Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
(Modified by Moderator on 2025-04-16 12:45:15)
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I hope it returns very soon, it's a great resource for the new collector!
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Rob,
Stamp Smarter is alive and well.
I can't tell exactly what you were trying to do on Stamp Smarter, so please contact me through info@stampsmarter.org and let's discuss what you were doing and we can try to work it out.
Mike Ludeman
Stamp Smarter
Director.
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TO: 1899
"I hope it returns very soon, it's a great resource for the new collector!"
Are you saying you have a problem with Stamp Smarter website also?
If you are, please contact me via the email in the previous post with information about the problem you are experiencing. Thanks.
Mike
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@MikeL
I don't have any problem with stampsmarter I don't use it!
This stampsmarter is only (I think) useful for new collectors, it's no use to me.
Sorry
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It was working yesterday when I visited to get a copy of the Forbin revenue catalog.
stampsmarter has a lot of different resources. For example, I used the wash franklin identifier several days ago.
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I've checked, and get the same page as Rob
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I just accessed the site fine. Maybe the outages are regional? Is that possible?
BTW, not a site "just for beginners". It had been a while since I was on there and was reminded of the many advanced, "in the weeds" resources there.
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DaveSheridan:
Please contact me via the message system here and give me some details on exactly what you are trying to do on Stamp Smarter when you get that error.
We cannot trouble shoot issues that are limited to one or two users without specific information.
MikeL
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Hi Mike, no need for messages. All I've done is type the url into the url bar in a number of different browsers and the error message pops up
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DaveSheridan:
You are missing the point.
You have reported a problem that appears to be denying you access to some area of Stamp Smarter. This is a serious problem. Please help us understand the problem and resolve it. It obviously affects more than one regular user of the website.
What URL are you trying to access, and why? Are you actually typing in the URL, or is it a saved bookmark, or from a Google search on "Stampsmarter"?
It does not appear to be the main URL for the Stamp Smarter home page.
If I read the error message correctly, you are at a location that is not somewhere you are supposed to be.
So why are you there, and what are you trying to do?
MikeL
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Geez, calm down. I thought I was pretty clear. I've typed stampsmarter.org into three browsers, Chrome, Firefox and Brave, and all I get is the error message. No home page, nothing. I don't use the site, I tested it for you. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered
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DaveSheridan:
You NEVER stated in your original post that you had typed Stampstarter.org into the browser. You said that you were entering the same URL as Rob1956 referenced, and had the same result.
Please do me a favor.
Go to your browser. Enter "stampsmarter.org"
Take a screen show that includes the browser URL as well as the error message that appears.
Like this:
email the screen shot to me at info@stampsmarter.org, or upload the image here.
I prefer direct communication. There is no need to diagnose problems with Stamp Smarter when they exist on this or any other forum. Feel free to report problems here, but let's not annoy other forum participants with the details.
Thanks,
MikeL
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01:27:02pm
Here is the answer for both of you:
@Rob1956: It is likely that when you type in "stampsmarter.org" your browser is filling in the rest with something saved from a previous visit, as shown in the above enlargement of your image of the error page. Delete everything after ".org" and you will be fine. The site is coming up fine. Or use this link and reset your bookmark: https://stampsmarter.org/
@MikeL: The enlargement "URL requested" should give you everything you need for troubleshooting. I empathize. I have frequently encountered similar frustration with users' reports that "it's broke -- better fix it".
Roy
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I just used the link that Roy supplied above. I received the following:
"The connection has timed out
The server at stampsmarter.org is taking too long to respond.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the web"
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HTTP Error 403.0 - ModSecurity Action
You do not have permission to view this directory or page.
I typed in "https://stampsmarter.org/" and still this message appears.
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I typed in stampsmarter.org and the site popped up immediately.
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@Rob1956
Lose the "https:// and the /" at the end. Type ONLY stampsmarter.org it works for me with opera, firefox, chrome, edge, and safari on both Win 10 and an older Imac refreshed with Monterey Fingers crossed - same problem I had with link to my store address on this site - it did not work with https//.
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I type stampsmarter.org into any one of four browsers and get this, a clean URL, no befores or afters
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I do a Google search for Stamp Smarter and click on the link and get this, exactly the same.
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I type stampsmarter.org into a browser using VPN and get exactly the same thing
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I think I remember I always got a warning and had to check a box to proceed when I was running Norton or McAfee some time ago. Once I switched to the standard MSN anti virus there was no more warning. I don't run anti virus on my Mac (25+ years now). Not sure how you would check that
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I have found that if you live in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany or the Netherlands, you will not be able to access Stampsmarter.org at the moment. To get around the problem, if you have access to a VPN, use the VPN to connect via a USA city and you will be fine. I've found in my situation using the VPN Extension in the browser works better that using the VPN program running outside of the browser.
Hope this helps.
Tim
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Well said sir!
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Tim,
Any idea why those locations are having issues with access to stampsmarter.org?
Jerrel
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Hi Jerrel,
No, I don't really know. I suspect that the hosting provider is having problems in their network. They have servers in both the US and in Europe. I'm guessing the European servers are having an issue. Just a guess on my behalf.
Regards ... Tim
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I live in the UK and have no problem with Stampsmarter.org
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It is quite obvious that I and others will not have access to Stampsmarter anytime soon, so I will be posting rare stamps. It's a pity as it is a great webpage.
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It is a pity the web site for lots of people is not avaible right now, but maybe the problem(s) will be fixed soon! Hope its days and not weeks/months.
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It's been over a month so far.
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In the mean time perhaps the sor members could pitch in to answer identification questions!
What does the sor members think, willing to help out?
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I'm willing in the following areas:
Washington/Franklin heads 1908-1921!
Revenues in general, with special interest in the 1898 Series Revenue stamps! Cancels on 1898 Series revenue stamps.
Any sor members willing step up and help while Stampsmarter is not available for some folks?
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Yeah sure!
Also, check out my friend Riger Kirby's theswedishtiger.com website!
I use it everyday for wash/frank
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No problems with Stampmaster in Mexico.
@PhilatelistMag20 - You're right, my friend, https://theswedishtiger.com is excellent. I use the Great Britain section, which has helped me quite a bit.
Cheers,
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Pulls right up here in Arizona USA
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During the past several weeks, there have been several people here on StampORama report that they have had difficulty with accessing the Stamp Smarter website from outside the United States.
We have been working with our Internet Service Provider (ISP), and to the best of our knowledge, they have corrected these issues, and we are back to full operation.
As our Board is all US based, we can not readily test a situation like this, so we appreciate those who do encounter problems with our Stamp Smarter website, and report them.
Reporting problems can be done is several ways.
(1) You can make a post on this thread at StampORama.
Please do NOT start a new thread, let's keep the Stamp Smarter problems in one place.
Please do not post general questions about Stamp Smarter in this thread. Let's keep it dedicated to reporting operational problems and announcing the solutions.
(2) You can send me a private message through the StampORama private message system.
(3) You can go to the member page here and send me an email directly. If you do this, please also add my name and contact information in your Contacts folder, under my name or better, under Stamp Smarter as the main entry. That way you can always find us.
(4) On our home page, and many other pages on Stamp Smarter, you can go to the CONNECT button at the top, select that, and send us a message from that page.
Regardless of your preferred approach, when you report a problem, please describe the problem in detail.
Where were you on Stamp Smarter, what were you trying to do, what was the result, what sort of error or unexpected result did you obtain? If you can take screen shots of the error or behavior, please do. The more information you can provide, the better will be our ability to provide a speedy resolution.
I want to also thank those of you who reported these recent problems, and those who assisted in testing and verifying the solutions when we asked for assistance.
Our goal is to keep Stamp Smarter fully operational as one of the best independent philatelic websites on the internet.
MikeL
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I have had some issues opening the Washington and Franklin's identifier file and I live here in Wi. When trying to open the file by clicking on the icon I immediately get an 404 error message. It does the same thing on the 2 search engines I use Bing and Goggle Crome. This all started for me on Wednesday.
I hope this helps.
Jeremy
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Sarge:
Thank you for this report. I was aware of one new problem with this Feature but I had not seen this one described.
Can you provide a screen shot to the error report? Try and include the browser URL and the error message complete. If you don't want to post it here, find my email in my SOR account and send it direct to me.
I will add this to the report and we will try and correct shortly.
MikeL
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The message you see is a new message not the same as it was in my first post.
Jeremy
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Thank you.
This is the error we see. We know how to fix, but not what caused it at this time.
I'll report here when we believe the situation is corrected.
Mike
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Anytime I can help I will.
Jeremy
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We believe that the problem described in the previous message has been corrected.
You may need to refresh the page.
Please let me know if you continue to see the previous error message or have any other problems on Stamp Smarter.
Thank you for your help.
MikeL
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What happened to Stampsmarter, for over a month now this is all I'm getting. Has it been taken down?
(Modified by Moderator on 2025-04-16 12:45:15)
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I hope it returns very soon, it's a great resource for the new collector!
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Rob,
Stamp Smarter is alive and well.
I can't tell exactly what you were trying to do on Stamp Smarter, so please contact me through info@stampsmarter.org and let's discuss what you were doing and we can try to work it out.
Mike Ludeman
Stamp Smarter
Director.
Login to Like
this post
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
TO: 1899
"I hope it returns very soon, it's a great resource for the new collector!"
Are you saying you have a problem with Stamp Smarter website also?
If you are, please contact me via the email in the previous post with information about the problem you are experiencing. Thanks.
Mike
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
@MikeL
I don't have any problem with stampsmarter I don't use it!
This stampsmarter is only (I think) useful for new collectors, it's no use to me.
Sorry
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
It was working yesterday when I visited to get a copy of the Forbin revenue catalog.
stampsmarter has a lot of different resources. For example, I used the wash franklin identifier several days ago.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I've checked, and get the same page as Rob
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I just accessed the site fine. Maybe the outages are regional? Is that possible?
BTW, not a site "just for beginners". It had been a while since I was on there and was reminded of the many advanced, "in the weeds" resources there.
1 Member
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
DaveSheridan:
Please contact me via the message system here and give me some details on exactly what you are trying to do on Stamp Smarter when you get that error.
We cannot trouble shoot issues that are limited to one or two users without specific information.
MikeL
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Hi Mike, no need for messages. All I've done is type the url into the url bar in a number of different browsers and the error message pops up
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
DaveSheridan:
You are missing the point.
You have reported a problem that appears to be denying you access to some area of Stamp Smarter. This is a serious problem. Please help us understand the problem and resolve it. It obviously affects more than one regular user of the website.
What URL are you trying to access, and why? Are you actually typing in the URL, or is it a saved bookmark, or from a Google search on "Stampsmarter"?
It does not appear to be the main URL for the Stamp Smarter home page.
If I read the error message correctly, you are at a location that is not somewhere you are supposed to be.
So why are you there, and what are you trying to do?
MikeL
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Geez, calm down. I thought I was pretty clear. I've typed stampsmarter.org into three browsers, Chrome, Firefox and Brave, and all I get is the error message. No home page, nothing. I don't use the site, I tested it for you. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
DaveSheridan:
You NEVER stated in your original post that you had typed Stampstarter.org into the browser. You said that you were entering the same URL as Rob1956 referenced, and had the same result.
Please do me a favor.
Go to your browser. Enter "stampsmarter.org"
Take a screen show that includes the browser URL as well as the error message that appears.
Like this:
email the screen shot to me at info@stampsmarter.org, or upload the image here.
I prefer direct communication. There is no need to diagnose problems with Stamp Smarter when they exist on this or any other forum. Feel free to report problems here, but let's not annoy other forum participants with the details.
Thanks,
MikeL
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
10 Apr 2025
01:27:02pm
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Here is the answer for both of you:
@Rob1956: It is likely that when you type in "stampsmarter.org" your browser is filling in the rest with something saved from a previous visit, as shown in the above enlargement of your image of the error page. Delete everything after ".org" and you will be fine. The site is coming up fine. Or use this link and reset your bookmark: https://stampsmarter.org/
@MikeL: The enlargement "URL requested" should give you everything you need for troubleshooting. I empathize. I have frequently encountered similar frustration with users' reports that "it's broke -- better fix it".
Roy
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Approvals
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I just used the link that Roy supplied above. I received the following:
"The connection has timed out
The server at stampsmarter.org is taking too long to respond.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the web"
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
HTTP Error 403.0 - ModSecurity Action
You do not have permission to view this directory or page.
I typed in "https://stampsmarter.org/" and still this message appears.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I typed in stampsmarter.org and the site popped up immediately.
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10:53:51am
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
@Rob1956
Lose the "https:// and the /" at the end. Type ONLY stampsmarter.org it works for me with opera, firefox, chrome, edge, and safari on both Win 10 and an older Imac refreshed with Monterey Fingers crossed - same problem I had with link to my store address on this site - it did not work with https//.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I type stampsmarter.org into any one of four browsers and get this, a clean URL, no befores or afters
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I do a Google search for Stamp Smarter and click on the link and get this, exactly the same.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I type stampsmarter.org into a browser using VPN and get exactly the same thing
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12:33:36pm
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I think I remember I always got a warning and had to check a box to proceed when I was running Norton or McAfee some time ago. Once I switched to the standard MSN anti virus there was no more warning. I don't run anti virus on my Mac (25+ years now). Not sure how you would check that
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I have found that if you live in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany or the Netherlands, you will not be able to access Stampsmarter.org at the moment. To get around the problem, if you have access to a VPN, use the VPN to connect via a USA city and you will be fine. I've found in my situation using the VPN Extension in the browser works better that using the VPN program running outside of the browser.
Hope this helps.
Tim
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Tim,
Any idea why those locations are having issues with access to stampsmarter.org?
Jerrel
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Hi Jerrel,
No, I don't really know. I suspect that the hosting provider is having problems in their network. They have servers in both the US and in Europe. I'm guessing the European servers are having an issue. Just a guess on my behalf.
Regards ... Tim
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03:15:09pm
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I live in the UK and have no problem with Stampsmarter.org
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
It is quite obvious that I and others will not have access to Stampsmarter anytime soon, so I will be posting rare stamps. It's a pity as it is a great webpage.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
It is a pity the web site for lots of people is not avaible right now, but maybe the problem(s) will be fixed soon! Hope its days and not weeks/months.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
It's been over a month so far.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
In the mean time perhaps the sor members could pitch in to answer identification questions!
What does the sor members think, willing to help out?
1 Member
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I'm willing in the following areas:
Washington/Franklin heads 1908-1921!
Revenues in general, with special interest in the 1898 Series Revenue stamps! Cancels on 1898 Series revenue stamps.
Any sor members willing step up and help while Stampsmarter is not available for some folks?
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Yeah sure!
Also, check out my friend Riger Kirby's theswedishtiger.com website!
I use it everyday for wash/frank
2 Members
like this post.
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
No problems with Stampmaster in Mexico.
@PhilatelistMag20 - You're right, my friend, https://theswedishtiger.com is excellent. I use the Great Britain section, which has helped me quite a bit.
Cheers,
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Pulls right up here in Arizona USA
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
During the past several weeks, there have been several people here on StampORama report that they have had difficulty with accessing the Stamp Smarter website from outside the United States.
We have been working with our Internet Service Provider (ISP), and to the best of our knowledge, they have corrected these issues, and we are back to full operation.
As our Board is all US based, we can not readily test a situation like this, so we appreciate those who do encounter problems with our Stamp Smarter website, and report them.
Reporting problems can be done is several ways.
(1) You can make a post on this thread at StampORama.
Please do NOT start a new thread, let's keep the Stamp Smarter problems in one place.
Please do not post general questions about Stamp Smarter in this thread. Let's keep it dedicated to reporting operational problems and announcing the solutions.
(2) You can send me a private message through the StampORama private message system.
(3) You can go to the member page here and send me an email directly. If you do this, please also add my name and contact information in your Contacts folder, under my name or better, under Stamp Smarter as the main entry. That way you can always find us.
(4) On our home page, and many other pages on Stamp Smarter, you can go to the CONNECT button at the top, select that, and send us a message from that page.
Regardless of your preferred approach, when you report a problem, please describe the problem in detail.
Where were you on Stamp Smarter, what were you trying to do, what was the result, what sort of error or unexpected result did you obtain? If you can take screen shots of the error or behavior, please do. The more information you can provide, the better will be our ability to provide a speedy resolution.
I want to also thank those of you who reported these recent problems, and those who assisted in testing and verifying the solutions when we asked for assistance.
Our goal is to keep Stamp Smarter fully operational as one of the best independent philatelic websites on the internet.
MikeL
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11:12:55am
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
I have had some issues opening the Washington and Franklin's identifier file and I live here in Wi. When trying to open the file by clicking on the icon I immediately get an 404 error message. It does the same thing on the 2 search engines I use Bing and Goggle Crome. This all started for me on Wednesday.
I hope this helps.
Jeremy
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Sarge:
Thank you for this report. I was aware of one new problem with this Feature but I had not seen this one described.
Can you provide a screen shot to the error report? Try and include the browser URL and the error message complete. If you don't want to post it here, find my email in my SOR account and send it direct to me.
I will add this to the report and we will try and correct shortly.
MikeL
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03:33:37pm
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
The message you see is a new message not the same as it was in my first post.
Jeremy
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Thank you.
This is the error we see. We know how to fix, but not what caused it at this time.
I'll report here when we believe the situation is corrected.
Mike
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05:25:57pm
re: Report stampsmarter issues here
Anytime I can help I will.
Jeremy
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re: Report stampsmarter issues here
We believe that the problem described in the previous message has been corrected.
You may need to refresh the page.
Please let me know if you continue to see the previous error message or have any other problems on Stamp Smarter.
Thank you for your help.
MikeL
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