Old attachments are mixed up

[comment]

This is the second time I have noticed a weird thing with attachments in old posts transferred over from the previous software:

Please go to:

http://attic.fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/364244/

and download the attachment.

Now go to the new version of the same post, and download the same(?) attachment:

http://fmforums.com/forum/topic/73552-isolating-records-witin-portals/page__p__348086#entry348086

The downloaded zip files are named the same - but the newer one contains a completely different file!!!

[comment]

Here's another one:

Original:

http://attic.fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/309136/

Transferred:

http://fmforums.com/forum/topic/63425-auto-fill-one-field-with-text-from-two-fields/page__p__300150#entry300150

This one really makes me unhappy, because I (and others) have been pointing to this file very often - and it looks like more than 300 people have been misled. To make it even worse, the wrong file is also an invoicing solution, so the mistake is not obvious.

[Ocean West]

I have a support ticket in now - they are reviewing the issue.

[Ocean West]

Comment - I have made the corrections to these files however the process not automatic, so if you come across any other files that link point to the wrong download please let me know so I can process the fix.

Thanks

Stephen

[krancmm]

This is my first post, although I’ve certainly lurked and used attachments the last few months when I switched from Access to Filemaker (maybe temporarily).

After reading this thread, I am making the assumptions that:

1. Every attached file from a post earlier than the change of the forum software is suspect UNLESS

2. The original poster has gone through potentially hundreds of their downloads to compare accuracy which then needs to be either reported individually for correction or reloaded to a more recent post rather than pointing to it.

My personal conclusions are:

1. Users will lose credibility in the forum; any older post containing an attachment (whether by searching through a topic or being pointed to it) that is incorrect will confuse those of us learning FM.

2. The developers are rather cavalier about placing a ridiculous burden on experts who are generously and freely offering their assistance to answer thousands of questions.

While I understand the difficulties in switching software, one attachment is worth a thousand-word explanation and needs to be absolutely trustworthy for users to learn tips and techniques not found in books or on-line learning.

Methinks someone at the developer end should take responsibility to correct developer errors. Randomly fixing the errors is even worse than not fixing any - intermittent reinforcement is crazy-making. At the least you should issue a big, bold warning in the "important announcements" at the top of the forum that attachments from older posts may be incorrect. Or, perhaps users can automatically be repointed to the "attic" for older posts until this issue is resolved.

Thank you for reading a new user's perspective.

[comment]

Who exactly are "the developers"?

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P.S. Please don't format your posts in a smaller font - the default font is already small enough...

[Ocean West]

krancmm,

Welcome to the forums, I always appreciate feedback.

This site has been running for over 12 years, and in that time we have transitioned 4 different forum engines, all independently developed.

The transition process did not pass with out copious amounts of caffeine and many over night coding sessions getting the site converted.

In addition to conversion we have also upgraded the site many times with newer versions of each engine.

In this instance you are referring to mis-matched attachments - this was discovered a few months after we switched engines, but we were

too far along in to it to scrap it and start over - as we would have lost new posts / members and valuable content.

It was determined that a server side permission error had occurred during the migration thus not fully matching the files.

I am actively working with the support staff for our site to resolve these types of issues as they appear, we are looking in to a one time

fix to make sure that the mis-matched attachments issue can be resolved - in the interim we have chosen to test the script on an as-needed

basis - when someone reports a mis-matched file.

I understand what your saying - If the attachment was uploaded this year (2011) then there should be no issues - its only regarding older posts

before our transition.

You are welcome to search the mothball site for that same thread at http://attic.fmforums.com and compare the file attachments - or when you

are reading a thread and are curious about the author's original file just reply to the post, they will be notified and may respond and or perhaps have a more up to date version of the file.

Please keep in mind that FMForums is supported by much of my free time and by, voluntary donations and advertising revenue of our sponsors and affiliates. This generosity affords us the ability to pay our license fees, hosting costs, and participate at Devcon or PauseOnError, and the occasional Starbucks Fix.

I sincerely appreciate your perspective and value your feedback.

Stephen