Is V V down?

[Aaltrude]

Has anyone had any luck getting to any Vital Votes articles today. I can get to the V V home page and the Members page but I get an error message whenever I try to get to an article or the new comments page. It has been like this for at least the last eight hours. I notice when I did a refresh of the V V page just now that there appear to be no new comments on any of the articles:(

[DizzyIzzy]

There's no comments, but it is working now for me at least. :)

[Reesacat]

I just found an update in my mailbox saying they were down most of yesterday, but got the server fixed and are back online today.

[Aaltrude]

I found the update in my mailbox too about an hour after I posted this query.

[Aaltrude]

I've just been to V V and appears they still have a problem. Whenever I tried to give the thumbs up the recipient actually got "null points" whether they had no points, positive point or negative points already. (Fortunately I didn't try giving thumbs up to anyone here before I realised what was happening). I wonder if they realise this problem exists?

[Islander]

Aazltrude, e-mail them & let them know.

[DizzyIzzy]

I've had that happen before at random Aaltrude - it sort of freezes then goes 'null points'; I just thought it was a server glitch so didn't do anything about it. It'd be interesting to see what they say.

[Samurai]

Vital Votes? What?
Heh heh heh..... Karma for taking away all of my points.... http://www.websmileys.com/sm/evil/2.gif
I don't care; I'm too important anyway----
I make four figures per year.

[DizzyIzzy]

Vital Votes? What?
Heh heh heh..... Karma for taking away all of my points.... http://www.websmileys.com/sm/evil/2.gif
I don't care; I'm too important anyway----
I make four figures per year.


<3 :D

[Islander]

Is that a heart...or a witch with big boobs?

[Aaltrude]

Aazltrude, e-mail them & let them know.

I've tried that Islander though not sure what email address I should use. There appears to be another problem as well - I cannot sign out. I thought I would try this, then sign in again to see if it would help the null point situation but I get an error message that says if my computer is accepting cookies from the site (which it is) then there is a problem with the website server. Is anyone else having problems like this?

[Islander]

I just go to the Contact Us link and spill my guts there. Someone notifies IT and sooner or later I get a "ticket" (too funny) which is meaningless, but the problem gets corrected.

[Aaltrude]

I notice that V V is closed for maintenance. This hopefully means they are working on rectifying the problem.

[Reesacat]

In the US we are getting a newly designed site-it is more cumbersome with more bells and whistles.
The one thing we noted is that the 'new comments feed' and 'comments feed' is missing on the VV blog.
I used it to just scan and see what discussions looked interesting or just looking for my friends like y'all:)

[DizzyIzzy]

I couldn't get on at all yesterday, it said there were no stories and no blog existed. Lol.

[Reesacat]

You can post a picture/avatar/image by your blog ID on VV now (if they will let you in). Just go to your name at the top of the page, click Edit your profile, and when it loads click on Profile Options and go to Change Avatar.

[Islander]

Right. Our old friend Jennings (on mercola he is Duparc), the famous egotist, has posted a pic of himself. Wasted no time either. No grass growing under him!

C'mon, friends, step up & show yrselves!

[DizzyIzzy]

Meh, if anyone wants to see a photo of me they can look at myspace!

(Don't even ask why I'm online at 4am...)

[Aaltrude]

MMmmm, I'll have to get someone to take a photo. It appears they are going to use a new format which you can see if you look at the newsletter archives. What sure if I like it or not but then they could just be because I am not used to it. What do you guys think? Hey Izzy - How do we find you on myspace?

[Samurai]

The new VV looks pretty cool!



I am still upset about no points for Samurai....:mad:

[Islander]

Whaddyamean, no points, Sam?

[Samurai]

Well, you know.... me and my craaaaazy points of view along with my verbal outbursts.... samurai shall never see the "blue bar".
That's ok. ;)

[DizzyIzzy]

It looks like they're finally getting a forum...? Catching up with the times methinks?

I quite like it, time for an update.

If it helps Aaltrude, I hated the new facebook when they changed it, and now I love it... I think we're programmed to automatically hate changes to the familiar just because it's different maybe?

[And it's ok Sam, I doubt I will either... >sigh< me and my big mouth... we're just too cool for the blue bar... ;) ]

[DizzyIzzy]

Not that you guys with the blue bar aren't cool too, because you are, obviously... but... yeah. I'll stop digging now.

[Aaltrude]

Hey Izzy, I didn't think I was anywhere near the blue bar and suddenly it happened. I'm guessing this is the way it was with Islander too. Ironically the time it happened to me was right about the time I found this forum.

[Reesacat]

Has anyone found on VitalVotes the 'new comments feed' or 'comment feed' we used to have in the old format? I really liked that-I could just scan down and see what people had to say if I was short on time.

[Islander]

Not that you guys with the blue bar aren't cool too, because you are, obviously... but... yeah. I'll stop digging now.

Nice save, Izzy!

And no, I didn't see it coming!

[Aaltrude]

Has anyone found on VitalVotes the 'new comments feed' or 'comment feed' we used to have in the old format? I really liked that-I could just scan down and see what people had to say if I was short on time.

I haven't found it either and I used it all the time. It was particularly useful to find posts that had been made on older topics. In time, I think I will like the new layout once I am used to it though it doesn't seem much different in teerms of how content is handled. So far I dislike the fact that you cannot see the "New Comments" and there is no indication of how many posts there are on a topic. This feature was useful for noting if there were any new posts on any topics that interested you.:(

[Aaltrude]

Well they are still very touchy at V V. Islander, the comment you made about - where are the paragraphs etc - has been deleted along with the seven points it had. I had replied to that comment indicating that I also didn't like the fact that there was no option to view New Comments, indicating this was the main way I used V V. I also indicated I didn't like the way that when you use the back button to return to the previous page, it returns to the top of the page rather than the part of the page you were browsing meaning you have to waste time finding your place again. This comment of mine has also been deleted.
There is also now no spell check and no means to go back and edit a post if you do make a spelling or other error.

All in all, the new V V may look "pretty" but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

[mellowsong]

All in all, the new V V may look "pretty" but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

I find it hard on my eyes for one. I HATE it, it is extremely slow and very cumbersome. For example I tried to give points and it seemed like forever for it to "load" and do it, so next time I timed it...it took 32 seconds to give the points. I don't have that kind of time or energy. I scan an article once in a while, but other than that, I really don't go...and I used to post all the time. Maybe it's so slow because I have an older computer, but it's too much of a pain for me to deal with it.

[Islander]

Well they are still very touchy at V V. Islander, the comment you made about - where are the paragraphs etc - has been deleted along with the seven points it had. I had replied to that comment indicating that I also didn't like the fact that there was no option to view New Comments, indicating this was the main way I used V V. I also indicated I didn't like the way that when you use the back button to return to the previous page, it returns to the top of the page rather than the part of the page you were browsing meaning you have to waste time finding your place again. This comment of mine has also been deleted.
There is also now no spell check and no means to go back and edit a post if you do make a spelling or other error.

All in all, the new V V may look "pretty" but I DO NOT LIKE IT.

Aaltrude, I'll have to take your word for it because it won't let me in to Members today. But if they deleted your comment and mine, that means they at least had to read them. Hah. Maybe they'll chew on that!

They have REALLY munged my posts on the
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/02/this-fat-is-saving-children-s-lives.aspx page. I'm in a pissing contest with Jennings/Duparc and the dam server has posted the same comment of mine 3 times! - twice in one post, and when I tried to make an apology, it picked up the earlier post and attached it AGAIN!

No, new format = cute but cumbersome. Thumbs sideways...

[Aaltrude]

The deleted comments were on the article "Why You Eat Food at Home You Would Never Buy in a Store" which is now on the Vital Votes page. I can get to the Members page but you have to look closely to realise you are there. The is no indication you have moved from one page to another other than a quick flicker as the article titles change. Everthing else about the two pages is identical.

I was thinking the same thing about hoping someone has at least read and taken note of the deleted comments.

[Islander]

Oh, I missed that. I was looking for the file tab at the top of the page to change.

Yup. FWIW, they are keeping a list of complaints and are supposedly working on addressing them. I just learned that this upgrade has been in the works for a year. A year!

[Reesacat]

Just for curiosity I posted a comment on VV about the apples and got a double post when I just clicked once on the 'add a comment' button.

The IT guys are probably having a group colon cleanse after this week....;)

[Aaltrude]

I notice that there aren't many comments being added. Perhaps this means most people are using the new comments to keep up with new additions and have now lost their means of following threads easily. It would certainly be cumbersome to keep opening articles to check for new comments or replies to any of yours.

[Islander]

Aaltrude, I agree that the loss of the New Comments is inconvenient - I used it almost exclusively - but doesn't the box to the left of each subject line show the number of comments? (Most have 0).

BTW, Jennings and I are having a pissing contest in the newsletter:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/02/this-fat-is-saving-children-s-lives.aspx
I'm sitting on my fingers because if I get in any deeper I am apt to stroke out.

[Reesacat]

Aaltrude, I agree that the loss of the New Comments is inconvenient - I used it almost exclusively - but doesn't the box to the left of each subject line show the number of comments? (Most have 0).

BTW, Jennings and I are having a pissing contest in the newsletter:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/02/02/this-fat-is-saving-children-s-lives.aspx
I'm sitting on my fingers because if I get in any deeper I am apt to stroke out.

You can't reason with dementia, just plain crazy, or elderly men who have had heart attacks.
Tried it.
Got paid as a professional to do it.
Was damn good at it-still didn't succeed.

You can't reason with dementia, just plain crazy or elderly men who have had heart attacks.

[Aaltrude]

doesn't the box to the left of each subject line show the number of comments? (Most have 0).


Yes that box does have the number of comments but it doesn't change if you just use the forward and back buttons as I have been doing. I will need to refresh the page for the number of comments to be updated but then you have to remember how many comments there were on each article previously to know if there are new ones. I have better things that I want to commit to memory. Also when using the new comments page I didn't go to an article unless the comment caught my attention. I need to rationalise the time I spend on the internet and continually checking articles is not the way to do this.
I can see the effect of this change is that I will spend less time checking V V.

It is the fact that mostly the box to the left of each subject shows zero that suggests to me that people are not using V V as much with this new format.

[Aaltrude]

I have just discovered something else that appears to be new in V V. When you go to 'edit your profile', under 'site options' there is a new option to allow conversations and the default appears to be from 'friends only' with the other options being 'none' and 'all users'. This would explain why on the one occasion I tried to send a test message on V V that nothing happened.

[Reesacat]

Thanks!

[Islander]

The changes are totally annoying. The edit feature is gone, as are the bold, italic, and underscore options. If you want paragraphs breaks, you must use html. Without New Comments, I hardly look at VV any more, just view the current newsletter. And that was munged this week too. They sure rushed this new format out prematurely. I want to throw it all under a bus!

And Aaltrude, the info we used to as as blue moderators is no longer available to us either. *sigh* I have no reason to live....

[Samurai]

I have to say that I do NOT like the new style myself. In fact, I have been going to VV just once in a blue moon because I don't like the new changes. I find them annoying. Usually I think change is good, but in this instance, I think it is not so.

[Aaltrude]

And Aaltrude, the info we used to as as blue moderators is no longer available to us either. *sigh* I have no reason to live....

Hey Islander there is life veyond V V;) Yes, it is annoying that we can no longer see that info:(
I used to use the new comments section as my main means of keeping track with what was happening on V V (the same way that I use the "Today's post" on HH) and now that has gone I find I don't go to V V nearly as much:mad:

[Aaltrude]

I can't access V V at all. I have tried using both Mozilla and Internet Explorer. Both say the web page cannot be found. Is anyone else having problems?

[Reesacat]

I was able to log on just now. No problem. But our servers have been wonky all week-end-I don't know if they were trying to update to fight the Conficker worm due today, April 1 (not an April Fool, it's real-see Islander's post).

Hope you can log on soon:)

[Islander]

It's 5 pm East Coast time. I had the newsletter up in an open tab; I tried to open a new tab with just mercola.com so I could go to VV from there. No luck. Tried twice. So instead I copied the url from the newsletter, pasted it to the new tab, got into the newsletter and from there was able to get to VV. Will that help? If not, hang tight. They'll work it out, whatever it is.

[Aaltrude]

Thanks Islander. I just tried copying and pasting the URL from the newsletter. No luck there either. Oh well, I'll just keep trying until they sort the problem out.

[Samurai]

OK... I can't get onto VV now... anyone else???

[Aaltrude]

I can get onto V V now.

[DizzyIzzy]

I can't post on here though?!

[DizzyIzzy]

Ok, maybe I can... but I can't post new threads... argh. :(