Weird problem with a site just got weirder.

[Shaitan051]

I frequent a site called *redacted* (nsfw) and have done so for years. This site has a search function (and it's not through Google). For the past 3+ years that search function has not worked 90% of the time. You put in a phrase that should get 100s of results but get "No results found" most of the time. Searching for a single works still gets results. Putting in a really common phrase is how I check if the window of functionality is open. It has been like this for years and across 3 computers, 3 OS's, and multiple browsers. Here's where it gets weird:

I just accessed it with my 3ds on a whim and had no problems. I then tried accessing it simultaneously with my 3DS and 2 PCs, 3DS worked PCs didn't. Keep in mind I can access the site, this isn't a 404 thing. It's just the sites search function.

 

Why the hell would the sites search get results on my 3DS put not my PCs? Based on my very limited knowledge of how site coding works this is really really weird. I'm asking you guys because there aren't a lot of forums I frequent and the site itself has none.

Can anyone explain what the #$%& is going on?

 

 

*Staff edit* removed site link since it contains erotic or questionable content. - Vagrant0

Edited March 10, 2015 by Vagrant0

[Shaitan051]

Eh, was worth a shot.

[Vagrant0]

Going to need the brain bleach again... removed site name since it's not a site that is appropriate to link to due to the content.

 

On a less official note, I have two main guesses considering that the search function there worked for me.

 

First guess is that you have either a bugged cookie or have somehow blocked scripts from working on this site. Deleting internet history and deleting cookies related to this site might solve the problem. Otherwise you may want to look at your browser settings.

 

Second guess is that the site (or the archive sites it seems to query) may be blocking your ability to use the search function due to repeated attempts, or there may be something about your IP which has blocked this connection. The search function seems to connect to several other sites and pull data from them, so would naturally be something fairly intensive from the server resources standpoint. To prevent DDOSing or other hostile behavior, usually these kinds of sites have a timeout feature or will limit actions from the same IP silently.

 

 

In both cases, you should probably just take some time away from whatever flavor of erotic fiction gets your rocks off and try again later.

[Shaitan051]

Thank you for your suggestion. The thing is that it does work occasionally though.

Thisk the index, whatever that is, is somehow related because the search is working again and it says it was "reindexed" yesterday.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Shaitan051