AOL Journals: Magic Smoke

Friday, May 27, 2005
2:02:00 PM EDT Hi everybody... here's an update on the flakiness we've been seeing in the FTP/Hometown space.  It should be resolved now. Here's what happened:

Around Tuesday, some files were being migrated on the servers that handle Hometown (this includes the images in members.aol.com that you can put in your Web pages and Journals). 

There was a problem, and some files were lost.  This is what caused some of your photos to not show up in your Journals.  Also, an older version of the hit counter was installed.  This is also why your hit counters may have dropped some hits.

However, early on Thursday, the techs started running a process that recovered 99% of the affected files.

I've checked in with a few folks who'd dropped me a line, and we've seen most previously affected images back up.

However, I am not sure if the data recovery means that hit counters will be restored to their previous states.

If you folks are still having problems with your hit counters, please leave a comment in this entry so we can take a look.

Sorry for the delay in responding, I wanted to make sure we had good information.

Thanks -- Joe


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This entry has 28 comments: (Add your own)

• #28 Comment from leigherlacher 
  2/7/08 6:14 AM | Permalink

  I'm having the same problem as comment #27.  I put a counter on my journal in September 2007, when I created the journal.  The entire time, it shows me a black box with a Red X in it.  No number.  I have no idea how many times it has been hit.  
  Another question...
  Since mine is a private journal, I am interested in knowing which of my readers have visited the journal.  Is there any kind of log that I can visit to see my readers.
  Thank you.  I just found your blog & find it full of valuable information.
• #27 Comment from lilith925 
  12/26/07 11:53 PM | Permalink

  I added the hit counter to my journal only to get the blank square thingy with the red X. So, I took it off and reinstalled it several times with the same reaults. I have taken it off of my journal
  I have no problems with the photos though.
  On the up side I have had a lot of fun with my journal, and all the creative apps that I have not seen on other blog sites.
  Thank you for your time and consideration,
  Lilith Eventide Nightshade
• #26 Comment from journalseditorEntry Author 
  5/4/06 8:04 PM | Permalink

  Hi, thanks for writing -- I took a look at your blog (http://journals.aol.com/lavindergr/MyrnaLCox-Lavinder/ though I see you have another blog, as well: http://journals.aol.com/lavindergr/Experienceit/); I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
  
  I haven't heard any reports from anyone about entries being lost. Your saying that you posted entries to your blog, saw them live, and then when you came back later, the entries were gone (without you deleting them)?
  
  Our counter problems are typically unrelated to any other problems, so it's unlikely that counter problems would cause this.
  
  I will pass your report to the product team -- please let me know if it happens again.
  
  Thanks -- Joe (posted & mailed)
• #25 Comment from lavindergr 
  5/4/06 7:57 PM | Permalink

  Hi Joe, ...I noticed that a couple of the entries that I had made in my blog were missing...maybe now I know why??...also my hit counter went way back down from 16 or so to 2 today!...I can only hope that they will be restored...I would like to be informed if there are further problems..the name of my blog is....MyrnaL.Cox-Lavinder....thanks for the information....Patches
• #24 Comment from journalseditorEntry Author 
  8/1/05 4:19 PM | Permalink

  Hi...don't know why someone might have told you that counters were disabled -- I apologize if you got incorrect info.  Like I said, if your counter got corrupted, which is what it sounds like, the only recourse is to remove it and put it back in, or if that doesn't work, to delete the .odometer file. Both of these will cause your hit counter to revert to zero. We are working on better ways for users to track the number of visitors, but I don't have any solid progress to report yet. Thanks -- Joe

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