Possible Pending Purgatory Fix

[SmilingLez]

@Manu @Laurel


I’m posting this publicly for transparency. Too many authors are being told the problem is on their end, and it isn’t. This is a reproducible Level 1 bug in the story submission pipeline (aka Pending Purgatory), and I want it documented in the open so authors stop blaming themselves.

The reproduction path is consistent. A story is submitted and rejected. The author edits and resubmits, and the resubmission may become permanently stuck in pending. If the story is rejected again and resubmitted again, it may become stuck again.

I currently have six stories in this state. Poetry and non‑story submissions behave normally, so the issue is specific to the story submission logic.

The likely cause is a database flag that isn’t resetting on rejection. A field such as resubmit_count or status_id is retaining the wrong value, causing the resubmit action to write to a row that never triggers moderation. This explains why some first‑time submissions move through the queue while some first-time submissions and resubmissions do not.

The possible fix is straightforward from a database perspective. Query the submissions table for rows where last_action is ‘resubmit’, status is ‘pending’, and days_pending is greater than two. This isolates only the stuck resubmissions without touching anything legitimately awaiting review. Each of these entries can then be checked for content validity and manually moved into the moderation queue or reset to a clean ‘submitted’ state. After that, the resubmit handler needs to be patched so the internal moderation flag resets properly on every resubmission.

If you want, I can text you my 6 stuck stories IDs.

Thanks.

 

[Britva415]

Too many authors are being told the problem is on their end

By who?

Are you referring to the "72 hours?" announcement?

Anyway:

The reproduction path is consistent. A story is submitted and rejected. The author edits and resubmits, and the resubmission may become permanently stuck in pending.

Well, that's one reproduction path. This doesn't account for stories which get stuck in "permanently pending" without an initial rejection. Because, that's a thing, too. With no apparent consistent reproduction path: According to many (seemingly most) of the reports, it can just happen to stories which never got rejections.

 

[SmilingLez]

Well, that's one reproduction path. This doesn't account for stories which get stuck in "permanently pending" without an initial rejection. Because, that's a thing, too. With no apparent consistent reproduction path: According to many (seemingly most) of the reports, it can just happen to stories which never got rejections.

I covered that pathway

This explains why some first‑time submissions move through the queue while some first-time submissions and resubmissions do not.

 

[SmilingLez]

@Manu @Laurel


I’m posting this publicly for transparency. Too many authors are being told the problem is on their end, and it isn’t. This is a reproducible Level 1 bug in the story submission pipeline (aka Pending Purgatory), and I want it documented in the open so authors stop blaming themselves.

The reproduction path is consistent. A story is submitted and rejected. The author edits and resubmits, and the resubmission may become permanently stuck in pending. If the story is rejected again and resubmitted again, it may become stuck again. I currently have six stories in this state. Poetry and non‑story submissions behave normally, so the issue is specific to the story submission logic.

The likely cause is a database flag that isn’t resetting on rejection. A field such as resubmit_count or status_id is retaining the wrong value, causing the resubmit action to write to a row that never triggers moderation. This explains why some first‑time submissions move through the queue while some first-time submissions and resubmissions do not.

The possible fix is straightforward from a database perspective. Query the submissions table for rows where last_action is ‘resubmit’, status is ‘pending’, and days_pending is greater than two. This isolates only the stuck resubmissions without touching anything legitimately awaiting review. Each of these entries can then be checked for content validity and manually moved into the moderation queue or reset to a clean ‘submitted’ state. After that, the resubmit handler needs to be patched so the internal moderation flag resets properly on every resubmission.

If you want, I can text you my 6 stuck stories IDs.

Thanks.

I deleted two of my stories and posted them elsewhere. So now I have four stories stuck in pending purgatory

 

[Capt_Roger]

The trigger also seems to be blocking the author from making any further submissions, period.

In practice, even deleting everything from my pending file and then submitting anew isn’t a workaround.

 

[SmilingLez]

My earliest submitted story (4 stories total) in pending purgatory is May 4th 2026. Any update on this bug? @Manu

 

[RedWanderer95]

i submitted a story in a word doc. It went up quick. Like in a day. Maybe that goes up faster for some computerry internety reason? I have no idea.

 

[SmilingLez]

i submitted a story in a word doc. It went up quick. Like in a day. Maybe that goes up faster for some computerry internety reason? I have no idea.

Some people like yourself have no issues, and other people like me get stuck in pending purgatory - no rhyme no reason; which is why I offered a possible solution.

It appears that if one story gets stuck in pending purgatory, the chances of additional stories getting stuck in pending purgatory increases.

The closest analogy I can think of is the piling up of feces in a toilet, eventually the toilet won't flush. In order to get the toilet to flush again, something needs to be done otherwise the toilet will stay clogged for eternity

 

[SmilingLez]

Any update?