# Posts randomly vanishing?



## Rydian (Nov 26, 2010)

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=266...15&start=15

My post at the bottom of page 2 there, it's... nothing.  However I did post a sentence, now it's gone.

There's no edit notice, no reason for it to have been removed, and when I try to use the quick edit it just doesn't even load, and when I go to quote it _nothing_ shows up in the post box, not even quote tags surrounding nothing.

I've seen this happen to another post or two in other threads, but I thought it was people just continuing a "post nothing to confuse people" trend from the EoF.


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## _Chaz_ (Nov 26, 2010)

I've never seen this happen.

Perhaps it's a moderator who had a little too much to drink this Thanksgiving?
Perhaps it's a bug in the site's coding?

Quite a mystery.


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## KingVamp (Nov 26, 2010)

It is post ghosts 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





!!!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Idk never seen/paid attention 'till now and never happen to me.


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## Costello (Nov 26, 2010)

I don't know what you wrote, but your post is empty in the database.
the site displays whatever is in the database, that is .. nothing.

of course you can't make an empty post so there is something wrong, but what causes it? 
it seems difficult to explain...


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## I am r4ymond (Nov 26, 2010)

I agree that it is a ghost - more likely...*A GBATEMP GHOST!*


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## Rydian (Nov 26, 2010)

Costello said:
			
		

> I don't know what you wrote, but your post is empty in the database.
> the site displays whatever is in the database, that is .. nothing.
> 
> of course you can't make an empty post so there is something wrong, but what causes it?
> it seems difficult to explain...


What I wrote was a "Whoops, I forgot about that" response to the post directly above it (no quote included), I didn't check after posting it to see if it showed up or not.

The fact that there's not even any quotes when trying to quote it (and that I can't quick edit) is what hinted me that maybe it's something up with the site.


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## Vulpes Abnocto (Nov 26, 2010)

_Chaz_ said:
			
		

> Perhaps it's a moderator who had a little too much to drink this Thanksgiving?



Wasn't me!

this time


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## tj_cool (Nov 26, 2010)

I've seen it happen before a few times. (example)
The strangest thing is that when you quote the "post", it won't even show the [quote] tag at all (what you get is completely empty).
It also seems to skip to the next post if you link to it like I did above.


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## Sop (Nov 26, 2010)

Ghost that knows how to use a computer?

*Posts merged*

Ghost that knows how to use a computer?


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## Narayan (Nov 26, 2010)

ghosts? where, gotta catch one! 
I have a lot of questions for them.


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## mameks (Nov 26, 2010)

This has happened to me...but my entire post was gone, as in not just what was in the post, but the spot where I should have been...


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## ProtoKun7 (Nov 26, 2010)

I think I might have noticed this the other day, but I'm not sure whether I actually got around to pressing the quote button or not. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I was using multiquote and therefore didn't press it immediately before replying, which is why I don't know. I don't think that post was blank though.


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## DarkShadow96 (Nov 26, 2010)

Same thing happening with me. When I post, I don't see the posts on my profile anymore.


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## raulpica (Nov 26, 2010)

Rydian said:
			
		

> I've seen this happen to another post or two in other threads, *but I thought it was people just continuing a "post nothing to confuse people" trend from the EoF.*


Same here. Actually, it seems something's up with the site, as Costy said. Hmm.


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## testatura (Nov 26, 2010)

perhaps that lady that brings bad karma to things joined gba temp.. !?  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




here


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## EpicJungle (Nov 26, 2010)

This thread scares me


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## Sterling (Nov 26, 2010)

OMG it did it to me too, am I doin' it rite?!! Nah not really, but I have seen it lately.


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## WiiUBricker (Nov 26, 2010)

I can confirm vanishing posts.


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## omgpwn666 (Nov 26, 2010)

I've actually seen a few of these empty posts too.


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## KingVamp (Nov 26, 2010)

Sterl500 said:
			
		

> OMG it did it to me too, am I doin' it rite?!! Nah not really, but I have seen it lately.


Very nice


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## Rydian (Nov 26, 2010)

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=266...15&start=15

My post at the bottom of page 2 there, it's... nothing.  However I did post a sentence, now it's gone.

There's no edit notice, no reason for it to have been removed, and when I try to use the quick edit it just doesn't even load, and when I go to quote it _nothing_ shows up in the post box, not even quote tags surrounding nothing.

I've seen this happen to another post or two in other threads, but I thought it was people just continuing a "post nothing to confuse people" trend from the EoF.


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## ProtoKun7 (Nov 26, 2010)

KingVamp said:
			
		

> Sterl500 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I bet I could do that better, but I doubt that it would stop the quote from disappearing completely (i.e. tags and everything).


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## basher11 (Nov 26, 2010)

my post vanished just a minute ago.


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## mameks (Nov 26, 2010)

Is someone going around 'clearing up' the 'temp :?


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## Vulpes Abnocto (Nov 26, 2010)

Well, when the staff edits a post, the person that edited the post can be seen by the staff, so I'd say this is a legitimate bug. 

I too thought this was some trick that people were pulling to confuse others in the EoF.


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## Deleted User (Nov 26, 2010)

I am r4ymond said:
			
		

> I agree that it is a ghost - more likely...*A GBATEMP GHOST!*


scary...sounds like our Pokemon Creepy Black GHOST is creeping about...


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## Deleted_171835 (Nov 28, 2010)

*poof*


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## dinofan01 (Nov 29, 2010)

just wanted to say I noticed this too. I had posted through quick reply but when I got sent back to the thread my posts was no longer there. I just gave up and didnt repost my thought.


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## Another World (Nov 29, 2010)

this happened to me earlier today in the wood 1.18 thread. i made a reply, posted it, and it posted blank. i reposted it by editing and it worked. i had quoted text in the original message, not sure if that matters or not.

-another world


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## Infinite Zero (Nov 29, 2010)

Hm, strange. I haven't experienced this, yet.


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## ProtoKun7 (Nov 29, 2010)

Infinite Zero said:
			
		

> Hm, strange. I haven't experienced this, yet.


Me neither.

And if you can read this, quoting didn't seem to cause trouble here.


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## Overlord Nadrian (Nov 29, 2010)

Weird, weird, weird.

Also, you _can_ post seemingly empty posts by using a zero-width character like this '?', so would the use of these in the EoF have caused those empty posts to start showing up?

Sucks either way, especially when you type up something big and your post gets completely removed. :?( Oh well, that's why Google Chrome (and probably the other modern web browsers, too) keep a copy of what you typed around for a while, and even if you're using a browser that doesn't, you can just copy everything you typed before you actually post the post, just to make sure you won't lose it.

EDIT: and what in the world is up with this post? http://gbatemp.net/t267077-ask-gbatemp-sho...t&p=3294034


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## mameks (Nov 29, 2010)

Overlord Nadrian said:
			
		

> EDIT: and what in the world is up with this post? http://gbatemp.net/t267077-ask-gbatemp-sho...t&p=3294034
> ProtoKun didn't want people to know that his post had been edited, so he put
> [   color="white"   ][   left   ][   /color   ][   /left   ]
> at the end of his post, turning the bit saying it had been edited white.


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## Overlord Nadrian (Nov 29, 2010)

shlong said:
			
		

> Overlord Nadrian said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


But that makes no sense... How can something inside a post have any effect whatsoever on the 'edited then, by that person' tag?


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## Rydian (Nov 29, 2010)

Overlord Nadrian said:
			
		

> Also, you _can_ post seemingly empty posts by using a zero-width character like this '?', so would the use of these in the EoF have caused those empty posts to start showing up?If you quote those posts the quote BBcode still comes in.  Not so with the actually-empty posts.
> 
> QUOTE(Overlord Nadrian @ Nov 29 2010, 03:21 PM) But that makes no sense... How can something inside a post have any effect whatsoever on the 'edited then, by that person' tag?


The tags were closed in an incorrect order and it messed up the parser a bit, a small forum bug that can be fixed (as use of the left alignment tag is really rare, a bug involving it is unlikely to be found or  cared about, to be honest).


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## ProtoKun7 (Nov 29, 2010)

I had the same thought about zero-width spaces, which is why I said I could do better than Sterl, but as Rydian said, quote tags would stay.


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## tj_cool (Nov 30, 2010)

Rydian said:
			
		

> Overlord Nadrian said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


, the effect of the span keeps going (in this case till the end of the post), eventhough it's closed. So it can't be fixed that easily (nor is there any need for that).
It has nothing to do with [left] and [color] specifically.


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## ProtoKun7 (Dec 6, 2010)

http://gbatemp.net/t268023-my-borther-s-ri...t&p=3308558

There's another vanished post.


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## haddad (Dec 6, 2010)

This has happened to me do, so I had to re-edit the post and re-type everything to make it work, it happened to me last night


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## Another World (Dec 29, 2010)

i just quoted a post for a reply. when i posted my reply it was in the users post above me and the post i expected to see didn't show up. perhaps this is an indexing problem?

-another world


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## Rydian (Dec 29, 2010)

It actually happened to a thread of Costello's a few days ago, so he rolled back the thread.  He may know more about what causes it now.


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## Rydian (Nov 26, 2010)

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=266...15&start=15

My post at the bottom of page 2 there, it's... nothing.  However I did post a sentence, now it's gone.

There's no edit notice, no reason for it to have been removed, and when I try to use the quick edit it just doesn't even load, and when I go to quote it _nothing_ shows up in the post box, not even quote tags surrounding nothing.

I've seen this happen to another post or two in other threads, but I thought it was people just continuing a "post nothing to confuse people" trend from the EoF.


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## DryYoshi (Dec 29, 2010)

testatura said:
			
		

> perhaps that lady that brings bad karma to things joined gba temp.. !?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Holy shit, MUST.... KILL...THAT... HOT CHICK!!!!!!!!

But very weird and annoying bug, hope it gets fixed somehow.


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## Costello (Dec 29, 2010)

Rydian said:
			
		

> It actually happened to a thread of Costello's a few days ago, so he rolled back the thread.  He may know more about what causes it now.


I still dont know as this looks completely random... I can't get it to happen when I want it to
I "rolled back" the thread? no... I had to rewrite the post 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



I will attempt to upgrade the web servers to fix the issue...


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## Evo.lve (Dec 29, 2010)

@Costy since GBAtemp is in a partnership with VPN1Euro IIRC, wouldn't that mean you get a really good server anyway?

Off-topic: Is Ask GBAtemp an IPB addon or an unofficial mod?


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## Rydian (Dec 29, 2010)

Costello said:
			
		

> I "rolled back" the thread? no... I had to rewrite the post


Really?  I refreshed the thread and a couple of posts that had been added had vanished as well.

Did you replace it with the same ID?


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## jarejare3 (Dec 29, 2010)

Maybe the server needs a maintanence.


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## granville (Dec 31, 2010)

I too fell victim of this. I can't figure out how it happened, or how to reproduce the bug. I was posting this topic- http://gbatemp.net/t272189-before-after-3d...ment-comparison

After a few comments, and a few replies of my own, the top post suddenly vanished after i submitted a new reply. I have no idea how it happened, and the edit button showed a blank post. I ended up having to rewrite the post...

Very strange, thanks for referring me to here Rydian, i didn't know this was an issue and thought it was just a once in a lifetime bug. No clue what they can do to fix it though since it can't even be traced.


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## Slyakin (Dec 31, 2010)

This has happened to me a few times, and it's annoying as all hell.


What really bothers me is sometimes my post does show up, but it gets cut off... I have no idea how that works.


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## ThePowerOutage (Dec 31, 2010)

This keeps happening to me, though I think it only happens when I use BBCode, could be wrong.
Don't worry, it's probably just Rydian's fur clogging up the server again


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## monkat (Dec 31, 2010)

ThePowerOutage said:
			
		

> This keeps happening to me, though I think it only happens when I use BBCode, could be wrong.
> Don't worry, it's probably just Rydian's fur clogging up the server again


He has fur?


Spoiler


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 1, 2011)

I was editing my PSP guide yesterday and when I pressed Preview once it had disappeared, but pressing preview again brought it back.

Good thing I check previews often. So far that's the only occurrence.


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## Daidude (Jan 1, 2011)

I see that happen alot


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## bdr9 (Jan 1, 2011)

There must be something in common between all of the posts that it has happened to.


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## Costello (Jan 1, 2011)

it happens in private messages too and other places.
I don't really get it.

If you try posting a blank message it won't let you (you have to write something) so the bug has to happen AFTER the content is parsed by the php script

though everything gets saved properly EXCEPT for the content.
could it be that the SQL database is corrupted, or theres some kind of problem with it?
I need to do some kind of cleanup, I suppose...


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## ThePowerOutage (Jan 1, 2011)

monkat said:
			
		

> ThePowerOutage said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Exactly. It all came of and got stuck in the server.
OT: Could it be a browser issue?
Oh, It happens after it's been parsed, that rules out browser then I think.


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 1, 2011)

Nah, it's definitely server-side.


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