I hadn’t received any comments in the past few months, I figured it was just because I hadn’t put out any new content.

Then I realized that I couldn’t even leave a comment myself. I received an email from a buddy saying he had a similar issue.

So I checked the logs:

WordPress database error Table './{db_name}/wp_comments'
is marked as crashed and should be repaired for query SELECT * FROM
wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY
comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 15 made by require, require_once,
include, get_sidebar, locate_template, load_template, require_once,
dynamic_sidebar, call_user_func_array, WP_Widget->display_callback,
WP_Widget_Recent_Comments->widget

Went to the mysql database physical location and did the following to fix it:

# myisamchk wp_comments.MYI
Checking MyISAM file: wp_comments.MYI
Data records:    3914   Deleted blocks:     347
myisamchk: warning: Table is marked as crashed
- check file-size
- check record delete-chain
- check key delete-chain
- check index reference
- check data record references index: 1
myisamchk: error: Found 3913 keys of 3914
- check record links
myisamchk: error: Keypointers and record positions doesn't match
MyISAM-table 'wp_comments.MYI' is corrupted
Fix it using switch "-r" or "-o"

# myisamchk wp_comments.MYI -r
- recovering (with sort) MyISAM-table 'wp_comments.MYI'
Data records: 3914
- Fixing index 1
- Fixing index 2
- Fixing index 3
- Fixing index 4
- Fixing index 5
- Fixing index 6

I’ve seen this Globally Recognized AVATAR thing popping up all over the place, and the more I see it, the better an idea I realize it is. So I enabled it on my site and built it into my theme. Now you just have to associate an image with your email address on gravatar.com if you haven’t already, and we should see some avatars soon.

I wasn’t seeing enough benefit to FAlbum, so I removed it. Too slow and confusing for my tastes.

Also, I got sick of the monthly updates to Wordpress, so I finally switched over to using the subversion method. Now an upgrade is as simple as an svn update and click the Upgrade button.

On a new server, testing out the kinks…

I haven’t mentioned it in over a year, but I’m really using my Forum For Sale/For Trade Thread notifier a lot. I subscribe to the RSS feed that it generates, which aggregates new threads from multiple tech trading forums. I check it with Google Reader a few times a day, and frequently find great deals on used electronics.

Currently it supports [H]ard|Forum’s For Sale / Trade, ArsTechnica’s Agora Classifieds (new!), and AnandTech’s FS/FT Forum (recently fixed). These are the only three forums I’ve used, but perhaps later to include some of the other popular online sale forums…

It’s not perfect, nor complete, but it’s at least fully functional and usable. If you use it, please provide some feedback and let me know what you think.