What we're doing to address File Upload problems in Basecamp

July 6 2009, 10:22pm

Last week we released an update to Basecamp that included an easier way to select multiple files to upload and an improved progress bar to show feedback as files are uploaded. The new features worked really well for the majority of our customers. But as the days went by, we discovered a percentage of customers who simply couldn't upload files anymore.

We worked diligently throughout last week to release fixes and narrow down the problem. On Monday we fixed a bug where existing attachments weren't displayed when editing a Message or Comment. We investigated and successfully resolved a problem where files intermittently failed to upload on Tuesday. On Wednesday we identified and fixed a problem with hanging uploads on Safari 4 and Google Chrome. On Thursday we discovered a subtle bug in the link to switch to the "Basic Uploader" fallback. We located the bug and deployed a fix on Thursday afternoon. Throughout the week, and especially Thursday through Sunday, we collected data from a percentage of customers on Windows who reported that they still cannot upload files despite these fixes.

As of today, we have determined that antivirus software is blocking our file uploader on certain Windows installations, and we have determined how to fix the problem. Unfortunately, the fix will require some time-consuming changes to our code. We basically need to rebuild a sizable segment of the file uploader. It will take time to implement the fix, and in the meantime some customers cannot upload files.

It is crucial for every one of our customers to be able to upload files. So while we continue to work hard behind the scenes to fix this compatibility problem, we believe it is in the best interest of our customers to revert back to the previous file uploader. This change will allow every single customer to upload files again, and it will allow us to work for you behind the scenes to fix this compatibility issue. The improved multiple-file selection and fancy progress bar will be unavailable after the roll back, but the change is not permanent. We'll bring these features back after we have fixed the compatibility issue. The zooming image preview feature is unaffected by this change.

We are deeply sorry for the trouble some customers have had with uploading files, and we're also very sorry that it's necessary to revert some improvements that many customers were happy about. We feel terrible about it. If you were affected by the File Uploading change last week and still cannot upload files, please write support and we will issue a credit to your account. For those of you who haven't had any problems, we truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to bring the improved uploading features to our entire customer base.

We are preparing the roll-back now, and we expect the previous file uploader to be up and running again within 24 hours. Once we again, we deeply apologize and we thank you for your understanding.

UPDATE: On July 6, 10:00pm CST we rolled back to the previous File Uploading system. Now everybody should be able to upload files again.

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