o o o Can't Log into SiteAdmin? Read this thread! o o o

[Dr Neo Lao]

Correct.

You won't be able to log in to SiteAdmin until it is fixed.

SiteAdmin is currently not operating properly and is under process of being repaired. Not sure how much longer until new people can log in.

[Arson]

Out of curiosity, WHY is SiteAdmin being rebuilt? Also, were these problems expected, or did they just come out of the blue?

[BionicDance]

I get the impression that it's being rebuilt because they don't know how to fix it instead...otherwise they would.

I might be wrong, but from context, that's what I see.

[Dr Neo Lao]

As far as I know:

Comic Genesis, in its current iteration, is the evolved result of over ten years of upgrading codes. If you look at some long-standing independent comics (like Schlock Mercenary) then you will see they still carry the ....com/d/2009... format from when they were on CG (or KeenSpace as it was known back then). That gives you an idea about how long KeenSpace/Comic Gensis has been around Correction: SM was on KeenSpot, KeenSpace's parent company. Don't know if SM was ever on KeenSpace). (Note that many have since moved on to other software, notably WordPress.) - but both KeenSpot and KeenSpace/Comic Genesis run on the same software.

Comic Genesis, as it currently is, is coming to the end of its upgradeable life. There is too much old code, stray bits of data and undocumented features/bugs to easily upgrade. There was a major ruckus when the forum software was upgraded a few years ago which caused all sorts of grief.

At it's core, CG is four parts. The CGWiki, which is fairly easy to manage and stands alone. The forum, which is the "core" and all the other modules depend on. This is also the part that gets updated most often as there are constantly new security issues with forum software. The comic back-end, of which the part most familiar to (most) CG users is SiteAdmin (the other parts being smaller things like administrative comic management, pog and banner approval and so on). The last part is the automated comic software that moves all the images around in the background and does all the heavy lifting on the server (called AutoKeen). *

The two parts that constantly demand attention: the forum (to keep on top of hackers and spammers) and Autokeen. There is currently a new version of the automated software in the works called AutoGenesis. The good news is that this version is currently in Beta and there are a handful of people testing it. The bad news is that it has been in the works for several years and there is no sign of it being rolled out anytime soon.

However, because AutoKeen is a custom software written specifically for CG (or more accurately, evolved into what it is now after over a decade of repairs, patches, work-arounds and jury-rigs), when the forum software updates, it does not always work. Either the forum or AutoKeen or both break.

In May, there was a small upgrade made to the forum software (a necessary security patch). As a result of that, anybody who registers a new account or changes their password is no longer able to access SiteAdmin. The long reason is complicated and I don't understand it. The short reason is that the software won't "see" the new password. This is why the re-build is needed. We can't roll back the forum without running the risk of losing the lot. And AutoKeen is custom so we can't ask the vendor to provide an upgrade.

All of this is why Kisai and STrRedWolf are stuck with the unenviable task of keeping everything running. And they still have to attend to their day jobs and their lives. The "simple" solution is to hire a team to support Kisai and STrRedWolf full-time to get the entire site overhauled. However, there is nowhere near enough money available from KeenSpot (the parent company of Comic Genesis) to do this (astonishingly, companies that provide free services on the internet don't get a huge income. No idea why...).

Apologies for waffling on so much. But that is some of the background on the why's and wherefore's of how we are in this current predicament. Without implying any slight against Kisai and STrRedWolf (who do an awesome job), it is my opinion that CG has grown too big to be managed part-time by just two people - but that is an issue to take up with KeenSpot. Between them and all the volunteers on the forum who take care of a lot of the day-to-day running, Comic Genesis (for the most part) manages to keep working quite happily. But everyone is too busy charging back and forth putting out small fires (like this SiteAdmin debacle) to be able to stand back and see the big picture.

Anyway, I'm just dribbling on now, but hopefully that'll provide people with some ideas as to what is causing delays and how we got here. Lamentably, the only thing to be said about the current SiteAdmin issue is the same as before - SiteAdmin is in the process of being repaired but we don't know how much longer. Comic accounts can be run without SiteAdmin (just not at full potential). If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

* Incidentally, those interested in hosting their comic on their own server space can get a copy of this software, called AutoKeen Lite. It has most of the same functionality, but is built to cater for a single comic instead of thousands.

[BionicDance]

As far as I know:

[snipperoo]

First, I wanna say thanks for typing all that out. Big time.
You may or may not have an idea of just how much it can be like pulling teeth to get even this much detail out of people in charge on a website, and you did it without explicit prompting, just after a few comments/speculations had been made. I frankly cannot properly express my appreciation for that, nor how unusual it is to get this much information from people in charge sometimes.

So, thank you for that.

* Incidentally, those interested in hosting their comic on their own server space can get a copy of this software, called AutoKeen Lite. It has most of the same functionality, but is built to cater for a single comic instead of thousands.

Hrm...does that cost anything? Or is it freeware?
Not that I necessarily want to leave ComicGenesis, but...well, as a starving artist, I am considering setting up a space where I can fully reap the benefits of ad revenue; if I could do The Adventures of Kanira Baxter for a living, that'd be a dream come true, neh?

Thanks again!

[Dr Neo Lao]

It's not exactly freeware, but it is free. Anyone interested in getting it can download AutoKeen Lite from here. The downside is that this version has not been updated since 2000 - but it is very strong and stable when used on a single comic (the CG version keeps having problems because it has to update thousands of comics every day - most between midnight and one am). As I said, it isn't freeware - it would almost counts as abandoneware, but KeenSpot retain a license on it. There is no charge to use it for a comic, but if you were making money from it, then you need written permission from KeenSpot Entertainment to use it (and possibly a royalty fee - not sure since I've never asked).

There are other options available. WordPress (blogging software) with the ComicPress plug-in is quite popular for authors, but I hate it with a passion. I've never seen somebody using it in a way that makes it easy for the reader. If I was asked for a nomination, I'd say that Walrus is the best and easiest to use option for the "starving artist" as it does not require MySql or Pearl (neither of which is normally available on free hosts). I've used it and it is stable, simple and reliable. Be aware that the "Version 3 coming soon" page has been that way since 2007.

There is no reason why you can't have two copies of your comic on-line. You could have your main comic on your independent host and have a copy on CG. CG does not require that your comic be exclusively hosted here. The main reason people don't so this is that if you have your own hosting with paid ads, you want every hit possible to go to that host so you can increase your revenue.

Oh, and thank you for your comments. I'm not actually in charge of anything around here, I just spend way too much time here in the help centre and I've pretty much become part of the furniture...

[LightningSpike]

So...

Any word on the progress of the rebuilding?

[Remy01]

Yeah, I'm having trbl with getting onto the Site Admin. I can access the forums(obviously) but it won't take my username when I go to the SiteAdmin. My user starts with an capital R, so I got that going for me...is this all related to the central problem you guys are having or is it me?

[LightningSpike]

Yeah, I'm having trbl with getting onto the Site Admin. I can access the forums(obviously) but it won't take my username when I go to the SiteAdmin. My user starts with an capital R, so I got that going for me...is this all related to the central problem you guys are having or is it me?

As stated at the top of page 7, they are rebuilding SiteAdmin. This is a problem on their side, as SiteAdmin stopped storing passwords (from what I collected by reading this thread). This is not on your end, but don't get mad at them about it. They are trying their best to keep this site running.

[Remy01]

No problem guys. I'm not gonna sweat it.

[AntiDead]

I don't know if you still want this info but I'm gonna post it anyway.

I singed up for the forums on Tue. July 28. I confirmed my account later the same day.
I sent in my comic also on July 28.

My account was verified an hour ago. Tue. August 5.

every time I try to log in this message appears.

Forum Username AntiDead not valid!
You must have a ComicGenesis Forum login (or you entered a bad username or password, it is CASE SENSITIVE.)

Please see below for possible correct spellings:

But obviously this name is valid or else I wouldn't be here.

[Remy01]

Yeah thats the same issue I have.

[Arcemise]

Not to sound rude guys, but have you read the first posting all the way through? They're rebuilding the siteadmin. It might take a while 'til they're done, but you should be able to do basic updates to your comics as per usual.

[BBaggins]

Hey Guys I just joined and I can't even login to Web-FTP 1.5.2 KeenSpace Butch Server login

it just says login failed

Sorry to bother you but is this related to the siteAdmin?

[Dr Neo Lao]

If you've only just joined, then your account might not be active yet.

Is your comic account running? If it is, you ought to be able to go to the url for your comic and see the sample image you submitted. If your url still says "not found" then you may need to wait a few more days before all the features (including ftp) of your account will be working properly.

[SilverKitten]

Ookay, I understand everything that's goin' on, that they have to rebuild and stuffs... I have no problems waitin' on that. My question is this: For the actual website to be put up and the 402 message to go away so that the sample comic can come up, does that have to be put up manually by you guys? Or does that happen when we do the siteadmin thing?

I'm not completely stressing on the whole not being up thing, because I've got a life too, and I understand how you guys are only part time and stuff. o.o I'm just a little curious, is all. Because I still get the 402 message with my kairo-kairo.comigenesis.com thing.

[Dr Neo Lao]

...does that have to be put up manually by you guys?

As far as I am aware, no. I believe it is automatic.

However, you comic is coming up "Forbidden" to me at the moment rather than 404'ing, so it might be in progress. No, the SiteAdmin thing is unrelated.

[Anythingbutreallife]

I'm having a problem.

For the last two days, my comic hasn't loaded properly. The bottom half of the image is missing in FireFox, and the whole thing doesn't exist in IE.

Is this something to do with SiteAdmin? It's nothing on my end, the files are complete and they have uploaded (and reuploaded) 100%.

[BionicDance]

For a while, the original SiteAdmin was still up and one could trigger a manual update for one's comic if one couldn't log in to the current SiteAdmin.

This functionality appears to no longer be present, meaning that any problems one's site may have will take 24 hours to fix after one sees them in the changes which one has made...which can, frankly, cripple a comic if the fixes are uncertain and experimental, or if one can't identify the problem and needs to try multiple things to find it.

Is there a reason the old functionality was removed? Can it be reinstated? Or is there a new ETA on getting SiteAdmin working for all users that happens to be...soon? I need to make some changes to my index page, but I'm actually quite frightened to try it now since I can't see and fix any mistakes with any kind of alacrity...

[VeryCuddlyCornpone]

For a while, the original SiteAdmin was still up and one could trigger a manual update for one's comic if one couldn't log in to the current SiteAdmin.

This functionality appears to no longer be present, meaning that any problems one's site may have will take 24 hours to fix after one sees them in the changes which one has made...which can, frankly, cripple a comic if the fixes are uncertain and experimental, or if one can't identify the problem and needs to try multiple things to find it.

Is there a reason the old functionality was removed? Can it be reinstated? Or is there a new ETA on getting SiteAdmin working for all users that happens to be...soon? I need to make some changes to my index page, but I'm actually quite frightened to try it now since I can't see and fix any mistakes with any kind of alacrity...

One thing you can do without siteadmin (I don't know if you've already tried this) is to just open up the html document. Not to edit it, but just open it. It should show the layout of the website, obviously without the keentags or anything though, but it will show where your images will be, what colors clash (if you're trying out text/background colors, etc), and there's also away to get it to display images, like navigation buttons and other decorative things as well (only it won't show your actual comic since that's also a keentag thingamabob.)