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I Broke Triberr. What Did You Do Today?

February 22, 2013 98 Comments

triberr facepalm

It’s Social Media Week in New York, so I’ve been hitting up all the cool spots this week.

Yesterday I was hanging out at the Global HQ. Then I went to see my buddy Ted Rubin at the Ogilvy offices dominate a panel discussion, followed by a dinner and drinks with the Collective Bias crew.

Needless to say, by the time I got home I felt like a horse that’s been riden hard and put away wet. So, I shut off anything that could wake me up before I want to wake up, and went to sleep.

11AM Today

I woke up around 11AM to several missed calls. Two of them from Peggy Fitzpatrick. I need a coffee, I thought to myself.

So I decided to look at my emails for clues as to why my phone was blowing up. Figured that would give me a little heads up. I also decided to toast some bread at the same time. Big mistake.

Had to throw out the first batch because it got…well, let’s just say the bread looked the way I felt.

Here is a sample of deluge I faced as I checked my emails.

emails about domain expiration

I will spare you the countless Tweets, Facebook messages, and Skype pings. Needless to say, it was one helluva day.

So, what happened?

Triberr.com domain had expired, that’s what happened.

How is that possible? Quite easy, actually. I suck.

When we first purchased the domain name two years ago, I thought it was set to auto-renew. Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

So, there’s a lesson in it for you, kids. Check your renewal settings and make sure they are what you think they are. Otherwise, your domain might lapse.

Domain registrars provide a grace period. So if your doman has lapsed and you catch it within few days and renew, you get it back. And that’s exactly what we did.

This time, we registered it for 5 years with auto-renewal in place. And this time for sure.

Something like this will never, ever, ever, happen again. #FamousLastWords

Fall Out

We should all thank Dan for being on top of it all and fixing the issue at the speed of light.

However, it can take up to 24hrs for DNS servers to propagate the fix across the Intertubes, so you might still be able to see the expired page with ads if you’re (un)lucky..

So, What Did We Learn?

  • Know your domain renewal settings
  • If domain expires, you have a grace period
  • Even once it’s fixed, it will take some time to propagate

I apologize to everyone who got the shock of a lifetime while visiting Triberr this morning. It was completely my fault. And I promise to do better for you guys.

Do you have a horror story you’d like to share?

Business Hacking, MARKETING, Mind Hacking, TECHNOLOGY
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  • http://pegfitzpatrick.com/ Peg Fitzpatrick

    I <3 you. We're all human. It stinks that some people didn't let you know nicely.

    • http://twitter.com/anitahovey Anita Hovey

      What Peggy said. I know it sucks for you Dino, but it’s kind of nice for the rest of us to see that you’re only human and this kind of thing happens to the big guys, too :) Not that it’s nice it happened…just that it shows you’re human. Glad it all worked out.

      • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

        I get a strange pleasure out of crisis. So even tho my day got totally derailed, it’s days like these that make you feel alive :-)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Everyone’s been really nice and supportive. If you’re referring to Barrie’s email (which is my favorite btw), that wasnt Barrie being rude. Thats just how dudes talk to each other. Totally cool and normal between (male) friends :-)

    • http://packageyourgenius.com/ Michele Welch

      How cool of you to call Dino Peggy. You so rock!

      Dino, glad to hear it all worked out … and a mistake that can happen to anyone. ;-)

  • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

    test comment since I havent used DisqUs in a while and had to disable Triberr comments to make sure this post loads ok for everyone.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      sweet #TalkingToMySelf :-)

      • http://wovenbywords.com/ Mimi

        Hey Dino, just replying so you don’t feel like you’re going even crazier! Talking & replying to yourself might be a bad sign.

        • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

          hehe thnx :-)

  • http://twitter.com/Oz_theTerrier Oz the Terrier

    Hey, it happens. No worries…one less thing I have to do today then. BOL

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      thnx Oz :-)

  • http://upstate-south-carolina.com/ Mark Brian

    I still love ya and Triberr! And hey, we all make mistakes!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      We love you back, and I certainly do make mistakes. So we’re 100% in agreement :-)

  • http://www.blogbydonna.com/ Donna

    I’m so sorry but it IS kinda funny! #justsaying. Glad it all worked out in the end.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      I enjoy a good crisis. It always reminds me of that quote from The Apocalipse Now. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”. :-)

  • http://twitter.com/upliftingfam Christy

    I love this service, thank you for the information.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      We love you back, Christy :-)

  • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

    I promise you, this will be funny someday. It totally sucks right now, but when someone else does this, you’ll think it’s hilarious. Because we have all been there!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      It’s kinda funny now actually :-)

      • http://twitter.com/samfiorella Sam Fiorella

        Yeah, I’m laughing at you. It is funny. (Until it happens to me, at which time it will be tragic. So If you laugh at me I’ll kick your @ss)

  • http://twitter.com/NicoleHCook Nicole Humphrey Cook

    Dino don’t sweat it. I sometimes wonder what would happen if Triberr blew up officially and no longer existed for the ones that think the world is ending when Triberr doesn’t work. I love everything you all do, I even sort of love that you didn’t renew it, because guess what – you’re HUMAN! I adore you and Dan both. I always will :)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Love you back, Nick :-)

  • http://twitter.com/jenastelli Jen Marie Robustelli

    We had to disable the triberr plugin because it was affecting people redirecting to our blog – customers thoughtfully sent us URIvalet reports identifying the problem. We’re going to stick with our previous commenting system for now, but thanks for the update!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      I’m really sorry about that, Jen.

      I had to disable Triberr comments for this post to make sure people who dont have the updated DNS info are able to see it. So, I totally get it.

      Everything should be back to normal within 24hrs and we will have a strategy meeting to make sure blogs that use Triberr are never affected like this again. We will do everything we can to make sure that happens :-)

  • http://www.dragonblogger.com Justin Germino

    I had the opposite happen, I had domains renew and charge me that I wanted to expire and was no longer using :) Really funny way of presenting the tragedy and humor is what makes everything tolerable. Ironically I was so busy with my day job I didn’t even get a chance to sign into Triberr last day or two so didn’t even notice until your newsletter.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

      If only we could have these damn computers read our minds already. Is there an app for that? :-)

  • http://twitter.com/KDillabough Kaarina Dillabough

    **it happens. Like some said, one day you’ll look back on this and find the humour in it…one day:) All’s well that ends well. Cheers! Kaarina

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      My first reaction this morning was #Facepalm. Then I remembered all the #Facepalm memes and started to laugh at myself :-)

  • http://twitter.com/KeepUpWeb Sherryl Perry

    Stuff like this can happen to any of us Dino. It’s good to hear that you were able to straighten it out so quickly.

  • paulakiger

    I really appreciate the humor with which you approached explaining this! I had just been tweeting about my favorite line from the movie Philadelphia, “every problem has a solution.” Sounds like today was a case of that!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx Paul :-)

  • http://twitter.com/KristynPhipps Kristyn Phipps

    Dino, you are just awesome. Not only did you own this, you are so honest about it. That’s what makes you likeable above all else – you are simply personable. And in case anyone forgets that you are like everyone else and you put your pants on one-leg-at-a-time, they need only read this to know you are just as human as the rest of us. Have a wonderful weekend my friend!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thn Kristyn, I appreciate the kind words :-)

  • http://markharai.com/ Mark Harai

    Dino, anything but an expired domain, please… That’s a total ‘Me’ (idiot) move right there and you guys are way smarter than me – hehe! :o

    Just Joshin, helluva day, eh??

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Let’s just say my plans got derailed a bit :-)

  • Melanie Benson Strick

    And I thought it was just me today — not being able to get on the site. Oh yea, I’ve got lots of horror stories. Like the one where my old hosting company shut down my site 4 days ahead of schedule….in the middle of a launch…with no back up in place. Yep. That was fun. Well at least you have a tribe of raving fans who kept trying. =-)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      yikes.

      In these types of situations I always remember what my grandpa used to say.

      He said “Son, when you were born, no one promised you a smooth ride”.

  • Amy Valentini

    Hey Dino, stuff happens. If we are all perfect, all always on top of everything, and life was set to take care of misshaps without our input, this world of ours would be so perfect that we’d be bored out of our skulls! It got fixed and that’s all that matters. I’m actually more worried about whether you burnt more toast – did you ever get something to eat? It’s fuel for our wayward brains after all. Love Triberr and I’m glad to hear it will be safe from ‘expiring’ for a very long time. : )
    And Dan – fast fingers!! Thanks.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      I toasted a second batch which came out perfect. Had a couple of eggs and an avocado. Watched the Daily Show…so, things are definitely looking up :-)

      • Amy Valentini

        Good to know! Actually turned out to be much more nutritious than just coffee and toast, huh? Have a great weekend and thanks for keeping us going. : )

  • http://twitter.com/LibertyIreland_ Liberty Ann Ireland

    Oh man…I am so sorry. That was on hell of a day for you. I was thinking about you guys and hoping it would go quickly for you….those kinds of things happen but they suck when you are the guys in charge. Have a better night and thanks to you and Dan both!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx, things are getting back to normal slowly but surely :-)

  • http://www.brasscycle.com/ Rich McElaney

    Dino – did you get a 50 year extension on that domain? ;-)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      lol damn near it :-)

  • http://twitter.com/dshiao Dennis Shiao

    Dino: it’s said that people don’t fully appreciate something until it’s gone. For a period of time earlier today, I bet people began to further appreciate Triberr.

    Also, I think we should celebrate mistakes because they teach us valuable lessons. You guys not only restored service quickly, but shared the lessons it taught you. And for that, I think it’s time to pop the cork on some champagne.

    /Proud member of 3 tribes

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      I agree 100% :-)

  • http://www.swordandthescript.com/ Frank Strong

    Jeez, I didn’t even notice. I’ve been on it a couple times today as you can see from my Twitter stream. It’s like I didn’t get invited to the lock-out party or something. I like the proactive post, though, Dino. Kudos for that. And I wouldn’t worry too much, you have some hardcore fans.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx Frank. Next time we have an epic fail we will make sure to invite you :-)

  • http://twitter.com/CalisaRhose Calisa Rhose

    Who needs their own horror stories with yours firmly in place, Dino? Nice job to Dan and to you. #funnystory

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Glad I can provide some levity on a Friday afternoon :-)

  • http://twitter.com/juliaerickson Julia Erickson

    you know, this is perfect lemonade weather. A great lesson for all of us Triberr-ites. As bloggers, we sometimes forget that details really matter. And with this happening to a big player, it will remind me and probably many others to check our domains. You’ve reached a huge audience today, Dino. May your lemons always turn into such delicious aid…uh, ade.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Hi Julie, thnx for calling us “big”.

      Despite our bigness, Triberr is still Dan and I, powered by Andres. And we all have real jobs in addition to Triberr.

      We are very proud of our bootstrapping roots and the fact that Triberr is not a subject to VC money and interests. And we’ll keep it that way for as long as we can, I promise :-)

  • http://www.liza-shaw.com/ Liza Shaw

    haha. Good to see your just as human as the rest of us. Good to see you back.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thx Liza :-)

      Yes, I am very human indeed … unfortunately? :-)

  • http://www.312digital.com/ Sean McGinnis

    Gah! I’m assuming that’s also responsible for the double/triple posts some are seeing in LinkedIn?

    screencast.com/t/NdmLxGfn11

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Not sure if related, Sean, but I looking into it.

  • http://twitter.com/Melissa_Foster Melissa Foster

    No sweat and it makes you human! Have to agree with Nicole! My first book was published and sold 40,000 copies before I realized a second upload had formatting issues. Going public is all we can do, right?! lol. Love the service!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx Melissa :-)

  • http://wichita.schoolofrock.com/blog Jason Ramsey

    have a drink and enjoy your weekend, maybe you can write a song about it

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Cheers :-)

  • http://twitter.com/janmoran Jan Moran

    Hey Dino, it’s ok! Just reminds us all that no one is perfect! Thanks for sharing :) You guys rock!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx Jan, YOU rock :-)

  • Bert Carson

    Thanks for all that you do – when you do do something it just makes us appreciate the things done even more

  • http://twitter.com/hopesandpassion Michelle Spear

    too funny! I even tried to jump in and buy the domain! LOL

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      We beat you to it :-)

  • http://hypertransitory.com/ John Garrett

    We’ve all been there man, no doubt. At least you had the good grace to take responsibility for it. Also be glad it was nothing nefarious. Once way back in the day I responded to a letter (a physical letter in the U.S. mail) from a phony domain registrar and ended up essentially paying them to steal my domain. A lot of hassle to get it back so this is a mere hiccup. All the best! :)

  • http://inspiretothrive.com/ Lisa Buben

    You acklowdged it and fixed it quick, what else could we ask for? And even taught us a valuable lesson with it. I LOVE the service – you guys really rock and communicate with your users too!

  • http://www.knealemann.com/ Kneale Mann

    Dino, that’s called being human. Two of my domains are up for renewal in May and I’m getting two emails a day from the provider. If I don’t actually do it, I’ll forget. The biggest lesson here for anyone reading this – Dino owned it then fixed it! Nice work, sir!

  • http://pioneeroutfitters.com/AlaskaChickBlog/ Amber-Lee Dibble

    Wow. Honestly, I don’t know how to feel.
    The Chief?
    Human?
    The betrayal.
    Sigh.
    Cool dude! Lucky you got pals like Dan, eh? No, I joke. You guys are awesome!

  • http://twitter.com/MonaKarel Mona Karel

    You’re such an over achiever, when you goof up, you also do that big time. For once I wasn’t on Triberr first thing this morning.

  • http://www.ipnostudio.com/ Andrea Hypno

    Well, everyone can make an error as no one is perfect, it helps to be comprehensive when it happens to someone else. At the end everything works fine now so no problem. :)

  • Guest

    looks like someone snatched up the domain? triberr hosting?

  • http://113tidbits.com/ tony greene

    triberr hosting?

  • http://chloeofthemountain.com/ Chloe

    I hate to say this, but it sort of is reassuring to know that even big guys like you can make mistakes like this. Thanks for the heads up on something that’s easy to overlook.

  • http://twitter.com/AndreaNaomi777 Andrea Naomi

    Awesome totally checking my auto renew settings like right now :) Super glad everything worked out!

  • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

    No worries Dino ;)

    Mine expired yesterday too, I happened to remember to renew. Anybody who flips had a moment but we are all eternally grateful for the platform. On a side note, my posts since yesterday are not hitting the stream. Know what it might be?

    Thanks for all you do!

    Ryan

  • Rodney C. Davis

    triberr is still down in my neck of the woods. But at least now i have answers. I was wondering if I screwed up somehow. So Dino, I’m actually relieved its you. hehe.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Glad I could provide that for you lol

  • http://www.pammarketingnut.com PamMktgNut

    All I can think of is that bumper sticker that says “shit happens.” This is one of them! I put that sticker on my car first year in college. My grandma and mom tore it off… no joke! ;)

    Hang in there buddy @twitter-94173593:disqus . @ginidietrich:disqus is right…. someday it will be funny and you will laugh harder than you are right now.

  • Theresa Cifali

    Oh I can only imagine the shock and horror, Dino. I’m new to Triberr, so it didn’t make a huge impact on me personally. Glad to see you have such a great attitude and have kept your sense of humor….and I respect you being human. I have been known to have done an absentminded thing or two in my day…glad I’m in good company. ;)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Absentmindedness was my major in college :-)

      • Theresa Cifali

        Just checking in on you, Dino…you’ve not broken anything else, right? ;)

  • http://www.pammarketingnut.com PamMktgNut

    On a different note you should also register your trademark if you haven’t already done so. I can give you a couple of names of good attorneys who can help you asap.

  • Renee Schuls-Jacobson

    Hahahaha! You are awesome! And so funny! Good to know you tech gurus screw up, too!

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      We sure do :-)

  • http://www.wonderoftech.com Carolyn Nicander Mohr

    Brilliant plan to instill panic in Triberr members! A world without Triberr? Most of us would rather face a Zombie invasion. #TriberrLove

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      You made me LMAO. Thnx Carolyn :-)

  • http://stanfaryna.wordpress.com Stan Faryna

    Like Gini Dietrich said, it happens to the best of us.

  • http://twitter.com/megmims Meg Mims

    Stilllllll can’t get my Triberr fix!!! aaaaaaaaaargh. hope it’s fixed soon!

  • http://twitter.com/ScribblingTaryn Taryn Raye

    I still can’t get in- it takes me to the expired page and even more bizarre is that every time I go to my blog page I can’t even view my blog for a few seconds before it instantly redirects me to the expired page for Triberr. Not sure WHY it’s doing that. I’m not going to be around the computer the rest of the afternoon- going out for a shared birthday dinner with my MIL, but I’m going to just chalk it up to Mercury going into Retrograde today (which screws up all kinds of things) and I’ll check back tonight or tomorrow and see if anything’s changed. :) Just hope others aren’t getting the same redirect when they hit my landing page on my blog. That would suck.

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      At this point, it’s literarily any minute now. There is nothing more we can do but wait for DNS info to propagate throughout the interwebs.

  • http://113tidbits.com/ tony greene

    you guys banned my account for?

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      yup, I did. Email me support@triberr.com we’ll chat :-)

      • http://113tidbits.com/ tony greene

        No problem. Just delete all of my info from your site, please.

  • http://www.theworld4realz.com/ Andi-Roo

    One of my Personal Commandments is, “Chaos NOW makes a great story LATER”… but you guys managed to make Chaos NOW be a great story at the same time. You and Dan are my heroes and I freaking love you guys so hard. Viva la Triberr! :)

    • http://twitter.com/dinodogan Dino Dogan

      Thnx Andi-Roo :-)

      I LOVE chaos, and I had to laugh at my own stupidity. So, here we are :-)

  • http://www.thevirtualasst.com Michelle Mangen

    I never saw the expired page but rather another page that was really wacky. Glad you got it back up and working. Now you know there are lots of people who care about Triberr. :)

  • http://twitter.com/AdrienneSmith40 Adrienne Smith

    I thought it was a fluke Dino which is why you didn’t hear from me. I kept trying back and I just figured it would come up soon enough, I wasn’t worried. Now I think it’s kind of funny that you dropped the ball but you know what! We forgive you because we love you.

    You and Dan do a fabulous job so we can all just chalk this up to another lessons learned.

    Have a fabulous week Dino.

    ~Adrienne