I’m working on a website that someone else started: http://plasticvilleusa.org/ They’ve been using the NewsCycle action successfully for years. It’s been working fine for me for six months, but now I seem to be completely dead in the water. I haven’t updated my copy of FW or made any other system changes I can think of.
The trouble it’s causing is a noticeable “horizontal shift” on some of my pages. This is quite noticeable on a mobile device. I’ve tried deleting the action and reapplying it. Now all I’m getting are the following errors and I can’t seem to upload at all:
I realized the subject of my email could be taken in a way I didn’t intend it. I’m assuming it’s user error and not a bug in the action. I’ve also wondered if the problem rests with my Internet connection since it’s timing out. That could also explain the sporadic nature of the problem.
I’ve not been able to reupload the site tonight without it timing out. But I did notice that the horizontal shift is much more pronounced on home page than the contact page. I would very much appreciate any help/advice. Thanks!
It’s not you, and it’s not specifically the Action. The issue is that all of the first-generation Scripty Actions “phone home” to determine if they have a valid network connection at the moment that publishing takes place. Unfortunately, the method used to determine this is highly susceptible to packet loss. If you are experiencing packet loss on your internet connection, most applications will just keep trying again, like g*d and Bob Metcalfe intended, until they get a signal. The Actions send one ping only, and if they don’t get a reply, wait a really long time to do anything else. It’s this long wait that causes the problem. Once the behavior has been triggered, the Action gets marked as broken by Freeway, and until you clear that dark mark (by clicking once on the NewsCycle element on your page and pressing the button in the Actions palette to clear it) the Action won’t even run any more.
I have had this issue myself, and the worst part about it is that it is intermittent and unpredictable. You may hit the bug on one publish cycle, then clear it and publish normally two more times.
I am looking forward to a moment when I can spend some quality time with the remaining Scripty Actions, and port them to my new coding style, which assumes constant connectivity and doesn’t try to get fancy with pings.
Walter
On Feb 10, 2013, at 11:03 PM, Doty wrote:
I realized the subject of my email could be taken in a way I didn’t intend it. I’m assuming it’s user error and not a bug in the action. I’ve also wondered if the problem rests with my Internet connection since it’s timing out. That could also explain the sporadic nature of the problem.
I’ve not been able to reupload the site tonight without it timing out. But I did notice that the horizontal shift is much more pronounced on home page than the contact page. I would very much appreciate any help/advice. Thanks!
Thank you for the explaination. I thought I was going crazy! Can you explain the strange page widening effect I’m seeing also? The news data items are on the pasteboard and on the right. That is where I’m seeing the page widen unpredicably.
Also, can you recommend a replacement action with a similar effect but one that is more stable? This is a huge website and it’s not all connected to one master page. So to clear the errors is not small (or quick) task.
