Timeout Issues

Well, I finally got to the bottom of the Timeout issues. BibleShared uses SQL Server on the backend to store the bible data, user data, and notes data. Unfortunately, in my haste to get the site up and running, I forgot to properly configure the way it handles logging. This miscalculation finally caught up with me. The log file has been growing at a rate of ~100 MB / day to the point that 10 minutes ago it reached 24 GB.

The server its running on happens to run a set of hard disk drives that backup the data as its being written. When trying to back-up large sets of data there is a noticable delay in writing. The large file size combined with this delay was too much for the web site to handle. It took the delayed response as meaning the database server was down, and it gave up.

Fortunatley, all that was needed was a simple configuration change. It should be up and running smoothly now.

This article provides an excellent technical overview of the problem and the solution:
http://www.nigelrivett.net/TransactionLogFileGrows_1.html

Login Process Timeouts

Hello all,

I've noticed an increase in error reports indicating that there have been timeouts while logging on. I'm not really sure why this is an issue right now, but I'll try to get to the bottom of it.

Bug Round-up

So it has been 4 months since the initial launch of BibleShared.com. This has allowed enough time to pass for bug reports to begin piling up. I fixed a few issues today, and will continue to work through these issues throughout the next few weeks.

Here's a list of all the issues submitted thus-far, for the curious:

Fixed
- A favicon should be created -- FIXED: Now an open bible
- Include an option for sub-groups -- FIXED: Now available under "Admin"
- Cannot create a group with 32767+ members -- WON'T FIX: The group would be virtually unmanageable anyway
- Profanity filter does not work on feeds -- FIXED: Now feeds are filtered
- Bug report form should make description optional -- FIXED: Now only the title is required

High Priority
- There is no search feature
- Undefined behavior when group subscription lapses
- There is no page describing subscription levels/pricing
- There is no password reset feature

Normal Priority
- User notes page pagination UI error
- User can change their password to nothing (but then cannot log in)
- RSS feeds need to be protected with a key value
- Session can time out while writing a note
- Bad grammar in closed forum thank you message

Low Priority
- UI looks awful on IE6 under Windows XP at 800x600 resolution
- Switching group and clicking "Edit Note" on note from previous group gives incorrect message
- Hitting the back button after switching a group forces sign-in
- Error message "User "" is not a member of this group" is seen after removing self from group

Feature Requests
- Re-create sign-up page to make more sense
- Widget to add to blogs to track bible reading progress
- Memory verse list
- Cancel button on delete confirmation page
- Copyright info bar extends too far to the right
- Button backgrounds are too light and hard to read
- Blog link should be moved

About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.

Cookies

BibleShared.com uses something called a Cookie in order to determine if you are logged in or logged out. A cookie is a very small text file a website can store on your computer to help it function properly. In the case of BibleShared.com, that cookie contains your user name and a piece of data that proves to the site that you have logged in.

I'm sharing this piece of information, because I've had reports of users being unable to log in. They can type their user name, password, and group code, and are redirected to the main page, to be presented with the log-in screen again. The reason for this is the site is unable to create a cookie on their computer to say that they have logged in. To correct this problem you have to allow cookies in your browser's settings. For Internet Explorer 7, this means selecting "Internet Options" from the Tools menu, clicking the "Privacy" tab, and moving the slider down until it indicates that cookies will be accepted.

There's a lot of FUD (Fear, uncertainty, doubt) around the Internet about Cookies, and most of this FUD has little to no basis in reality. Cookies have a legitimate purpose on many, many, many sites. Blocking or disabling cookies can cripple the Internet experience, and will definitely prevent you from being able to access BibleShared.com.

About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.