Sunday Night 655pm SmugMug Time - Read Only Mode

Andy

Sorry for the Read Only Mode. Our Engineers are working on it.
http://smugmug.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/site-in-read-only-mode/

hyachts

No you're not...

Andy

hyachts wrote:

No you're not...

Yeah, hang tight, sorry!

Andy

Update:

http://smugmug.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/site-in-read-only-mode/

beetle8

Sad,Sad,
Honestly, SmugMug is disappointing me more and more lately.

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

Sad,Sad,
Honestly, SmugMug is disappointing me more and more lately.

I'm very sorry- can you elaborate, because we'd love to address your disappointment.'

We don't like read only mode - but it does allow us to work on the site and still have photos available for browsing, and for display in blogs, forums, and websites. We know you can't upload, or do other things. That sucks.

These things are usually very temporary, and we come back stronger and better for them.

Not much consolation this very minute, but I'll stack our performance record up against any similar company. We work hard at this, we invest a huge amount of money into it also.

Back to work, thanks for posting!

HamSmuggler

Nice, works now, thanks!

HamSmuggler

PS. Cannot wait to see what fantastic new features I'm sure they're testing out!

dogwood

HamSmuggler wrote:

PS. Cannot wait to see what fantastic new features I'm sure they're testing out!

Umm... hate to be a downer but the blog says this is the reason:

"We’re seeing unusually high loads on a few parts of our system which we’re investigating."

darryl

So uhm, are we good now? I just adjusted a bunch of thumbnails without problem. Guess I'll try an upload.

jfriend

Andy wrote:

Sorry for the Read Only Mode. Our Engineers are working on it.
http://smugmug.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/site-in-read-only-mode/

You know, we are frequently counseled to follow the blog for info, yet it is often not up to date. The last blog entry was posted awhile ago that says you're going into read-only mode to investigate a problem. I don't know when that was posted, but I do know that it was at least 5 hours ago. No update since then in the blog.

Shouldn't there be a single place that is kept up to date where we could actually get current information on site issues? If that place is supposed to be the blog, then you guys need to update the blog regularly. Otherwise, you're just crying wolf telling us to get our info from there. In the last service-company I worked at, there was one person (with a couple backup people in case they weren't available or the issue lasted awhile) who's responsibility it was to keep customers up to date when there was an outage or other service issue. That way, the people fixing the problems could focus on the issues, but there was a point person who was responsible for customer communication and making sure customers had access to the latest information.

Since it appears that Don is the one posting in the blog, it's no surprise that he doesn't keep the blog up to date since he's probably one of the point people on fixing the problems and is probably often ready to go to sleep when he's done.

I'd suggest that there be a point person for customer communication on outages on Andy's support team who regularly updates the blog and gives the all-clear when dev and ops say things are supposed to be back to normal.

Andy

jfriend wrote:

I'd suggest that there be a point person for customer communication on outages on Andy's support team who regularly updates the blog and gives the all-clear when dev and ops say things are supposed to be back to normal.

There is. We messed up on not posting the all clear, I'm terribly sorry. For the sake of clarity I updated the post with an All Clear.

beetle8

Andy wrote:

I'm very sorry- can you elaborate, because we'd love to address your disappointment.'

We don't like read only mode - but it does allow us to work on the site and still have photos available for browsing, and for display in blogs, forums, and websites. We know you can't upload, or do other things. That sucks.

These things are usually very temporary, and we come back stronger and better for them.

Not much consolation this very minute, but I'll stack our performance record up against any similar company. We work hard at this, we invest a huge amount of money into it also.

Back to work, thanks for posting!

All of my disappointments have been addressed, SM has always had stellar customer service, but, disappointment in the product seems to be happening more lately. I'd go so far as to say I was never really disappointed in the product until recently, and that's because there seems to be a higher than expected amount of disappointments.
If you would like me to elaborate,
I think it all started a little over a month or so ago when SM rolled out the new "ProLab" that froze four orders in my proof delay, delaying them longer than need be yet not allowing me to perform the customary proofing.
Then there was the quickpricing fiasco. Which while SM did take care of me and make things right, boy it sure did ruin my day.
in this same time there have been 3 customers with print issues 1 lost in the mail and 2 with damaged packaging, I haven't counted how many hundreds of prints I've sold in that time but 3 issues is more than ever before. Then there is my email to support asking why My customers are getting a particular kind of error and support tells me that the new update to Safari has caused this issue, that was a while back and the issue is still happening, does this mean SM has ditched the idea of browser compatibility? Apple is taking off right now and more people are surfing with Safari, SM's response is for me to tell my customers to DL and install FF.
Then I get home last night and start uploading photo's from my days event and SM is read only. With SM's help I have gotten my customers accustomed to the fact that they will be able to view images from the day's shoot very shortly after they get home, and my stats show that they do just that, as image views and sales drop off as time passes from the event.
Speaking of which I can't figure out what's up with the stat's right now but I haven't been able to record my views on an hourly basis lately. another disappointment.
There are a few other minor annoyances, like why do I now need to make 2 clicks to get back to a pro proof order after adjusting a crop? The old way was to adjust the crop then click the save button an you were automatically taken back to the order, now after you save a new button appears and needs to be clicked to return to the order, this makes no sense at all.
anyway, I guess I'm done ranting,
as far as stacking you product against anyone else I have been a huge SM cheerleader since I started, that doesn't mean I'm impervious to disappointment.

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

Then there is my email to support asking why My customers are getting a particular kind of error and support tells me that the new update to Safari has caused this issue, that was a while back and the issue is still happening, does this mean SM has ditched the idea of browser compatibility? Apple is taking off right now and more people are surfing with Safari, SM's response is for me to tell my customers to DL and install FF.

Indeed, it's an Apple Bug. We don't like pointing fingers, and if we could fix/workaround/overcome it we would. We're fully committed to Apple browser compatibility (I use 6 macs in my studio, and all 50 of us here at SmugMug use Macs day in and day out), but we're hamstrung in this case, beetle, and not alone, either. See our CEO's blog:

http://blogs.smugmug.com/don/2009/03/26/nasty-safari-bug-not-fixed-since-december/

Speaking of which I can't figure out what's up with the stat's right now but I haven't been able to record my views on an hourly basis lately. another disappointment.

Stats update daily now, in an interim-step till our new stats come out. We've announced this on our Stats page, and in release notes, and here:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=1081884#post1081884 see the posts by me in that thread, in particular.

Thanks for the unvarnished feedback on the other things, we'd not have it any other way.

beetle8

I knew SM was Mac happy that's why it didn't make any sense, I run Safari and right now SM is the only place I'm noticing it and having to go over to FF. But there are little quirks in FF that don't work as well with SM so it's a major bummer.
I read the blurb on the top of stats, but that doesn't make not having the service I'm used to any easier.

bwg

beetle8 wrote:

But there are little quirks in FF that don't work as well with SM so it's a major bummer.

like what?

beetle8

when building a bunch of galleries my system has to change, tabbing between fields doesn't work, I have to back out a step further than normal to get the add photos to new gallery option,
I just went back to see what else and the add to new gallery is back to where it wasn't this past weekend but tabbing between fields in the create new gallery set up does not work. also I seem to notice that FF runs slower than Safari but that's probably a local issue.

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

when building a bunch of galleries my system has to change, tabbing between fields doesn't work, I have to back out a step further than normal to get the add photos to new gallery option,

What version of firefox, and can you give an example gallery where this happens? Also, what does 'building a bunch of galleries" mean? What does "system has to change" mean? If you could elaborate we can help more. Thanks!

beetle8

FF V 3.0.8
Building a bunch of galleries means, I pre-build my galleries for an event. I will go in to the category I want the galleries in then start by clicking "add photos to new gallery" I will name the gallery, the category will already be filled because I started in the category,build a new sub-category then tab-tab past theme to "quick-Pricing" where I will type "e" which brings up my pre-made gallery named "Event-Pricing" or "z" which brings up my pre-made gallery named"zStates pricing" or other one letter trigger, then tab to "quick settings" where I will usually tap "E" for "EventSetting" then "return" to commit the build, I will then simply click the back to gallery button from the upload page leaving the gallery empty to be filled later after the event click "add photos - new gallery" and start the process over only now the sub category will also be filled cause I'm already there so it's (name,tab-tab-tab-tab,"E",tab,"E",return) pretty darn fast and efficient. I have events that go over 2 days that use 4 or 5 sub categories with 10 to 20 galleries per sub category. these all get built ahead of time so that after the event the images are up as fast as possible and ready for viewing with a few clicks, as long as we are not in read only mode.
System has to change means if it aint the same then it must have changed, I can't tab through fields and I have to take my hand from the keyboard to the mouse to get to the correct field then my system has changed, it's slower and less efficient. If I can use Safari that doesn't happen, but as you can read in the CEO's blog, SM is really pushing FF

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

If I can use Safari that doesn't happen, but as you can read in the CEO's blog, SM is really pushing FF

Yes indeed - hopefully Apple fixes this issue soon.

OK I see what you mean in Firefox, I don't know if that's something we have control over, I'll check with our engineers - thanks for the detail, Beetle.

jfriend

beetle8 wrote:

FF V 3.0.8
Building a bunch of galleries means, I pre-build my galleries for an event. I will go in to the category I want the galleries in then start by clicking "add photos to new gallery" I will name the gallery, the category will already be filled because I started in the category,build a new sub-category then tab-tab past theme to "quick-Pricing" where I will type "e" which brings up my pre-made gallery named "Event-Pricing" or "z" which brings up my pre-made gallery named"zStates pricing" or other one letter trigger, then tab to "quick settings" where I will usually tap "E" for "EventSetting" then "return" to commit the build, I will then simply click the back to gallery button from the upload page leaving the gallery empty to be filled later after the event click "add photos - new gallery" and start the process over only now the sub category will also be filled cause I'm already there so it's (name,tab-tab-tab-tab,"E",tab,"E",return) pretty darn fast and efficient. I have events that go over 2 days that use 4 or 5 sub categories with 10 to 20 galleries per sub category. these all get built ahead of time so that after the event the images are up as fast as possible and ready for viewing with a few clicks, as long as we are not in read only mode.
System has to change means if it aint the same then it must have changed, I can't tab through fields and I have to take my hand from the keyboard to the mouse to get to the correct field then my system has changed, it's slower and less efficient. If I can use Safari that doesn't happen, but as you can read in the CEO's blog, SM is really pushing FF

FYI, one of my favorite time savers with the Star Explorer uploader is when I need to create a whole bunch of new galleries for an event. For example, I need to create more than 40 galleries for the school talent show (one for each scene). I create the sub-category for the talent show. Then, I go to Create Multiple Galleries in Star Explorer, select the gallery options I want all of them to have and then I literally just type all the gallery names, one gallery per line, in a multiline edit box. I hit go and Star Explorer craetes all 40 galleries for me. It saves tons of time over the one-at-a-time approach that Smugmug offers. If you do this very often, it's well worth getting a better tool.

beetle8

jfriend wrote:

FYI, one of my favorite time savers with the Star Explorer uploader is when I need to create a whole bunch of new galleries for an event. For example, I need to create more than 40 galleries for the school talent show (one for each scene). I create the sub-category for the talent show. Then, I go to Create Multiple Galleries in Star Explorer, select the gallery options I want all of them to have and then I literally just type all the gallery names, one gallery per line, in a multiline edit box. I hit go and Star Explorer craetes all 40 galleries for me. It saves tons of time over the one-at-a-time approach that Smugmug offers. If you do this very often, it's well worth getting a better tool.

Thanks for the heads up, it looks like a snappy little program but they are not showing any mac support. I have a PC (behind me collecting dust) I guess I could roll it out once a week just to do the gallery builds. but I'd end up missing out on the other benefits

jfriend

beetle8 wrote:

Thanks for the heads up, it looks like a snappy little program but they are not showing any mac support. I have a PC (behind me collecting dust) I guess I could roll it out once a week just to do the gallery builds. but I'd end up missing out on the other benefits

No Mac support for StarExplorer. It is PC-only. What about running it in the PC emulator on your Mac?

beetle8

jfriend wrote:

No Mac support for StarExplorer. It is PC-only. What about running it in the PC emulator on your Mac?

Parallels? I don't have it,

jfriend

beetle8 wrote:

Parallels? I don't have it,

Yep, Parallels. Just a thought.

Andy

Andy wrote:

OK I see what you mean in Firefox, I don't know if that's something we have control over, I'll check with our engineers - thanks for the detail, Beetle.

Beetle, sadly, it's a Firefox limitation on OS X.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/apple/why-doesnt-tab-work-for-drop-down-controls-in-firefox-on-os-x/

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

Parallels? I don't have it,

VMware Fusion is far better - we all at SmugMug use it. Right now I'm running IE6 on Win XP and IE7 & 8 on Win Vista, on my Mac which is running OS X. All at the same time.

beetle8

Andy wrote:

VMware Fusion is far better - we all at SmugMug use it. Right now I'm running IE6 on Win XP and IE7 & 8 on Win Vista, on my Mac which is running OS X. All at the same time.

Ha, talk about juggling, thanks for your knowledge,

Somehow it seems dirty, putting windows things in a mac:sick
I'll look into it.

Andy

beetle8 wrote:

Ha, talk about juggling, thanks for your knowledge,

Somehow it seems dirty, putting windows things in a mac:sick
I'll look into it.

I use Win for testing stuff. But also for one key app that runs only on Win. Anyhow, it's super easy, just holler in the Dig Darkroom forum if you want help

jfriend

Andy wrote:

There is. We messed up on not posting the all clear, I'm terribly sorry. For the sake of clarity I updated the post with an All Clear.

What's happening with today's outage? Once again, there are no updates to the status blog in the last 8 hours and, if the issue is indeed over, there is again no all-clear. How are we supposed to know when an issue is over? Where are we supposed to go to get status updates when there is an issue?

Andy

jfriend wrote:

What's happening with today's outage? Once again, there are no updates to the status blog in the last 8 hours and, if the issue is indeed over, there is again no all-clear. How are we supposed to know when an issue is over? Where are we supposed to go to get status updates when there is an issue?

Hello John, as you've seen for many hours, we're out of read only, but the issue is not over. The issue will be over when Don posts the all clear, or asks me to post it. I'm sorry we've no further update than this.

Don and our OPs are still working some Database Server issues and once things are all back to full normal, I'm sure he'll post.

At this moment, search may be a bit slower than normal.

In the meantime, the rest of the site is working fine, uploading,commenting, selling, browsing.