Weblog Awards Support Thread (Wizbang)

Much as I despise having to conduct Weblog Award business here, the commenting system at The Weblog Awards site is crushing the server. The quick and easy fix was to turn off comments. It's working great, but occasionally people do need a spot to ask a question.

This post will serve as that spot...

Update (Dec. 5, 10:00AM): Not every poll is active yet. There is a big linked VOTE! at the top of posts that have polls active. Click it...

Some of the international and ecosytem categories are still having polls added, but updating has been slowed by server issues. The site will be down for a few minutes to get additional RAM which should help all around.

In some cases the polls are delayed in showing the choices for voting. Again this is a database memory issue which should be resolved with more server RAM.

Imagine getting hit with links from every top blog at the same time... It taxes the box a bit...

Update (Dec. 5, 3:30PM): Good news, bad news. Good news is memory was upgraded. Did I mention this is an excellent time to hit the donate button? Anyway, bad news is that I got this from the NOC, "There may or may not be complications in regards to the RAM upgrade. Engineers are looking into it now." I guess I may or may not be pissed...

In the meantime I'll share a secret I just learned with you. Earlier I mentioned that when loads are maxed out sometimes the poll screen takes a while to display the finalists. Even when the site is dog slow it eventually will show the list... It turns out that if you do get a poll screen with nothing but a Vote button, and you don't wait for the text to appear, it will stay that way (for that particular poll) until you close your browser session. I'm assuming it has something to do with client caching of Flash.

Anyway, if you can vote (or view totals once you've voted) in most or all of the polls, but there's one that you just can't see, closing your browser then reloading the poll should fix the problem.

All of that assumes you can reach the page... That's what the NOC is working on...

Update (Dec. 5, 4:30PM): When it rains it pours... Received this from the NOC - "We are replacing all hardware on the server. There appeared to be problems with multiple parts." Hopefully that won't take too long...

Update (Dec. 7, 1:30AM): I'm aware of the comments about a few people being locked out of polls. Long story short, it's a side effect of the server crash. Good news: It will resolve itself naturally. Better news: Were working on a quicker fix. I've got no idea which will occur first, but it's a momentary blip.

Comments (110)

Hi, I just wanted to say th... (Below threshold)

1. Posted by Jane | December 4, 2005 9:50 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Jane:

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for being selected a finalist. I'm really very honored, especially since Im blogging about Yemen for almost a year. Its not quite your normal subject matter, but a lot of people in Yemen like it. And I'm trying very hard to bring a spotlight onto the lack of civil rights there, and to be included (when this is what I'm doing) is really a boost for me, who gets a lot of moral support from my fellow bloggers. Also it *will* annoy the Yemeni government. So Thanks.

Posted on December 4, 2005 21:50

theYNC.com should have been... (Below threshold)

2. Posted by Mike | December 4, 2005 9:59 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)

Mike:

theYNC.com should have been recognized for best humor blog and hands down best video blog.

With over 200,000 visitors monthly they are a powerhouse. Great site Please don't overlook them next year.

Posted on December 4, 2005 21:59

There was no section for pe... (Below threshold)

3. Posted by Robert | December 4, 2005 10:41 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Robert:

There was no section for pet blogging? Or did I miss it?

Posted on December 4, 2005 22:41

Didnt check my mail so dont... (Below threshold)

4. Posted by Boomboom | December 5, 2005 12:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Boomboom:

Didnt check my mail so dont know but is it already December 5th in the US and voting started? BEcause I can only see the finalists list LOL :D Flash is installed so it should work

Posted on December 5, 2005 00:28

Hey there. Are you aware th... (Below threshold)

5. Posted by Rosemary | December 5, 2005 2:18 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Rosemary:

Hey there. Are you aware there is no way to vote for the best conservative blog? Hmm...I wonder...lol. Please check this out for me. Thanks.

Posted on December 5, 2005 02:18

Polls will be rolling out o... (Below threshold)

6. Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2005 2:30 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Kevin:

Polls will be rolling out over the next 12 hours. I've got to sleep sometime...

Posted on December 5, 2005 02:30

Why don't you change the na... (Below threshold)

7. Posted by Duncan | December 5, 2005 2:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Duncan:

Why don't you change the name of the awards to the Political Blog Awards, after all this is what they really are.

Posted on December 5, 2005 02:37

Thank you, Kevin. I'll be b... (Below threshold)

8. Posted by Rosemary | December 5, 2005 5:04 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Thank you, Kevin. I'll be back then to continue. Good night. :)

Posted on December 5, 2005 05:04

Sleep? Come on Kevin you sl... (Below threshold)

9. Posted by Alexandra | December 5, 2005 6:19 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Alexandra:

Sleep? Come on Kevin you slept yesterday! LOL!

Anyway, just popped in to say thank you for the honor, and the fab logo. All the best, and ... get some sleep will you?

Posted on December 5, 2005 06:19

There was a comment left on... (Below threshold)

10. Posted by Theresa | December 5, 2005 6:52 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Theresa:

There was a comment left on the weblog awards site regarding the best blogger finalists. That comment is gone, and I was curious to see the answer. That commenter had listed maybe 5 or 6 blogs that were finalists, but had not been nominated, and wanted to know if there were also private nominations. I checked one of those blogs, and indeed it was not on the nominations page.

Posted on December 5, 2005 06:52

I wanted to vote in the bes... (Below threshold)

11. Posted by gunter | December 5, 2005 6:54 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

gunter:

I wanted to vote in the best latino, caribbean, southamerican blog section but the voter link does not appear anywhere.

where is it?

I do have flash!

Posted on December 5, 2005 06:54

I am a finalist in the Best... (Below threshold)

12. Posted by Sarpy Sam | December 5, 2005 7:33 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Sarpy Sam:

I am a finalist in the Best of the Top 6751 - 8750 Blogs and the name of my blog is long enough you can't see the vote totals for it. Is there an alternate way to see the vote totals or some other way of seeing the vote totals? Thanks.

Posted on December 5, 2005 07:33

One problem is that on the ... (Below threshold)

13. Posted by Edison | December 5, 2005 7:38 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Edison:

One problem is that on the vote pages, certain blog names that are too long end up running over and you can't see the totals. I noticed this on Best New Blog and it exists on a few other categories, too.

Posted on December 5, 2005 07:38

Some of the categories don'... (Below threshold)

14. Posted by AFSister | December 5, 2005 9:24 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

AFSister:

Some of the categories don't have a "VOTE" button... maybe the link is messed up???

Posted on December 5, 2005 09:24

I've experienced the same p... (Below threshold)

15. Posted by aelfheld | December 5, 2005 9:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

aelfheld:

I've experienced the same problem as AFSister - I've been able to vote in one or two categories, but not in others.

Posted on December 5, 2005 09:37

All the polls are not yet a... (Below threshold)

16. Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2005 9:40 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

All the polls are not yet active. It's a very manual process, which will get done as soon as possible.

Thanks for the heads up on the display names. I will fix those after all the polls are open.

Posted on December 5, 2005 09:40

I was trying to vote for Wi... (Below threshold)

17. Posted by Zsa Zsa | December 5, 2005 10:06 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Zsa Zsa:

I was trying to vote for Willisms.com BUT I can't see a voting box to vote. Can you help me? Thanks!

Posted on December 5, 2005 10:06

There appears to be a probl... (Below threshold)

18. Posted by Dave Schuler | December 5, 2005 10:06 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Dave Schuler:

There appears to be a problem in voting from Firefox. The names in the category don't appear in the (Flash) box. This isn't a problem from IE.

Perhaps I have to update my Flash?

It works fine in Firefox 1.... (Below threshold)

19. Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2005 10:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

It works fine in Firefox 1.5 on XP. What version are you using?

Posted on December 5, 2005 10:11

I didn't realise the diffic... (Below threshold)

20. Posted by aelfheld | December 5, 2005 10:33 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

I didn't realise the difficulties involved in opening the polls; I apologise for bothering you.

Thanks, by the way, for doing this. I can't imagine the work involved, but I suspect it's tremendous.

Posted on December 5, 2005 10:33

I was the one that posted r... (Below threshold)

21. Posted by MH | December 5, 2005 10:34 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

MH:

I was the one that posted regarding the selection of Best Blog Finalists. My question was as follows:

Why were the following blogs listed as Finalists for Best Blog when none of them received any nominations that I was able to find in the nomination thread:

Andrew Sullivan
Boing Boing
Eschaton
The Corner
The Huffington Post
Mudville Gazette

Was there both a public and private set of nominations? With 197 total nominations, I'm surprised that 6 of 15 finalists were none that were even publically nominated.

Posted on December 5, 2005 10:34

The Garet Garret blog is li... (Below threshold)

22. Posted by salt1907 | December 5, 2005 10:53 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

salt1907:

The Garet Garret blog is listed as a "finalist" in the 8500+ category, but there is no button for that blog on the ballot page. Has there been Bush/Halliburton tampering already?

Posted on December 5, 2005 10:53

MH...Nearly all of... (Below threshold)

23. Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2005 11:09 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

MH...

Nearly all of those you mentioned were nominated in other categories, and moved to Best Blog.

Best Blog is a unique category in that way...

Sites (which could only appear once in the awards) were moved to that category to balance out others - take DailyKos for Best Liberal Blog or Powerline for Best Conservative Blog.

Posted on December 5, 2005 11:09

Fun times. Can't wait until... (Below threshold)

24. Posted by Will Franklin | December 5, 2005 12:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Will Franklin:

Fun times. Can't wait until I can actually get the voting thing to work.

Posted on December 5, 2005 12:21

Hey Kevin, I just noticed t... (Below threshold)

25. Posted by Alex Nunez | December 5, 2005 1:12 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Alex Nunez:

Hey Kevin, I just noticed that in at least two categories I voted in earlier this morning, I am seeing the option to actually vote again instead of just the updated tally for the sites in that category.

The two I noticed this in were Eco: 5001-6750 and Eco: 6751-XXXX (forget the ending number).

I didn't try to re-vote, so I don't know what happens , but it sure looked like it would have allowed a subsequent vote from the same PC I used to vote on earlier.

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:12

Yes, Kevin, I've noticed th... (Below threshold)

26. Posted by Kit Jarrell | December 5, 2005 1:17 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Kit Jarrell:

Yes, Kevin, I've noticed that too. On the Military Blog category, it is offering me the option to vote again. I have not done so, but I figured you should know about it. ;)

Thanks much for the nod, by the way.

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:17

Kevin - I'm thrill... (Below threshold)

27. Posted by The Anchoress | December 5, 2005 1:19 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

The Anchoress:

Kevin -

I'm thrilled to find myself as a finalist...but I'm hopeless when it comes to the techie stuff...is there any way you could tell me how to put the "finalist" graphic (w/ link back to you) in my sidebar? I'd appreciate it if you could help!

Thanks,
A

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:19

Kevin,Thanks for t... (Below threshold)

28. Posted by MH | December 5, 2005 1:22 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Kevin,

Thanks for the explanation. I was rather surprised at a couple of those choices, though. I'm sure it wasn't the easiest thing to put together though. Glad I wasn't in charge of that.

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:22

Ok, I feel reeallly stupid,... (Below threshold)

29. Posted by Dee | December 5, 2005 1:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Dee:

Ok, I feel reeallly stupid, but everytime I click on a blog to vote, it just sends me to that blog. I have clicked on "polls" only to be taken to the home page, which tells me to click on a link, which in turn...so I'm in this wierd loop. I do not get a tally, or know if my vote was counted or if I voted at all.

I downloaded macromedia player before I went to your website to vote.

So, what am I doing wrong? I'm voting from Netscape.

Thanks for all your help.

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:43

Dear Kevin,It may be... (Below threshold)

30. Posted by Rosemary | December 5, 2005 1:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Dear Kevin,
It may be me, but I checked out the lib voting sites for the fun of it. When I went to vote, it kinda...well...didn't have any names present! lol. Just to let ya know...

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:49

Um...the conservative vote ... (Below threshold)

31. Posted by Rosemary | December 5, 2005 1:55 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Um...the conservative vote has no names either. :)

Posted on December 5, 2005 13:55

Dee: What version Netscape?... (Below threshold)

32. Posted by basil | December 5, 2005 2:10 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

basil:

Dee: What version Netscape?

Posted on December 5, 2005 14:10

Anchoress, I emailed from m... (Below threshold)

33. Posted by Lisa Renee | December 5, 2005 2:22 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Lisa Renee:

Anchoress, I emailed from my other email account with info on how I put my link on my sidebar since Kevin might be busy.

Posted on December 5, 2005 14:22

Minor quibble. I see the n... (Below threshold)

34. Posted by Angry in T.O. | December 5, 2005 2:58 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Angry in T.O.:

Minor quibble. I see the names, which is great. But many blogs have longish names, which is pushing the totals for blogs listed along the right hand side of the box off the edge.

Might I suggest one of two things:
1) Make the box bigger to accommodate long blog names.
2) Post the total votes for those blogs listed along the right *ahead* of the name so that only the last few characters of the blog name is lost.

Posted on December 5, 2005 14:58

Thanks for running this. Ho... (Below threshold)

35. Posted by Greyhawk | December 5, 2005 3:07 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Greyhawk:

Thanks for running this. Hope the joy exceeds the pain.;)

Posted on December 5, 2005 15:07

excellent job with whittlin... (Below threshold)

36. Posted by gigglechick | December 5, 2005 3:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

gigglechick:

excellent job with whittling down the finalists (okay, i am really happy with the finalists since i am one :)

that said... a few people have come back to me saying that they are confused as to where to click once they get to the category page --- the word VOTE, while it IS uppercase, perhaps for the less click-savvy folks that are out there, maybe have an underline?

(or maybe some flashing hands pointing at the link saying CLICK HERE!!! CLICK HERE!!! --- joking.)

and a few were saying they think the site is broken because it says the polls aren't working on that page (i know, and you know that's not what the statement means... just some people, and i am not saying that my site is filled with readers from MENSA, are having a bit of a time figuring out where to click... yeah... i am rolling my eyes as well.)

just wanted to point it out to you...

again, swellegant job!!!!

Posted on December 5, 2005 15:28

Hi Kevin. I know you don't... (Below threshold)

37. Posted by Random Yak | December 5, 2005 3:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Random Yak:

Hi Kevin. I know you don't have enough to do, but thanks for the nomination (we are finalists in the 5000-6750 category and pleased as can be for the recognition). Noticing (and getting emails to this effect) that the voting is often coming up "page cannot be displayed" (not just in our category). I'm assuming you're aware and that this is a box issue - bless you for sacrificing your server to this madness.

Posted on December 5, 2005 15:37

Erin - The VOTE! was a temp... (Below threshold)

38. Posted by Kevin | December 5, 2005 3:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)

Erin - The VOTE! was a temporary measure. The actual poll is s

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