Developing problem with creating accounts

A thread on another site has been discussing password resetting problems on ATS, and has also observed that even creating a new account doesn't seem to work.

This observation prompted me to dig into the membership list, and what I find at the most recent end is a page crammed with recently added accounts, all with a "last visit" recorded as "Dec 31 1969". In other words, it looks as though new members can create accounts but can't get through.

"Last visit 1969" actually takes over a couple of pages earlier, at some point on Jun 2nd, but it was already happening occasionally on previous days. This looks like a progressive deterioration.

I can’t think of anything of interest that happened New Year’s Eve in ‘69.

Maybe it isn’t aliens 😕

a reply to: DISRAELI2

originally posted by: DISRAELI2
In other words, it looks as though new members can create accounts but can't get through.

Are you saying new accounts can be created but they can't post anything?
Thats interesting.
It would explain why it's been so quiet here the past week ...
Looks like that started around June 2

a reply to: Dalamax
The only thing recorded in my diary is that I took a driving lesson. "He said my reversing was remarkably good. However, my foot actions were not sufficiently automatic yet, and he said that I don't push the accelerator hard enough."

a reply to: FlyersFan
You may have seen on the D.I. thread that KKLoco reported starting a fresh account but not being able to use it. That's what prompted me to look.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

Just checked. It's indeed impossible. The text that appears reads something along the lines: The message cannot be sent, the connection failed and the error code I don't remember now. You can't get past the first page.

originally posted by: twistedpuppy
Just checked. It's indeed impossible. The text that appears reads something along the lines: The message cannot be sent, the connection failed and the error code I don't remember now.

Ahhhh .... that explains a few things.

Now we know why it has been quiet and 'new troll free' since around May 31. They can't get in and do their business.

Of course that also means good new people can't come in and post either.

Which means ATS dies.

a reply to: FlyersFan
Actually, I don't think creation of new accounts is happening.
More like applied, but not completed.

AFAIK, passwords cannot be reset at this time.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

"This is the way ATS ends
This is the way ATS ends
This is the way ATS ends
Not with a bang but a whimper'.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Log out of your account. Try to create a new one using a different email and username and you will see that you cannot do it.

You will receive an error after pushing a submit button.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

Sadly, I confirm what you described, DISRAELI2.

I attempted with a new email account and confirm that the user is created, but the password mail delivery (SMTP) fails. So, without a password, the user can never login.

Further experimentation to reset the password results in an error message indicating that the username and email don't correspond, with no way to fix the catch 22.

There have been new accounts created today, but the last page of the membership list (6535) doesn't show them. To see the very newest accounts, I had to hack the url and manually add the last page as 6536, where I see the account I created earlier...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

A scary Ghost visitation may bring ATS back to life.

originally posted by: FlyersFan
Of course that also means good new people can't come in and post either.
Which means ATS dies.

Not to mention good old people probably being locked out when their cookies expire.

We're not in a matrix. We're a short story by John Barth. A version of "Autobiography" in the Lost in the Funhouse collection.

originally posted by: DISRAELI2

originally posted by: FlyersFan
Of course that also means good new people can't come in and post either.
Which means ATS dies.

Not to mention good old people probably being locked out when their cookies expire.

We're not in a matrix. We're a short story by John Barth. A version of "Autobiography" in the Lost in the Funhouse collection.

I was able to log back in with my normal account when the cookies expired around the 1st or 2nd of June. Again, this morning I logged out when I attempted the new account and was able to log back in. So, current accounts are safe for now, even if you log off.

So, this isn't the same problem we had last year when all the passwords were changed in the database. I believe this is more to do with the email delivery system being broken... there's something else I'm testing to eliminate or confirm a theory I have about the domain email, but it's going to take a few days.

originally posted by: Wookiep
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

"This is the way ATS ends
This is the way ATS ends
This is the way ATS ends
Not with a bang but a whimper'.

Props to the TS Eliot and the Stand reference

a reply to: putnam6
But on the other hand...

"Do not go gentle into that good night...
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

I have seen new members join, there was one today? Weird??
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: Kurokage
That one registered end of May, just before the apparent barrier came down. Today was just their first post.

originally posted by: DISRAELI2
a reply to: Kurokage
That one registered end of May, just before the apparent barrier came down. Today was just their first post.

Yeah, just thought it was odd that only 1 person joined before then that I could see and wondered if it was some sort of of problem that spread across the site, I did see 1 other who joined on the 2nd of june..

Well this sucks, I just sent a coworker over here today. I assume she will not be able to set up an account. This place has been around for eons. Hate to see it fall into disrepair. On the other post someone said we do not know who the real owners are of the site? is that correct? Someone must be paying to upkeep the domain name and the web hosting?