Reporting website bugs/problems, such as can't access certain pages
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I can’t seem to get to any of the Character Bio pages or bonus content. The links all redirect to the series front page. Under construction perhaps?
Unfortunately, we’ve been having some technical problems since the last update. We’ve got our web people on it, but the problem is weirdly complicated and it still isn’t fixed yet. We’ll post on here once that content’s back up.
Sorry for the problem, hopefully it’ll be back up soon!
Restructured your post to make this the topic for all website problems/bug reports, Karen. Thank you!
Yeah, we’ve been having bizarre little bugs pop up since the new site layout was released, and it seems to be entirely the fault of the hosting company (including how long the fixes are taking). Our two web admins Jordan and Lissa have literally been working around the clock to debug and put in workarounds until the foundational errors are fixed, so if some pages vanish for a little while, I’m really sorry! They’ll be back up ASAP.
Well, no more using that little text box over on the Chromatic site to report bugs! Yay! Unfortunately, the real reason for this post is a bit less happy, because I think the full Character Bio page for Awake is now inaccessible. The link on the Awake main page that’s supposed to go to that page just doesn’t go anywhere, and the URL changes from http://sparklermonthly.com/?post_type=series&p=786 to http://sparklermonthly.com/?post_type=series&p=786?template=characters . Other than that the page seems to remain the same. Again, sorry for doing this two days in a row, and I hope you guys can fix all the stuff without too much trouble with your host.
Yeah, the character bios and some of the bonus content are still down–it’s all related to the same issues we’re having with our host which are unfortunately turning out to be really difficult to deal with. We’ll post here when things are back up–it should be fixed by the Friday update, but considering how the technical side has been going lately I don’t want to make any promises. Sorry, guys.
Hey, just thought you should know, the link you currently have up to stream Awake chapter 4 can be directly downloaded, rather than having to go through Sparkler’s checkout system. Not sure if this was the intent, because it’s happened once before (back before Bandcamp was implemented) and was changed. This also only applies to chapter 4, all the other ones are using the Bandcamp player. Sorry again, and I really hope this next week brings significantly less bugfixing work for Jordan and Lissa (who are getting an extra apology because bugfixing often sucks, sorry). Sorry…
Yeah, that was actually intentional; the link is behind the paywall, so subscribers can right-click and save if they want, or use the usual check-out system. Subscribers are entitled to either. :) That link will be eliminated and replaced with Bandcamp once the paywall is lifted in a week.
We’ll probably develop a cleaner system later, but some of our other options (like a built-in Sparkler player on the page) use Flash, which won’t work on a lot of devices. We’re trying to be as accessible as possible, especially for the beloved fans who give us their hard-earned money to get this content early! :)
I was actually super happy to see that the player you guys picked used Javascript/HTML5 instead of flash. Since I do frequent the site on my phone it is extremely nice to know that it works just as well there as on a standard computer. Plus, Javascript/HTML5 is, from what I’ve gathered, a lot smoother and faster than flash. Yay technology!
Seriously though, I hope you guys don’t have many more bugs to find. I don’t know them personally, but I bet Jordan and Lissa would like to sleep at some point.
Horray! I see the character pages are back! *kermit frog arms* Thank you Jordan and Lissa for getting those pages back up and running. :D
A little off topic, but will there be a mobile-optimized version of the new site design in the future? It was one of the features of the initial Sparkler site I really liked. A lot of my internet browsing is done through my phone (I happen to be writing this post on it). I can still access the site just fine, but the experience is a little clunkier than I expected.
We definitely want to optimize this new site design for mobile. It’s top of our list once these bugs are fixed!
WHOOOOOO!!!! Yay for squashed bugs and mobile versions! You guys are awesome and Jordan and Lissa deserve massive amounts of thanks. Speaking of Jordan and Lissa, do they check the forums here at all?
Oo, a mobile site, especially a comic reader designed for mobile, sounds really nice. I usually check for updates on my phone, so I would definitely put it to use.
The series pages, like http://sparklermonthly.com/series/awake/, are broken on my computer, saying “Oops, something’s not working right!” The content pages themselves still work though.
Also, is there a way to edit your own posts? I don’t want to double post, but I can’t seem to find an edit button. I thought I saw an edit button when I first sent my posts, but they’ve vanished upon re-viewing the pages.
TEST TEST TEST
(By the way, thanks for the heads-up on the series pages, Serene. They’re back up now, and we’re looking into what happened. I really hope they’re fixed for good soon!)
Serene–I’m signed in as a free member right now, and I have an “Edit” button on the right-hand side of the grey bar of my own posts. It seems to work fine for me. Is that button missing when you look at your old posts? Is the grey bar and the “reply” link still there? If you don’t see it, could you try signing out, closing your tab, then signing back in and coming back here to see if it’s back?
