MachForm Community Forums » MachForm 3

1. adrianic
   Member

   I am a bit worried about this issue that has happened twice so far. I was testing out the form, and after filling out all the fields, testing out the save and resume function, and using the file upload for some medium sized files, I get the generic "connection timed out" error with the "try again" button.

   What could be causing this? I thought at first it was files too big, so I set up my form to have the files upload as soon as they select them. I also turned off re-captcha.

   Has anyone had this issue before? May it be a server issue? The server we use is dedicated (I believe) and MachForm has it's own separate database. I really need to fix this ASAP otherwise it seems MachForm may not be reliable enough to use (we are using it as a content collection form for our business, if even 10% of clients get the "timed out" error, we can't afford to use it as clients feel its a hassle when they get timed out).

   Posted 12 years ago #

2. jhinkle
   Member

   Try using firebug or chrome developer tools to get a better idea of where it is timing out. Also ... try just creating a test form with like 1 field and nothing else (no emailing, no file uploads) to see if that works with no issues. Then add more complex things to it to see what makes it time out.

   Posted 12 years ago #

3. adrianic
   Member

   Thanks for responding! Honestly I don't know if I know enough about debugging to figure it out using developers tools. Say for example, I want to test it out with Chrome Developer Tools. I go to my form, I start filling it out, and what am I looking for exactly? The "Network" tab to see if anything is taking too long to load? Or the "Scripts" tab to see if anything crashes?

   In general, I was curious if other people have had this issue with MachForm before, and what they did (if anything) to fix it. Or if it works perfectly on your host, maybe you can tell me what host and configuration you use.

   Posted 12 years ago #

4. jhinkle
   Member

   Yes, the Network tab will give you an idea of what file is taking a long time to execute. My 2nd suggestion would probably be easier and pinpoint the problem faster though.

   Posted 12 years ago #

5. adrianic
   Member

   The thing is, our form has about 28 fields, three of which are document uploads (two image uploads, one PDF/DOC upload). It would take forever to test it field by field (adding 1 field, submitting it, adding another field, submitting it again), and even then what we find out wouldn't be conclusive, because if it's a server issue that wouldn't show (as in, our server blows and drops the connection).

   So I take it nobody else has had this problem before? I think the plan is, test it out with a limited amount of people (say, 20 content submitters) and see their results/complaints. Other than that, firebug or chrome developer tools might helps, but I'm still not sure what to look for exactly.

   Thanks for your help!

   Posted 12 years ago #

6. DaveVoss
   Member

   Adrianci, Jhinkle's second diagnostic still seems sound and doesn't require special skills, just patience. Does the form time out EVERY time with the same data? If the error is persistent with a given set of data, you can start with a copy of your form, delete half the fields and then you'll learn in which set of fields the problem lies. Take the bad half and cut IT in half, test, etc. Now 5 sets of tests, not 28, should yield some info, if indeed the problem lies with a specific field. Dave.

   Posted 12 years ago #

7. adrianic
   Member

   Dave, great suggestion, thanks! I'll try that, seems simpler than doing one field at a time. The tricky part is, it only happens 1 in 10 times, or less, so even then the "test" might not yield results.

   Does MachForm (or PHP/MySQL) have a time-out function? Say my form has 2 pages, they enter everything in page 1, they get to page 2 and work on it for 30 min, but don't submit it until an hour later. Does MachForm or any of the technologies it uses time people out for inactivity?

   I'll still try Dave's test, for completeness sake, just gathering as much information as I can to make an educated decision.

   Posted 12 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.