# Is Something Malfunctioning? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433 "2016-03-28T04:05:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/1 "2016-03-28T04:05:47Z")
I’ve been seeing a lot of “broken code” inside the thread listings on various forums, mainly in the titles, once or twice in the right column where it shows the most recent poster in a thread, and once inside a thread itself where the user name and logged-in indicator usually go. Is something going wrong with the servers or something? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/2 "2016-03-28T04:18:19Z")
Everything’s working for me. Try a different browser and see if it’s something on your end. Also, when you say ‘forums’, you’re talking about around the Dope, right, not other sites? ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/3 "2016-03-28T13:18:58Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > I’ve been seeing a lot of “broken code” inside the thread listings on various forums, mainly in the titles, once or twice in the right column where it shows the most recent poster in a thread, and once inside a thread itself where the user name and logged-in indicator usually go. Is something going wrong with the servers or something? I’ve been seeing some weird stuff like that too just recently. For me it’s mostly been thread titles on a forum page that I’ve noticed. I’ve seen lots of text as part of the title - looks like what should be the mouse-over displayed as non-linked text with the title and titles split onto two or more lines that could have easily fit on one line. Re-starting IE (don’t judge) and clearing the browser history seems to work for me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/4 "2016-03-28T13:56:34Z")
Once in awhile I will get nonsense symbols (instead of text) inside posts, but if I refresh, they go away. I assumed it was a browser problem, but then I don’t see it on any site other than this one. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/5 "2016-03-30T03:09:18Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Everything’s working for me. Try a different browser and see if it’s something on your end. > Also, when you say ‘forums’, you’re talking about around the Dope, right, not other sites? Yep, just on here. Plus what **sich\_hinaufwinden** said is a much better description than my post. Except that I don’t keep a browser history (and I clear all the “secret” cookies and what-not every other day or so) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/6 "2016-03-30T04:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > _There is nothing wrong with your web browser. Do not attempt to adjust the view. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will **CHANGE IT TO ALL CAPS**. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the thread, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next few hours, sit quietly and we will control all that you read and understand . We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your browser. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – **The SDMB Limits**._ Probably network congestion. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-malfunctioning/750433/7 "2016-03-30T04:40:11Z")
I occasionally see the alt text for some of the images show up when the image doesn’t load for some reason. Is it stuff like “Sticky Thread” or “Go to first new post” and such? And do you use Adblock or otherwise disable Viglink? I could see bad code causing something like that. (I assume the regular ads run in iframes. But, if they don’t, they could cause similar problems, too.)