[/] 500 Server Error and similar error pages

Trying to do certain things on the site results in a plain 500: Server Error page with no menu or anything:

1.) Blank searches (click into the search box and only type spaces or don't type anything before pressing enter)

2.) Clicking certain outdated links in the forum, eg.
- [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/artist/andy-pietroluongo (artist was renamed - maybe this could redirect to search)
- [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/album/sugarland/music (album was renamed - maybe this could redirect to bandtoband.com/band/sugarland and then if the band doesn't exist, it could redirect to a search for "sugarland")


Ideally the menu/template of the site would still be there if possible so people can keep clicking around more easily. Like it is for these links:
[bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/band/sugarland/music (though this could also redirect to bandtoband.com/band/sugarland)
[bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/forums/wiki-world/non-existent-thread-50000 (this one should probably say "Thread not found" or something like that)


Then there's old thread links such as [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=460 which give a plain "No input file specified" page. Do you have a mapping of old thread IDs to new that you could use to rescue these links and make them work with a redirect?

I had the idea that blank searches could take people to The BandToBand Band's page as a bit of an Easter egg, but if I'm the only one silly enough to try searching an empty string then maybe it's a waste of effort. :D

I really should make a customized error page for 500 error responses. I have a few in place already: 400, 404. What I really need to do is build an admin page for all admin functions, easter eggs, etc. Let me try doing that first then looking at custom pages deeper.


Kevin

I've put up a basic admin page for users with permission to see it. It only has 3 options so far but it's a place I can continually add to over time. You can navigate there via the user dropdown menu on the top right of pages.


Kevin

Added an album Id lookup to admin page.

The error page I see most often is "419 error - page expired," since I have a habit of leaving b2b open for a while and then trying to use the search box. Any way to avoid that?

I get that expired page as well, let me see what I can do about that and the 500.

I've just loaded an admin page for the 29 live albums missing cover images. That should be available for everyone now too.


Kevin

The 419 is the session timeout and happens when the browser window is left open and idle for too long. I'm going to extend the session lifetime in the site's configuration. When you do normally hit the timeout (it should usually be a form submission I think)? I get it from doing a search after leaving the page open and idle for a while.


Kevin

Yeah, it's most often when I do a search after leaving b2b open for a while. But I think it happens with other actions on an idle page too? [Edit: probably just the search actually.]

As part of standard security measures, forms time out after a certain period of time. This is because if you're editing a form it means you're probably logged in to a website and if a user leaves a form open and walks away from their machine, someone else can step up and edit that form to some degree. Here, it's not that big of a deal because I have user logins set to never expire anyway so accessing someone's form fields isn't that big a security hole. Nonetheless these security features are different parts of the whole. I have now extended the logout period for forms from 2 hours to 3 days. That should allow pages to be left open without a short expiry but still not leave that timeout check wide open.

I should still do a custom 419 page anyway. So much to work on...


Kevin

Sometimes I click a legacy link in an old forum post, eg. something like:
[www.bandtoband.com] http://www.bandtoband.com/wiki/edit/made-up-band/fake-album

Then I do a search from that page and it results in a 419: Page Expired error straight away, even if done within mere seconds.

I'm getting a lot of 500 server errors clicking on queued albums from live band/artist pages. For instance:

[bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/band/sonny-and-cher
queued: [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/queue/band/5958

[bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/artist/salvatore-bono
queued: [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/queue/artist/19253

[bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/artist/cher
queued: [bandtoband.com] https://bandtoband.com/queue/artist/19235

The links provided are now all fixed. Mark was having the same issue and I put a fix in over the weekend.

The problem was with albums that were marked as compilations / soundtracks (even if only queued) but those comps had not yet been created on the back-end. I hadn't accounted for that and have put a pass-thru in for now until I can get a compilation create/edit page in place on the backend.


Kevin

I'm trying to circle around to these original issues. All very good observations, and I'll do my best to do what I can.

1) Fixed. You cannot search on a blank search bar any more.

2) In progress.


Kevin

1.) is not entirely fixed because you missed trying the "only type spaces" bit (I mean press your space bar). Also gives the same issue if you paste a tab character in the box, although it's rather far fetched that anyone would do that, haha.

I've got to hand it to you for finding the exceptions to my fixes. It's rather quite useful to have someone pushing at the edges of the features to see where they break as, by definition, I haven't thought of them.

1) Anyway, the search bar now trims blank space before checking that a search query has been entered. Now " " will not result in a search form submission. Feel free to try and trick the system more to see where it might break down.

2a) I've implemented a series of redirects if a URL is clicked upon and no longer valid. I've set it up the way you've suggested where Sugarland album URL now goes to the band page, and if a band or artist is not found, it falls back to a search on those strings. Try clicking on the links you originally provided and see if it's functioning the way you've suggested.

2b) The forums are a difficult one. I do have the old forums archived but don't have a translation table from the old posts to the new ones (I should have thought of that). What I can do is:

- have a more user friendly "Thread Not Found" page in the case of and old link
- what I'd really like to do is set up a forums specific search function where it will look up posts containing the search string so if you're looking for an old one, or any one for that matter, you can search for text that appeared in it

I think the search functionality would be a better use of time as it would be a solution to finding old posts as well as new ones going forward. Would that work for you guys?


Kevin