# Straight dope slows **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 2, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698 "2003-05-02T18:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/1 "2003-05-02T18:54:32Z")
Does this message board freeze up and get very slow at certain times of the day or is this a frequent occurrance:( 😕 when I click on “submit” my post nothing happens sometimes if I wait long enough it will post, but sometimes not. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/2 "2003-05-02T19:02:53Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, Rhino. One reason was discussed [in this earlier thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=178265) There’s a back-up overnight for about 40 minutes that shuts everything down, but apart from that, it’s just down to spikes in poster numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/3 "2003-05-02T19:39:42Z")
Hey thanks, Ice Wolf. I will go to your link after I post this The too slow to wait happened yesterday (my first day in SD…about late afternoon Pacific Standard Time. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/4 "2003-05-02T19:57:50Z")
It _does_ happen quite a bit, **Rhino** (and a lot of threads start up about it! ;)) Me, I just click, wait for th’ blue bar to sloowlly inch across, go somewhere else for a bit, then maximise the window and … “Oh, goody! It’s through! Hooray!” Can be quite character-building, in a way. 🙂 [This from the FAQs at the head of this forum:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=103503) > [@](#): > > **More details on board speed/performance.** > > Q: Why would the server be slow even during the middle of the night (continental USA time), when hardly anybody in the USA would be on? > A: Doing a large search can cause everyone to have to wait. So if you have only a few people, each doing a large search, that can slow down all the other users. > > Q: Could it be slow because of board maintenance? > A: Usually board maintenance is at the same time every night - from 03:30 to about 04:15 (Chicago, Illinois, USA time) the database is locked down so that we can capture a consistent backup. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/5 "2003-05-02T20:41:52Z")
Well, does that time of 3:30 Chicago mean 3:30 PM or AM–? And, is there a search engine conneded with SD,or what does it mean “doing a large search”? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/6 "2003-05-03T00:30:11Z")
Its 3:30 am Chicago time. To search the SDMB database for past threads and posts, click on the word “search” at the top of the page. This will allow you to find whichever thread you are looking for. The search feature can be a little wonky, so the better you know what your looking for, and the more precise you can be, the better. “Doing a large search” refers to when a SD user asks the server to search a large section of the database (all forums) or for a word with a lot of hits (for example, searching all cases of "christian\*"in Great Debates or finding all of **handyś** posts 😃 ). Since this server is already operating at max capacity (and upgrades really arent an option), a search slows it down, resulting in other users having trouble accessing the site - likely the source of your problem in your opening post. Also, there are sometimes just too many people here - this place is really addictive! Welcome to the boards! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/7 "2003-05-03T00:32:43Z")
Oh, and if you really want to do a lot of searches, especially for not-so-recent threads, I recommend you try [www.boardreader.com](http://www.boardreader.com), which will search its cached version of threads without asking anything of the SD server itself. When you enter a search term, just enter “sdmb” along with them to get hits from only the Straight Dope. Actually reading the threads, however, will result in server usage, as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/8 "2003-05-03T02:42:33Z")
There’s a guideline around here you might need to know too, **Rhino** , in that it’s best if you don’t post a reply, or “resurrect” a thread older than about three months. If you see an old thread that you’d like to add a comment to, start a new one and then link back to the old thread. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/9 "2003-05-03T04:30:37Z")
WEll, Ice wolf and mnemosyne. I don’t think I want to use that search thing I have just figured out that one scrolls down a thrread to read all the follow ups. HOWEVER , BE CAREFUL . I was reading a thread and some poster had a link to what looked like a piece of info. I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE I clicked on it and got one of those" you made an illegal function" and my computer was shut down and I had trouble getting rebooted. Don’t know if this has happend to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/10 "2003-05-03T04:50:06Z")
Just curious, but do you already [know somebody here?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=30683) Happy ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/11 "2003-05-03T16:33:48Z")
I don’t tend to use the search function myself, either. Some people do, some people don’t. As for the "illegal function"error you received - I’m tempted to say that is more a problem with your own computer than with the link you clicked on - I’ve never had something like that happen to me. If you’re worried about clicking on **Happyś** link, it goes to the user info of a poster here called **Rhino’s Honey**. I wondered the same thing when I saw your name - do you know her? Another little piece of advice - when you type in the “Your Reply” box, or if you click on "post reply"and reply from there, you don’t have to hit enter at the end of every line. Your writing will wrap around to the next line automatically, and when you submit, it will fill up the box with your post. Twleve posts in three days - I can see you’re well on your way to addiction like we are! ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/12 "2003-05-03T16:56:54Z")
12 from 1766—= 1752 . I see are somewhat ahead of me in posts ! Re. Rhino’s Honey… It was a strange coincidence. The very first day I found SDMB and posted someone replied with " Are you Rhino’s honey" and I didn’t know what they were talking about then by accident in some thread about cooking for yourself I saw her name !! I posted to her but did not get a reply. ---
**Author:** ![Rhino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a5b964/32.png) [@Rhino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhino)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/13 "2003-05-03T17:00:54Z")
mnemosyne that is interesting name . Is it a Greek god or goddess? ? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-dope-slows/172698/14 "2003-05-03T20:00:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rhino \* > \*\*12 from 1766—= 1752 . > I see are somewhat ahead of me in posts ! > > Re. Rhino’s Honey… It was a strange coincidence. > The very first day I found SDMB and posted > someone replied with " Are you Rhino’s honey" > and I didn’t know what they were talking about > then by accident in some thread about cooking > for yourself I saw her name !! > I posted to her but did not get a reply. \*\* She _did_ reply to you, a bit further down in that thread, **Rhino** – but she didn’t go too much into it, I’d say, because it might have hijacked the thread topic. Heh – so, no, I don’t think you weren’t noticed! 🙂