Pipedia News

;2021-05-04
:We have a wonderful new article on College Class Pipes, featuring the research and collection of Brian Robertson. I'd heard of Class Pipes, but had no idea how wonderful this niche collection area can be. I find it fascinating, and really enjoyed working with Brian to bring it to you. Many thanks to Brian for sharing this with us!
;2018-09-17
:We just discovered and corrected the issue that was causing the 400 error for some Firefox users. It had to do with a geolocation service used by the translation tools we have installed. The first service shut down and redirected to a second service, which was not on a secure server. Most browsers just reported (with an icon) that the server was no longer secure, while some versions of Firefox bailed all together with that error message. Thanks to those that reported the problem! --sethile (talk) 13:32, 17 September 2018 (CDT)
;2016-05-19
:We've had to temporarily move to manual account creation to combat an aggressive spam campaign. If you are a new user and have anything you'd like to edit, add, or upload, please don't hesitate to email Scott Thile (sethile.pipes@gmail.com), and request an account. Please include the following: 
:::Desired username:
:::Email address:
:::And a little about how you'd like to contribute, or your particular area of interest. That should be all we need. Once we receive that your account will be created and a random password emailed to you. sethile (talk) 21:52, 19 May 2016 (CDT)
;2016-05-18
:We have had to implement changes to new user registration and privileges, and change our Captcha strategy due to a very aggressive spam attack. If you are experiencing any difficulty with edits or contributions please feel free to contact us. It may take a few days for us to tweak in the new settings. gilrain 11:26, 18 May 2016 (CDT)
;2015-09-04
:Information of the Turkish meerschaum pipe maker Altinay updated. www.altinaypipe.com facebook.com/altinaypipe
;2012-12-19
:We have upgraded to Mediawiki version 1.20.2 and we have also migrated to a new hosting service. We were bumping up against the limits of our previous hosting plan. This new situation can grow with us a little better. With all these changes it's possible we'll have some issues. Please let me know if you encounter any. --sethile (talk) 22:58, 19 December 2012 (CST)
;2012-12-18
:Had a major server issue that has just been resolved, at least for now. The site had been down for at least 15 hours or so. Sorry for any inconvenience. It's good news, really, in that we are outgrowing our server environment due to all the traffic! --sethile 09:57, 18 December 2012 (CST)
;2012-06-10
:Most regular readers of the Peterson article are aware that work is currently underway on the production of a completely new Kapp & Peterson Reference Book. The editorial team involved in the book's development had previously requested the assistance of Peterson pipe lovers the world over to provide suitable material, anecdotes, photos,catalogues etc. This has proven hugely successful and has necessitated additional time and effort to include as much as possible. We were tentatively looking to target 2014 for a completion date for publishing. However recent events have overtaken that original thinking. We have just received some very good news from Tom Palmer (the Peterson CEO) that Peterson will buy the book from the publishers, Briar Books Press, to distribute internationally and in tandem, they will issue a commemorative pipe(s)/book combination set for the 150th anniversary of Kapp & Peterson in 2015.
;2012-03-09
:Dutch pipemaker Elbert Gubbels Co. (Big Ben, Hilson, Porsche Design) files for bankruptcy. 
;2011-08-16
: Changed the settings again to allow anonymous edits, but anonymous edits will trigger QuestyCaptcha while users will bypass it. To create an account also triggers QuestyCaptcha. That should take care of the bulk of the problems we've been having lately while still allowing anonymous edits. I guess we'll see! --sethile 21:05, 16 August 2011 (CDT)
;2011-08-14
:Due to a huge bot attack of malicious edits I have just had to eliminate the ability for unregistered users to perform edits. We have had many very valuable anonymous contributions in the past. Hopefully I will be able to allow anonymous contributions again in a day or two. Meanwhile, please consider becoming a registered user. We really appreciate your help! --sethile 21:35, 14 August 2011 (CDT) 
;2011-04-13
:Switched from ReCaptcha to QuestyCaptcha. Some enterprising spammers have apparently either cracked ReCaptcha, or they're using some kind of new OCR or maybe using humans to defeat it. As a result we'd been getting 5 to 7 new pages full of spam a day from newly registered accounts since the middle of February. Other SYSOPS have reported that other Captchas are still working, so I switched over the QuestyCaptcha today in hopes this will stem the tide. Let me know if you encounter any problems or special difficulties. The two questions asked should have very obvious answers to pipe smoking humans that are nominal English speakers. --sethile 20:02, 13 April 2011 (CDT) 
;2011-04-10
:Thanks to some help from Platonides from mediawiki-l I was able to fix the database and we are now running full steam ahead with the latest stable version of Mediawiki! --sethile 19:37, 10 April 2011 (CDT)
;2011-04-08
:Just updated to Mediawiki 1.16.2. Looks good so far. Please let me know if you notice anything odd. --sethile 15:41, 8 April 2011 (CDT) Actually, I just did in the updating of this page, which caused a database error, but seems to have worked anyway. I'll look into that... --sethile 15:44, 8 April 2011 (CDT)
;2010-01-31
:German brand Lindström added. 
;2008-09-21
:German pipemaker Roger Wallenstein ceases to sell his pipes directly to his customers. On the occasion of the 30. Inter-tabac Fair Dortmund, September 19. - 21., 2008 Otto & Kopp of Offenbach takes over the worldwide distribution of Wallenstein pipes (excluding the USA). - Foreseeing he will also cease to introduce new pipes on his website. A real pity, because this will make it really difficult for the customer to come to know which pipes are actually available and where. 
;2008-09-20
:Kurt Huhn of Rhode Island announces a brand new line of tabletop pipes, the Mount Doom line. See also Kurt's blog. 
;2008-07-27
:Elliott Nachwalter announces to be on sabbatical from pipe making until Jan. 20., 2009.
;2008-07-12
:Danish pipemaker Søren Eric Andersen announced to retire from pipe making by the end of June. He might be selling off his remaining stock on discounted prices.