Unable to view one of my lists

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  • (Edited)
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I am currently unable to view my list of "Notable Showbiz Deaths in 2014" (http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059693233/); all that pops up in its place is a message saying "The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem. Try reloading this page." I can still edit the list, oddly enough, but the live list doesn't show up. This is the only list I am having a problem with. The list is currently comprised of 367 names, compiled over the year with each listing containing my own description, so I needless to say I would be pretty upset if this were permanent. Please fix this issue soon. Thank you.
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Charles Trotter

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Posted 6 years ago

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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Hi Charles Trotter,

I found your "Notable Showbiz Deaths in 2014" list via a Google search.
https://www.google.com/#q=site%3Aimdb.com%2Flist+%22Notable+Showbiz+Deaths+in+2014%22

Clearly the list is public, since otherwise it would not show up on your list or lists.
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur1178533/lists

I also get the message when I try to access your list: "The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem. Try reloading this page."

When did you create this list? It's remotely possible that measures IMDb is using to combat spam attacks using IMDb list may be affecting your list.

I was able to view all of your other 15 lists without any problems.

Clearly, there is a problem that an IMDb staff member will need to investigate.

Since you are still able to edit your "Notable Showbiz Deaths in 2014" list, you may wish to export your list and copy it to another list to preserve your descriptions.
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Charles Trotter

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The list was created in December 2013 or January 2014. I've been working on it throughout the year. The list was working fine until today.
(Edited)
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Charles, thanks for the information. Providing the time frame should help the IMDb technical staff isolate any changes they've made within the last day that may have led to the problem.
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Giancarlo Cairella, Official Rep

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Thanks for letting us know -- I can't see a clear reason why the list would not appear, so this is something our software developers will have to investigate. 
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Charles Trotter

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Please ask them to investigate as soon as possible. :(

For the record, I've been editing and maintaining this list since the beginning of the year and it was working fine up until last night/very early this morning.
(Edited)
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Victoria Volynsky

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I am having the same problem with my list: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077140585/ . This appeared at about 1:30 PM eastern time and I'm still getting the same identical message.
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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I also received the error message for your list:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077140585/

Your list is clearly public, since I can find it via a Google search, appears on your profile page and you list page:
https://www.google.com/#q=site%3Aimdb.com%2Fuser+%22Top%2FHighest+Grossing+Films+Since+1959%22

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur34664402/lists

According to the Google search indicates the list was updated / created around Sep 30, 2014.
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Victoria Volynsky

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My list had a lot of links to other imdb titles in each description and I have been continuously updating it everyday since I created it on Sep 30th. I am able to edit the list, just like Charles can his, and the changes are successfully saved, but I am unable to view it after hitting the "Done" button (or directly). I can only see the changes I made by going to edit the list again.
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Charles Trotter

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It's exactly the same for me. Changes are saved successfully, I just can't view the list once I'm out of editing mode. :(
(Edited)
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Tenomon Malke

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Same problem here with my list 2014: A Movie Diary

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054815346/

I started this list on the January 01 and there's all the movies I watched this year. There's 514 titles with short comments and notes, so it's obviously that I'm editing it every day and I would like to do so in the future.
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Joe Chadowski

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I'm having the same problem with my list http://www.imdb.com/list/ls055189899/
And I'm experiencing the same issues as everyone else here. I can edit it, but can't view it.
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Charles Trotter

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That's six people now who have come forward with the same issue -- four here (myself included) and two others at the post Joe Chadowski created (https://getsatisfaction.com/imdb/topics/unable-to-view-one-of-my-lists-18jyln).

It's also been over a day since I posted this problem... and the problem still exists. I don't mean to be a pest, but has there been any progress in resolving this issue? Not being able to see the list is quite aggravating.

For the record, I first experienced the issue at around 9am EST yesterday. My list had been working fine earlier in the morning; I think the last time it was showing up for me was around 3am. So whatever caused the problem had to have happened between 3am and 9am yesterday. Not sure if knowing a more precise time frame will help in this case, but there it is. :/

I'd be interested in knowing why only these specific lists are being affected. I wonder what each list has in common that made them targets. Perhaps we were editing our lists too frequently? Could this be the result of some buggy spam-prevention measure?
(Edited)
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Victoria Volynsky

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I was editing that particular list quite frequently but not yesterday. I think the last time I was able to view my list was early that morning (probably before 9am EST). I noticed the viewing list problem at about 1:30pm EST My list does contain a sizable amount of information/links in the first 45 items but all the links refer to other titles in imdb. The list has only 210 titles.
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Charles Trotter

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I've been editing my list quite frequently, as well; the last time was around 2am (I think), when I added the late Marian Seldes. I don't have any links in the list that I know of, just descriptions of varying lengths explaining why each person is notable, along with their dates of birth and death. The list currently has 368 names.
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Since this is an ongoing problem, I decided to check through my lists:
http://www.imdb.com/user/ur0127678/lists

I found that one of my lists, which I have not edited in 6 months, exhibits this problem. There may be more. If so, I will report it in this thread.

Living Voice Artists (167 People)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls058571653/
Created: 6 months ago
Modified: 6 months ago
Type of List: People with 167 entries
Text displayed:
The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem. Try reloading this page.
I am able to edit the list, but will not do so in order to provide an example to the IMDb technical staff of a list exhibiting the problem that has not been edited.

This list is public and visitors can leave comments.

List description:
Raw text:
[link=http://www.imdb.com/list/edit?start=161&list_id=xyhUcG3Vs0c]
Displayed text:
http://www.imdb.com/list/edit?start=161&list_id=xyhUcG3Vs0c

Each of the items on the list have description.

Many of the of the people on the list do not have images on their home page.

= = = = = =

I created a subset of the original list that has the same list description and the first two items.
Test: Unable to view one of my lists (2 People)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077262464/

This new list also displays the error message.

= = = = = =

I created the same subset of the original list, but excluded the link.
Test2: Unable to view one of my lists (2 People)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077262966/

The list has this description:
This description has no links.

This second new list also displays the error message.

= = = = = =

I created a third subset of the original list, but do not have any description for the list.
Test3: Unable to view one of my lists (2 People)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077262819/

This third new list also displays the error message.

= = = = = =

I created a fourth subset of the original list, but do not have any description for the list.
Test4: Now able to view one of my lists (1 People)
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077264012/

I can view this list outside of the editor. I would appreciate it if someone else verified that the can view Test4.

= = = = = =

All four new lists showed up in:
Newest Lists
http://www.imdb.com/lists/

From this my tentative diagnosis is that people lists that have at least one item without images will not display and will produce this error message:
The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem. Try reloading this page.
This problem may not be isolated to people lists. It may be a problem with a people, title or character list that has at least one item with no image.

Charles Trotter, Victoria Volynsky, Tenomon Malke, Joe Chadowski and anyone else having this problem: please review your lists and report the following:

1. What kind of list (people, title or character) is exhibiting the problem?
2. Does the list have any item without an image?
(Edited)
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Victoria Volynsky

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Hi Dan,

I can view your list Test4 without any problems. My list has movie titles which all have images.
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Charles Trotter

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I can view list Test4 without issue.

1. It's a people list, comprised of 368 names.
2. The list has *many* items without an image. In fact I'd say most of them don't have images.

For the record, I just created a test list comprising of only the first item in the affected list -- actress Juanita Moore, who *does* have an image on her home page. I also added a description. I got the same error message:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077264384

However, when I made a list with only the first item and *no* description, the list shows up:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077264212

I can add names to that latter list without issue, so long as I don't include a description. :(
(Edited)
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Charles Trotter

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To clarify, I can add a description of the list without issue; it's when I add descriptions to the entries themselves that the list stops showing up.
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Charles Trotter and Victoria Volynsky,

1. Thank your responding.

2. Thank you for verifying that you can see:
Test4: Now able to view one of my lists

3. Victoria Volynsky you state:
My list has movie titles which all have images.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077140585/
So we know the problem is not limited to people lists and to lists that have missing images.

Victoria Volynsky, have you added descriptions for any of your movie titles?

4. Charles Trotter, you state:
For the record, I just created a test list comprising of only the first item in the affected list -- actress Juanita Moore, who *does* have an image on her home page. I also added a description. I got the same error message:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077264384

However, when I made a list with only the first item and *no* description, the list shows up:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls077264212

I can add names to that latter list without issue, so long as I don't include a description. :(

To clarify, I can add a description of the list without issue; it's when I add descriptions to the entries themselves that the list stops showing up.
As you can see, Test4: Now able to view one of my lists has a description for the person. There may be something in one of your descriptions that the list software handled properly before, but does not handle properly now.

Could you post an example of one of the descriptions?
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Charles Trotter

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Glad I could help find the cause, but I'm hoping an IMDb fix will be the solution. I mean, I guess it's no big deal, I *can* just go in and replace all the dashes -- but it will be kind of a hassle. There are 368 items in my list, after all.

You think this is something IMDb techs are able and/or wiling to fix in a timely manner? Or should I just go ahead and start replacing all 368 dashes? :)
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Victoria Volynsky

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Charles, since I'm interested in viewing my list and I'm very very impatient, I went ahead and replaced all the dashes, but i did a "search" CTRL-F to take me to them, one by one, it was a bit faster than eyeball finding them.
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Charles Trotter

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I know I can use CTRL-F but it would still be a hassle. I will do it if I have to, but really this is a bug IMDb needs to fix in any case. They can't have lists all over the place going haywire because their software doesn't like one or two special characters. Also, others experiencing the same issue who don't know about the en dashes will keep posting requests for help from IMDb, so it's really in IMDb's best interest to fix this. Unless they want their reps and champions to keep replying to posts about it ad infinitum. :)
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Charles Trotter,

Giancarlo Cairella (an IMDb employee) acknowledged the problem. Now that you've help to identify the cause of the problem, it should be a lot easier for the IMDb technical staff to address the problem.

IMDb lists are a highly visible part of IMDb, so I suspect that it will get a relatively high priority. However, the IMDb technical staff has been fighting a major problem with people spamming IMDb lists with thousands of spam lists promoting gambling sites in Asia.

If you can wait a few days, I recommend that you wait in making the changes to your lists. I will not edit my Living Voice Artists list to help determine when a viable fix is implemented.

Live long and prosper!

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Charles Trotter

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Dan Dassow,

Understood. I guess I can wait a few more days. ;)

Thank you for all your help and for keeping us updated! May you live long and prosper, as well! :)
(Edited)
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JHF

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I have the exact same problem. All of my 7 lists, which include persons and text (ratings with links to movies), have this. When I try to create a new list with only persons, the list works; however as soon as I add text (with links), the list no longer works. I really hope this can be fixed as I spent a lot of time creating the lists
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Chris R

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I have the same problem with my list http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003134491/.  Thanks.
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Damon Charles

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I have people contacting me saying they cannot get past my first page.  I have 14 pages.  I was able to get on to all the pages this morning but as of this afternoon it stops on the first page.  The list is: The 1st List Of: Gay/Lesbian/Bi Industry People, Both In Front and Behind The Camera,  http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053772895?ref_=nm_rls_1.  Can someone from IMDB look into this matter and fix it for all of us who are having this problem.  We have all worked very hard putting these lists together, and helping to support the IMDB website.  Thank you.
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Hi Damon Charles,

I suspect that this is a different, but related problem.

When I click:
Page 1 of 14 Next »
I get the link:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053772895?start=101&view=detail&sort=listorian:asc

and the error message
The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem. Try reloading this page.

I looked at one of my longer lists and did not have problems:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls006743621/?start=5801

I noticed that this link works:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053772895/?start=98

... but this link produces the error message:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053772895/?start=99

I can see 197.Anthony Callea, but not the 198th item.
This leads me to believe that the list software is having problems display the 198th item in your list.

You may wish to check the 198th item to see whether there is an en dash (–) or other special character that the list software may no longer recognize.
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Hi Damon Charles,

It appears that your list is now working properly. I was able to view all 14 pages of your list.
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls053772895?ref_=nm_rls_1
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Joe Chadowski

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This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled
Unable to view one of my lists.


I can't view one of my lists on my profile. When I click on it, it says "The list you're looking for is unavailable. It may be a temporary problem.this list is temporarily unavailable"
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Charles Trotter

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My list is back! Woo-hoo! http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059693233/

All other affected lists linked in this discussion seem to have returned as well. Issue resolved!

Thank you all so much for your time and help in getting this problem fixed. :)

Now excuse me while I do the prospector jig from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, lol!
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Chris R

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List is back.  Thank you.
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JHF

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Works fine for me as well now. Thanks
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Yann

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I've filed a ticket for this issue. Hopefully we'll get this fixed soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Charles Trotter

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It's already been fixed. :)

Unless... something's changed? o_O

The lists seem to working fine now.
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Yann

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List are back without having to manually update characters? AWESOME. I thought list creators were still editing their lists as a temporary fix
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Charles Trotter

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Yeah, lists came back yesterday. No changing characters necessary. All's right with the IMDb world again. :)
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Dan Dassow, Champion

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Yann, FYI:
Giancarlo Cairella, Official Rep wrote 3 days ago:
Thanks for letting us know -- I can't see a clear reason why the list would not appear, so this is something our software developers will have to investigate.
Yann, Employee wrote 5 hours ago:
I've filed a ticket for this issue. Hopefully we'll get this fixed soon. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Yann, you may wish to check with GC whether the software developers have been following this thread. If the problem with lists disappeared without intervention of the of the software developers, I am concerned that the problem will reappear without warning.

Charles Trotter identified the root cause as the list software was having problems with en dashes (–) and possibly other non-standard characters.
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Yann

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Thanks Dan,
I'll reopen the ticket if the problem re-occurs.

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