Bugged Notification Indicator

[Neatfeatguy]

The past 4 or 5 days the little notification number that pops up by your account name to show you that a topic you're following has new messages or that someone quoted you seems to be bugged.

I hold the mouse over my username and when it opens I'm greeted to the message of "An error occurred."

I have to click into other tabs of the website to be able to see the notification message.

Here's what I see when I open the site:


Here's what I see when I hold my mouse over my username:


If I click on one of the other tabs at the top of the website, such as "Trending" or "Reviews" or one of the other 5 options and then I hold my mouse over my username, sometimes I still get the "An error occurred" message or I see this:


Even after I click on the new entry (as seen in the picture above), the notification still shows up by my username that I have a new notification to look at, when I actually do not.

With a lot of click, unfollowing topics, refollowing them I can sometimes get the bugged notification to go away. But, when a new notification comes up, I'm greeted with the same problem.

I've cleared my cache, cookies, logged out and back in on one of the computers I use (my work computer) but the issue remains. It does this to me across 3 different computers I've tried.

 

[Julio Franco]

We updated Xenforo to its latest version this week, and it wasn't until today that we got word about this bug (by one of our own staff members no less).

In his case, the issue went away once he logged out and logged in again. But it that's not working for you, we'll have to look at it deeper. Can you please tell me if this is happening on both forum pages and the main site, or only one of the two?

We're also fixing that dark mode hover bug.

Thanks!

 

[Neatfeatguy]

We updated Xenforo to its latest version this week, and it wasn't until today that we got word about this bug (by one of our own staff members no less).

In his case, the issue went away once he logged out and logged in again. But it that's not working for you, we'll have to look at it deeper. Can you please tell me if this is happening on both forum pages and the main site, or only one of the two?

We're also fixing that dark mode hover bug.

Thanks!

I logged out and back again, I'll keep check of it and report what I find with the next notification indicator that pops up for me.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Issue still remains after logging out and back in.
Issue is there on the Main page and all the other main tabs, except for Forums tab. I got the dark background on the notification as well.

 

[Julio Franco]

Ok. Thanks. We’ll be looking over this issue shortly.

 

[captaincranky]

I've been having a similar issue, wherein the the notification fly out panel doesn't work. However, navigating away from the page, (to "forums"maybe), seems to clear up the issue.

 

[Julio Franco]

I've been having a similar issue, wherein the the notification fly out panel doesn't work. However, navigating away from the page, (to "forums"maybe), seems to clear up the issue.

Yes. We've identified that bug as well. The forums got upgraded to a major new version, so thankfully it was a mostly seamless transition on the backend, but we're still solving those few remaining kinks.

 

[Julio Franco]

We've resolved the dark mode issue and the drop downs not working.
Trying to replicate the notification bug at the moment.

 

[Julio Franco]

Issue still remains after logging out and back in.
Issue is there on the Main page and all the other main tabs, except for Forums tab. I got the dark background on the notification as well.

What browser are you on, and are you using any (relevant) add-ons or ad blockers?

 

[captaincranky]

@Julio Franco Opera 74.0.3911.211 / 32 bit Win 7 4 GB RAM. Opera has a stock ad blocker, but I have no additional add-ons installed whatsoever.

I didn't mention this before, since I assumed it was an issue with the browser, in as much as I usually have about a hundred tabs open, and am running up against maximum RAM limit.

I installed an old GT-730 (2 GB) for the extra Vram, which has seemed to cure, (or abate somewhat), the video blackouts I was getting in Firefox.

I'll log in with FF, and see if the issue resolves itself, and get back to you

 

[Neatfeatguy]

What browser are you on, and are you using any (relevant) add-ons or ad blockers?

Chrome Version 89.0.4389.90
Adblock is active.
Dark Reader - it is not active on this site.

 

[Julio Franco]

Chrome Version 89.0.4389.90
Adblock is active.
Dark Reader - it is not active on this site.

This is not necessarily a fix, but a possible workaround. Disable the ad blocker, browse around the site, see if that fixes it. If not, logout or preferably clear cookies. Login again, still with no ad blocker. And see if that works for you. Then you can re-enable your add-ons again. This worked for another person.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

This is not necessarily a fix, but a possible workaround. Disable the ad blocker, browse around the site, see if that fixes it. If not, logout or preferably clear cookies. Login again, still with no ad blocker. And see if that works for you. Then you can re-enable your add-ons again. This worked for another person.

I disabled adblock. Logged out and back in. Hopped around the site for a bit a few times in the past 12-18 hours. Things worked just fine.

I enabled adblock a short while ago. Closed out of the site. I just came back to it and the problem has returned.

I have not tried clearing cookies yet.

 

[Julio Franco]

Thanks for the feedback. That narrows it down to the ad blocker causing some sort of issue. We will look into it but it's not as high priority for obvious reasons . I'll keep you posted nonetheless.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

Thanks for the feedback. That narrows it down to the ad blocker causing some sort of issue. We will look into it but it's not as high priority for obvious reasons . I'll keep you posted nonetheless.

Thanks.

I also went through and cleared my cache and cookies, but no change. When adblock is disabled the problem goes away.

 

[captaincranky]

@Julio Franco Well Mr. Franco, either you fixed something, or both myself and both my browsers are suffering from placebo effect.

The notification fly out is working just dandy. However, the numeric notification started working along with it. (IMO, that has never worked correctly).

The only residual issue, is the fact that it now follows you from page.

Please bear in mind I'm not complaining, nor expecting you to fix it. I'm viewing it as an, "ironic turn of events".
I'm not surer if you click on all the notices if it will go away. I'll give that a shot later

 

[Julio Franco]

Quick update. We’ve detected the bug in question and are working to resolve it soon.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

FYI, I'm having this issue. It only started a couple of weeks ago though, and on both my iPhone and laptop (Firefox). I'll try a few things to fix it and update this post afterwards.

EDIT: I noticed through the forum software that my first notification was showing as unread. After seeing it, it looked like it would be marked as read but refreshing the page showed it unread again. Then I saw on the forum, there are little bubbles at the bottom right corner of notifications, and I could click that to mark the notification as read... That worked. Alternatively visit this location to fix it: https://www.techspot.com/community/account/alerts

On my iPhone, there was also an issue where the notification area only said "An error has occurred." I relogged and it solved that issue.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

FYI, I'm having this issue. It only started a couple of weeks ago though, and on both my iPhone and laptop (Firefox). I'll try a few things to fix it and update this post afterwards.

EDIT: I noticed through the forum software that my first notification was showing as unread. After seeing it, it looked like it would be marked as read but refreshing the page showed it unread again. Then I saw on the forum, there are little bubbles at the bottom right corner of notifications, and I could click that to mark the notification as read... That worked. Alternatively visit this location to fix it: https://www.techspot.com/community/account/alerts

On my iPhone, there was also an issue where the notification area only said "An error has occurred." I relogged and it solved that issue.

The issue happens still - even on my android using chrome - but it sounds like they know about the bug and it's on their list of things to do.

Quickest way to fix it on my end, I click on the FORUMS tab and then I click on TECHSPOT at the top of the page to bring me back to the home page. After doing that the notifications work correctly.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

The issue happens still - even on my android using chrome - but it sounds like they know about the bug and it's on their list of things to do.

Quickest way to fix it on my end, I click on the FORUMS tab and then I click on TECHSPOT at the top of the page to bring me back to the home page. After doing that the notifications work correctly.

Yep I just saw the same thing... Even on the forums though, just viewing the notification wasn’t enough. After refreshing the page it shows as unread again. I had to tap the notification to this thread to clear it.

In case there was any question, here’s the experience on the main site on mobile:

 

[Julio Franco]

We're aware of the issue, and yes, navigating back and forth to the forum will disappear the notification (bug). Our dev has had a full plate the last few weeks, working some server/speed optimization stuff, but we have this right next in our to-do.

 

[captaincranky]

Am I the only one who thinks the notifications are working somewhere close to correctly?

As near as I can tell, Xenforo doesn't clear a notification, until you actually visit the post in question. This is different from Vbulletion which clears all the notices, as soon as you hit the fly-out panel.

Keep in mind that I only work from a desktop, but when the "an error occurred ", message happens, refreshing the page, (at least 9 out of 10 times), makes it go away. But that's been going on for months, if not years.(IIRC)

As I'm working with a 32 bit 4GB memory Win 7 machine, with 101 tabs open in Opera, and 44 tabs open in Firefox, I blame an overloaded browser cache at least partially to blame (I almost forgot the 2nd Opera Window w/ 9 tabs open). And lest I forget as well, 114 running processes.

All of which brings to mind the old biblical saw, "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone". (Make a mental note, that's not a rock in my hand , it's a mouse).

 

[Julio Franco]

Applied a fix this weekend... please let us know if it's any better now

 

[captaincranky]

Well @Julio Franco, I'm still convinced that the browser is at least partly responsible for, "the bug". Although ATM, I have to admit it's working the best it ever has.

Browser cache issues, and the notification issue, unfortunately exhibit the some of the same symptoms.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I'll keep an eye on it, but still doesn't appear to be fixed.....then again, I didn't give it a chance this morning when opened the site. Immediately upon opening the site I jump to the Forums tab, scroll through the notifications (which all appeared dark with the dark mode active) and then I go back to the homepage. Once I do those steps, the notifications appear to work correctly, even if new ones appear.....as long as I haven't closed the site.

I'll post an official update later today after I check back again as the day goes on.