Forum:Is there something wrong with the howling?

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recently, the howling has changed and looks differen't. that was fine until i went on today and found i could only view a few threads, instead of all as usual. is this just a glitch that is being worked out or will we only be able to see about 10 different threads in the howling from now on? Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 10:29, November 8, 2011 (UTC)

I think you somehow missed the announcement that the Howling was being routinely archived. Please remember to check the "Important announcements" section of the Howling if it "looks funny". Known problems and changes will be announced there. If there is no announcement, then feel free to come here to the Panopticon to ask for tech help.

Why have we archived the Howling? Well, if we didn't periodically clean out the messages, the Howling would just become awfully messy. There were hundreds of threads in the Howling, most of which weren't active. Most threads in the Howling have a limited lifespan anyway. Unfortunately, the "software" — and I use that term very loosely — which powers all forums doesn't allow for very sophisticated handling of old discussions, so we just have to come in periodically and wipe the slate clean. This year, we've done that in the period just before series 6 and now in the aftermath of it.

The only threads left behind were those that had been commented on in November 2011. That's why it looks like there's a limit to the number of threads displayed. In truth, though, it just happens that those are the only threads people have played with this month. All the old Howling threads are still available to view at Howling:The Howling archives, but please don't add any new comments there. Start a new thread, and include a link to the old discussion.

And it's not just the Howling that has been archived this week. All forums have gotten a trim this week.

So, the Howling is working as expected. Now that it's been trimmed back, users can once again see the forests for the trees and begin speculating about the future, rather than being mired down by the past.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 19:53: Wed 09 Nov 2011 

i'm sorry that i brought this up if a notice had been sent out, however i didn't recieve that notice as usual so was left confused. thanks for explaining anyway. Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 08:19, November 10, 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry you were confused. I did put up two messages, one on the page Howling:The Howling and another in the form of a stickied thread. That's unfortunately about the best I can do, as people would actually be annoyed if I put a message onto each and every user talk page.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 06:24: Fri 11 Nov 2011  06:24, November 11, 2011 (UTC)

Another problem at the Howling

It seems Howling:Gallifrey's destruction was archived immediately after being created on November 8. — Rob T Firefly - Δ∇ - 01:44, November 10, 2011 (UTC)

Now this is a case of a genuine bug happening at the Howling. The bug has been fixed and a stickied message has been posted to the Howling explaining the problem. The "add a new discussion" button is now working properly. New messages are again added to The Howling instead of The Howling archives.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 06:24: Fri 11 Nov 2011 

yet another problem

there seems to me to be another problem with the howling for me. all threads including the stickies ones have dissapeared, and i know they shouldn't have all been archived as one of the threads was contributed to only a couple of days ago. sorry if the information regarding this is in the "time is in flux the wiki is changing" notification, but i can't seem to get that to link anywhere either. i've only noticed this problem today so it could just be a temporary thing, but i would like to know why. yet again, sorry if this was in the notice, but i couldn't open it. Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 01:24, December 19, 2011 (UTC)

There was a Wikia-wide forum glitch. It has now resolved. I don't know what caused it; I can only tell you that it seemed to affect only the forums extension. It only lasted a few hours, and users were notified here by the method you say you couldn't access.

I'm a little curious about your apparent inability to click on the notification box. I've not heard this complaint before from anyone. What browser and version number are you using?

While you're having this difficulty, you can get to the message by clicking on the Wiki Activity button at the top right of every page.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 18:09: Mon 19 Dec 2011 

my browser is google crome and the latest version. i also tried it on internet explorer but the notification can't open there either. however, this is the first one of these notifications that i have received since getting a new computer, so that might be a cause. i use windows 7. i hope this helps for solving the notification problem. however, when it comes to the howling, it is still empty on both browsers. have the threads from there been lost or archived (so they can be restarted if needed) or will they return at some point in the future? it's been over 24 hours now since i noticed it. Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 02:08, December 20, 2011 (UTC)

I'm using Firefox 3.6.24 and I'm getting garbage symbols in HOWLING.Boblipton ^{talk to me} 02:57, December 20, 2011 (UTC)

I cannot replicate or confirm your difficulties. Looks fine to me, and others are posting without issue. Please clear your cache and look again. If you still see this 'garbage', please take a screenshot and post it here. There's nothing inherently different about the Howling that would make it function differently to this forum.
czechout<staff /> ☎ ✍ 22:12: Tue 20 Dec 2011 

well, i can't find how to upload a screenshot but if the "garbage" boblipton is talking about is strange HTML or something where the next and previous button should be, then i see it too. also, it's still completely empty of threads both stickied and not stickied. if anyone else is having this problem, can you please reply so i can see if it's maybe just my computer or the website in general? Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 02:13, December 21, 2011 (UTC)

update: although i can't see any threads on the main howling page, i can still access them through http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Category:The_Howling. yet again, i hope this gives some clues to what's going on. Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 12:13, December 21, 2011 (UTC)

the problem's been fixed now. thanks. Imamadmad ^{talk to me} 08:57, December 23, 2011 (UTC)