Links in Main Forum Hosts group go to DU3

[Yonnie3]

This discussion thread was locked by EarlG (a host of the DU4 Bug Reports forum).

On DU4 when clicking on links in an alert OP you are taken to DU3. Links in response post also take you to DU3. These do open in a new tab as before which is handy for the tasks there.

In the list of "Main Forum SOP Alerts" at the top of the group the links take you to DU4 in the same tab. Not a bug but perhaps a clue for trouble shooting.

PC, Windows 10, Firefox.

The devil is always in the details

[EarlG]

1. Thanks for the report

This is kind of a bug but also a known issue.

At the moment we have a version of the site running at www.democraticunderground.com (DU3), and then another version of the site running at du4.democraticunderground.com (DU4). Both sites are running off the same database, so no matter which version you're on, you're sending and receiving the same data.

Most of the links in the DU4 software are coded as relative links which don't reference www or du4, but just the last part of the URL. If you're on DU4 when you hit one of those links, you'll stay on DU4. If you're on DU3, you'll stay on DU3.

But there are some instances where we've repurposed code from DU3 which contains absolute links. These links specifically point to www.democraticunderground.com. If you're on a DU4 page and you hit one of those links, you'll end up at DU3.

But the reason this isn't really a problem is that when we finally launch the new software, the DU3 version of the site will stop running at www, and the DU4 software will take over. At that point visiting www.democraticunderground.com will give you the DU4 version of the site, so you're always on DU4, and any absolute links to www will keep you on DU4.

[Yonnie3]

2. Thanks for your reply

I understand now why and how it should be OK at the transition.

While I understand that DU4 is just another way to access the database that is DU, I wanted to test an alert and go through the process I follow completely on DU4. I'll just copy these links and edit them to specifically point to DU4 and proceed with testing.

It's more about establishing a work flow than worrying about DU4 working properly.

Onward!

[EarlG]

3. Yeah unfortunately

there are going to be some quirks like this during the testing phase, but this is one that will solve itself down the road.

I'm going to lock this as resolved for now, thanks.