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So You Think Active Rain Is Broken.....

By
Real Estate Agent with Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com SAL.2002007747

BrokenSo You Think Active Rain Is Broken.....

Aaaaack!  I got up this morning and suddenly Active Rain didn't behave the way I thought it should!!  What do I do???

Well it's both complicated and simple at the same time.  Maybe it's you and maybe it's the Rain.  It's not like Active Rain never has performance issues, although personally our experience has been almost uninterrupted over the last months.  The Ruby Rails transformation and other behind the curtain tech magic seems to be doing the trick, BUT there is still the occasional glitch.

So back to what can you do (assuming the curtain display on the Home Page isn't up and telling you they're working on the site).

First, let's try to make sure it's Active Rain and not your PC.  Can you access other websites besides AR?  No?  Then go beat your modem senseless reset your Internet connection.  All better now? 

Okay, you can connect to other websites, but AR is still a no go. 

  • Try a different browser.  Go to IE, Firefox, or Chrome or Opera or whatever it is you Apple folks use, just try on a different browser.  Sometimes glitches are browser specific.
  • Maybe try clearing your cookies/cache/temporary Internet files for your browser.  Some old code may be acting wacky.
  • Check the Active Rain Facebook page.  Chances are someone will be commenting there if there's something widespread going on.

BrokenMaybe it's server specific and most other folks are okay.  That can happen, as far as I can figure, our server assignments don't necessarily work by geography or name.  Maybe a balance by workload/use?  I don't know.  Not a software/hardware geek, just a system user and abuser!  If it's a server issue, the key thing is getting a report in to Active Rain to let them know.  They can't fix a problem they don't know about.

Options:

  • Call 1-888-643-3837.  Now as you know, Active Rain isn't some mega company with 50 people in a Seattle call center and another 100 in Bangalore.  Limited staffing, so sorry but you're probably not going to catch a live human outside of semi-normal Pacific Standard Time operating hours.  They're NOT going to be there Christmas Day, the 4th of July, Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Post a comment on the Active Rain Facebook page we mentioned earlier, especially if Active Rain is completely down. 
  • Use the Feedback Contact Form (click the link, assuming this is a tech issue and not an uptime issue) 
  • Email Bob (Bob@ActiveRain.com) or Kerrie (Kerrie@ActiveRain.com).  They'll forward the issue to the right person if they can't fix it themselves. 
  • Try reaching out to some of your AR Friends.  They just may have the solution for you.

But BLiz, I did that and they didn't respond/fix my issue!!  Let's give them the benefit of the doubt.  Report your issue again (wait longer than 10 minutes though!).  I've never been behind that curtain, but I'm betting they get QUITE a few requests.  You've seen the REALTOR® ranks and you know some are VERY tech savvy, and others...well they're learning, everyone has to start somewhere.  So the AR Staff is daily dealing with the really complex issues all the way to the not so complex.  And they've got to keep on smiling the whole time!  Can't say I envy them that, do you??

One last piece of advice to save you some headache.  Don't rely on the Active Rain blog editor to compose your posts.  You're web connected and if the connection breaks, your hard work and literary masterpiece can go POOF at the same time your blood pressure goes BOOM!  Personally we're fans of Firefox's Scribefire add on.  But Google Docs, Word, etc. can serve the purpose.  Use whatever works for you and then bring it to AR and make your final tweaks.

UPDATE:  Another potential glitch people have with posting photos.  AR doesn't accept photos greater than 1 MB in size.  You won't get a "file too big" error message (at least you didn't use to), it just won't work.  Check your file size and use a resizing program (PixSizer, ipiccy.com, etc.).

And chances are if the site is down, it won't stay down all that long.  There are plenty of people that have posted daily for years, so obviously the opportunity is there.  And besides, does getting upset fix it any faster?  Take a proverbial chill pill and a couple of deep breaths, it'll be better soon!

Keep on Blogging,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz

Posted by

Serving Warren County Ohio & Adjacent Areas

The Liz Spear Team of Transaction Alliance
Elizabeth Spear, ABR, Ohio License SAL.2002007747

William (Bill) Spear, Ohio License SAL.2004011109  Kentucky 77938
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EHO
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Liz Direct: 513-265-3004     
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Comments (106)

Liz Wallace
Century 21 Sherlock Homes - Rockville Centre, NY
Broker C21 Sherlock Homes, Rockville Centre, LI, N

When AR is cranky I don't get cranky with it.  I just go and busy myself elsewhere.  No need for two cranks.

Jul 11, 2012 05:50 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Liz, There's just little value in getting hyped up about a little down time.  It happens, life goes on.

Jul 11, 2012 05:53 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Liz and Bill:

I am going to print your post and keep it in a safe place for my next problem with AR.  Thanks for spelling everything out so clearly.

Jul 11, 2012 06:40 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Evelyn, Always glad to help!

Jul 11, 2012 08:47 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Thanks for these tips and reminders, I had a night a month ago when it kept sending me to the ruby site, I just gave up and the next morning everything was working fine, sometimes you just have to be patient and things will work out fine.

Jul 11, 2012 09:33 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Bob, We know the AR Staff doesn't want the site glitching any more than we do.  It's bad for business and drives their stress levels up :)

Jul 11, 2012 09:41 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Hi Bill and Liz, I checked out your recommendation for Firefox's Scribefire  it seems like a great add on, is there a place on ar that gives tips on getting it to work with active rain?

Thanks

Bob

 

Jul 11, 2012 10:15 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Bob, It's basically independent from AR (like Google Docs).  Just open Scribefire, compose your post, have an AR editor draft window open, highlight what you want to bring over from Scribefire, Control C, then Paste in the AR editor.  Add pictures/graphics, links, etc. and you're pretty much good to go.  Another good thing is you don't have to have a live Internet connection to compose in Scribefire.

Jul 11, 2012 10:21 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Thanks, so this is pretty much like what I have been doing with Word, except that it gives me the option to send it to other blogs as well.

thanks for the tips.

Jul 11, 2012 10:53 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Bob, You're welcome!

Jul 11, 2012 11:07 AM
1~Judi Barrett
Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK
BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

Now that's good advice.. hopefully some that will be followed if the need be.

Jul 11, 2012 11:53 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Judi, Hopefully everything stays stable and there's no need :)

Jul 11, 2012 07:58 PM
Wayne Jackson
Lakeshore Realty 208-714-4109 - Hayden, ID
North Idaho Realtor, Serving Coeur dnullAlene and Hayden Lake

Thanks for all the good advide Bliz. I find it very useful and I have finially subscribed.

Jul 15, 2012 01:31 PM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Wayne, Thanks for adding us!

Jul 15, 2012 08:07 PM
John Juarez
The Medford Real Estate Team - Fremont, CA
ePRO, SRES, GRI, PMN

I have been staring at the Active Rain Intermission curtain for several days. I was mystified since it looked like others were logged on to Active Rain since I was getting daily feeds and comments in my email. I finally tried a different browser and logged right in. No problem!!!

The problem was with my Internet Explorer. I uncheck a check mark that I was not sure of in the Tools Menu and now IE works! Not sure if that was really the answer but not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Stupid computer!

Aug 10, 2012 07:14 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

John, Those little check marks can make or break your day :)  Glad you're back up and running again!

Aug 10, 2012 07:19 AM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

Lots of good advice.  Most of the time, rebooting or changing browsers fixes the issue!

Aug 11, 2012 11:45 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Joan, The interruptions for us have been pretty scarce lately, and we like it that way :)

Aug 11, 2012 11:54 AM
Rosie Crow
Serving Sugar Land, Richmond, Rosenberg, Missouri City - Sugar Land, TX
Exceeding Expectations. Delivering Results

Liz and Bill,

You are a LIFE SAVER!  I was having trouble logging in to my Active Rain account.  No matter what browser I used - Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer - I could not log in.  I couldn't type in my username and password in the boxes because part of the boxes were cut off. I could only log in to my account using my husband's computer and he uses Internet Explorer and it works perfectly.  

So, after unsuccessful attempts at troubleshooting based on advice I got from computer geeks online, I decided to go on Active Rain to see if anyone else had issues. Sure enough, I came across your post. So, I downloaded Opera! I never heard of it before. And lo and behold, I can LOG IN TO MY ACTIVE RAIN ACCOUNT!!!  This is the only browser that works with Active Rain on my computer!

I was about to let this ruin my day, but you turned my frown upside down. (I'd hate to use my husband's computer to post AR blogs and upload photos).  I am an independent person, you know!! :-)

 

Thanks a lot!!!

May 05, 2013 01:47 AM
Liz and Bill Spear
Transaction Alliance 513.520.5305 www.LizTour.com - Mason, OH
Transaction Alliance Cincinnati & Dayton suburbs

Rosie, Glad we could help!  They always say blog posts don't die, and here you are finding something to help almost 10 months after posting! 

I haven't heard of your particular issue before, but there are so many combos of browser, main operating system, Java settings and so much more that sometimes I consider it a minor miracle that we can do anything at all :)

May 05, 2013 01:53 AM