Story Site Issues, Etc.

If you search the web on this subject there are a numerous complaints about this issue relating to numerous different websites. It appears that the default "encoding" may have been changed.

For older web pages viewed under Microsoft the suggested quick fix is to Right-Click; select "Encoding"; then select "Western European (Windows)". Sorry but I don't know the equivalent Unix/Linux/Mac or anying :(

Apparently if the webpage <META ....> contains the proper "encoding" (e.g. UTF-8) this eliminates the problem.

Hoping this helps at least some

Dear Delia:
Thank you for your response. A number of my stories were submitted in .rtf format originally and there was no problem with any of my stories until very recently. I can only assume that something changed on the site in the intervening time.
Sincerely,
Shabbadew2002

Please Ma'am, this isn't the fault of this website. Here is a typical post from elsewhere which highlights what the problem actually is:

<quote>

Content-Type
Source: HTTP/1.0 (RFC1945)
The HTTP content type may be extended to give the character set. As an HTTP/1.0 header, this unfortunately breaks older browsers. As a META tag, it causes Netscape Navigator to load the appropriate charset before displaying the page. E.g.

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-2022-JP">

It is now recommended to always use this tag, even with the previously-default charset ISO-8859-1. Failure to do so may cause display problems where, for instance, the document uses UTF-8 punctuation characters but is displayed in ISO or ASCII charsets

</quote>

Which implies that if the "previously-default charset" is being used, older systems will probably display that webpage correctly whereas newer systems which use the new default (which I think may be UTF-8) will display incorrectly.

Even if you post your stories elsewhere they will may the same problem until the proper <META ...> tag is added to the webpage displaying the story.

Please please don't blame the volunteers here for something that isn't their fault!

All the best
VV

VeniVidi:
Not looking to assign blame; just looking to rectify problem. It's not clear from your post what I could do to correct problem. Please advise. Thanks for taking the time to post!
Shabbadew2002

Hi great writer

I'm pretty sure that there is nothing you can do yourself, as the problem is within the "hidden" part of the webpage which is wrapped around your stories (in fact each part of each story).

This means that there is a mammoth task of adding the correct "hidden" instructions to each and every page containing a story (technically only those containing any special characters, but I doubt there's an easy way of identifying those). That's nearly 10,000 stories total having up to 100 pages/sections/chapters each (e.g. Karen and Michelle).

So its a question of waiting for Torq to magic up a genius solution, for example. I can imagine numerous possible problems such as interfering with the date/times of each story post when changing the pages; so would expect it to take some time simply to test precisely what needs doing.

The only thing I can think of is humbly begging for patience from any people frustrated by the mess that this change has caused. Its pro'lly down to those in the w3 consortium, so let's send all of them nasty messages to vent our feelings!!!!

All the best
VV

VeniVidi:

Thank you for your explanation as to why this is occurring. If you're correct, and there's nothing I can do myself, it would nullify the site administrator's suggestion to re-submit stories in .rtf format as a solution. For that, I'm grateful.
Again, thanks & cheers!
Shabbadew2002

Its a pleasure to be able to help.

I can also give you an update on what's going on (by "peeking" at the "hidden" code on the webpages. I think Sir Torq has been busy trying to sort this out but is beating his head against a brick wall (and for a Master that's not funny).

If you list all the stories by size, the largest on the list is Karen and Michelle... - and there is a "?" character after Michelle. At the top in the hidden code is:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"></meta>

Now this is more-or less what was recommended in that article. BUT the question mark is still there on the webpage - and if you look at the "Encoding" per my browser (Internet Explorer 9) it still shows Unicode (UTF-8)??

If I create a simple webpage using the same "hidden" code at the beginning:
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>
<body>
TEST
</body>
</html>

This displays correctly as Encoding Western European (ISO) [which is close enough to the Windows encoding to make little difference]. So WTF is happening - it's okay in this test page but not in "real"?

A bdsmlibrary webpage typically has hundreds of lines of code - poor Sir Torq will pro'lly have to go through each type in order to isolate where the "Encoding" is being changed to UTF-8 - and it's uncertain whether the problem isn't created outside the page even.

So I am crossing everything and hoping the Sir Torq is successful, wishing him as much luck as I can give in order that he sorts it out.

Hope this helps, or at least explains what is going on
VV

It's me again

At the expense of appearing an interfering busy-body (well, I am but please don't tell anyone); and because the site admins are obviously up to their eyeballs in work (just look at how long since the last stories were processed) I hope you don't mind that I investigated this a bit more.

Trolling for info on how this problem may occur, I find a typical description such as:
<quote>
Firefox say it regards the character encoding as being ISO-8859-1 1). That’s actually coming from an HTTP header - if you click on the “Headers” tab you see;
Content-Type: text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1

Meanwhile amongst the HTML meta tags (scroll down past the whitespace) though you find;
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
Now that’s not a train smash (yet) but it should raise the flag that something isn’t quite right. The meta tag will be ignored by browsers so content will be regarded as being encoded as ISO-8859-1, thanks to the HTTP header.
</quote>

Now this looks to be similar to the problem here - just that the "encoding switch" is upside-down (we view as utf-8 what its s'posed to be the other).

So it looks as if the fault lies not (necessarily) within the web pages themselves but the HTTP header - this is "invisible" even to standard sleuthing tools - it is provided when your PC first talks to the website, for example.

If the website is running an Apache server the http header encoding can be specified in a .htaccess file. Or if using PHP apparently there is a setting in the PHP ini which can override it. There's pro'lly loads more places - this is just a sample.

Once again I hope this isn't "treading on toes" and interfering - I'm only trying to be helpful.

All the best
VV

VeniVidi:

Hopefully, the info you've unearthed will help the overworked site administrators figure out a clever solution to the problem. Thanks again.

Shabbadew2002

I've written some Foot Fetish/Femdom stories that I would like to post here. Trouble is ...

Trouble is ... I'm a thicko who doesn't know how to use a computer.

On the story submission page, the instruction is to upload a story by file; document ...? lol.

I was wondering if it is possible to submit stories by email, instead?

Or whether I am going to have to come out of my cave, and learn a thing or two?

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'll email one of my stories ('Coffee, Tea, and Me') to you tomorrow.

Thanks again.

Hi
I posted, sent in ather a story called BETRAYAL on the the 26th. im not sure i did it right. I was just wondering how long it usually takes to be posted?
it hasnt even been a week yet, im just anxious lol
thank you for your time
Lisa

Hello,
I'm unable to load two stories by Angelgirl. The openings will load, but not the story content. They are: "Amanda's Letter from Daddy" and "Amanda's Secret Memories".

Is it my computer's problem or a bdsmlibrary problem?

I hope you will be able to help me get it fixed?

Thank you,
Captv8or

I tried e-mailing Angelgirl at the addy given on site, but it was returned as undeliverable:
<can-angel@canada.com>:
Mail server for "canada.com" unreachable for too long

Looks like, I'm SOL on that story...

TY Tora...

In my opinion this needs thorough investigation which will probably take a solid day if not several days to find out what is causing it. Everything is "suspect" from the configuration of the Server (it's own language, for example); the webserver engine and the configuration of that; the legacy plus advertiser's html code which must by agreement be added to each page (to pay for the site); any file corruption caused during the transfer from the old server ; etc. etc. And I may not even have mentioned where the cause of this problem is.

In order to investigate this properly it may even be necessary to bring the whole site offline. Alternatives are to spend lots of money duplicating the server and its setup. I have a feeling that money is not available.

In my opinion it is up to the people that pay for the site - the advertisers - to be pressured. I do not think that Torq however much of a genius he is has the power to solve this without that kind of intervention.

VV

Are reviews working? When I click the "review this" link on a story the page is blank.

Unable to access stories.

Getting 500 error

aye

its been this way for several days.....

-O

What happened to the site, that it was down to great parts for a year or more? Forums, reviews...?

Cant seem to add to my shelf or view my shelf without going to stories I know I added and clicking my name. Been so many good ones that are likely lost to me now. Guess I shoyt have bookmarked but I use a shared computer. Hasnt been much talk on this board for months but wondering if im the only
one.

I have the same shelf problem. No idea how to fix it but it's not just you

Is it just me but can anybody else get into theirs? Every time I try I get:Please Login First
Only users can create/edit their BDSMshelf


Seems you are not login.
Go to the forums to login!

then refresh/reload this page

Want to register? It's free!
Forgotten your password?

And I am logged in.

thank god. i would like to know why no one from tech support has answered my question.

Thank u for getting back with me on that. Now I know that its being worked on. Yall are doing a great job and still love the fact its free. I would love to update my story asap too.

Using Chrome. First, lately I've been getting warnings on chrome that there is malware on the site.

Second, when updating a story I get the error"You need at least provide the story title and upload the story file" when the story title has been added and story uploaded.

Third - I log into BDSM.Library forums, then try to rate a story and it says I'm not logged in.

Would love to see BDSM library include graphical novels/stories. DevientArt allows it but their moderators are quick to delete what they find offensive. Really no place online that offers a place to host erotic graphical stories.

When picking updating existing story and filling out the required fields, I get the error message:

"You need at least provide the story title and upload the story file, Hit back button to go back!"

Help!

Cannot update story
When picking updating existing story and filling out the required fields, I get the error message:

"You need at least provide the story title and upload the story file, Hit back button to go back!"

Help!

Is there any resolution to being able to the rating stories feature?

I've now been able to update my story. Well, I haven't been getting the error msg now but I haven't seen it updated yet.

Is there going to be any update to the story site? It's been over a month. I'm usually not so impatient but I've submitted story updates in the past, wait a month and then the update comes and my story is not there. Seems like we've been going an awful long time for story updates.