various news 05-Aug-2004

[slug]

Faster deletions/updates.
just finished rewriting various programs that manage where all the image files live. there are 70+ millions files, and at least two or three copies of them. (not including copies on backup tapes)
some of these files are served from servers that didn't update immediately.
the effect of these improvements will be that when you delete/rotate/re-upload/recompress or in any way alter one of your images, the changes should show up within 30 minutes or less.
previously, someone would delete or modify and image, but direct links to the old image would continue to work which was often undesirable.
this problem should be solved now.
an invisible but important side-effect is that this new method, aside from being better and faster, will consume much less bandwidth as the servers communicate with each other.

New hardware.
we've ordered a new database server which should improve performance and provide more capacity. this one will have four 3.0Ghz Xeon MP processors and 32GB RAM. it will be be a while before it's configured, tested, and ready to go. when we do switchover, there will be a period of between 12-24hours during which no editing or uploads will be possible, but viewing will be as usual.
we also have another 4terabytes of storage ready to install as well more webservers and a new load balancer.

software in progress.
emily is finishing up the password protection feature to allow upload and edit permissions on a per gallery basis. this means you can put an upload privilege on a passkey, which would allow people with the password to upload to your gallery without having full access to your account.
it all seems to work, but we're doing a little more testing.

we've been rewriting a bunch of code to make it easier to add new features. for example there are several miscellaneous gallery options that have been fully or partially implemented for a while now. they aren't available yet, simply because i haven't wanted to make the gallery edit page any more confusing than it already is. after this rewrite, we'll have different sections of the gallery edit page so the less used options can be in their own place.

-slug

[keiththomson]

Thanks for the update...I dunno about other people, but I find the details of the hardware/software behind pbase very interesting.

[framewerkz]

Slug, you total tease!

What "other" features???????

[srijith]

Thanks for the update Slug. Looking forward to all the new features. It really is amazing how much one if getting out of $23/yr.

there will be a period of between 12-24hours during which no editing or uploads will be possible, but viewing will be as usual.

I really hope you can give enough advance notice of this 'downtime' to that you wont be drowned by people who did not get the news in time.

[matiasasun]

Ok... Thanks a lot. Two simple comments:

1) You may want to add an advice in the first page. If not Forums will be repleated with people asking for answers if they can`t upload. It is amazing but a forum about problems in here are among the most visited, popular, and replyed...

2) Should we expect any other kind of problems? I mean, the first three people before me are among the most "usefull" forums users and that information may be "vital" during the actualization.

Thanks again. Seems that some changes will be seeing in the future in here, nice.
Matias, Chile

PS. Actualize lock image too please.

[matiasasun]

Ok... Thanks a lot. Two simple comments:

1) You may want to add an advice in the first page. If not Forums will be repleated with people asking for answers if they can`t upload. It is amazing but the forums about problems in here are among the most visited, popular, and replyed...

2) Should we expect any other kind of problems? I mean, the first three people before me are among the most "usefull" forums users and that information may be "vital" during the actualization.

Thanks again. Seems that some changes will be seeing in the future in here, nice.
Matias, Chile

PS. Actualize lock image too please.

[ralf]

Two bugs in the new edit page (upload.pbase.com/edit_gallery/{user}/{gallery}) :

1. The first image after a page break does not appear on the page

2. If any image title contains double quotes, all text beginning with the first double quote in the title is lost on clicking "Update Gallery Images" (quotes are not affected when editing an individual image)

This is using Mozilla 1.7.1, if it makes a difference.

[slug]

both have been fixed.
very sorry about that.

this was mostly finished a couple of weeks ago, and we've been testing since. but still a couple of things slipped through.

thanks,
-slug

[goislands]

1) gallery edit background color ignored
2) batch edit does not have access to lists of films, cameras and lenses
3) image edit does not not have access to list of cameras and lenses. Only the (very scarse) list of films is available.
4) "Burke camera" listed along films
5) list of films very incomplete. A good list of films is on http://creekin.net/films.htm

Several of these problems are for a few months with us already, I even send emails to support@pbase.com, but these messages probably were not spotted among many others.

Could you please take a look at these issues? Thanks in advance.

Thomas

[jcornice]

Editing an individual image only lists "my lenses" under Camera Lens. It used to list a variety of other lenses. I have some new images with a lens I haven't used on pbase before. How can I select the new lens?

John

[jcornice]

Found the answer (even though I searched earlier):

http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?p=30356#30356

[slug]

just added a link to the update image page near the camera/lens lists.
if you click it, it will reload the page with the full lists of cameras and lenses.

the reason it doesn't always display is that there are 3500+ cameras which could take 30 seconds to load the page for some people.

now you can get the full list only if you need it while the page should load quickly most of the time.

a special page for maintaining an inventory of sorts of your equipment is in the works but some other things need to be done first.

-slug

[goislands]

a special page for maintaining an inventory of sorts of your equipment is in the works but some other things need to be done first.
-slug

This is a good idea! Thanks a lot for addressing the issue!

Thomas