[Brock Nanson]

Well…. this was not a one-off problem.  The upgrade to 3.6 has caused the same issue.  The strange thing is, it’s only happening on the site running CBOX.  My other sites (one using BuddyPress, the other simple WordPress) upgraded just fine, as they have always done.  It makes me wonder if there is something else going on to cause it.  Given that the solution last time was to find the wp_options table and change the db version value to 22442 from 22441, I’m assuming I’ll be toggling to a new number.  Perhaps 22443 but I have no way of knowing… although I suppose the obvious thing would be to find the value on one of the working sites.

Is it possible something in CBOX is blocking the change in the database?  It’s a bit of a pain to manually poke around in the database – I’m not overly competent in that area!!

[Brock Nanson]

In case it helps someone else, the solution is here:

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/multi-site-admin-area-very-slow-after-352-upgrade?replies=3#post-4377128

It appears to be a WordPress issue with the database not updating the version number properly.  I seem to be running smoothly again… 🙂

[Brock Nanson]

I’m now thinking the issue is in the database somewhere.  Given that the delay is much like a DNS issue, I’m wondering if a problem in the database could cause similar timeout delays.  And if I’m right, you’d be right too – a WordPress problem!  And even if I’m wrong, you’re probably still right… 😉 I’m thinking it’s a WordPress issue brought about by a glitch in the upgrade routine.

I did try deactivating CBOX and updating the network… same error.

Fairly small network.  Besides the home site, I have a total of 5 additional sites underneath.  No problems seen in the logs, but it’s possible I’ll have to work out how to make them more verbose before they’ll give me a proper clue.

Thanks!

[Brock Nanson]

I went in and re-did the WP update.  Then did the ‘update network’.  The error reappeared and is pasted in below, with some domain modifications to protect the innocent…
http://blog.abcconsultants.ca/sitew

Warning! Problem updating http://blog.abcconsultants.ca/sitew. Your server may not be able to connect to sites running on it. Error message: couldn’t connect to host
Which is weird, because the sites are all physically on the same drive on the same multi-site install.  Why this one is a problem I don’t know! I think it was the last site I created, but don’t think that should matter.
Is this likely to be a CBox issue, or purely WP?  If WP, I should move my thread over there!
Any comments are appreciated.

[Brock Nanson]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your response.  It sounds like our default settings are about the same.  The left edge appears to be ‘Recent Network-Wide Posts’ and the right edge is ‘Members’.  The center area was ‘Recent Comments’ and for whatever reason, didn’t show anything.  Perhaps it isn’t a ‘network-wide’ enabled widget?  Bottom line, what I was hoping to do was simply give that centre space to the left side Recent Posts widget so that the text isn’t cramped into a third of the page… it would have two thirds instead.  I wasn’t thinking about modifying the ‘comments’ widget itself.

So I think the question is whether there is an easy tweak to make that part of the page into two columns rather than three (to contain two widgets rather than three).

Although if I could get network-wide comments to show up… maybe the question would be moot.  I’ll dig into that option too…

[Brock Nanson]

I’ve been using WangGuard without any apparent conflicts with the other two packages, but on a non – CBOX site (just buddy press). Give it a try! 🙂

[Brock Nanson]

Somewhere I thought there was a setting to disallow comments unless the moderator had approved at least one…?  Not a fully automated solution, but might be enough of a balance between automation and moderator effort.

[Brock Nanson]

I’ve got Better-WP-Security working side by side with WordFence on a BuddyPress (but non-CBox) site without any apparent issues. I’d say that WordFence functions more like a firewall, while Better-WP-Security is more directed to locking down vulnerabilities on your site (admin accounts etc.).  Both have value and if you can get them going without breaking anything else, I don’t see a downside!

[Brock Nanson]

Maybe someone else will respond with the holy grail of splogger/spammer prevention, but I’ve found that it’s a very fine balance between restricting admission and opening the doors wide for everyone.  I do consider it a problem… at the very least it looks unprofessional to have phony names on the members list.

For the most part, a splogger username and address will look odd.  Username and actual name may not match to the point of looking suspicious.  I delete accounts at will if they look suspicious.  I believe that legitimate users will sign up with legitimate-looking usernames and email addresses, so if I lose a few along the way… they can contact me directly to be reinstated.  Might even make sense to have some comments to this effect on the site somewhere, so that new sign-ups know that you take the problem seriously.

I also set the default rights down very low, to prevent initial posting or commenting without my review.  My group is small enough that I can vet new registrants fairly quickly and up the privileges before they even realize they’re at a disadvantage!

I’ve used the WangGuard plug-in for a while now.  It seems to prevent many unwanted accounts being created, but not all.

I intend to add a skill-testing question that legitimate users would easily answer, but haven’t gone that far yet.  An example for a photographic site might be “Who was the better photographer, Ansel Adams or Albert Einstein?”  The typical bot will go right on by and foreign sploggers who likely aren’t photographers are likely to guess incorrectly, if they even bother to try.  I’ve also heard of people including a question that is not displayed on the page, but visible in the code… bots answer, people don’t see it and therefore can’t…  the sign-ups that include the answer are rejected.

 

[Brock Nanson]

This looks like a good way to set up the defaults for a typical new user and I’ve now installed it before I forget it exists!

The issue I was having, however, was that a user of a subsite only (and NOT a user of the root site) was not able to log in cleanly to their subsite.  It seemed like the login function was directing the user to the root site, but without credentials, they couldn’t get in and were given no options to go elsewhere (like their actual subsite!).  Maybe there’s a setting for this somewhere I missed, but finding nothing,  I’ve implemented a workaround by using “Peter’s Login Redirect” plugin… setting the appropriate subsite to the users having the issue lets them sign in as they should but end up at their content and not another login page.

[Brock Nanson]

Ah!  After trying several fixes that didn’t mesh with the versions of WP and plug-ins I’ m using, I finally found a solution that works:

http://designhash.com/how-fix-buddypress-avatar-multisite/

Flow through is working for me now.

[Brock Nanson]

Does anyone else have this problem?  Any guesses whether this is CBox-related, or a MultiSite issue?

[Brock Nanson]

Good link.  I’ve been using WangGuard for some time now and it has been fairly effective.  Lately I want to say more have been getting through… but that is only my perception based on nothing tangible!  The name is unfortunate as the article mentions, but that always gives me a chuckle when I go in to do maintenance…! 😉

I think I’ll search down the BuddyPress Honeypot and give it a try.  The methodology sounds good with the hidden registration fields, however I’m starting to think that some sploggers are actually real people who are willing to fill out the forms manually, or maybe with help from a bot of some sort.  The WangGuard results lately make me suspicious this could be the case.  The number of hits from countries with very cheap labour increases my suspicion.

[Brock Nanson]

Do you mean you set your php.ini file to allow 64 MB?  It looks like you’re essentially at the 64 MB limit… perhaps increase it more and see if the error occurs again, with a memory size close to the new allocation?

[Brock Nanson]

The method of deactivating the CBox plug-in appears to have worked.  I didn’t even have to go looking for updates – the list was fully refreshed when the plug-in deactivated.  Still, this would seem to be a kludge to get around some root problem!

BP 1.7 installed now.  I’ve deactivated the BP Template Pack plug-in and we’ll see if everything works as advertised!

Thanks for the hint @MySchoolStuff !

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