Old post and thread dates spontaneously changing

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:49 pm

I recently updated from 3.05 to 3.09. Since then, random old threads on my forum have been spontaneously changing, such that the last post is reset to the current date and time. It appears to bump a handful of topics at a time, a couple of times a day (at random times as far as I can tell).

The first day it happened I just went through the posts and topics in the database and fixed their time stamps, but now it's happened a couple of times, so it appears there's an underlying problem I need to fix. Any help is appreciated!

Oyabun1 · Post by **Oyabun1** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:00 am

Please provide us with the information necessary to assist you by filling out the Support Request Template.

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:00 am

Apologies. I should know better. Here:

Support Request Template
What version of phpBB are you using? phpBB 3.0.9
What is your board's URL? http://forums.searchtempest.com
Who do you host your board with? Self-hosted
How did you install your board? I used the download package from phpBB.com
Is your board a fresh install or a conversion? Update from a previous version of phpBB3
Do you have any MODs installed? No
Is registration required to reproduce this issue? No
What version of phpBB3 did you update from? phpBB 3.0.5
What styles do you currently have installed? prosilver
What language(s) is your board currently using? British English
Which database type/version are you using? MySQL 5
What is your level of experience? Experienced with PHP, new with phpBB
When did your problem begin? About two days ago, after upgrading from 3.0.5 to 3.0.9.
Please describe your problem. I upgraded the files, then ran the DB upgrade script. Unfortunately I can't recall with certainty whether the DB update gave any errors, but it's certainly shown as completed now.

I then attempted to remove the Anti Bot Question mod through the AutoMod interface. (I now understand that I should have done that first.) It threw an error, which I assumed was due to files changed with the update to 3.0.9. So I simple 'forced' the uninstall.

At that point everything appeared to be working correctly and updated to 3.0.9. Board was accessible, could be posted to, etc.

However, each of the two days since then, several old topics have been spontaneously bumped. The last modified time of the last post in the topic and of the topic itself are spontaneously updated to the current time. The first time I assumed it was a one-off problem and just fixed the modified times through the database, but it keeps happening.
Generated by SRT Generator ($Rev$)

I don't have any mods installed, and the majority of my styling is generic, so if the easiest fix involves importing forum contents and users into a new installation, that wouldn't be a giant hardship. Of course if there's an easier solution, even better. Thanks!

Post by **Noxwizard** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:16 am

Last bumped by Anonymous on Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:49 pm.

Those topics are started by accounts that have been deleted, so they are now "Guest" accounts (user id 1). Check that guests don't have the "Can bump topics" permission in those forums. If they do, they'd be able to bump topics that are created by other guests.

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:20 am

But the 'new' posts in those topics aren't really bumps. They're actually posts that have been there for years, many by me, that suddenly appear as if they were written today.

Post by **Noxwizard** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:46 am

The bump message shows up in the last post, not the first one.

http://forums.searchtempest.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=92
Started by a guest, bumped by a guest.

http://forums.searchtempest.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=135
Started by a guest, bumped by a guest.

http://forums.searchtempest.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31
This one hasn't been bumped yet, but I see a "Bump topic" link at the bottom of the page, and I'm not logged in.

Guests seem to have the bump topic permission.

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:55 am

I'm not sure why, but I'm seeing something different from you. The second thread was started and bumped by guests, but the first link you posted was started by guest, but replied to by me, years ago. That post, by me, has had its timestamp automatically updated to appear recent.

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:17 am

Edit: sorry, I get it now. I had always just thought of bumping as posting in an old topic to move it up. Didn't understand (until now) that phpbb3 has an actual bump *function*, which I guess does exactly what I was seeing.

So my new question is, now that I've fixed the permissions, is there a way to automatically un-bump those topics to get them back where they belong?

Edit: and just found my own answer: no there isn't. (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi ... &t=2125624)

Thanks for your help!

ST Nathan · Post by **ST Nathan** » Wed Jul 20, 2011 10:58 am

Since I was unable to find an automated way to undo bumps in phpBB, I wrote one myself. It's basically just some MySQL code that you can execute; it scans your installation for bumped topics matching parameters you set, then un-bumps them by setting the times of the last post and of the topic's last-modified time to logical values. Also resets the topic_bumped flag and topic_bumper field.

I've posted the code and a more detailed description on my the SearchTempest blog in case anyone else runs into the same problem I did:

http://www.tempestblog.com/2011/07/20/h ... -in-phpbb/