# ENworld unstable?



## monboesen (Jul 26, 2009)

Does anyone else experience problems with Enworld?


For the last week or so the site seems to come and go for me. Even when I have acces it is very slow.


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## Deuce Traveler (Jul 29, 2009)

Yes.  It's been incredibly slow and once I saw an apologetic message saying they have had a spike in traffic recently, but I don't know what occurred to have caused that.


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## mach1.9pants (Jul 29, 2009)

Un usable for me, just popped on now to say:

If there are too many users kick of the non-Community Supporters first ! 

Took me about 15 minutes to get this reply page 

So see ya, ENW til you come back to normal.. have fun I'll miss you


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## El Mahdi (Jul 29, 2009)

It was unuseable for me this weekend (all the way till Tuesday morning).  I kept getting a message saying that traffic was through the roof and once the amount of users on line dropped below 3000, it would start allowing people back on.  I've been able to get on all day today, but it has been extremely slow.  Don't know where all of this traffic is either, since hardly anyone is making posts (and there were almost no posts all weekend)?

If the traffic is because of ENNies Voting, then I understand to a certain extent.  But, I am kind of baffled that this couldn't have been anticipated?  If it's because of some other reason, then I'd agree, community supporters should have priority.  Only seems fair.


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## MerricB (Jul 29, 2009)

El Mahdi said:


> It was unuseable for me this weekend (all the way till Tuesday morning).  I kept getting a message saying that traffic was through the roof and once the amount of users on line dropped below 3000, it would start allowing people back on.  I've been able to get on all day today, but it has been extremely slow.  Don't know where all of this traffic is either, since hardly anyone is making posts (and there were almost no posts all weekend)?
> 
> If the traffic is because of ENNies Voting, then I understand to a certain extent.  But, I am kind of baffled that this couldn't have been anticipated?  If it's because of some other reason, then I'd agree, community supporters should have priority.  Only seems fair.




It's not because of ENnies voting. That's on a different site. In fact, it isn't because of traffic at all - that error message is in error (and Morrus doesn't know why it shows).

Instead, EN World is suffering massive slow-down from an unidentified cause. 

Morrus comments on it here: http://www.circvsmaximvs.com/showthread.php?t=62633

Cheers!


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## El Mahdi (Jul 29, 2009)

Thanks for the info Merric. When I couldn't get on this weekend I went looking over at Circvs Maximvs to see if I could find any info but my search-foo is weak over there (not a community supporter in that neck of the woods). Ironically, I just tried following your link to the thread at CM and can't connect there now. Internet Explorer is telling me the site is probably down. Go figure.


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## Morrus (Jul 29, 2009)

mach1.9pants said:


> If there are too many users kick of the non-Community Supporters first !




That's no possible, I'm afraid.  The server doesn't know whether you're a community supporter or not until you're already on, at which point the damage is already done and it's too late to go back in time and stop you from having made that database query.


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Jul 29, 2009)

Morrus said:


> That's no possible, I'm afraid.  The server doesn't know whether you're a community supporter or not until you're already on, at which point the damage is already done and it's too late to go back in time and stop you from having made that database query.



Maybe you can rig the TARDIS for that?


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## catsclaw227 (Jul 29, 2009)

CM is also hyper-slow...


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## ruemere (Jul 31, 2009)

Umm... with all due respect for the administrators of ENWorld, several stats to follow (for http://www.enworld.org/forum/meta/259834-enworld-barely-functional.html):

Size of the page:
101 906 bytes 
Number of in-line elements:
48 (513 990 bytes)
Number of inline scripts (coming from www.enworld.com):
20

Suggested steps to take:
1. Check your databases. Brutal removal of older threads (just back them to separate database) and optimization could do wonders on a short time basis.
2. Ask someone to optimize scripts - the number of inline elements is huge for such a simple website. 
3. Have a look through logs - my opinion is that it's not the number of users but the number of requests made. Have a look at the most often downloaded parts of website and check related AJAX stuff (it's just a shot in the dark, but I have noticed similar problems several times).

It may be time for ENWorld to go on diet.

Finally, number 4 - consider moving to more recent version of VBulletin (ENWorld is 3.8.0 Beta 1, current stable VBulletin is 3.8.3):

vBulletin Community Forum - Powered by vBulletin, stats:

Size of the page:
14 794 bytes
Number of in-line elements:
29 (128 971 bytes)
Number of inline scripts:
7

Current version of VBulletin appears to be significantly slimmer.

Regards,
Ruemere


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## Aus_Snow (Jul 31, 2009)

Well, it's much faster now (just today, perhaps?) I mean, sure, it's still waaaay slower than any other site I've been to in years. But hey, less slow = better.


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## Blackrat (Jul 31, 2009)

It's been decently snappy for the past hour or so. Someone found out part of the problem?


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## LightPhoenix (Jul 31, 2009)

The boards have been anything but snappy for me, as of roughly 11am EST.  It's taking two to three minutes to load a single page.


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## Obryn (Jul 31, 2009)

Yeah, it's snappy only during particularly low-volume periods, like late at night.  And even then it leaves something to be desired.

I'm used to ENWorld being slow - I always need to click a thread, wait a few minutes, and check back - but this is nuts. 

-O


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## Truth Seeker (Aug 1, 2009)

Want more 'nuts', I can't post on CM, not on the News threads, I get a system warning, that I am short on 2 characters, add more, the add Image, and several functions don't work.

I have seen my share of problems (with both sites), but this...is far the WORSE.




Obryn said:


> Yeah, it's snappy only during particularly low-volume periods, like late at night. And even then it leaves something to be desired.
> 
> I'm used to ENWorld being slow - I always need to click a thread, wait a few minutes, and check back - but this is nuts.
> 
> -O


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## EugeneZ (Aug 2, 2009)

Seems like the problem is resolved. As an admin of a few large sites, I'm curious what the root cause was. Any chance that's safe information to reveal?


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## Mouseferatu (Aug 2, 2009)

EugeneZ said:


> Seems like the problem is resolved.




Um, no. It's _improved_--in as much as I can get to the forums if I'm willing to wait 2 to 10 minutes for each thread to load--but it's hardly "resolved."


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## EugeneZ (Aug 2, 2009)

Eh, I dunno... maybe the last week skewed my perspective, but EnWorld has always been one of the slowest sites I visit.


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## avin (Aug 2, 2009)

still slow...


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Aug 3, 2009)

Still painful . . .


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## Orius (Aug 3, 2009)

Mouseferatu said:


> Um, no. It's _improved_--in as much as I can get to the forums if I'm willing to wait 2 to 10 minutes for each thread to load--but it's hardly "resolved."




That sounds more accurate -- I can actually get on ENWorld, and it's not as glacial as it was before, but still slow by typical standards.


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## jeffh (Aug 3, 2009)

It's been slow by typical standards for _years_. Right now, while a great deal better than it was a week ago, it's still crazy slow even by _ENWorld _standards.


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## Mark (Aug 3, 2009)

It's only fast early in the morning for me.  Otherwise, needs some serious working over.


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## Truth Seeker (Aug 3, 2009)

Just outside the server, I see this too...


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## SkidAce (Aug 4, 2009)

It took me 14 minutes to get here and post this message.  Could a moderator or somebody email me and let me know whats going on?  I've been a member since Enwordl was starting during the leadup to 3rd, been a community supporter for a while, and I really miss my daily fix of lurking and reading.  I actually went to the official wizard boards and rpg.net for the last to weeks to be able to read something about my hobby.  Definately not the place for me.

I want to come home but I can't.


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## Morrus (Aug 5, 2009)

We can't email everyone individually - sorry!

Today I hired a chap to fix the issue.  I've tried everything I can, ut whatever the issue is is beyond my skillset to fix.  This guy is expensive but comes highly recommended.

So, with luck, we'll have a fix soon!  The one thing we do know is that it's not a hardware issue, it's some weird configuration issue.


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## Jhaelen (Aug 5, 2009)

Well, looks like it helped. For the first time in two weeks ENWorld seems to be usable again for me... yay!


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## SkidAce (Aug 5, 2009)

Yeah I knew that when I typed it, sorry about that.  

I do appreciate the update, thank you.


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## Mark (Aug 5, 2009)

Morrus said:


> We can't email everyone individually - sorry!
> 
> Today I hired a chap to fix the issue.  I've tried everything I can, ut whatever the issue is is beyond my skillset to fix.  This guy is expensive but comes highly recommended.
> 
> So, with luck, we'll have a fix soon!  The one thing we do know is that it's not a hardware issue, it's some weird configuration issue.






Tell him I love him, in a strictly platonic way, please.


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## thalmin (Aug 5, 2009)

Morrus said:


> We can't email everyone individually - sorry!
> 
> Today I hired a chap to fix the issue. I've tried everything I can, ut whatever the issue is is beyond my skillset to fix. This guy is expensive but comes highly recommended.
> 
> So, with luck, we'll have a fix soon! The one thing we do know is that it's not a hardware issue, it's some weird configuration issue.



 Looked like he did the trick. I haven't seen ENWorld load so fast in years (maybe because no one knows it's fixed yet.)
Thank you!


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## Obryn (Aug 5, 2009)

WHOA.

I just opened a few windows, got prepared to work for a few minutes, and they all loaded?!?!

WTF!  How am I supposed to get any work done now? 

-O


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## Treebore (Aug 5, 2009)

thalmin said:


> Looked like he did the trick. I haven't seen ENWorld load so fast in years (maybe because no one knows it's fixed yet.)
> Thank you!





Yeah, this is the best I have seen ENWorld operate, ever! Who ever was hired, they were obviously worth it.


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## LightPhoenix (Aug 5, 2009)

Mark said:


> Tell him I love him, in a strictly platonic way, please.




Tell him I'll love him in whatever manner he prefers.



Morrus said:


> Today I hired a chap to fix the issue.  I've tried everything I can, ut whatever the issue is is beyond my skillset to fix.  This guy is expensive but comes highly recommended.
> 
> So, with luck, we'll have a fix soon!  The one thing we do know is that it's not a hardware issue, it's some weird configuration issue.




So... aside from CS accounts and such, is there a way we can donate something to help offset the cost?


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## Wulf Ratbane (Aug 5, 2009)

Something seems to have worked! Yay!


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Aug 5, 2009)

LightPhoenix said:


> Tell him I'll love him in whatever manner he prefers.



Ditto.


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## SkidAce (Aug 5, 2009)

Best response from EN World web site evar!

I feel much less stressed now...the universe is back in alignment.


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## wedgeski (Aug 5, 2009)

Morrus, whoever that guys was, he's a guru. I can't remember the site ever being this fast! Buy him a beer on me! And thanks for forking out to get get the problem fixed.


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## Zinovia (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks for the fix!  It's great to be able to get back onto ENworld without having to wait for each page to download over the course of 5 minutes or more.  Maybe experts are worth it after all!


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## Dragonblade (Aug 8, 2009)

Wow! EN World hasn't been this fast for me in a couple of years. Awesome!


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