Compound2632
Member
It has been noticed that the indexes to Model Railway Journal, British Railway Journal, and Great Western Rsilway Journal are currently not available - only the page headers appear.
Journal indexes
- Thread starter Compound2632
- Start date
John57sharp
Western Thunderer
Model Railway Journal Index
Model Railway Journal - fully searchable online index.
For example
daifly
Western Thunderer
Not this one then?
www.gwrjournal.com
For example!
Dave
Great Western Railway Journal Index
Great Western Railway Journal - fully searchable online index.
Dave
adrian
Flying Squad
Both style of urls point to the same database area. I host the web pages and urls on the same hosting as WT and ChrisB was maintaining the database. However he was struggling to maintain with other commitments so handed over the reigns.
Thanks for letting me know and I'll chase up a few things this evening to figure out why they aren't available.
Regards
Adrian
Thanks for letting me know and I'll chase up a few things this evening to figure out why they aren't available.
Regards
Adrian
John57sharp
Western Thunderer
Thanks Adrian
adrian
Flying Squad
Fingers crossed they are back working again. If someone could check and confirm for me.
It transpires that recent hosting server updates updated also "helpfully" updated the software versions (for the tech nerds php 7.4) unfortunately the database connect function used in the indices has been removed from the new software version. Fortunately I can roll back to the older software version and it seems to have "fixed" it.
So for the minute I've set the software version to the older version so it's working for the minute but I will have to go through the code and replace the database connectors to the new methods to future proof the code. I suspect from a security point of view the hosting company will at some point block the older version of software.
Anyway if people do see any problems in the future then please flag them up to me and I'll do my best to sort it out. Having just looked through the index I see the MRJ one is missing quite a few of the recent issues, it's been a brilliant effort to get where it is so I'll see if it's possible to get it up to date.
Regards
Adrian
It transpires that recent hosting server updates updated also "helpfully" updated the software versions (for the tech nerds php 7.4) unfortunately the database connect function used in the indices has been removed from the new software version. Fortunately I can roll back to the older software version and it seems to have "fixed" it.
So for the minute I've set the software version to the older version so it's working for the minute but I will have to go through the code and replace the database connectors to the new methods to future proof the code. I suspect from a security point of view the hosting company will at some point block the older version of software.
Anyway if people do see any problems in the future then please flag them up to me and I'll do my best to sort it out. Having just looked through the index I see the MRJ one is missing quite a few of the recent issues, it's been a brilliant effort to get where it is so I'll see if it's possible to get it up to date.
Regards
Adrian
Compound2632
Member
Brilliant - thanks Adrian.
The problem with these indexes had been noted by posters both on RMWeb and in the HMRS email group - so we see that when Western Thunder sneezes, the world catches cold.
The problem with these indexes had been noted by posters both on RMWeb and in the HMRS email group - so we see that when Western Thunder sneezes, the world catches cold.
adrian
Flying Squad
No problem - fortunately in this case a quick fix, albeit a temporary patch.
The "problem" is more that it relies on volunteer effort working on an altruistic basis. Unfortunately the original creators have moved on and tried to hand over the reins, but with a less than ideal outcome. Having had a quick look at the current status it's not that far out of date and it'll be a real shame to lose all that hard work so I'll see about getting some updates sorted. Especially as it seems to be a resource that many modellers refer to.
Regards
Adrian
James Spooner
Western Thunderer
Hi Adrian,
Many thanks for sorting out the index (although browsing through it did send me down a few rabbit holes last night!). I think I saw a reference in Wright Writes on RMWeb.
Nigel
Many thanks for sorting out the index (although browsing through it did send me down a few rabbit holes last night!). I think I saw a reference in Wright Writes on RMWeb.
Nigel
daifly
Western Thunderer
A link is always helpful!
Dave
Dave
Osgood
Western Thunderer
I created an index for Bylines (more than) a few years ago.
Not a quick task because of the cryptic nature of most article titles, which more often than not gave absolutely no clue as to the contents therein.
It was a struggle and time-consuming sometimes to come up with a suitable alternative title that would make searches effective, at it meant skimming through many articles rather than just collating the index for each volume.
In the interests of speed, and not thinking at the time that anyone else might be interested, I very stupidly ignored all of the Irish railway articles as being outside of my relatively wide range of interests - also a few NG and other articles too.
This means that in order for it to be really useful it would need to be revisited in full, as well as the last 5 years or so.
In the meantime, if anyone can point me to a decent non-cryptic online index for Bylines I'll just quietly disappear into a corner and scream.....
Not a quick task because of the cryptic nature of most article titles, which more often than not gave absolutely no clue as to the contents therein.
It was a struggle and time-consuming sometimes to come up with a suitable alternative title that would make searches effective, at it meant skimming through many articles rather than just collating the index for each volume.
In the interests of speed, and not thinking at the time that anyone else might be interested, I very stupidly ignored all of the Irish railway articles as being outside of my relatively wide range of interests - also a few NG and other articles too.
This means that in order for it to be really useful it would need to be revisited in full, as well as the last 5 years or so.
In the meantime, if anyone can point me to a decent non-cryptic online index for Bylines I'll just quietly disappear into a corner and scream.....
Osgood
Western Thunderer
Heck - it was 2017/18!
timbowales
Western Thunderer
Time flies when you're having fun.........
daifly
Western Thunderer
Irwell Press used to have an index for each volume available on their website but since Guideline Publications took over Bylines, it has disappeared from the Irwell site and not appeared on the Guideline site.
However, I downloaded all of the indexes and smashed them into a single document so a copy of the first 21 volumes (the only ones that were available at the time) is attached in .doc format as a starter for you. It's a very superficial list but beggars can't be etc.!
Dave
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Compound2632
Member
Thanks!
I'm creating an index for a magazine (not railway connected), and agree about the titles which bear little/no relation to the content. It seems the editor doesn't contemplate that someone might want to look back at the article in a few months/years.
I am aware of the constraints on the editor- I edit a society magazine (again not railway connected), I try to make the article title bear some relation to the contents.
Osgood
Western Thunderer
The other variable is the range of interests of the person modifying the titles for indexing.
I'm well aware that my effort was biased towards those subjects which interested me - on reflection it would have taken little extra effort to have made it more universal (by including a broader range of keywords in titles) thus making it easier for those seeking, for example, topics relating to specific mainline railway companies.