Forum:Disappearing images

The problem with images not appearing is a known issue and is being worked on, but it won't hurt to use Special:Contact on any wiki where you're seeing the problem to give Wikia staff an increased sense of urgency. If they were better at PR, they would have created a staff blog to address this specific issue. I've request a separate blog post here. -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 4:19 PM PST 7 Aug 2010

As of now, most of my images aren't showing up either on pages or in the Images category. Any info or fix appreciated.

We hope 21:12, August 1, 2010 (UTC) Canine Diabetes Wiki


 * Is this still happening? -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 3:19 PM PST 2 Aug 2010

Yep--it never got solved. As of now, most of my images are MIA :-(

We hope 16:46, August 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * Got the same issue over at OgreLair.org Wiki. Is there a backup going on or something else taxing to the servers? 17:25, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

I just put up a Site Notice at my wiki so everyone who reads there will know it's not them; you might want to do the same thing at yours.

We hope 17:31, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

Happening on the Cyber Nations Wiki as well, seems to be random for the most part; one day an image is there, the next it isn't, and it's back in another. ~Azu-nyan - 19:35, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

May as well put in my report too. Happening at InfoDepot Wiki too.WifiShadow 19:53, August 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * I just received e-mail from Wikia re: the problem and they are working on repairing the servers causing this to happen.

We hope 20:00, August 4, 2010 (UTC)


 * There's a known problem at the moment with image serving and Wikia's working to fix it as soon as they can. Just stay patient and it should all be over soon :) Joey (talk) 20:02, August 4, 2010 (UTC)

Thanks to all who worked on it. It working again.WifiShadow 10:25, August 5, 2010 (UTC)

Here we go again - Disappearing images - Take 2
It's happening again at InfoDepot Wiki WifiShadow 23:57, August 6, 2010 (UTC)


 * Looks like it - mine are also taking ages / not showing or no thumbnail again on loading then not displaying in article - BulldozerD11 00:30, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * We're adding more servers to help spread the load around and speed them up. --Uberfuzzy 00:52, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * I am having the same problems. Thanks for trying to fix this, I was on wikipedia for 5 years before this, although the people are nicer here, there are a lot more technical problems constantly :( I guess that is the price you pay for a little bit more freedom. Anno1404 01:17, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Aye, we're experiencing this at Zeldapedia, MySims, Dead Rising and I Am Alive Wikis! Hope it'll be taken care of soon. --Mistertrouble189 08:26, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Is there some kind of timeline or status update? WifiShadow 11:32, August 7, 2010 (UTC)

The problem starts to become annoying. Pictures that got a new thumbnail before the newest problem are fine, but the ones that didn't are a huge problem. It's also a huge problem at the Codex of Editable Wisdom, where many of the articles now have broken thumbnails.

I really hope they manage to fix this.--Tribun 13:01, August 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * I have a Site Notice up at Canine Diabetes Wiki. If you click the blank or empty spot where the image is normally displayed, the image can be viewed. This is what I've included in the Site Notice for Canine Diabetes Wiki.

We hope 13:45, August 7, 2010 (UTC)


 * That's does do any good when a page depends on the thumbnail size to display properly. Looks like I will be trying to learn some fixed width techniques. WifiShadow 14:29, August 7, 2010 (UTC)

Do we know if newly uploaded images will work once the issues have been resolved or will they need to be re-uploaded? I've got a lot of stuff needs putting on the WikiGardener site. Thanks. OllieMartin 17:27, August 7, 2010 (UTC)

Site Notice

 * moved to Forum:Sitenotice questions and issues

Just to let you know it is also happening on Shining.wikia.com. Thank you for your help!

I'm having the same problems at Multiversal Fanon Nyaru 16:15, August 7, 2010 (UTC)

Staff Blogs and issues
While we're at it, it should have been noted in the staff blogs that Wikia was addressing the issue at hand. I thought I was the one with the issues til I read this thread. That is what a good blog should address, and yes that is much better PR than to act like there isn't a problem, and then once again talk about another new feature/equipment update. Don't act like there isn't a problem, be honest and forthcoming with the user/editors. I'm usually a pretty happy, almost fanboy of Wikia, but these last few days can wear thin. Be honest with us, Wikia! Devilmanozzy (Talk Page)  23:39, August 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't see how not mentioning an issue on the staff blog (which is meant to be for new feature announcements) is pretending there isn't a problem. Wikia haven't been hiding the issue -- Random Time  02:04, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * "(new feature announcements)"....If its nothing more than a ad, well why read it? They want people to care, they should address issues. It is one thing if its a little issue, but right now a good part of wikia is seeing this pretty badly. It makes editors work look bad. If wikia wants to keep people, and grow then they need to find a way to address the concerns of all they editors. Devilmanozzy  (Talk Page)  03:01, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * They address issues in special:contact, here in the forums and on IRC. They've chosen to use the staff blogs for feature announcements, I don't see how dealing with the issues in a different place is bad. Rest assured that they are working on it, their bottom line depends on visits and contributions, and they know it as much as you do. Server issues and coding issues happen, they are sorting it. -- Random Time  03:31, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * Wikia may have chosen not to address this image problem in the staff blog, but I think what Devilmanozzy is try to say is that this was a bad choice. And I agree. Special:Contact is a good mechanism to deal with individual wiki problems, but a very poor mechanism for dealing with and communicating about Wikia-wide problems.
 * Randomtime, your defense of Wikia is weak and, to be honest, somewhat puzzling. -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 11:13 PM PST 8 Aug 2010

Virus?: Take 3

 * The original history is at Virus?

I get the last time many virus and it's from Wiki. So could that because of the images not working? I get more then 13 virus and my sister is only watching music sites.--Station7 21:25, August 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * I doubt that the virus is from Wikia, there is a separate issue with images not working. Why do you think the virus is from Wikia? -- Random Time  21:37, August 8, 2010 (UTC)

Not be hard, but nearly every time I come on Prison Break Wiki and copy a name for a template and then it's doing really for 2 seconds. Every Time I do that, my computer makes really moves. Today we got already 20 virus. I'm not an expert, but I think it's related to the images thing. Since the images doesn't really working on Wiki's, which they first did, my computer get's more virus then before.--Station7 21:51, August 8, 2010 (UTC)


 * It's not a virus. Comment here. -- Jeffwang16  (Talk)   (Contributions)   (Email me!)  21:56, August 8, 2010 (UTC)

Report virus procedure
If you really think this is a virus, which we doubt, go to Special:Contact and make sure you tell them all the details, including which wiki it came from, what it said, etc. -- Jeffwang16  (Talk)   (Contributions)   (Email me!)  21:40, August 8, 2010 (UTC)

Naming issue
Part of the disappearing images issue appears to relate to naming of the files using certain characters. As some files i recently uploaded showed up and others 'vanished'. If the name uses a / or a ? they will not display now were as in the past they did !! They can be recovered by renaming them (if you can track them down) and move them then rename all the links very tedious !!! This has only happen since the recent upgrade so something must have changed with the file handling to disallow certain characters, as they now break the links like in dome page names they caused problems.

Does any body know a fix to save having to find every broken image by looking on pages for the blank space s you do not get a 'red' link and then use search to get to its description page to move it + then fix all instances on pages with the new name using what links here ? - BulldozerD11 00:27, August 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * Please link to some examples. -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 10:08 PM PST 11 Aug 2010


 * Heres one not showing on the image page - here (but is in the article in this case others I renamed (moved) were not showing in the article 'Field Marshall' yesterday before the update to the names (in the PML table))


 * Another usng / this time image page and Article 1 here, 2 here and 3rd here


 * a 3rd example Here used in this table (near bottom - reg no WUO 701K)


 * All worked when uploaded originally - BulldozerD11 23:58, August 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well, all those images appear to use characters that would confuse a parser like ?, /, and :. You could try renaming them and see if that helps. -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 7:14 PM PST 12 Aug 2010


 * That was the point of the post Fandyllic, they now appear to be a problem were as originally they were fine !! and this may be the problem others are having with some of their images. Yes I know the solution is to rename them (As stated earlier). Finding them is a pain as in the tables you do nor get the dead link that some 'broken images' gave, just a blank cell. I originally filled cells with a place holder image, or a note "To add" were i knew i had an image to use that needed uploading later, but as others add rows they just leave a blank cell, instead of copy and pasting a full blank row, making them harder to spot. The use of a / was an early error that I stopped doing when i found it created sub pages in titles, but it is commonly used in serial numbers so is logicality used when naming a item with its serial number, to follow the real numbers layout. The ? was used as a place holder were items were missing the serial number with the intention to replace it when identified with the actual number.


 * The FACT IS they worked OK for nearly 2 years now they DO NOT ! (I recently explained to a user they were a problem for page titles) I have now realised they are also one for File (image) titles using certain characters which MAY BE part of the problem for other Wikis experiencing disappearing images rather than the server glitches in some cases !! so added it here to Inform others of the Issue and see if anybody knew a solution other than the renaming of the files after tracking them down manually (usually when a broken images is seen on a page) - BulldozerD11 10:54, August 13, 2010 (UTC)


 * Images with a slash in their name are often problematic, since a slash in a UNIX filesystem means a directory, and that could lead to troubles with permissions, generating thumbnails, etc. If they are really problematic, Wikia or MediaWiki should prevent those files to be uploaded or renamed. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 11:15, August 13, 2010 (UTC)


 * Okay, let me be clear. Just because those images worked before doesn't mean they were okay. It was probably a bug that they were allowed to be uploaded that way, because they would likely cause problems int he future. There is no need to put strange characters in image names. As Ciencia Al Poder suggested, Wikia or MediaWiki should prevent those files to be uploaded or renamed (with bad characters). -- Fandyllic  (talk &middot; contr) 10:14 AM PST 13 Aug 2010