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Related: About this forumDU is temporarily in "members only" mode (UPDATE: Back to normal for now)
Last edited Fri Sep 5, 2025, 06:14 PM - Edit history (3)
UPDATE 7:15 PM ET FRIDAY:It seems that the excess traffic was caused by a search engine crawler that was spamming us with requests. We've blocked the crawler and it seems to have significantly reduced the excess traffic, so we've switched "members only" mode off again, and the site is currently back to normal. Hopefully things will remain stable overnight.
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
We are currently seeing a significant spike in traffic above our normal levels, which appears to be ongoing, and the increase in traffic is causing the site to slow down for everyone.
In "members only" mode, DU can only be viewed by members who are signed in, which significantly reduces the number of connections to the database, meaning that signed-in members can use the site as normal while we investigate the situation. We're looking into what is causing this spike in traffic right now.
Aristus
(71,813 posts)Youre the best!
CaliforniaPeggy
(156,257 posts)It's good to know what's happening and that you're on top of the situation.
1WorldHope
(1,884 posts)highplainsdem
(60,602 posts)irisblue
(36,989 posts)Do you & Elad have a fund site so we can buy you coffee/tea/cold drinks as you figure this out?
Pinback
(13,531 posts)You can make a 1-time or recurring donation there, even if youre already a member:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/star
FemDemERA
(696 posts)Going there now....
yellow dahlia
(5,033 posts)FemDemERA
(696 posts)and thank you again EarlG and Elad, not only for all the work, but also for making it so easy to contribute even a small amount every now and again!
Noticed that we slowed down
True Dough
(26,010 posts)as we age!
malaise
(293,693 posts)😀
Dave Bowman
(6,836 posts)ancianita
(43,145 posts)riversedge
(79,877 posts)BumRushDaShow
(166,651 posts)I have been getting 504 errors on the ":36s", :46s", and/or ":56s" of the hour (ET).
Hope you can find the source!
orangecrush
(29,022 posts)
KS Toronado
(23,271 posts)going after all Democratic websites.
Flash953
(137 posts)Dave Bowman
(6,836 posts)The spike in traffic to DU is that so many of the network, cable, and local news shows have
become Pravda like pro Trump operations. DU although having a liberal slant but the membership
here tends to be truth driven and so you can read the news without the right wing clutter and
the members here except for Botany tend to be smart and will call out misinformation from the
left too.
DU was slow for me this morning so I watched various news shows and so many were just trash.
I had not seen News Nation before and it was garbage.
quaint
(4,737 posts)BoRaGard
(7,591 posts)Dave Bowman
(6,836 posts)Botany
(76,587 posts)
. Fox News type outfits that it is not funny. News Nation which I saw for the first time had
some woman saying that the President of some Caribbean Nation that she was glad that
Trumps murder of those Venezuelans will keep her Island safe from drugs.
Btw I just cant handle Joe Scarborough every time I see him I think of Florida 2000 and
how helped to steal the election from Al Gore.
ImNotGod
(1,194 posts)has taken over, flooding to progressive safe sites for info and peace of mind. DU, being at the top safe harbor will probably be experiencing exponential growth imho.
Dave Bowman
(6,836 posts)bamagal62
(4,386 posts)Orrex
(66,767 posts)Tomorrow is another day
NNadir
(37,427 posts)Keepthesoulalive
(2,163 posts)TNNurse
(7,508 posts)There are lots of awful actors out there.
surfered
(12,127 posts)
mwmisses4289
(3,451 posts)Bluestocking
(533 posts)EarlG
(23,457 posts)We would likely have to implement a monthly subscription fee for all members, and I'm not sure it would be economically viable.
mobeau69
(12,244 posts)pat_k
(12,735 posts)Dave Bowman
(6,836 posts)TomSlick
(12,915 posts)When I did, I lurked for awhile to see what was going on.
We need to encourage folks reading DU.
John1956PA
(4,877 posts)That way, I can see posts from members whom I have on ignore. If I wish to respond to the post of such a member, I will log back in, remove the member from my ignore list, and post my response.
niyad
(130,173 posts)I did not see anything that would have occasioned such a jump in traffic. Like Orrex, ine was hoping. . . .
greatauntoftriplets
(178,682 posts)It's been a while since this has happened.
SleeplessinSoCal
(10,377 posts)Unforgettable. Can it be determined if the traffic is out of country?
Scrivener7
(58,687 posts)I don't make the rules. I just report them.
marble falls
(71,341 posts)Pucks mom
(106 posts)FalloutShelter
(14,242 posts)tavernier
(14,330 posts)Rump just changed from Maybelline to Cover Girl. All the major news outlets are wildly scrambling to do an exclusive. They must figure that DU has a highly developed sense of fashion.
Wednesdays
(21,783 posts)Something REALLY big, like Epstein files release big!
Alice Kramden
(2,887 posts)We appreciate your dedication
hermetic
(9,161 posts)Hope it's no big deal and everyone has a pleasant evening. And a good weekend.
Stargazer99
(3,462 posts)Response to EarlG (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed