[Neal Stevens]

For now, search is disabled. This phpBB forum software sets up a search table and it grows too big, causing the server to hang. I will check on vBulletin and probably swtich over. phpBB just doesn't cut it for big forums.

[Wildcat]

As an interim solution for all users, you can still search the forums by using google.

type this as your google search string:

site:subsim.com forum "whatever you are searching for goes here"

These results are not completely up to date so old topics in the forum probably will not be displayed. But it will make searching possible until the better alternative is once again available.

[Gizzmoe]

vBulletin sounds like a good idea! Let us know if you need donations.

[Neal Stevens]

Thanks, Gizz. The ongoing server saga: now it looks like it may be hardware related. I was monitoring the load and activity when it went down this am, the load was less than 0.5. A memory test may be in order for this box.

vBulletin is still an option for forum software. With as many users as we have, I need to have the best available.

Neal

[Neal Stevens]

[TteFAboB]

Is it possible to know what people search for? Like Google knows? Do you have a little LCD monitor listing searches as they happen next to your main screen?

Perhaps you lie, maybe you couldn't stand it anymore when 9 out of 10 searches were "Starforce", seconded by "SF" and "Anti-SF" tied, with "NO-StrenForcer" in third.

Well, I have the answer for you. No need to swap for a fancy software that will allow you to hand false empty search results. Just grab the user who's searching, steal his e-mail address and send it to the "HAMAS PRIDE" forum, telling those guys the e-mail address is from a fanatical Israeli Jewish soldier who killed 3 Palestinian little girls a few days ago but the story never leaked to the media because the Israeli Army also killed the Palestinians journalists who were trying to cover it. It's not as if they weren't used to believing into lies anyway.

Then, when his inbox starts receiving hundreds of e-mails containing the word "Terrorist" in the body or in the sender's e-mail, you call the Interpol and tell them a user on your forum is a terrorist and is planning to blow the World's Largest Chicken or whatever, make sure you don't use a target that needs to be evacuated or will generate massive panic and chaos. Then, the Interpol will check his e-mails and notice they all came from the HAMAS or from other hate groups on the internet, and won't even bother checking the body of the messages, they will trace the location of the receiver and inform the local police, which will arrest the bastard and in less than 24h put him on a plane to Guantanamo.

If that doesn't happen, you can still count on the terrorists to flood his e-mail address, if he uses his name on it, they might search on phone books and what not and find other ways to make living hell out of his life.

You get rid of SF search load, you get rid of the guy, possibly waste Interpol money OR at least, and there's at least something good in this plan, you would certainly grab the attention of online Terrorists, diverting them from potential important targets, into somebody nobody will ever miss. Hmm, to be sure of that, you should add a tickbox on the registration screen, right below the I Agree thing: "Do you have a family or are you liked/loved by at least one or more persons?", pick only those who answer No.

See, the simple solutions are always the best.

[Wildcat]

Related to the problem, searching on phpbb2 causes major problems if your sql tables are not set up correctly. Also, if you happen to be running apache server, make sure all your configuration files are properly set up.

You can probably reproduce the problem on a smaller scale if you use the XAMPP installer (installs a copy of apache and sql on a windows machine) and then try to set up a phpbb2 forum on your own personal server. It's very likely that even if you think you configured things properly, it'll lock up totally when you try to search.

Maybe have someone look through the database and see if anything unnecessary can be removed. Or consider pruning posts/sending them to archive forums so that searches do not go through 5 years worth of posts when someone searches the sh2 forum.

[Neal Stevens]

The anti-SF people already hate me, I don't need to make them any madder at me.

[Neal Stevens]

Search rebuild underway, should be working 24 hours from now.