EstherD Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Is "flood control" (on a search) something that is enabled ONLY for newbies like me? Or does it apply to everyone, all the time? Note: I understand WHY a feature like "flood control" might be needed, especially on a high-profile target forum like SpamCop, so please don't lecture me about that. I'm just curious whether "flood control" is something I need to endure only for a limited time (i.e. while I'm still classed as a "newbie"), or whether it's a permanent feature for ALL users of this forum. (Not answered in Help or any of the FAQs, which is why I'm asking here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lking Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 What evidence makes you think you are experiencing flood control? I see you have made 4 post over the last 2 days. The last two are about an hour apart. Flood controls normally are set to prevent more post than anyone could manually type and post. For example, 15 seconds between post which is the default setting on phpBB forums. Even cutting and pasting the post, a person would need to be dedicated and it would block any bot (to slow to make it worth the effort). What problem have you been experiencing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstherD Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 What evidence makes you think you are experiencing flood control? You didn't read my post CAREFULLY. I wrote "Is "flood control" (on a search)..." Which obviously means I experienced "flood control" while doing a SEARCH, NOT while posting. The EVIDENCE is a error message that appears at the top of the search results whenever I do two searches in quick succession, e.g. less than 8-10 seconds apart: Flood control is enabled. Please wait at least 10 seconds before attempting to search again. Something I'm quite likely to do whenever the first query returns no results... I IMMEDIATELY modify (or change) the keyword(s) and resubmit. So I've seen it FREQUENTLY these past two days. Which is why I'm asking. Doesn't seem to matter whether I use the search bar at the top of the page or the advanced search page. BOTH exhibit similar behavior, although the wait time DOES seem to vary randomly. Don't believe me? Try it yourself. [ Although, if it IS a "newbie-only" feature, then of course you WON'T see it. But then neither will I, at least not much longer, assuming I keep posting at this rate. ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turetzsr Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014        Before anyone else other than SpamCop staff chimes in here, I would like to suggest that only they would know the answer to this question, due to the recent change in the version of Invision Power Board that they installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstherD Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Thank you, Steve. I suspected it might be something like that. -- EstherD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lking Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 While I wipe egg of my face, Farelf may be able to see the setting but then maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farelf Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Search flood control seems to apply to just about everyone (except those with advanced superpowers ). Global value is 20 seconds, the default limit - maybe SC staff would consider halving that, as it seems to be a not uncommon change publicly discussed (and acceded to) in other IP Board venues. I shall ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EstherD Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 [at]Lking - Rereading my post today, it does seem a bit harsh. Not my intent. Sorry. Apology accepted and apology given. Call it even, OK?[at]Farelf - Thanks for the info. Not advocating for a change, especially since I don't know exactly what bad behavior(s) search flood control is designed to mitigate. Just wanted to better understand what's happening.That said, a 20 sec wait is no big deal when you get a couple of hits, because it will take at least that long to process 'em. But it DOES seem a tad long to wait when your search comes up completely dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave_L Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 One reason, maybe the main one, for the search flood control is that searching can stress the database backend and overload the server. It's not a issue for normal use, but when overdone can significantly degrade a web server's performance. There probably aren't actual users doing enough searches to matter, but there could be hundreds of search engines hitting the site over and over again. My only gripe is when I don't get any results from a search, possibly because of a mistake I made on the search form, and then have to wait 20 seconds before I can try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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