Why is the search disabled?

rozojc · Tue 26/04/2005 22:20:55

I have a question: We're supposed to search anything we need on the boards before posting any questions, but how can we do that if the search function is disabled? (I don't mean to sound rude or anything...)

[edit: clarify thread title]

Pumaman · Tue 26/04/2005 22:30:09

At the moment, unfortunately you can't search.

This is a temporary measure because the forums are overloading the server. I will have to decide how to proceed depending on whether disabling the search resolves the problem; if not, there may have to be further cutbacks in forum features.

I apologise for any inconvenience, but it's better to have forums with no search than no forums at all. Meanwhile, I am considering long-term solutions.

rozojc · Tue 26/04/2005 22:32:34

Quote from: Pumaman on Tue 26/04/2005 22:30:09
At the moment, unfortunately you can't search.

This is a temporary measure because the forums are overloading the server. I will have to decide how to proceed depending on whether disabling the search resolves the problem; if not, there may have to be further cutbacks in forum features.

I apologise for any inconvenience, but it's better to have forums with no search than no forums at all. Meanwhile, I am considering long-term solutions.

May I ask how much is the traffic load per month? I'm curious and I work with people in hosting business maybe I can think of something... (Oh, and thanks for editing the topic's name! Sorry for not being clear)

Pumaman · Tue 26/04/2005 23:00:22

It's not the bandwidth that's the problem, it's the server CPU load.

Basically, this website is using about 6% of the server's CPU, which on a shared hosting account with about 100 sites per server is, well, 6 times our fair share

But because it's only 6%, there's no way it needs a dedicated server of its own, ideally I need to move to some sort of semi-dedicated hosting where there are a lot less sites per server.

Or just keep disabling features on the forum until the load reduces

edmundito · Wed 27/04/2005 01:44:27

Where is that 6% coming from? is it from just forum users clicking on pages? is the amount of bytes per page involved in any way?

LGM · Wed 27/04/2005 03:07:54

I vote we go back to EZboard

InCreator · Wed 27/04/2005 03:09:12

Quote from: netmonkey on Wed 27/04/2005 01:44:27
Where is that 6% coming from? is it from just forum users clicking on pages? is the amount of bytes per page involved in any way?

Accepting connection and uploading page to user?
maybe?

scotch · Wed 27/04/2005 03:13:45

Standard web serving stuff like that isn't much overhead, what causes the CPU usage is all the database lookups required to generate rhe forum pages every time you click one. The search function is probably one of the worst considering it has to search through every post.

rozojc · Wed 27/04/2005 03:18:11

Quote from: scotch on Wed 27/04/2005 03:13:45
Standard web serving stuff like that isn't much overhead, what causes the CPU usage is all the database lookups required to generate rhe forum pages every time you click one. The search function is probably one of the worst considering it has to search through every post.

What script are you using for the phorum? Is it open source? If it is, have you thought about the possibility (not everyone would be interested, but I think a few) of making a zip every month or so with the backup of the database so that we could download it and search on a local installation (I'm not sure if what I just wrote is understandable, hope so) ?

The idea is that I have a local installation of the phorum, and every month or so I can just download the latest backup of the DB so that I can search the phorum locally... Or look at the posts and all that without causing any traffic or CPU use of your server... is it a terribly bad idea?

TerranRich · Wed 27/04/2005 05:44:29

I think that's a pretty good idea, but would the "phorum" (as you say) archives be HUGE? It'd be a rather large fle to search through.

MrColossal · Wed 27/04/2005 06:33:05

I think it's a bad idea.

How many people here are going to download the entire forum once a month just to search for a game someone posted in 2002?

shbaz · Wed 27/04/2005 07:01:58

Nevermind the bandwidth cost.

rozojc · Wed 27/04/2005 12:38:11

Quote from: MrColossal on Wed 27/04/2005 06:33:05
I think it's a bad idea.

How many people here are going to download the entire forum once a month just to search for a game someone posted in 2002?

I'm not talking about downloading it to search games. I'm talking about downloading it for searching about technical stuff, questions about scripting that someone has probably already asked before, etc...
I'm thinking about downloading an exact copy of the sql database in which this stuff is working on (one .sql file) and of the PHP scripts, so you would have an exact local copy of this phorums but with the searching enabled... .SQL files are just text files, and since so many people have fast connections now a days it wouldn't be trouble some. You would just download it when you wanted to search about something, not necessarily once a month.

It wouldn't be a solution for everybody, I know that, but at least many of us could have access to a copy of the phorums and be able to search on it...

Also, if it's not that troublesome (cause it's not, it's just making a zip with the PHP scripts and making a .sql file with phpMyAdmin) why not try it? It wouldn't consume a lot of bandwith, users could have that option, and since it's not troublesome, trying it wouldn't hurt anybody and it's easier to see if it works than just saying it won't...

Peter Thomas · Wed 27/04/2005 12:53:40

Can I ask - in all my humble ignorance - the difference between 'forum' and 'phorum'?

[EDIT]: Also, wouldn't it be easier - as opposed to downloading an entire back-up of the forum - to just post your question again? I'm assuming if the search function is disabled, you've had the commonsense to go back manually at least a couple of pages? And, if it's not there, ask. Is there something wrong with that that I'm missing?

rozojc · Wed 27/04/2005 13:21:23

Quote from: Peter Thomas on Wed 27/04/2005 12:53:40
Can I ask - in all my humble ignorance - the difference between 'forum' and 'phorum'?

[EDIT]: Also, wouldn't it be easier - as opposed to downloading an entire back-up of the forum - to just post your question again? I'm assuming if the search function is disabled, you've had the commonsense to go back manually at least a couple of pages? And, if it's not there, ask. Is there something wrong with that that I'm missing?

If it's 'forum' or 'phorum' I'm not sure (I'm not a native English speaker), but anyway that seems a little out of place as the thread was not a spelling quiz (don't mean to sound rude, just that I don't see the point of discussing that). About the idea, well, is just that this forum has been for a LONG time, and there are probably many things that are saved somewhere that include lots of information that should be available. You could always re-post something that was asked 1 year ago, but
1. It is possible to go back manually, but it's the same thing as having a book without an index. You would have to read all the topics names to see if you can find what you're looking for instead of just submiting a query and looking at the results.
2. You can ask again, and you'll get some answers. But it could happen that you don't get any 'good' (meaning helpful) replies that could have been stored on a lost forgotten thread...

As I said, my 'idea' is based on: If it's not troublesome why not try it? Anyway it's just an idea, if nobody else think it's worth doing it well...

jetxl · Wed 27/04/2005 13:34:19

There is no crime in asking the same question for the second time. It's just annoying if someone asks what's the best ags game for the sobbing 14th time. So members post a link to the original post with the comment that it's been done before. And that makes them feel realy realy smart for a few seconds. (we all know Ace Quest is the best game ever made, anyway)
You don't have to search the forums every time you want to start a topic.

Now, a dedicated server would solve the problems. But also creates some finacial problems.
You know, this forum needs some 1337 HAX0Rs that can create some illegal cyberspace for AGS. Nah...

Peter Thomas · Wed 27/04/2005 14:45:24

QuoteIf it's 'forum' or 'phorum' I'm not sure (I'm not a native English speaker), but anyway that seems a little out of place as the thread was not a spelling quiz (don't mean to sound rude, just that I don't see the point of discussing that).

I wasn't making jest at you. I thought there might have been a genuine difference between the two, like fat (overweight) and phat (cool). Apparently not. Anyway, you didn't sound rude, so I guess we're fine on both ends

I guess this 'backup' could prove useful for others. It would be fairly obsolete for me, but as I say, that's no reason not to do it. I guess general opinion will give us an answer on if it's worth it...

TerranRich · Wed 27/04/2005 19:04:27

scotch had a great idea on IRC: use Google to search the forums instead of an inbuilt feature. Would that be feasible?

Pumaman · Wed 27/04/2005 19:47:41

Quote from: rozojc on Wed 27/04/2005 03:18:11
What script are you using for the phorum? Is it open source? If it is, have you thought about the possibility (not everyone would be interested, but I think a few) of making a zip every month or so with the backup of the database so that we could download it and search on a local installation (I'm not sure if what I just wrote is understandable, hope so) ?

The database backup zipped is 30 MB, which if several people started downloading it would cause us a bandwidth problem. Although it's a nice idea in theory, I don't think it would really work.

Quotescotch had a great idea on IRC: use Google to search the forums instead of an inbuilt feature. Would that be feasible?

It's a good idea, but google doesn't seem to have crawled most of the forum -- if you try a google search for a thread here, it most likely won't find it.

rozojc · Wed 27/04/2005 20:36:05

Quote from: Pumaman on Wed 27/04/2005 19:47:41
Quote from: rozojc on Wed 27/04/2005 03:18:11
What script are you using for the phorum? Is it open source? If it is, have you thought about the possibility (not everyone would be interested, but I think a few) of making a zip every month or so with the backup of the database so that we could download it and search on a local installation (I'm not sure if what I just wrote is understandable, hope so) ?

The database backup zipped is 30 MB, which if several people started downloading it would cause us a bandwidth problem. Although it's a nice idea in theory, I don't think it would really work.

Quotescotch had a great idea on IRC: use Google to search the forums instead of an inbuilt feature. Would that be feasible?

It's a good idea, but google doesn't seem to have crawled most of the forum -- if you try a google search for a thread here, it most likely won't find it.

Since what is most useful (I think) is to be able to search through the technical forums, why not then just make zipped versions EXCLUSIVELY of those forums? That way it would certainly be a lot less than 30 megs...