Deleted image cached in cloud too long

AlexShark · February 9, 2015

Here's something of concern that smugmug should take care of:

I deleted the photo at the link http://alexbraverman.smugmug.com/Other/Various/i-Bw8mHVJ/0/X2/DavidWattsLiftedPhoto-X2.jpg and yet it shows here and the link is valid.

How do I remove it?

The cache is clear, the page refreshed, and yet...

Richard · February 9, 2015

Yeah, I can see it too and I tried it in a browser that I don't normally use for Dgrin. Maybe it's being cached in the cloud and will disappear whenever?

leftquark · February 9, 2015

Images that are deleted from SmugMug are immediately deleted from your albums and all links should immediately break as well. However, due to the distributed network (aka "cloud") that allows us to deliver your images to anyone in the world as quickly as possible, it may take time for it to actually delete worldwide. If you give it a few hours it should be gone everywhere.

AlexShark · February 10, 2015

leftquark wrote: »

Images that are deleted from SmugMug are immediately deleted from your albums and all links should immediately break as well. However, due to the distributed network (aka "cloud") that allows us to deliver your images to anyone in the world as quickly as possible, it may take time for it to actually delete worldwide. If you give it a few hours it should be gone everywhere.

The photo is still up!
Let's stop blaming the cloud and look into it.

JC · February 10, 2015

AlexShark wrote: »

The photo is still up!
Let's stop blaming the cloud and look into it.

Did you truly delete it, or just move it to another album?

I've moved pictures between albums, and embedded links still work.

AlexShark · February 10, 2015

JC wrote: »

Did you truly delete it, or just move it to another album?

I've moved pictures between albums, and embedded links still work.

The photo was deleted. Trashed. Kaput. It does not appear on my website. This was done yesterday.

leftquark · February 10, 2015

AlexShark wrote: »

The photo is still up!
Let's stop blaming the cloud and look into it.

Looking into it ...

The answer that it's the CDN (cloud) cache still holds true. I mentioned that because that's the technical answer for what's happening. The X2 size is the only image that remains -- all the others are deleted, as we'd hope/expect. With that said, operations is looking into why the cache isn't being purged more rapidly. Thanks for reporting this to us. I'll update you when I know more.

AlexShark · February 11, 2015

leftquark wrote: »

Looking into it ...

The answer that it's the CDN (cloud) cache still holds true. I mentioned that because that's the technical answer for what's happening. The X2 size is the only image that remains -- all the others are deleted, as we'd hope/expect. With that said, operations is looking into why the cache isn't being purged more rapidly. Thanks for reporting this to us. I'll update you when I know more.

OK, the image is finally gone, and no attempt of linking to it directly works.

A couple of quirks:

1. Trying to link to the image directly comes up with a blank page, not "Page not found" error. The content disappeared but the page is still possibly there?

2. Trying to load it through your mobile app (on iPhone), I discovered that some galleries that I deleted ages ago (more than a year) are still there. Again, the folders are there, empty -- but there. Doesn't sound terrible, but it really is, because it totally clutters my mobile access. Instead of my 5 top level folders, my mobile shows a dozen, mostly defunct.

3. The hidden galleries, the ones that I should be able to only link directly, appear in the hierarchy on the mobile app just like any other gallery.

Conclusions:

1. Your cleanup service is poorly designed (possibly -- does not propagate effectively through VPN, but not only).

2. Deleting a gallery empties it, but leaves it in the user-site hierarchy.

3. Mobile entry point is inconsistent with the web access.

4. There could be an attempt to inherit sandbox security by mobile devices, which they cannot do.

Please note: I am using the old style smugmug, it is possible that these issues were resolved in the new version, provided it is also using a completely redesigned backend.

Richard · February 11, 2015

Note: Since this is really a separate topic than the ABC clone, I moved it to a new thread in Support.

Richard · February 25, 2015

leftquark wrote: »

Looking into it ...

The answer that it's the CDN (cloud) cache still holds true. I mentioned that because that's the technical answer for what's happening. The X2 size is the only image that remains -- all the others are deleted, as we'd hope/expect. With that said, operations is looking into why the cache isn't being purged more rapidly. Thanks for reporting this to us. I'll update you when I know more.

Any update on this? I've just deleted something and it hasn't gone away yet--don't know how long it should take.

Jenuine · February 25, 2015

Hello Richard,

The content being removed from our CDN does not have an exact timing involved. It can take several hours. If you would like us to take a look at a specific link, write to us at help@smugmug.com and we can look into it further for you.

Richard · February 25, 2015

Several hours is no problem. If it's not gone tomorrow, I'll let you know.

AlexShark · February 25, 2015

SmugMug app (v. 2.3.0) on my iPhone shows empty folders deleted years ago. Web based access does not show them.

Richard · February 25, 2015

AlexShark wrote: »

SmugMug app (v. 2.3.0) on my iPhone shows empty folders deleted years ago. Web based access does not show them.

Dunno, but that doesn't sound like a stale cache problem to me.

AlexShark · February 25, 2015

No, Richard, it's not. But this might be a very different problem than the persisting cached image. To me this looks like a permission issue: I can remove/hide a folder, but I can't delete it. Then I don't have the permission to read it in browser. But the mobile app front-end does not follow the same permission rules, and so it pops up on iPhone. Anyways, it's been a while since I worked with this stuff. Let the youngsters handle it!

AlexShark · February 28, 2015

The deleted galleries show up in SmugMug Lightroom plug-in. After years of being deleted.

I really would like to start getting some responses to this.

SmugMugHeroPamela · March 2, 2015

Hi,

Ack, what a puzzle. I've rebuilt your node caches for your site. Hopefully that's all it needs(crossing fingers and toes) Sometimes nuking and rebuilding will do miracle things we don't even think of. I figured it's worth a shot. Please re-sync your Lightroom photos and hierarchy in your publishing manager.

AlexShark · March 2, 2015

Thank you Pamela,

Alas, this did not help.

In Lightroom plug-in:

1. If the old galleries do not appear in the catalogue, synch hierarchy does not add them
2. If the old galleries still appear in the catalogue, synch hierarchy does not remove them

In iPhone app:

1. I can't find a way of refreshing the hierarchy, so I simply logged off and on again -- no change, the ancient stuff is still there
2. Additionally, I noticed that logging off does not really do much: if I click on my user name again, everything reappears without the log in prompt. The prompt appears only when I click "Login".

A mystery, heh?

Sorry to trouble you, but this really is an issue.

devbobo · March 2, 2015

AlexShark wrote: »

In iPhone app:

1. I can't find a way of refreshing the hierarchy, so I simply logged off and on again -- no change, the ancient stuff is still there
2. Additionally, I noticed that logging off does not really do much: if I click on my user name again, everything reappears without the log in prompt. The prompt appears only when I click "Login".

I'd take a guess that the deleted stuff is cached in the iPhone app and it isn't being purged correctly. You could try deleting the app from your iDevice (which should delete any associated data). Then reinstall, authenticate and see if the old data is still there.

AlexShark · March 4, 2015

devbobo wrote: »

I'd take a guess that the deleted stuff is cached in the iPhone app and it isn't being purged correctly. You could try deleting the app from your iDevice (which should delete any associated data). Then reinstall, authenticate and see if the old data is still there.

David, thank you.

I will try that, except:

1. The iPhone app was installed a year or two later after the folders were deleted.
2. They also appear in the Lightroom 5 SmugMug plug-in, even if I re-synch the hierarchy.

devbobo · March 4, 2015

G'day Alex,

I didn't realise that you are still on legacy SmugMug. Legacy SmugMug has categories and subcategories rather than folder. Even though they are essentially the same from a user's perspective, they do work a little bit differently.

If you want to remove categories that you are no longer using, go to your Account Settings, select Style > Categories > Manage and you should be able to remove them from that screen.

Cheers,

David

AlexShark · March 5, 2015

Thank you David,

The offending categories do not appear on the list. The list consists only of what I have and need. Same goes for the subcategories.

I will consider migrating to the new smug mug and see what happens next.

Best,
Alex

Deleted image cached in cloud too long

Comments