Forum "Who's Online" is broken

[#1]

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@jab1 wrote:

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@Baldrick1 Although it is a long time since @jaread83 or anyone on the Plusnet staff have modified anything on the forum, my understanding is that the 'staging' environment was for testing changes by Plusnet - not Lithium/Khorus.

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I really can't remember if the 'staging' forum was updated with the latest Khorus (Lithium) software but I suspect it was so any inference with Plusnet additions should have been  noticed.

@jab1 

Your question above has been asked so many times without any answer.

[#2]

@Mav I'll reserve judgement on your comment below regarding the 'staging' platform, except to ask who is monitoring these days - I see no PLUSNET staff comments regarding it. Note that the last two 'gaffers' - 'SeanD' and 'NickBS' are from from BT - and I could be wrong, but was 'JonoH'  also seconded from that area?

I am also acutely aware that my question has been asked numerous times before and studiously ignored, hence why I thought I would ask it again.

[#3]

@jab1 

I wasn't criticising your question but rather trying to re-enforce that answers are needed.

[#4]

Thanks, @Mav .

[#5]

@Baldrick1 

@jab1 has described well the purpose of the staging platform - to test Plusnet developments.

There has been a long history of change control issued which @JonoH fought valiantly over a few years back. IIRC out of that history, it was apparent that this system (which is run on the supplier's platforms) gets update with NO DISCUSSION with Plusnet.

I repeat my point - where a product supplier provides an enchantable environment, capable of supporting bespoke developments via published programable interfaces, a competent supplier would not break such interfaces when releasing product "upgrades".

A professional software provider would not seek to blame failures in their core product upon fringe enhancements facilitated by the use of their interface features.

[#6]

Hi team - Khoros support are looking for some support replicating this issue. I too am unable to replicate - both logged in and out.

We would request you to please help us with the below requested details for further investigation

- Please let us know from when you are finding the mentioned issue.
- Please let us know whther you are finding this issue after any recent changes or updates, If yes please help us with the detials.
- Please let us know whether we can replicate the mentioned behaviour in prod environment with the user for whom the issue has occurred as this issue not replicable from our end.

For those impacted - are online number and avatars always out of sync? I think someone mentioned it was intermittent but no real trends to when it's fallen out?

Was there any notable change/updates (that you were aware of) that happened around the time when this fell out of sync?

Would anybody be willing to jump on with Khoros support to present the issue?

[#7]

@NickBS With respect, I think someone is having a laugh - I, and others, have posted numerous time-stamped instances of out-of-sync and 'missing in action' examples - are we wasting our time?

The issues are random - in time and intensity, and random in habit.

What changes or updates? - if they mean the Khorus platform, we, as users, are never made aware of such actions, and - as far as I am aware - Plusnet are also not making any changes, at least published ones.

If they are implying users browsers, that is a strawman - your chosen browser should display what the site publishes, the only possible variation being on whether it is the mobile or desktop iteration, which should not affect the 'users on line' component.

Final point - why is it that we seem to be 'offline' according to the display almost exactly one hour after first opening the site, even though we are (1) still logged in, and, (2) still posting?

[#8]

For illustrative purposes:

I count 11 on there, and can't see me, even though I am obviously signed in - otherwise I wouldn't be able to post!

HOW much clearer do we have to be?

Edit: Timestamp on the above picture is 12.25.27

[#9]

@NickBS 

Might I suggest you post some evidence it's working?

[#10]

@NickBS

“The supplier cannot recreate this.”.

In what environment? In an unrepresentative non-production environment? Are they bothering to look at the Plusnet service and see for themselves …

1. The miss match between the online count and the number of displayed avatars

2. The different count and names / avatars on the detailed screen

3. That users who have chosen to have their online status hidden are display for all to see with “invisible” against their name

They being the product and service owners should be able to poke under the covers to see who is logged on and therefore should be displayed … and then investigate why they do not appear.

I suggest that @jab1 is on the right track … this might have something to do with being logged on for more than one hour … whilst using keep me logged in.

How is the supplier logging into the stem when attempting to investigate this issue and how long do the remain logged in … but idle. Given that no one knows what causes this, attempting to replicate the issue is futile and entirely the wrong diagnostic approach. There is a system which readily illustrates the issue - walk the code and dig the operational data / user status to see why it’s failing.

[#11]

This is mine showing correctly. But will test with a bit of idle time. 

But I do feel we might need to pick our battles with stuff like this. A few people i've spoken to have mentioned that Khoros support is a bit of struggle due to the level of customisation our side, which isn't isn't helped by the lack knowledge and developer resource available to deal with it. 

I'll keep trying for now - but it might come down to effort vs value for little niggles like this. This community clearly to continues to add great value to customers and users from a knowledge/help/support perspective. And my effort will no doubt be better spent focusing equipping community for all Plusnet change, products, services related stuff. 

[#12]

@NickBS That is correct numbers-wise, but I can assure you it is not actually showing those on line - it doesn't show me, and I am certainly online, otherwise, how could I  post this message? I wonder how many other actually online users are missing?

[#13]

Apparently I am not on line either!!

@Baldrick1  / @Mav  we appear to have a couple of spam actors on-line <betting-company>v?com for the Far East.

[#14]

Those 'betting company' spam actors appear almost every day - I think I used to report them at one time, but as they don't actually post spam, I don't bother any more.

[#15]

Oh if only THIS forum was integrated with the CM so that one needed to have a Plusnet account at the time of the initial registration for the service ... like the old (superior?) forum stack replaced by this (best of breed?) monster.

@NickBS I cannot disagree about the questionable merits of the effort to fix this, however it is very illustrative of the abject inability of the supplier to deliver clean code and then identify the source of failure. We went for many months of the top of screen avatar reporting 101 unread notifications, to find that there were many fewer, if any at all.  That was blamed on customisation ... and oddly went away with no change to Plusnet's customised code.

There has been an unacceptable history of new versions of the technology stack being deployed unbeknown to the business.  Thus if this were remotely linked to customisation code Plusnet would be unaware that the sand beneath the foundations was shifting.