Reload time warps - what's the deal?

You see, for example, 8 responses to a particular thread. Wait a couple minutes, hit reload, and it goes back in time to 7 reponses.

Why does this happen, what purpose could it possibly serve, and is it really necessary? If not, please send appropriate instructions to Greenspun to eliminate this feature, it is stupid.

-- (please.fix.now@you.nerds), April 08, 2001

Answers

I remember seeing this cute cartoon a few years ago. It was a picture of a bug standing up, with the caption "Bug". Next to it was the same picture, dressed in a suit, wearing a pair of shades. The caption - "Feature".

What causes this, except for a post being deleted, is how the "Recent answers" page works. Scroll down to the bottom of that page, and read the last paragraph. If a post is older than 7 days, it is no longer considered a "new" answer. The page shows only new answers, not total answers.

Phil is doing this for performance reasons. He is only searching the last 7 days worth of messages, instead of the entire database.

<:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), April 08, 2001.

Thanks Sysman, but I think you are talking about a different issue. I'm aware of the 7 day drop off feature.

This happened on a brand new post. I posted the first reply, and it showed up on the recent answers page with 1 reply. A few minutes later, I reloaded, and it disappeared from the recent answers page completely, and other threads showed 1 less reply than before. It went "back in time".

-- (reload@time.travel), April 08, 2001.

Hummm, I don't think I've seen that one, or maybe I just haven't noticed....

The only thing I can think of is a problem with the browser's cache. How often does it happen? You could try emptying the cache to see if it helps.

Or you could try a "forced" refresh. In IE, hold CTRL and hit F5. With Netscape, I think you hold the SHIFT key and click the refresh button.

Or it could really be a bug, in which case I can't help much, since I don't have access to Phil's code... :)

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), April 08, 2001.

Hey Sysman, You never did tell me if you had recovered completly from your accident.

-- Cherri (jessam5@home.com), April 08, 2001.

Hi Cherri,

Yea, I've been back to normal (whatever that is) since last summer. My hair is even startin' to get long again...

<:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), April 08, 2001.

This has never happened to me. Not that I don't think it couldn't.... The server cacheing your internet sites is probably switching between load-balancing servers, and for some reason, you're seeing a server that's a couple refreshes behind. It's a problem with either your ISP, or a company that your ISP buys web services and bandwidth from.

-- Bemused (and_amazed@you.people), April 09, 2001.

Yup, it could be a problem with server caches. That's why I suggested a "forced" refresh. This causes the browser to ignore the time stamp, not only on it's own cache, but also any intermediate server caches along the way, and "forces" the originating server (Greenspun) to send the page.

At least that's how it's supposed to work. But if everything worked as designed, "time warp" wouldn't be having this problem to begin with...

<:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), April 09, 2001.