Difficulty accessing and navigating the forum

Already well covered here.

No issues here either everything is working properly, using Win 7 & Internet Explorer. 

Sorry, but I have no idea what might be wrong? Maybe Rich Melvin will see this post and offer you some suggestions.

It sounds as if your 'Java Script' may need updated. It takes just a few minutes. I did so last week. Wow!, my system isn't the same.

First off, thanks for purchasing your Premium Membership! I hope ypu enjoy it!

I suspect that the problem lies with your Java install. Thismsite relies heavily on Javascript. Whatever the problem may be, it lies within your computer somewhere. I am not getting any other complaints of these performance problems.

UGHHH  Java! :-(

Some folks have better luck with certain browsers.  If you have Internet Explorer, you might want to install Google Chrome as a secondary and/or Firefox.  Some sites I visit will not display correctly on my system and when I use one of these three I can always get one to work. 

I understand, but this entire Hoopla site runs Java!

Getting the same pop ups to on Chrome;

And when I click on anything on the forum i get redirected to some kind of a survey for OGR members. I'm going to try reloading Chrome to see if that works.

Jerry

John,

We don't to pop-ups! If you are getting pop-ups you've got a browser hijacker in action.

And when I click on anything on the forum i get redirected to some kind of a survey for OGR members. I'm going to try reloading Chrome to see if that works.

This is definitely NOT us! We do not have ANY survey in place on the forum anywhere. You have a browser hijacker embedded in your browser that is doing this. WE are NOT doing it!

This is what the forum screen SHOULD look like:

PS:  Could you guys please change the method to attach a video exactly as how you attach a picture.

You can already do that!

adpeepshosted.com is the web site from which our banner ads are served, however there should be no delay in serving those ads. The ads are actually served from an amazon.com server. I have not seen the site hang waiting for the ads to be served.

This is precisely the problem I am having yet Rich advised me the problem lies within my computer.  Its obvious it is not my computer if other people are having the exact same problem.  I can access everything else on the OGR site easily except the forum.  To my untrained eye it seems quite apparent there is a problem at Hoopla and I think it would behoove OGR to have them remedy the situation.  Quite honestly if I just hadn't signed on as a premium member I wouldn't care so much but since I paid for a service I would like to have the convenience of using it.  By the way I added Googlechome as a browser and there is just a slight improvement.  Instead of taking one or two minutes to switch topics or forums it now takes 30 seconds to a minute.  Not good.  

OKHIKER, I can't fix something that is not broken. I simply do not see the problem you are seeing! And thousands of other members do not see it either. I have to assume that the problem lies on your end somewhere because the forum is working perfectly fine for 99.99% of the members who post here.

I don't know what the problem might be, but I will get the Hoopla Tech Support folks involved here.

Posted to Hoopla tech Support moments ago:

"It's not my computer!" is a little like saying,"It's not my child!". An answer is as easy as running a security scan on your computer. I received a reminder from Java that current updates are available. I ignored it, all the while blaming my problems on this website.

To make a long story short. Run the scans, install the updates. You should then notice a big improvement.

As usual, the Hoopla Tech Support staff responded within MINUTES!

Here's what they posted:

I'm not seeing any issues from that thread. The user who reported a "popup" was just getting an in-browser message about needing to update an extension. I don't think that is any indication of a "hijacker". It's just a normal popup coming from the browser. You should see that the site URL is your site. Additionally, the ads on the left and right appear to be coming from the browser, as well. I'm guessing the user has a browser extension installed that is causing those to appear.

Also, it's worth mentioning that while Hoop.la may use Java on the server, there is absolutely no Java required in the client/browser. Thus, installing/updating Java in the browser won't have any impact on a user's Hoop.la experience. JavaScript is a language that is built-in to the browser, and exists completely independently of Java. As a result, the only thing that may impact a user's experience is either upgrading the web browser or trying out a different web browser.

I learned something with that response, namely the Java-related information. Any day I learn something new is a good day!

Further response from Hoopla Tech Support regarding the page load response times I asked about:

I just took a quick look at a snapshot of your response times for the past 2 days, and on average, pages are loading in 125ms (which should be quite acceptable). There do appear to have been a few slow-ish requests, but those equate to less than 0.01% of all requests. Certainly, it shouldn't be anything that impairs a user's ability to use and navigate the site (beyond just the duration of perhaps one single slow request). The fact that certain users are having isolated issues is also a likely indication that it's not a server-side performance issue.

Glad you're back up and running OK, Baltimore!

I have never liked Chrome, both for the reasons you cite and because it reports back to Google and tracks literally every web site you visit. That's just too much of an invasion of privacy to suit me.

Just my opinion but, I don't think that Rich did anything.  I use an Apple Computer with Safari, and haven't had any problems since Hoopla fixed the main "issue" more than a week ago.

So sorry Happy Pappy but you are dead wrong.  Performed the security scan and updated Java and absolutely no improvement.  Also,as Hoopla indicated updating Java would have no impact.  Like I said, I did it anyway but no effect.  Looks like you were off base. 

Also, it is curious that an Amazon.com server is responsible for the add banners.

 Again, I will state it as respectfully as I can but I am not the only person having this problem.  Bob Karas has also posted of an identical problem.  

I appreciate the very rapid response of both Rich and Hoopla and I am satisfied the core of the problem does not reside with Hoopla but I am wondering if the issue might be at the Amazon.com server.  It wouldn't hurt to have them take a look.

I seed Bob's computer is now running hot, straight and normal for accessing the Forum.  Congratulations.  I am going to give this a rest for now and hopefully when I come back mine will be OK too.

I did absolutely NOTHING.

What is "...curious..." about Amazon servers handling the banner ads? They have one of the most robust IT infrastructures on the net, with three layers of redundancy and backup and massive bandwidth capabilities. That's why the performance of the banners is always so fast and reliable.

Well, well, well.  After shoveling out from our most recent snowfall I returned to my computer and now find that, I too, can now access the OGR forum.  My rebirth to the forum took place just shortly after the other poster who complained about the same problem was able to access the forum.  Remarkable coincidence that two different individuals supposedly having the same personal computer problem were cured almost simultaneously.  Yep, truly remarkable.

In regards to my statement that I found it "curious" that there was an amazon.com server involved with OGR's ad banners I made this statement purely because I was unaware they had anything to do with them.  There was no implied criticism intended of anyone or any server. 

Are you implying that I did something to fix this and I'm trying to hide it? If so, you are totally off base. I can assure you that I did NOTHING to change anything on this forum today. I've been busy working on images for Run 271 since my last post here and just checked into the forum again a moment ago. I have no access to the program code that runs this forum anyway. That's all in Hoopla's domain.

Maybe my alerts to the Tech Support folks at Adpeeps and Hoopla did some good, I don't know. I have not had an answer to my Adpeeps tech support ticket yet.

And just so we're on the same track plan here, you and a couple of other people were the only folks complaining of this problem. When 2,000+ people have no problem accessing this forum and two or three do, we can be pretty sure it is not the fault of the server or forum software.

Exactly the same as you do a still photo. Click on the "Add Attachments" button and choose a video file instead of a still photo.

 Rich,

       I am not implying that you did a thing but as you stated you made some inquiries to both Hoopla and Adpeeps.  Apparently, shortly after you contacted them the problem myself and at least one other member were experiencing was rectified.  There may have been others.  IF, and I mean IF, any action was taken it would have obviously been taken by them and not by you.  Problems with computer software and servers occur every day and after inquiries are made they are usually solved with a sense of professionalism. I do not think the well meaning inquiries into this problem warranted the intensity of your final response.  I, for one, would appreciate a sense of emotional equilibrium on the part of the webmaster 

Fair enough."Emotional equilibrium..." achieved. 

You obviously have a good understanding of what goes on behind the scenes here. You understand that Hoopla and Adpeeps have a LOT more control over the technical performance of this forum than I do. Most people don't understand that and think I can control everything. I have been accused of trying to cover up flaws in the past and thought it was happening again.

Ironically, those who have accused me of covering up problems don't understand that we WANT to know about problems, because that's how we (Hoopla and OGR) figure out how to make the on-line experience better for everyone. Many of the problems and suggestions that have been posted here have ended up in the Hoopla software that drives this forum. In fact, I have submitted so many Hoopla Tech Support tickets with ideas and solutions in them that I have earned the unofficial title of "Senior Bug Exterminator" on the Hoopla Tech Support Forums. Here's a screen grab from their Tech Support forum:



All's well that ends well. Thanks for being a part of the OGR Forum.

Remember that the file size has to be less than 100 Megabytes in order to upload directly via the posting window. 100Mb can be a of of video if it is compressed well.

I just tried it with a 12Mb AVI file and it worked fine.

Rich,

      Thank you for your very even handed and congenial response to my last posting.  I really do appreciate the time you expended into making inquires with your servers and  responding to my questions.  Unfortunately, after 13 years I have become somewhat addicted to this forum and I was definitely suffering from withdrawal symptoms.  I hope you understand.  Again, thanks for your assistance.