Oh, for sure. I shudder to think about the MySQL horrors alone, and the bespoke caching scheme they have devised between different frontends (which you can count 3 or 4) would probably make any grown SRE cryBut also also I could imagine anyone with even a drip of content management or web programming experience being absolutely horrified if we knew what was actually going on behind the public-facing interface
Just twisting the knife a little here, I had a DM interaction with her earlier this week (on a worthy subject) where her reply was virtually instant, so she’s definitely around. I think the standard non-paranoid explanations and advice apply to the current delays. We’re in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere summer, there are no competitions running right now, and this should be the time when small businesses get to relax a bit and catch up on other jobs.I try to have a lot of grace and patience for sites and services like this one, where it's all run on bespoke systems by small teams who do it for passion and sustainable income and not quarterly revenue growth. We all know what the awful enshittified alternative is!
It is frustrating when you're the one caught in the bespoke tangle, though
Part of me thinks that if Laurel were to ever pull the curtain back just a little bit, and give us a better idea of how the system and workflow works, we might all be more patient with the process. But I could also see the arguments for not wanting to reveal any of the secrets, for fear of exploitation by SEO spammers or whatever.
But also also I could imagine anyone with even a drip of content management or web programming experience being absolutely horrified if we knew what was actually going on behind the public-facing interface
Yes, this is pretty much what I've seen every year for ten years. The site slows down in summer, it's as simple as that.
Add “for some people” to that maybe. There is a claim demonstrating the contrary above.
I did say, "pretty much," which is my way of acknowledging that there are exceptions. It's only a "problem" if you make it one, but for me, it falls into the massive collection of, "Out of my control" issues there are in the world, aka first world problems. But then, I'm a glass half full kind of person, and there are far bigger things to get upset about.
We all react to things differently. Unequal treatment - or at least baseless unequal treatment - is a hot button for me. I don’t mind waiting in line. It’s not my site, I don’t pay them to post my stuff. I do mind people who joined the line later being waved through. I mind that an awful lot. It happens way too much in life.
1: When submissions range from 750 words to lengthy novels over 100k, it would be more surprising if the site didn't prioritize publication beyond just a first in/first out basis. It would seem to be a fact that stories are not being fully read, but even skimming a novel will take a while. Figuring out whether or not something that got a lot of flags from a search or a script deserved to be held may also take a while. If we assume that Laurel is trying to publish as many stories as possible each day, it would be very practical for her to swing on any meatballs someone lobs her way before getting back to the stuff she has to think about.
Startling indeed! So, the delay for you can be reasonably explained by the Editor wanting to consider the article in greater depth. Congrats!
And I found out that <blockquote> doesn’t work in preview, but does in the published story.
