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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Truncated Posts

Discussion in 'Communications' started by Grimby , Sep 2, 2012.

  1. Shaindl

    Shaindl Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 2002
    The problem is that there has been NO communication from the mods in eons, even when people are saying, 'just tell us they're gone'. Wrap it up and stick a fork in it, if that's the case, and be done with it officially. That's what people are hurt and frustrated by - the utter lack of communication one way or the other.

    And as for insinuating that many of us didn't do due diligence and back things up - I backed mine up three ways and I still lost everything. Paper files went missing in a move, hard drive on my old computer blew up and floppies (yep, I'm that old) got corrupted. Sometimes no matter what you do, you're screwed. For some of us, getting the threads back here are our only hope of recovering old stories.
     
  2. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005
    Ramza - how 'bout we just call this thing done, so that these people can get on with their lives?
     
    Falcon likes this.
  3. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    The problem is that we're not done with it. We've had complications crop up that frankly make me wish we were so I could hash out an apology rather than implicitly encouraging people to bump this thread periodically, but it's not.

    The current status is that this is being worked on, but we have no ETA. We're optimistic and think there will someday be a point where we'll get to make an announcement, and that it'll be good news, but for now we just don't know and it would probably be more pragmatic for regular users to operate under the assumption that it's better to move on.
     
  4. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005



    Quoted, and emphasis added.

    Thanks, Ramza... that's what we needed. For the record, I don't think anybody is to blame for this, and there's no specific person people should be bummed at. The situation and technology suck here.. nothing else.

    So there you have it, people. Someday you may be surprised by an announcement, but until that happens (if it happens), it's best to let it go and write some new stuff.
     
    Frank T. and Rew like this.
  5. Sudooku

    Sudooku Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 31, 2014
    I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but I observed that several postings who are nested in the reference-modus more then three in one posting, become heavily truncated inasmuch as you see one letter of one word in one line only thus inflating the threads with nestings of sometimes even more than four postings. Can't the nesting of postings be restricted to three that you may clearly read the respective postings? In other forums there is such a limit.
     
  6. Ramza

    Ramza Administrator Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 2008
    If you're referring to nested quotes, our limit is set to five as that's where it seems to break down for most display resolutions.
     
  7. Sudooku

    Sudooku Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 31, 2014
    Thanks for your information.
     
  8. jcgoble3

    jcgoble3 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2010
    And if you want to get rid of that huge right margin, install the Stylish extension for either Firefox (link) or Chrome (link), then create a new blank style and paste this code into it:

    Code:
    @namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);
     
    @-moz-document domain("boards.theforce.net") {
        .bbCodeBlock {
            margin: 1em 1em 1em 0
        }
    }
     
  9. busybee

    busybee Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jun 28, 2015
    I guess I'll bump this thread. I'm an oldie who just came back to the site for the first time in several years (new account this time). I was SHOCKED to discover that I had no way to actually read any of the stories I know and cherish from the 'old days' (early/mid-2000s) because every chapter is truncated. All those beautifully-written, carefully crafted stories gone, apparently for good. They're just not readable as-is.

    Most of the authors I read don't have their work posted on other sites – I checked. This content is lost to the world. It's truly a travesty.

    This thread has been open long enough that I'm not going to get my hopes up about this changing. But if anyone does actually read this... know that there are still people out there, wishing and waiting for the old content to return.
     
  10. Shaindl

    Shaindl Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 2002
    Thanks busybee - your thoughts are really appreciated, and for those of us who lost their work (like me, even though I originally had multiple copies of my stuff, all of which got lost/destroyed through no fault of my own) it really does mean something that you posted this.
     
    busybee, jcgoble3 and pronker like this.
  11. JediSmuggler

    JediSmuggler Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 5, 1999

    I will give this thread another bump. Especially as some of these authors have died or dropped off. There's no way to get some of the old fics I have enjoyed way in the past. I have some of my posts... but others are gone.
     
  12. cje24576

    cje24576 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2010
    Any progress on getting the truncation fixed? What's taking so long?
     
  13. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    cj, sorry to say, don't hold your breath for news on the truncation issue. Assume that stuff is gone, and move on.

    Some random time in the future, this may get solved and an announcement made, but really, move on for your own sanity.
     
    Rew likes this.
  14. Onderon1

    Onderon1 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2008
    A question - this seemed to be the most appropriate thread for this ...

    Is there any way to look up old thread URLs from before the truncation (assume that the old URL doesn't come up on a search engine - I've looked for some and just find the modern, truncated URLs)?

    A very kind person did some digging for me in the Wayback Machine during the last few days, recovering things I'd thought lost to history's dustbin, and I want to see if I can replicate her success with other pieces in order to pay the favor forward. (And, admittedly, try and recover some of my other old stuff. :p

    I know it's a bit of roulette; the Wayback's not guaranteed to have captured a particular site. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. :)
     
    pronker likes this.
  15. cje24576

    cje24576 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2010
    Yes there is. I know that you can find a lot (unfortunately not all of it) of it on the Wayback Machine. If you give me an URL you're trying to look up, I'll help you out. You will need to change the format of the current URL.
     
    pronker likes this.
  16. Onderon1

    Onderon1 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2008
    Hmm ... I've actually got a list of stuff I'm trying to find complete versions of. But the new URLs are so different from the past ones, I'm not sure how to change the format.
     
  17. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Onderon1 There's an explanation on how to change the urls in this thread but the urls on the old boards were sometimes a bit wonky. If what you're looking for is fanfiction, I can help you find it, just PM me the links of the threads.
     
  18. jedi_master_bower

    jedi_master_bower Jedi Master

    Registered:
    May 24, 2004
    any chance of a more upto date update from our local moderators the truncated posts issue has been occuring for nearly 5 years now and still "no it cant be fixed or eureka fix found" some new any news would be welcome the truncated posts is one reason i started using fanfiction.net more but some of the stories i like are only here so i have to check in every 6 months or so hoping for a miracle.

    i also have a request for any writer that has got fic on here that they could get full posts for if it is possible to put them up on fanfiction.net as well that would be great
     
  19. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005
     
  20. Jacobo

    Jacobo Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 24, 2016
     
    theraphos and jcgoble3 like this.
  21. darth_treyvah

    darth_treyvah Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 26, 2005
    A long time ago, I used to write a lot more here.

    It was in 2005. I had another account on these forums with my handle capitalized, but I lost my password but it didn't matter as most of my original posts were about now Old EU speculations.

    2005 was all about my fanfiction.

    I'd had a five year relationship end, quit my Creative Writing Program, and I was still struggling to complete my Undergrad. It was dark time in my life, but it was at that point after dealing with the three, and at the time final, film of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy that I decided to see what would happen -- to create my What Ifs -- and tried my hand at fanfiction that I hadn't done in years.

    And wow, did I write.

    There was "The Battle for Ascendance" -- a word I mispelt at the time -- which depicted Anakin Skywalker's epic quest in the Afterlife. "What You Get When" was an AU where Jacen Solo survives and lives on Myrkr as an old man. There was a touching scene, ended by a sad joke, where he and Tenel Ka touch stumps of the arms that they never replaced and made some peace with their lives. "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise" was the story of how Darth Plagueis created Anakin Skywalker and how it was through this creation that he was weak enough for Darth Sidious to kill him and the tragedy of realizing just how beautiful his creation was -- beyond the dark side -- before finally dying. "I've Had It" was a fic where Anakin killed Palpatine and quit the Jedi Order in disgust over using him, only to fall into a mysterious coma and find out some truths about the Force that he'd never really considered before. "Acceptance" was a moment in time on Tatooine where Obi-Wan Kenobi accepts that he is aged and has one more point in his destiny. "Misunderstanding" and "I Understand" were fics where Anakin doesn't take Padme's rejection well from AOTC, internalizing it, and eventually having a more more real conversation with her. "As a Soldier" was a story about Darth Vader to Luke from a surviving member of the 501st, aging and dying, before I even knew about Karen Traviss' books. Finally, "From a Certain Point of View" was my fanfic account of Obi-Wan and Yoda's long game plan in training Luke and leaving Leia to achieve her destiny in the way they had: undermining darkness with the potential for hope.

    There were many others. Some of them were not all that good, to be honest. Some were definitely misses. Some didn't age well. I wasn't always at the top of my game and I wasn't the writer then that I am now. I did used to make much longer stories on here. "From a Certain Point of View" was unfinished, like my "Battle" story and it was the last epic long fanfic I wrote on here before The Move back in 2012. I remember it well.

    I recall reading that the Board, that tended to shut down quite a bit, would be moved to a new server and platform. We were told that our stories and writing would also be transferred over. And I waited. I waited just as this Board had been there for me through my first paying job, through my Graduate School, through moving out onto residence, through exploring my city, through more heartbreaks, constant procrastination during what should have been Grad Work and all the way to my ex's apartment where I still wrote until that day of The Move.

    Then, one day, The Board came back. And I logged on and saw my stories. I went to read over them ...

    And then, like many others, I saw what happened. I saw the truncations.

    It was like Luke Skywalker getting his hand cut off the first time. I was horrified. But I read up on it. And I saw that people had made this thread. I saw that Staff were on it. That they were still transferring stuff from the Old Board to IGN. And so I waited. And waited.

    I think you already know where this is going. I didn't say anything for a long time for a variety of reasons. In some ways, it was a good thing I never got my stories back. .This allowed me to work on original stories and publications. I am now a published writer. I write mostly articles now, but also some personal stories and occasionally more stories. I have even done some amateur geeky journalism. And sometimes, I still write a piece here or there on this Board.

    But I never got over losing my work. A lot of it is my own responsibility, to be fair. I should have backed up my stories elsewhere. I should have sent them to myself by email or saved them onto portable drives. I took it for granted that they would just stay, unaltered, online somewhere forever, that I could just call them up whenever I felt like it or that even the site that hosted them would remain. It was foolish of me: especially given how fickle technology has always been and always will be. I lacked the farsight. So accept my part of why my old stories are pretty much inaccessible now.

    However, I can't get over the fact that we were promised that our stories would survive. That they would be transferred to a new home. And when they didn't transfer over properly, that they would be restored. It is now 2017. Rebels and Rogue One exist now, and a new cinematic Trilogy is continuing. More films are on their way. And as many have already pointed out, it doesn't look particularly promising that my stories will be restored. I am pondering attempting to find them on the Wayback Machine, but that prospect looks even less promising.

    It is one reason I don't really feel the inclination to write large amounts of prose or text here anymore. Part of it is that I am writing other things in other places, but another reason is that I am still sore about not being able to see how stories again. I actually wish that I could find someone in the old administration, or this one if they are still around, and ask if they can send me my stories back. But I also know that is a lot of work and if I ask it, I know others will ask the same. I want my old stories back, but it looks like they are gone. And as I said, a lot of that is my own fault.

    I hope one day that somehow they will be restored. I hope just randomly I will come on and see them on here, again, in their full glory and I can see how far I have come and how much I still needed to improve. A lot has changed on these Boards since I was here. Many people I knew have come and gone. The writing has changed. The engagement between writers has changed with the heavy social media outlet.

    But even if I don't get my stories back, and that does seem more likely -- be it from having them on the site or the Way Back Machine -- I just wanted to say my piece, and my peace, and get my long overdue mourning out of the way perhaps a few years too late. I'm glad that, for a time, I had a place where I could write What If and create hope in the darkness. I am glad I got to practice my writing here. I am glad to see that whatever else, many people here are finding such a place and friendship.

    I don't really know how to finish this except to say, thank you. Thank you and remember to save your work, no matter how unimportant may and may not think it is, and continue to be awesome. May the Force be with you all.
     
  22. Smileybuddy

    Smileybuddy Jedi Knight

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2017
    As a new member I have to say that it is a shame that I will never see any of these great stories as they were meant to, only small snippets which is a real shame.
     
  23. Master Vo

    Master Vo Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 2017
    Ohh... So this s\is why I couldn't see some stuff for an old RPG I just reincarnated, this actually really annoys me because I needed that info...
     
  24. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2003
  25. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I wouldn't hold your breath. I did check the Wayback Machine and had no luck there.