We are aware of technical issues with site navigation and the "Rec" function (UPDATE)

[EarlG]

This discussion thread was locked by EarlG (a host of the Announcements group).

Last edited Tue Mar 23, 2021, 10:52 AM - Edit history (1)

UPDATE 3/23/21:

This issue appears to be resolved. However, if anyone is still experiencing problems with the Rec button or navigation, please send me a DU Mail message.


UPDATE 3/11/21:

We're confident that this issue is now resolved for all users. However, if you do experience any further weirdness, please feel free to send me a DU Mail message. Thanks again for your patience.


ORIGINAL MESSAGE 3/10/21:

We think we know what's causing the problem, but unfortunately we're not going to be able to resolve it until some time tomorrow so these functions will be unavailable to some users until then. There is no cause for alarm, this is not a hack or anything nefarious.

If you cannot open groups in the left-hand navigation menu, you can still reach them by navigating via the "Forums & Groups" tab at the top of any page.

Unfortunately there isn't a workaround for reccing posts. It's possible that refreshing the page may resolve it in some cases -- using Shift-Reload on your browser may do the trick, but it may not. You could also try using a different device if you have one available.

In some cases you may also find that Alert and Bookmark functions are unavailable. Again, reloading the page may help, or using a different device.

At this time we hope to have the issues resolved before the end of the day Thursday, so we appreciate your patience until then. My apologies for the inconvenience.

-- EarlG (Admin)

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Thanks for the heads up, EarlG!

[Wounded Bear]

2. Thanks for the heads up! nt

[Kali]

3. heh

tried to rec and it jumped me to the top of the page

[orleans]

5. i was just able to rec. nt

[left-of-center2012]

4. Also noticed the 'alert' button doesn't work ? n/t

[EarlG]

12. Thanks, I just edited the OP to note that

there are also issues with Alert, and Bookmark also.

[joshdawg]

6. Many thanks.

You guys are great, don't care what others say.

[crickets]

7. Good to know. Thanks, EarlG! nt

[littlemissmartypants]

8. Thanks. ❤ nt

[littlemissmartypants]

9. FYI couldn't bookmark or rec this post. ❤ nt

[2naSalit]

10. I haven't had any problems yet...

And I was able to rec this page.

[seta1950]

11. Thanks

For being on top of it as usual.

[Kali]

13. FYI

the other glitch I noticed today was trying to click on the left hand side of replies on the "My Posts" page. usually you get a drop down with subject lines of the replies. nothing happens now.

[EarlG]

15. That makes sense

By way of a quick explanation, this is an on-and-off issue which is affecting Javascript functions. Any pages which use Javascript to provide functionality -- like page elements popping open -- are sometimes coming up with problems. We're confident that we know what's causing it, but unfortunately we need some additional tech support to resolve it, which is what's causing the delay.

[BigmanPigman]

14. Thank you, I thought it was just me.

I tried logging on and off and nothing worked. Glad you are working on it!

[AverageOldGuy]

16. Stuff happens

It's the world we live in.

Reactions will vary:

-- some will piss and moan about it
-- some will complain mildly
-- some will say, well, it happens

I'm going to have another drink. And listen to the latest Keb' Mo' CD.

[LeftInTX]

17. Working!! Yay!!!

I assumed something happened with the code the other night when DU was down for maintenance

[MuseRider]

18. Thank you!

We all know you will get it all fixed and shiny again as soon as humanly possible.

[Ron Obvious]

19. I, for one, still can't Rec (3/15)

I just tried it: I click on the button and the page just goes to the top without a Rec.

Opera, Win 10 laptop, uBlock Origin and Ghostery.

[EarlG]

20. Try this

Last edited Mon Mar 15, 2021, 07:20 PM - Edit history (1)

Below are four links to DU Javascript files which are necessary for functions like Rec and Alert to work. Your browser accesses these files behind the scenes all the time. But if your browser is reading the old files from its cache, instead of downloading the most up-to-date versions from our server, the functions still won't work for you.

Click on each link below and when the file loads, hold down the Shift key and click the refresh/reload button in your browser. This will force your browser to get the most up-to-date version of the file. Once you've done that for all four files, your functions should start working again.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/scripts/dynamic-ajax-content.js

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/scripts/dynamic-ajax-content.js

https://www.democraticunderground.com/scripts/overlapping-content.js

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/scripts/overlapping-content.js

[Ron Obvious]

21. I'm afraid it's still not working.

I tried a few times in a row to refresh these scripts but the behaviour is still the same: it goes to the top of the page and nothing else is done.

ETA: It works in Edge, but I'd never logged into DU before from Edge so I don't know if that proves anything.

[EarlG]

22. Hmm

Unfortunately there's nothing we can do at our end to force your browser to update its cache. There's one other thing I would suggest which is to to try clearing your cache from the browser settings.

How to clear cache - cached images and files

Press Ctrl+Shift+Del to open your Clear browsing data options. Make sure Cached images and files is selected. Click Clear data.

https://www.opera.com/case-studies/clean-browser-and-remove-trackers

Functions are working in Edge because when you visited DU with Edge, it downloaded the most up-to-date versions of the Javascript files from our server. For some reason Opera is using the non-working versions in its cache. Clearing the cache should force it to get the latest versions.

[Ron Obvious]

24. It's working now!

Apparently my browser wanted some time before agreeing to cooperate. Didn't reboot or anything either.

[Make7]

23. If clearing your cache doesn't solve the issue, try turning off your extensions temporarily...

... to test whether uBlock Origin or Ghostery is blocking JavaScript from running on DU.

If one of them seems to be the issue, check to see if it is blocking the googleapis.com domain as well as democraticunderground.com.

I am not familiar with those extensions so I can't offer more advice than to temporarily disable them in order to determine if they could be causing problems. I've had issues with inadvertently enabling features for individual websites with other extensions, so it's worth testing.

Also double check if there are settings in your browser (site preferences for DU or something global) that could be disabling JavaScript. Sometimes they make the features so easy to enable that they can be accidentally turned on or off. I haven't really used Opera since they switched to Chromium so I can't be more specific about what to check.