Archive for Issue

System upgrade… and a Userthemes error

Hello onMason users!

It’s been a while, I know, but I come with good news! The onMason site has been upgraded to a newer version of WordPress-MU. Things should be running faster and more smoothly now.

Unfortunately, with every upgrade, there’s the chance of an unexpected error coming from the system. Please keep an eye out for us and report any errors you encounter via the comments on this post or by filing a support ticket.

We’ve only encountered one error thus far: Userthemes, which allows users who have requested the ability to edit their themes to do so, seems to have reacted oddly with the latest upgrade. It may list an excessive number of themes copied to your account and it may not give you access to the edit page in UserThemes. We are aware of this difficulty and working quickly to resolve it.

Thanks for your patience and understanding,

-Aram Zucker-Scharff

Posted by at October 4th, 2010 & Filed under Issue, Repairs, Solutions, Testing | Tags: , ,     No Comments »


On Downtime and a New Podcasting Plugin

Hello all,

First of all, I’d like to apologize for the recent downtime. The issue was not with onMason but with an impossible-to-anticipate server hardware fault.

The problem was within the server’s RAID, which is a set of redundant hard drives designed to automatically duplicate file systems and spread out data to minimize loss. That set of HDDs is governed by their own set of hardware and software and I believe it was the governing mechanisms which were experiencing issues. Because the method by which the HDDs are accessed has been malfunctioning, there was a problem keeping them active or reaching them in order to transfer the data. However, the server host transfered onMason to an entirely new set of hardware.

The server seems to be working fine now. However, due to frequent problems with the current host and communications issues, the Office of Student Media is now in the process of seeking out a new server host.

Now, on to the good news! podPress, the best podcasting plugin out there, has finally upgraded to work with the latest version of WordPress. We are very very happy to install this as an option to activate as a plugin. If you are already using the Blubrry plugin, we’d recommend you carefully consider what would happen when you switch and make sure that all the info is properly ported over. If you are not using any of the plugins but are intrested in making a podcast, podPress makes it easy, so activate it in your plugin page today!

-Aram
onMason Admin

Posted by at February 22nd, 2010 & Filed under Activated, Functionality, Issue, Repairs | Tags: , , ,     No Comments »


onMason Downtime Update

Hello onMason users,

As you are aware, the onMason system has been experiencing some unexpected downtime over the last few days. We’ve been able to track the problem down to issues with our server’s firewall, which have proved temporarily resolvable.

The team at the Office of Student Media has been working hard to find the cause of the problem, however, we have not isolated the exact issue that has been causing the repeated periods of downtime.

Due to continuing problems with our server firewall, there may be further downtime until the system regains full stability.

In order to remain updated on the situation, we advise you to check our Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/onmason. We are also working with DoIT and Learning Support Services to have outage alerts visible on other Mason sites as well as help provide you with a point of contact for any questions you might have. You should e-mail the onMason team with any questions at gmustudentmedia@gmail.com.

Remember the onMason platform is maintained by The Office of Student Media at GMU. ITU does not support the platform and will not be able to answer most questions you have. If you have any issues with the system while it is running, please file a support ticket. If you need to contact someone while the system is down use the e-mail above.

We will keep you notified as we resolve the issue.

– The onMason Team

Posted by at November 5th, 2009 & Filed under Issue, Repairs | Tags:     No Comments »


ALERT: WordPress 2.8 Upgrade

The onMason platform has been upgraded to WPMU2.8+. At this time we are seeing some plugin issues which are undergoing repair. We anticipate full functionality returning to the site by the end of the week.

If you experience any problems, it appears our Support plugin is currently malfunctioning. Please leave a comment on this post and we will respond to you as soon as we can.

EDIT: The Support plugin is now working. Please direct any questions or bug reports to that area in your backend.

Posted by at September 30th, 2009 & Filed under Activated, Functionality, Issue, plugins, Repairs, Testing | Tags: , , ,     1 Comment »


Themes Repaired, Duplicates Deleted

As you may have noticed there were a number of duplicate themes in our theme directory, as well as templates that were not working or previewing correctly. Some of these duplicate themes were being maintained for testing purposes, while others were there in error.

However, theme issues should now be resolved. There should no longer be any visible theme errors or duplicate themes. If you see any, please report the errors via the support tab in your backend.

Posted by at August 18th, 2009 & Filed under Issue, Repairs | Tags:     No Comments »


Uploads Now Working

All media uploads should once again be working as normal.

Posted by at August 11th, 2009 & Filed under Functionality, Issue, Repairs | Tags: , , ,     No Comments »


Media Uploads Not Working, How to Upload Anyway

Due to onMason’s switch to a new server, our file upload system is not working. If you are intrested in posting a video or audio file, you can upload them to Drop.io and use the embed functionality to place code in your post that will display your media.

Here’s how to get your media online during our temporary outage for the media library:
–Go to the URL
–Click Add Files
–Click Create a Drop
–Allow the file to upload
–Roll over the area with the file name on the site.
–Click the arrow.
–Select the embed option
–Copy the code
–Paste the code into your post (but make sure the post is in HTML mode).

Posted by at July 16th, 2009 & Filed under Issue, Solutions | Tags:     No Comments »