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Spud Bros x PNE – Why the Forum’s Been Busy (and a Bit Wobbly)

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Spud Bros x PNE – Why the Forum’s Been Busy (and a Bit Wobbly)

JK

JK

In my mind, my dreams are real ...
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Spud Bros x PNE – Why the Forum’s Been Busy (and a Bit Wobbly)


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Following the viral success of the Spud Bros and PNE content, the forum has seen a massive spike in activity – not just from real users, but from bots and web scrapers trying to pull content, links, and data.

At its peak, we were getting hit with up to 9,000 requests at once, which caused some issues behind the scenes – including the hiccups on Sunday. (Safe to say it was a late one… I didn’t get to bed until 2am!)

To put that into perspective, our previous highest visitor count was just over 2,000 – and that was on a busy transfer deadline day. So this really has been something else.

These bots are hard to block as they don’t leave normal markers like IPs or user agents, and while I’ve done what I can to limit their impact, the only way to fully stop them would be to remove things like links, social sharing, or payment options – and obviously that’s not something we’re willing to do. Losing forum functions isn’t an option.

The good news is things are starting to settle – it dropped to around 300 earlier today – and at the same time, we’ve had a big rise in real visitors, especially from the US. So the exposure has been huge.

If you’re a regular visitor and not yet a Patron, please consider helping support the forum and keeping it running strong during this exciting time.

👉 Become a Patron – Click here to support us

Thanks again to everyone for your support and patience.
 
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You and the others in charge, do a great job @JK

I am on other message boards(For the other sports teams I follow, gaming,etc) and sincerely, none are as well run as this one: Updates, quick to respond to inquiries from its users, etc is top notch here.

As far as the influx of new viewers from the USA, that is obviously all down to Spuds but still fantastic to see. Up to 25 emails now myself from fans over here interested in what PNE is all about and the NA group itself. And can't help but plug myself here haha, any USA/North American people viewing this, please get in to contact with me as well! X: @NALilywhites

Having virtual watch parties with NA group members this upcoming season, along with merch if get enough feedback. More also to come!
 
flipper said:
For the non IT. Types what on earth are the data scrapers and bots after
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Bots and data scrapers are basically automated visitors that scan websites for information. Some are totally normal like Google’s bots that help pages show up in search results.

When a site suddenly goes viral (like ours has with all the Spud Bros and PNE attention), it also attracts a wave of automated tools checking out public content and links. They’re not doing anything dangerous just scanning but the volume can slow things down.

Thankfully, we upgraded our server earlier this year and if we hadn’t, the forum would likely have vanished without a trace during the recent traffic surge. It’s a good reminder of how important that upgrade was!

All in hand now though and thanks for sticking with us. 😊
 
JK said:
Bots and data scrapers are basically automated visitors that scan websites for information. Some are totally normal like Google’s bots that help pages show up in search results.

When a site suddenly goes viral (like ours has with all the Spud Bros and PNE attention), it also attracts a wave of automated tools checking out public content and links. They’re not doing anything dangerous just scanning but the volume can slow things down.

Thankfully, we upgraded our server earlier this year and if we hadn’t, the forum would likely have vanished without a trace during the recent traffic surge. It’s a good reminder of how important that upgrade was!

All in hand now though and thanks for sticking with us. 😊
Click to expand...
And that is why it is important that all those who use this MB pay £10 minimum a year and become a Patron as these upgrades don’t come cheap 👍
 
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