Ghost replies/pages
 

I know there are bigger issues with site performance right now but I just wanted to throw this thread up (mostly so I don't forget later). Does anyone know if the ghost replies/pages can be fixed on the threads that have had replies deleted? A lot of the bigger longer running threads show an extra page or two which isn't a huge deal on the website but it's annoying in Tapatalk because it won't take you to the last page.

Just wondering if a site update would fix this or if it was even on the radar. Again, not a huge issue (site performance is much more important) but it would be nice to get that fixed.

Thanks for all the hard work guys!

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

I'm only speculating on this, and my status as a mod doesn't afford me any special information, but I'm fairly confident that this is a bug in vBulletin itself, in which the code that determines page numbers does not take into account deleted posts, whereas obviously the code that displays posts does. As the number of posts and deleted posts rise, the implications of such a bug rise as well. Only on the largest threads would it ever be a problem -- and that's exactly where we're seeing it.

So, assuming I'm right, we would need a newer version of vBulletin which addresses that bug. According to the site footer, we're running vBulletin 3.8.6. According to vbulletin.com, 4.0 is out. I don't know if 4.0 fixes this particular bug, but Internet Brands also owns vBulletin, so it stands to reason that we'll generally be updated to the latest version on a fairly regular basis, and it also stands to reason that bugs affecting sites they own are likely to be fixed. I'm guessing they want to iron out the performance issues before they tackle any upgrades, so as to avoid confusion, not to mention masking any underlying issues.

Again, pure speculation with no insider knowledge -- just a software developer offering an educated guess. :)

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

I'm crossing my fingers they upgrade to vBulletin 4 soon. It has a lot of cool features. It'd be nice if they added the mobile version as well. I'm not a fan of Tapatalk personally, and would much rather have the mobile version of the forum as opposed to using a third party app.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

Jake is correct as far as I know.

We have actually held off on going to 4.0 for a while. It does have some good features, but it also has some problems (again, as far as I know) that we don't want to deal with.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

one question would be is how the posts are removed. if they are "soft deleted", then they are still in the database and can be brought back. this could lead to an issue with larger running threads. Also, vbulletin does not do any renumbering when something is removed. (this is why you can only have 200 actual registered users on a VB install but the actual record numbers can be 4000+, depending on how many user entries have been removed.)
(Could be a reason the bug exists)

You can fix the numbering issue if I remember by doing a few SQL commands. just can not remember exactly what they were. (ran into an issue like that on a site I was working on that had VB 3.7).

As far as VB 4. Going from v3 to v4 can be a headache. the automatic updater may not always work. the biggest pain is that the CSS that controls the layout of everything can be completely hashed out. Again it is pretty fixable, just takes a little bit of time.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

When mods delete a post, they can choose to do a soft delete or an actual delete. I don't know about other mods, but I always choose the soft delete option.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

With the soft delete, the entries are still in the database and a position would ten be saved. Probably what would cause extra pages to form, since the software is "saving" the space for the post in the thread still.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

It looks like the ghost pages are fixed...

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

Nope, that just seems to happen sometimes. They're still there.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

Sorry guys, just the way the system currently works. I checked into a fix a while back and didn't come up with anything.

BTW...if you are referring to the funny pics thread...it wouldn't be an issue if people followed the thread rules! ;);)

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

You're correct, they should be.

I did a thread rebuild yesterday, which should have fixed this issue entirely.

cheers,
robb

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

I stand corrected, thanks to the IB staff!

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

Any chance of getting the Random Thought Thread (Random Thought Thread - CamaroZ28.Com Message Board) and the Funny Picture Thread (https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/f-b...%2A%2A-584885/) rebuilt? Those are the two worst when it comes to ghost pages.

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

they should be fixed, I rebuilt every thread on the site. Are you still having issues?

Re: Ghost replies/pages
 

Click on either of my links above and go to the last page, they both have ghost pages.