Why were there so many deleted threads today?

August 5, 2006 6:51 PM

What the heck happened to the front page today? I have the Mefi Deleted Posts GM script, and when I visited the home page today there's about 18 deleted threads in a two and a half hour period, including about 13 in a row. They all go to truly deleted (as opposed to merely masked, which is what I like about this GM script) threads. What the heck where these?
posted by hincandenza to MetaFilter-Related at 6:51 PM (19 comments total)

Sorry, it's just I'm very curious- were these all related to that Joe Francis thing? It seems odd to have so many threads deleted in such a short period of time, and no apparent corresponding MeTa thread(s) about them.
posted by hincandenza at 6:52 PM on August 5, 2006

They're not deleted threads. For one reason or another, people must have started posts or reposted things that were ignored. I didn't delete anything so I'd say just because there's a skip in link_id numbers doesn't necessarily mean there was something deleted.

The greasemonkey script assumes too much. It should check the page and filter out the ones that show no such thread at that ID.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:58 PM on August 5, 2006

Greasemonkey ALWAYS assumes too much. And expects too much also.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:00 PM on August 5, 2006

Conclusion: Never grease a monkey.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:00 PM on August 5, 2006

Heh- thanks. Apparently there were 18 wishy-washy non-posters in a two and a half hour period. :) I assume the script works by assuming there will always be a thread for number #N, and auto-inserting a "deleted thread" link for any missing numbers. But if you start posting in a way that allocates an ID from the DB, and then it gets rejected/discarded...

gotcha. Sorry for the churn, that'll teach me to grease my monkey (tm: blue_beetle).
posted by hincandenza at 7:04 PM on August 5, 2006

I checked the db and the missing records have no data associated with them, so there's likely some programming bug on my end that even allows people to start transactions that don't complete or something (or they're hitting the post button over and over and going back to hit it again).

Whatever it is, it doesn't really affect the site's functionality so to me it's pretty much a non-issue. A third-party hack is malfunctioning.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:06 PM on August 5, 2006

So when everybody was slapping each other on the ass for the 50000 post mark, it was really more like the 36938 post mark?
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 7:11 PM on August 5, 2006

Greasemonkey ALWAYS assumes too much. And expects too much also.

Dude, I know she's my ex and all, but that's kind of a nasty nickname, don't you think?
posted by Zozo at 7:24 PM on August 5, 2006

They're not deleted threads. For one reason or another, people must have started posts or reposted things that were ignored.

So if someone 'previews' a thread, and decides not to post, it that takes up a thread number? I assume that's what you mean.
posted by delmoi at 7:43 PM on August 5, 2006

No, it wouldn't take an ID for just previewing. I assume they're reposts when something seems to time out. I know the first time I noticed it a short while ago, it was when someone hit post three or four times.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:49 PM on August 5, 2006

mathowie writes "there's likely some programming bug on my end that even allows people to start transactions that don't complete or something"

Or, for some database platforms, the db server was restarted, causing a jump in the autoincrement id.
posted by orthogonality at 9:14 PM on August 5, 2006

Is it nerdy that I like reading threads on the "quirky inner workings of Metafilter's code" even when I don't really know how that code is written? It's like reading a sci-fi book that's intentionally vague about the world it is set in but still has tantalizing bits as to how it functions.
posted by Mister Cheese at 9:25 PM on August 5, 2006

ZoZo: If the grease fits on the monkey....
posted by blue_beetle at 9:28 PM on August 5, 2006

So, can I get in line to have my ass slapped again, or what?
posted by yhbc at 9:29 PM on August 5, 2006

Can someone post a link to that particular greasey monkey? (script that is)
posted by strawberryviagra at 10:06 PM on August 5, 2006

strawberryviagra: check userscripts.org, for all your greasemonkey needs. Here is the script in question, made by plutor..
posted by bob sarabia at 11:01 PM on August 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

It should check the page and filter out the ones that show no such thread at that ID.

I've considered this, Matt, especially since it would allow the script to display the actual content of the deleted threads on the front page, too. But I decided the added traffic on your end (plus the challenge of caching it with Greasemonkey's limited data storage features) weren't worth it.
posted by Plutor at 4:20 AM on August 6, 2006

Thanks Bob (and Plutor, of course) - I'm down with the deleteds.
posted by strawberryviagra at 6:17 AM on August 6, 2006

mathowie:

there's likely some [...] bug on my end that even allows people to start transactions that don't complete or something [...]

TMI, dude. TMI.
posted by waxbanks at 6:41 AM on August 6, 2006