is there, although I did not reserve
it.

I know myself how it is with Unix/Linux...

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Post by amyfairy » Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:03 am

cheers for working it out deb, and no worries :) it's all good!

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Post by Reisu » Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:07 am

eh, i was meaning to change my av anyway 8) been making them all morning :bag:
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Post by silent_scream » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:32 pm

Tghankyou.
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Post by sine nomine » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:49 pm

if you're using a public avatar and you don't see it when you hit referesh, it may be in one of the public galleries that wasn't in the backup file i had. if you let me know, i can look in the database and see what it was; that may help in tracking it down. if you change it, though, i can't look it up.

deb
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[blockquote]Facts are not frightening. But if you try to avoid them,
turn your back and run, then that is frightening. -- Krishnamurti[/blockquote]

[blockquote]Why are we so frightened of what is?
What is the good of running away if whatever we are is always there? -- Krishnamurti[/blockquote]

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