mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
Mark Smith ([staff profile] mark) wrote in [site community profile] dw_maintenance2022-09-07 03:36 pm
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry

An update on where we're at

Howdy everybody.

Now that we're entirely off of Cloudflare, I figured I'd give an update on some of the sharp edges and things we're still working on.

First of all, we've had to push a few changes out to update some configurations and this has had the side effect of pushing out some changes (like an overhaul of the Inbox.) Normally we try to give advanced notice of site and code changes, so I apologize that this change is coming as a surprise. We'll keep an eye on feedback here so we can iterate on things as needed. This has been reverted.

Now, on to the other things.

  • (TBD) VPN. I know that some of you use VPNs to access Dreamwidth and you're now getting overly familiar with the CAPTCHA solution that AWS offers. It's, well, not a great solution. It solves the robot problem fairly well but it is pretty suboptimal for our users, we hear you. We are investigating other solutions here to see what we can do, but it will not be an immediate fix, unfortunately.

  • (Investigating) 403s. Secondly, I'm seeing some reports of 403s on commenting. We're investigating this, but nobody on the volunteer team has reported it / can reproduce it, so we're still trying to figure this one out.

  • (Done) RSS feeds. Thirdly, when I set up the CAPTCHA, I did forget to add rules allowing access to RSS and ATOM feeds. [personal profile] alierak fixed these up, so you should be able to access your feeds again via IFTTT and similar services. If not, please let us know in the comments.

  • (Done) IP logging. Fourthly, the config change we pushed (that deployed updated code) did fix the issue where IP addresses were showing up as 'via' or not as your own IP. This was a proxy misconfiguration on our end and is resolved now, so you should be able to see real IP addresses again.

  • (Done) Inbox. Going to update the default so that messages that are unread are expanded. I rolled it back to how it was. No more unneeded code push!

I think that's the list of things I'm aware of. Please comment if you see other issues -- and again, thank you so much for your patience here. We've tried to keep the disruptions to a minimum, but we have effectively replaced a significant set of technologies that we use (CDN, proxying, WAF/DDoS protection, anti-robot, etc) and it's never apples-to-apples.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only
ravenblack: (Default)

[personal profile] ravenblack 2022-09-20 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
The reason paypal isn't used is because paypal refuses to work with a site that allows adult material, which dw does. So this is not likely to change.
Ah, right. Makes sense :(
---
Yeah, the plan with giving someone else money while they buy you DW points is great, but I was always a loner, so I can't really get help from someone.

I guess my only chance is getting a credit card from somewhere. I know that someone irl has a credit card, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am to ask them for it, haha!

Thanks for answering!
nostalgia: (Default)

[personal profile] nostalgia 2022-09-24 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
Have you got a debit card at all? That's how I've been paying it (I get a bank charge for using to pay something in USD though :( just a couple of pounds but it adds up.) (I only ask cos I know sometimes things say credit cards and people dont know they also accept debit cards. Sorry if this suggestion is useless though <3)
ravenblack: (Default)

[personal profile] ravenblack 2022-09-24 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, but not sure if I can use mine. HMM!

I asked around irl now, and I have found someone that would borrow me their card + we are close enough. They just aren't sure if their card can be used online, so I have to find that out!

Thanks for answering, your comment wasn't useless. :)
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only