Trying to compile a list of common things that have been known to go wrong, how to fix them, and where to report them. This post should be all you need to read unless you find another one and want it added.
General fixes.
- Check downforeveryoneorjustme.com, to see if the server is down. If it is, it's entirely on the wiki's end.
- Clear your cache: be aware, this will delete any files you have stored on your computer from flash and browser games and whatnot. On Firefox and Chrome (and perhaps some other browsers), pressing Shift-Control-R will reload the page while clearing the cache just for that page and the things embedded in the page. Much easier, and it doesn't disturb any of the other pages.
- Clear your cookies: be aware, this will log you out of all sites if you select a "delete all" order. Search for the TV Tropes cookie if your problem is only on TV Tropes.
- Try a different browser: Firefox, Opera, Chrome all of which are free. If the problem only occurs in one, there's something wrong with the browser, not the wiki or your internet.
- Restart your browser, then the computer if that doesn't work.
What's gone wrong?
Folders are screwed up.
There are several reasons for a screwed up folder system on the page.
- Coding screw up: somebody might have forgotten to close a folder somewhere, search for a [[folder:]] without a matching [[/folder]], add whichever is missing.
- Folders are too large: there's a hard limit to how much text can be in each folder, split them into smaller folders.
- JavaScript isn't enabled: If you have a script blocker like NoScript, it needs to allow tvtropes.org for folders to open and close.
Whole page is screwed up (no font, etc)
- Coding screw up: Failing to close a note eats everything afterward; a [[note]] or [[labelnote:]] without a matching [[/note]] or [[/labelnote]] (or with the wrong end tag) and fix it.
Search isn't working for me.
- If no results are displaying, make sure JavaScript is enabled for google.com, googleapis.com, and tvtropes.org.
- If all the results are blank wiki pages, you'll just have to scroll past since they're indexed by Google.
Images are messed up.
First question: is it just one page image, all the page images, or every graphic on the site?
- If it's just the one image, it's likely somebody messed up the coding. Find an image that works and use the working one as a guide on how to fix the broken one. Alternatively, check Text-Formatting Rules.
- If the image is "floating" off the edge or sticks out past the edge of the screen, somebody likely screwed up the pixel width in the coding note , if the text code says the image is larger than the code says, the image will float, which can be fixed by editing the numbers between the colons on the image coding to match.
- If the image is not loading on the page, the image may have been deleted or, if the name is really long, run afoul of the auto-hyphenator. This can generally be solved by reuploading the image with a shortened name (twenty characters is more than enough).
- If it's all the images, the static image hosting server may be down. Check Query Bugs to see if there's an active thread (if not, you can make one).
- If all the graphics are messed up on the site, you should clear your cache. If this doesn't work, it might be the static image hosting server getting drunk again.
Page won't save/edit.
- The page may be locked. The symbol for this is a gold padlock. Clicking it should take you to the Locked Pages page. If something that used to be there was cut, it will be automagically locked. See the Locked Pages for information on editing them. If you attempt to use the edit URL directly to modify a redirect, and get redirected instead, that's also caused by a lock.
- The page may be checked out by another troper. Checkouts last until (a) an edit is saved; (b) a different page is opened for editing; (c) 20 minutes have elapsed. If a page is checked out repeatedly by the same handle, report it on Ask The Tropers.
- You might be suspendednote or have stumbled onto an IP address associated with a known Troll or spammer. Check this thread if you think this might be the case.
- The page may be too large. Hard split the examples off of the page.
- Servers may be down. Check Query Bugs.
The subpage icons aren't showing up.
- If the subpage icons aren't showing up, it's probably because the page doesn't exist. Go the appropriate Namespace and make the page. Note: YMMV pages have to be fully capitalized to work properly.
- If the subpage icons still aren't showing up, check the page type, and make sure it is set to the correct one.
The page isn't indexing right.
- See How Indexing Works.
- If indexes show up multiple times at the bottom of a page: Do a null edit (edit with no changes) on the index page in question.
Can't log on.
- Delete your TV Tropes cookies and log back in. Here's how.
- You may have been suspendednote .
The custom title is messed up.
- Is it spitting out random gibberish? That's somebody submitting the custom title with a text screwup. Try to resubmit it.
- A custom title is propagating to the wrong page? Ask for an Wiki Word title.
The PM notification won't go away.
- Deleting the pm will take care of it. Copy and paste it and keep it somewhere else like your hard drive, or copy the PM and send it to yourself.
My link isn't working properly.
- External links: If your account is new, you can't post links to external sites. This is something put in place to fight spammers.
- External images: TV Tropes does not allow hotlinking of other sites images, you have to upload the image to the TV Tropes server using the "upload image" option under the "tools" menu.
- Wiki Word/blue links: If the Pot Hole isn't working, check on Text-Formatting Rules to see if you mis-typed the commands. Apostrophes and other non alphanumeric symbols do not work for links, use the plain text version of the title and ensure that you add a custom title.
- Single-word links: single word pages need a pair of curly bracketsnote to work properly.
- Page won't link (begins with numeric): due to coding restrictions, wiki words cannot begin with a numeric or other non-letter-based character. If it is part of the official title, use the written version of the numeric or symbol and custom title the numeric or symbol in.
Reporting bugs.
Do so on Query Bugs. Be sure to include the following information: IP address with issue, Browser w/ version number, OS (operating system), as well as any addons or other software you think might be causing a problem. Screen shots are also a plus.
Edited by wingedcatgirl on Mar 26th 2024 at 11:21:48 AM
Whoa, that's actually my problem too, only better explained. It might be an ad related issue, I think there might be some more info for that on the ad forum I was directed to.
"Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid."-John WayneReports of issues go in this forum, with advertisements having their own topic. This thread is not a general issues topic.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI try to edit my posts and I get a message saying I can't edit other people's posts
Cut off one head 2 more shall take it's place! Hail HydraBug, please check this thread.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanI am editing Hackbent and I'm adding the alive sprites in the page. I have only done Lutark's, Haeton's and Actaea's, but only Actaea's went right and its way too small. The other two I have matched up the number with the actual width of the thing, but it still doesn't appear right. What am I doing wrong?
edited 29th Jun '17 9:34:10 AM by Willbyr
It's not clear to me that there's anything wrong with the images on that page...
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Created a page (my first!) for Film/Destroyer. When I add it to trope pages as an example, a blue link is not created, despite using '' on either side. What am I doing wrong.
Two formats you could use:
I can't seem to upload avatars. I just created an account. What do I do? Other options are sticking.
Edited by A_Little_Fangirl on Jan 31st 2019 at 1:31:25 AM
I have a problem with following new threads, where they permanently show up as having new messages on my followed threads page, but won't go to the top, and when I visit those threads, it always takes me to the first post of that thread.
Optimism is a duty.Hey, so my header menu isn't opening up and I can't open any folders, notes, etc. on any page I go to.
Is there anything that can help fix this?
While editing a page, I'm noticing an odd formatting bug with numbers. Basically, I'm trying to write
1,000,000
and it comes out as
1,000, 000
with no real explanation.
I am trying to add this wmg but it doesn't seem to work.
[[WMG:Doctor Zachary and Doctor Finitevus will be merged into a Composite Character.]]
How can I fix this?
Nevermind Someone has fixed it.
Edited by neoamon on Aug 17th 2021 at 7:19:34 PM
"May your heart be your guiding key"I seem to have come across a situation at least once where the page exists but the wick doesn't appear properly when you click the "Related" tab for pages it links to. What's the situation here?
Edited by GrafVonTirol on Oct 1st 2021 at 5:59:02 AM
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (all editions) progress: 426/1089 (39.12%)I am trying to add a theory on the fire emblems heroes but it is not working right, how do I fix it?
This is what I type; [[WMG: The Curse Directive will be the forces that are fought in Book VI.]]
- Letizia and her subordinates will be evil counterparts to the order of heroes. Letizia will be the big bad.
This is how it came out;
Letizia and her subordinates will be evil counterparts to the order of heroes. Letizia will be the big bad.
"May your heart be your guiding key"Is there a typo somewhere that makes the "#" numbered list system go weird when it gets to 10? The 1 isn't a "1", looks more like an I or |.
EDIT: Ah, it only happens when it's put in a folder.
- one
- zwei
- trois
- quattre
- cinco
- roku
- liu
- fa
- no
- deus
- eleventy
- duodecimal
- Charlie Brown
Edited by megarockman on Jan 11th 2023 at 1:18:22 PM
Hi there, I hope I'm in the right place for it.
My search bar's been borked for a few days, with no end in sight; whenever I input anything in it, it just spins its wheels without end. I can get around it by just googling the relevant trope page, although it's less than ideal. However, what I can't get around is a new issue; I can't access neither my profile and relevant options (normally accessible from the list when you click your avie, it just adds "#header-menu" to my current https) nor the button in any post (to open a troper's avatar gallery or, more relevantly, edit posts; it gives me a similar suffix when clicking on it).
I've tried clearing cookies, clearing the cache from the forum main page per instructions from this thread, and another browser (Microsoft Edge). It gets even weirder though; when I'm logged out (which I can do by clearing cookies which is... unideal) I can access the search bar no problem (although I can't open the post button) - but the moment I do log in, that access is lost.
How do lizards fly?I can no longer summon the Holler Button, clicking on the 3 dots. I also cannot open a new thread in the Trope finder. No reaction at all.
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% ScandinavianThere's a typo in this: "Single word links: single word pages need a pair of to work properly."
Should say something about curly brackets, I believe?
Fixed that and a bunch of other things.
I updated the opening post because there were a lot of broken links due to namespace changes for policy pages, and some parts of the post used the discontinued hottip markup instead of the modern note tags, meaning the notes couldn't be viewed until now (resulting in the wonkiness mentioned in the post above this one).
Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 10th 2023 at 2:02:36 PM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.(Sorry if this is not the right place to post this or if there was an announcement about this elsewhere that I managed to miss)
I just noticed that all of my profile references seems to have been reset: my forum signature is gone, along with my timezone, location, relationship status, etc. I'm pretty sure I did not touch any of those.
I have no idea when this happened, I just noticed it today. It is not really a big deal since I can restore them quite easily, but I'm still curious why this happened.
Whatever your favourite work is, there is a Vocal Minority that considers it the Worst. Whatever. Ever!.I think it's just a cache or cookie issue. Clearing them might help. It happens to me sometimes.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure PurenessInteresting one: working on TLP, I have been able to successfully add submissions to proposed Tropes. With two recent submissions, I noted both had a single typo in them. Om opening up "Edit" so as to fix the error, the page just goes to a totally blank screen. I've never seen this happen before and I'm wondering if other users are having the same issue.
Male, early sixties, Cranky old fart, at least two decades behind. So you have been warned. Functionally illiterate in several languages.I've absolutely encountered that one. I thought I was alone, but nope. Glad to know I'm not.
Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
Okay, I don't think this is a bug but I don't know where else to ask help. I was scrolling down the Stripperific page, and then all the sudden it turned completely white. This has happened before with other pages, and it seems that just before the blanking a small bar with an X appears at the bottom of the browser, and clicking it prevents it from blanking. However, it's only there for a fraction of second and I never have time to click it. How do I prevent and/or fix this?
edited 7th Nov '15 3:40:08 AM by DeadlyAssassin
Children of Dievas - my webcomic about the Northern Crusades