Dave

I tweaked a couple of the ad settings, not sure that would have done anything directly but if it fixed things that's good!

Seems like Google took matters into its own hands with the ads, so I'll see what I can do that reign that in.

Yep we have some new hardware to replace an ailing hard drive with solid state drives, which are much more database-friendly and should improve access speeds. The privacy/cookie change is to give the option to opt into personalised advertisements. This is a change pretty much all sites are making owing to new legislation inside the EU/UK/USA. Indeed we are trying a bunch of things to reduce the spam! Sorry to hear you're having issues! I'm also on Safari (macOS Ventura here, though). Might be worth you trying to clear your cache, since we have just updated the forum software.

The update was successful in that we were able to install some new hardware! (Which might result in a slightly snappier site.) I will need to do a bit more work this afternoon to get the forum software updated, which might have more impact in terms of the spam.

I hope you are well and having a good Easter! This is a quick note with two updates: GDPR and CPRA requirements now ask that we require consent for third-party cookies, which we do use to serve the advertisements that support the upkeep of the site. You will therefore be presented with a confirmation box if you live in the EU, UK or California so that we are compliant with this legislation. There will be some downtime for the site on Tuesday 11th April starting from around 9am UK time (presently GMT+1), and lasting for approximately 2-3 hours. This is to facilitate some much-needed software and hardware updates. Please do let me know if in this thread if you're having any issues with the cookie notifications or have any other queries.

I've added a new plugin to try to address the recent surge in spam - we'll see if that works!

Yep! However if you click on this, then you should see the breakdown to exact number on the left hand side.

Hi all, sorry for the lack of response. Unfortunately upgrades in software are necessary from time to time, in order to prevent against e.g. security vulnerabilities. Inevitably these come with some changes - some nice, some not so great. I've restored your rank under your username and the reputation count should now be found as it was before.

On the first point, I've added a small addition to the script to reload MathJax once content changes in-browser, so edits and quick replies should now show you the rendered math once they are submitted. Looks like they were removed from the toolbar, but I have re-added those for you now. If there are others that are desperately wanted then let me know and I can add those, too. On mobile, Mark Site as Read is available if you click on the three lines at the top-right corner of the toolbar. This also shows your profile information if you need to edit it. Not sure about the recent activity; can't see an obvious setting for that within the control panel, but perhaps this is just a bug and can be fixed in a later release.

Thanks for the notes @iNow, I’m sure other will find that useful!

Hello all -- I hope you are doing well in these odd times and keeping safe. This morning I've applied an update to our forum software, which obviously brings a few visual updates and changes in comparison to the older version. This was necessary to ensure we stay up to date with the latest security features and patches. However, from a functionality perspective, I believe this will mostly remain unchanged. Please do let us know in this thread if you have any issues with the site, and I'll continue to monitor the site for problems.

Seems as thought I spoke too soon; another power outage hit just now. Hopefully that is it for now, fingers crossed...

Yep unfortunately down for about an hour. The power went out at our hosting facility and when it turned back on, the server didn’t automatically boot. Should all be back to normal now!

Apologies for today's downtime. This was due to a power outage at our hosts. All should now be up again and good to go, but let us know of any issues you encounter.

Apologies from myself also - we will try to put in place some measures to ensure this doesn't recur. None of your posts, threads, etc will have been lost in this process. Thanks for your patience and look forward to once more hosting your discussions!