So, I really need to go back and delete archived mail that isn't important, don't I?

Wow, you do have quite a bit of mail piled up, don't you? =) In the grand scheme of themes, your mail doesn't rate very high in taking up disk space. The disk space is primarily filling up because of the photos being uploaded into the photo gallery. One photo will take up more space than hundreds of AQ mail.

Speaking of AQ mail, though, that tweak I was working on that caused My Page to break temporarily yesterday was actually related to AQ mail. Almost all of the code to list letterboxes was completely rewritten, so I started adding one of each type of box just to make sure they were all still working. When I tried to add a virtual box, the site timed out. It would run for a couple of minutes, doing nothing, then display an error message saying the script had timed out.

"Hmmm...." I thought. "That's not good."

So I dug in to find out what went wrong, and there was one query in particular that caused the problem. The query checked everyone who received a notification of the new box, but then needed to be notified they received new AQ mail at their real e-mail address as well. Not AQ mail forwarded--but just a notification that there's new AQ mail.

But one person in the list of notifications had 3,866 messages in their inbox! Holy jumpin' junipers! AQ only sends the e-mail if there's one new message--the one that was just sent--so it would count EVERY SINGLE new message in the inbox and if there was a total of one, send the e-mail. It takes a while for AQ to count to 3866 just to figure out, yes, there's more than 1. =) In fact, it was taking about 10 seconds for it to run.

Then I started checking other people that AQ was checking to see if they needed an e-mail, and I found a second person with over 3,000 AQ mails. And then a third person. There were quite a few them.

So then I got curious--who has the most of all? I won't name names, but one person was the proud recipient of over thirteen thousand AQ mails! Holy freaking!

The thing is, AQ was never designed to handle such enormous quantities of AQ mail. (I have a measly 333 in my own inbox and archives.)

When I tried to log into that account with 3866 messages, AQ took about half a minute to log in, just counting how many new messages they had so it could display that note at the top: "You have 3866 new letters!" On the live site, I don't think it would take THAT long to count up the messages since the indexes were already loaded, but it's not exactly what I would call fast or efficient.

And my concern was--the code that does all this counting--it's the exact same code that's running on the live site. What happens when someone tries to add a virtual box? Does AQ time out while it tries to count up tens of thousands of AQ mail to figure out who needs an e-mail notifying them of new AQ mail? What about these people with thousands of messages in their inbox? Does the site pause for several seconds every time to view a new page because AQ is busy counting the number of messages they have? Heck, My Page itself doesn't even display very well when it tries to display over 3,000 new messages! On my dial-up connection, it takes a LONG time to download the page as well.

And even worse, these problems were on the live site--RIGHT NOW! That was intolerable, so I tweaked things to fix the problem.

My Page will no only show a maximum of 50 new messages. Additionally, it'll only count a maximum of 50 new messages--beyond that, it'll just say, "You have LOTS of new letters!" and not give a precise number. As for the e-mail notifying someone of new mail, I changed the query so it'll count a maximum of two new messages and quit since by then, I already know I no longer have to send the e-mail.

All-in-all, those changes should make things run significantly faster for people who have thousands of AQ mail messages sitting around. =)

To make a long story short.... I'm wondering if you have enough mail in your inbox and archives that you've noticed an improvement in how AQ runs? =) Those who didn't have a lot of mail wouldn't have noticed a difference (unless they added a virtual box), but for those who do have lots of mail, I'd image the site is running a heck of a lot faster since my update yesterday morning.

-- Ryan

No. In the big picture, some archived email is nothing.

Other than clues, I suspect the "growth" is the message boards, which do NOT delete old messages automatically like the mail does.

Strictly speaking, that's not entirely true. AQ mail does get deleted so it doesn't pile up as fast it otherwise could, but there's a FREAKISHLY large number of them being sent! =)

If you want to know some stats about the database and its various components, I'll tell you. As of THIS minute, the database is 602.3 MB in size.

• The list of all of city names that AQ supports takes up 14.7 MB
• The list of all cities supported by AQ takes up 34.5 MB
• The cached clues take up 93.2 MB
• AQ hosted clues take up 28.8 MB
• Found boxes take up 42.7 MB (Individual finds don't take up much space, but there are over half a million of them listed on AQ now!)
• A record of all logins takes up 58.8 MB (Individual logins don't take up much space, but there over ONE MILLION of them recorded now.)
• The content of AQ mail (the text message itself) takes up 93.8 MB
• Information about who each message goes to and its status takes up 18.6 MB
• Message board posts take up 133.9 MB

Those are all the major things that take up space in the database. All the other database tables are typically one megabyte or less, but the AQ mail system does take up about 110 MB of the 600 MB being used, so it's definitely a significant player. Those three logins EVERY SINGLE DAY are also a significant contributor. ;o)

I don't actually need all that data about login information. Just the last two or three months of data would likely be more than sufficient for my needs (which is to keep track of what IP addresses people use, so if I ever have to block someone for some reason, I have a list of all IP addresse they've used). But I kind of like having it pile up and filling the database. If there's ever a strain on the database, I'd have nearly 60 megabytes of data I could delete in a heartbeat with no loss of functionality on the site to help ease the strain. I kind of use it as a stress test of sorts. I could delete that information, then have a month or so to fix the problem before the database grows to that size again. So that's the main reason I haven't deleted most of the login information.

-- Ryan

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I think it's safe to say that in this instance, we are above average. We're on AQ way more than three times a day. *smile*

Me too way, way more lol !

I must say, all the explanations are very interesting. It is sort of like being allowed to have a poke around inside someone during an operation. Poor AQ seems to have a little indigestion now and again.

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The disk space is primarily filling up because of the photos being uploaded into the photo gallery.

Actually I have wondered about that myself, I know how quickly my own hard disk fills up with photographs. I love the photo gallery, but I imagine you might one day have to put some restrictions on it. I must say I particularly like to see a photo on the clue pages, even when there is nothing relevant to the clue. It just makes it look so nice.

YT

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The typical person on this site checks it out three times EVERY SINGLE DAY!

I think it's safe to say that in this instance, we are above average. We're on AQ way more than three times a day. *smile*

I have AQ on all day, everyday. I CAN'T GET AWAY FROM IT!! I rarely log off and I am actually booted off eventually. I recheck my page almost 20 times a day . . . I am seriously not kidding here . . . I need to chill out on it though. I can't get my homework done because I am so distracted.

♥ Lady Lilac

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which is to keep track of what IP addresses people use, so if I ever have to block someone for some reason

And that is another thing that I have wondered about (since you are so bored :-)

My Firewall says it will hide my IP address. It don't know that it does what it says on the tin but supposing it does, how would this affect you? If I misbehaved and you suddenly took an intense dislike to me would you be able to find my IP address to kick me out? What about programs that randomize IP addresses?

YT

My Firewall says it will hide my IP address. It don't know that it does what it says on the tin but supposing it does, how would this affect you?

Not a whole terribly lot. I just looked up the IP addresses you've used, and they ARE different every time you log in, but the "main" part of the address doesn't change. IP addresses generally look like something like 123.123.123.123, but yours will vary slightly so you might use 123.123.82.52, 123.123.12.63, 123.123.211.122, etc, etc.

Even though the IP address changes, I can still identify you from the first couple of numbers.

Now if there were a lot of people using the same ISP as you, there could be some overlap with those "shared" IP addresses, and I wouldn't be able to ban your IP address without inadvertantly banning everyone else that uses the same ISP.

Usually when I see something like that, it's probably because they're on dial-up connections. That's what my IP addresses look like--the first couple of numbers are always the same, but the last couple change every time I log in.

Despite the "hidden" IP addresses, though, there's still a recognizable pattern in them that can give you away. ;o)

-- Ryan

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So then I got curious--who has the most of all? I won't name names, but one person was the proud recipient of over thirteen thousand AQ mails! Holy freaking!

so...is it you Lady Lilac????

No, I think it just might be you Green Tortuga.

That is a LOT of emails.
Now I actually sit down and look at AQ a couple of times a day. There are many times I jsut 'flip'
in to peek.

This is such an awesome community.
Thank you Ryan!

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so...is it you Lady Lilac????

Nope! Not me. I rarely get AQ mail. I just view my page half a million times a day.

♥ Lady Lilac

We're on AQ way more than three times a day. *smile*
I am too!
yikes!

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The typical person on this site checks it out three times EVERY SINGLE DAY! Yowers! You guys are almost as bad as I am. ;o)

So does that mean that every time I hit the "My Page" link at the top of the page I create another login instance? I'm like Lady Lilac—AQ is one of many tabs I keep open in Firefox and I refresh it at least once an hour. I don't want to be guilty of contributing to database bloat, but I might go through withdrawal DTs if I tried to cut back....

-AG

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So does that mean that every time I hit the "My Page" link at the top of the page I create another login instance?

You know, I was wondering the same thing. Is that a login? Or do you have to logout and login again? It would be interesting to know . . .

♥ Lady Lilac *who clicks My Page multiple times an hour . . . *

That would be helpful info Ryan.
Thanks

So does that mean that every time I hit the "My Page" link at the top of the page I create another login instance?

It might be a login. Depends if you keep your browser open all the time, and how long you stop using it between breaks. If you manually log out, you have to manually log in. If you don't manually log out, AQ will keep your session active for up to eight hours before it assumes you left and logs you out automatically, and clicking on the My Page tab will log you in again.

So it'll be a new login IF: You haven't used AQ for at least eight hours OR you close your browser and restart it. If you check out AQ, go for lunch but leave your browser window open and come back an hour later then go back to AQ, it won't count as a new login.

If you closed your browser before going to lunch, it would be a new login when you come back. If you get sick and don't get back to work until the next day, it'll count as a new login.

-- Ryan

Well then I guess I actually log in about two or three times a day. I'm a My Page button clicker.

♥ Lady Lilac

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I'm a My Page button clicker.

Me thinks that NOT telling Mark Foley about this would be well-advised....

pre

is that eight hours from the first time you click it, or eight hours from the most recent click? because if it's from the most recent click, I probably have one login per day... :-) I live here, and probably go no longer than half an hour between my page clicks

nw

is that eight hours from the first time you click it, or eight hours from the most recent click?

Eight hours from the last page--any page on Atlas Quest-- that you viewed.

-- Ryan

So then I got curious--who has the most of all? I won't name names, but one person was the proud recipient of over thirteen thousand AQ mails! Holy freaking!

Alright Mr. GT, I have to ask, Is it me? I have over 1400 vlbs and I get about 500 emails a day. I never check aq mail cuz it's forwarded to my yahoo account. When this thread started the other day just for the heck of it I opened my AQ mail and there were like 25 pages of messages. I wiped them out cuz of what was said about emails taking up space. So anyway, was it me?

-HG (who's thinking that if it is her, than I need to get into a 12 step.)

Alright Mr. GT, I have to ask, Is it me? I have over 1400 vlbs and I get about 500 emails a day.

Well, since you mention it, yes, it was you. =) Don't worry about deleting the messages, though. I noticed they were all old messages (since they were being forwarded to your real e-mail address) and AQ will automatically delete them after about a month anyhow. It's not like you're saving over 13,000 messages!

I was rather staggered at the amount of mail you receive. I don't know how you can possibly keep up with that much. If you haven't already, you might consider turning off notifications of new find reports which would eliminate the vast majority of the AQ mail you do get. You'll still get notifications of find reports if they have a message attached--but all those empty virtual find reports would be a thing of the past. Assuming, of course, you don't actually read all of them in the first place. Five hundred e-mail a day is a lot to keep up with!

-- Ryan

I wish there were a way to turn off find reports for virtuals (except when there's a comment) without turning off find reports for traditional boxes.

DebBee

GT said:
If you haven't already, you might consider turning off notifications of new find reports which would eliminate the vast majority of the AQ mail you do get. You'll still get notifications of find reports if they have a message attached--but all those empty virtual find reports would be a thing of the past. Assuming, of course, you don't actually read all of them in the first place.
I say:
I don't exactly read all the find notices for VLBs but I more or less just check out who finds what kind of boxes, which are solved the most. So I guess I use those notices for research to see what topics people like to solve, whether they like the singles or the harder ones where you solve the clues then fill in certain letters. With 3 kids and a man who's like a child(most of the time, though he does go to work) I have to keep track of some kind of useful info. Gotta keep the mind sharp. :)

-HG( who's off to yahoo to check up on 'research')