POTN messing me about.

[Lowner]

How do I contact the site Mr Fixit? This site keeps telling me I'm not allowed to post and must refresh the page. This means I loose everything I've (hopefully) carefully crafted, must log in (yet) again for the third or fourth time and start writing from scratch.

Once in a while I can cope with, but it seems to be happening more and more frequently. It needs fixing.

[Woolburr]

If it were an issue with POTN....each and every one of us would be having issues. It is far more likely the problem exists on your end. Try clearing the cache on your browser....and you can also dump your saved cookies. CCleaner is a great little freebie for cleaning up loose ends.

[Lowner]

Dan,

This is the only site that gives me the problem, and I clear out my PC once a week religiously. In fact one of my tools is CCleaner.

Others have spoken of the issue and it is odd that there is no link to "The Management" here.

[Woolburr]

Actually, if you scroll to the bottom of this page....every member of the staff is listed and linked. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21

[e02937]

Until you figure it out, copy your post to your clipboard before clicking Post. That way if it doesn't take you don't have to rewrite everything.

[Lowner]

Thanks for the clipboard advise. I'll explore the members list and see if I can find a likely candidate who's cage I need to rattle. They really should be a little more visible. Hiding maybe?

[number six]

Thanks for the clipboard advise. I'll explore the members list and see if I can find a likely candidate who's cage I need to rattle. They really should be a little more visible. Hiding maybe?

Here, Richard - pick one:

CyberDyneSystems (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=8486), Pekka (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=3), Belmondo (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=10859), Jon (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=17587), Ballen Photo (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=13632), Cadwell (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=15118), Kevin (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=38830), tommykjensen (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=15933), PhotosGuy (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=15421), PacAce (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=6757), Maureen Souza (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=24803), Skip Souza (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=25474), Pete (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=67296), ::John:: (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=45375), In2Photos (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=44995), Jamie Holladay (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=43914), Lester Wareham (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=34664), Mark_Cohran (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=3341), Moppie (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=18914), Olli (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=36513), René Damkot (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=23893), rpolitsr (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=32453), SuzyView (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=41820), T.D. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.php?u=36413)

-js

[Jon]

Well, 99 times out of 100, what Wool said is what the problem is. Even when it isn't, it is. Like he also said - if it were here, a lot of people would be having the problem. If it's just you, it's your computer, your browser, or your security settings. And we can't control that. Clear your cache, clear your cookies (at least for here), log out, shut down all instances of your browser (very important, that), then start up, and try coming back in.

[Pekka]

How do I contact the site Mr Fixit? This site keeps telling me I'm not allowed to post and must refresh the page. This means I loose everything I've (hopefully) carefully crafted, must log in (yet) again for the third or fourth time and start writing from scratch.

Once in a while I can cope with, but it seems to be happening more and more frequently. It needs fixing.

Sorry to hear that.

There is no technical issue on this end that can cause that.

You'll need to enable cookies in order to post (do anything) here. Cookie is checked before allowing any member action, so loosing it will cause symptoms you describe. Maybe you have overeager firewall/virus program that destroys the cookies without warning? Maybe you have some setting that forces cookies time out before they actually are set to.

Better to compose your replies in notepad/wordpad and paste them so you won't loose them on failed post.

[Lowner]

Pekka,

Thanks for replying. If its a firewall/antivirus issue, what I don't understand is why only on this site. I've never had the issue anywhere else.

As I said to Dan, I have made it a weekly routine to remove ALL the junk that has collected, which includes the million and one cookies.

[Pekka]

Firewalls have filters for each site you visit. You might have clicked a dialog asking about it inadvertently.

Please try another browser, I recommend Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera. They are all free and you can have all in same system, even open at same time. They each contain own cookie storage and site settings.

You could also try to make exception setting to specifically allow cookies from POTN.

[MDJAK]

To the OP: Could the problem lie in your title the fairy bestowed upon you? ;)

me

[Lowner]

I have checked my firewall sdettings and theres nothing there that can have a bearing on this. I've also heard back from Symantec who want me to uninstall my antivirus software, run it without for a "period" and see how it goes.

I have a friend who uses email to stay in contact who works in a high profile government research establishment. They are constantly being hacked and to run without any antivirus cover is a risk I shall not be taking. If I'm unable to solve the problem some other way then I must sadly say goodbye to this forum.

MDJAK: I'm the first to admit I'm not a computer expert. It appears to me as a complete novice that this forum uses cookies in a different way to other sites, because it happens nowhere else. Therefore logic tells me that its a problem the site should be able to solve.

[tommykjensen]

POTN's use of cookies is NOT different from any other site (forum). There are litterally millions of forums based on the exact same software as used here which is vBulletin.

Unfortunately it seems most likely that the issues is your end. Otherwise we would see thousands of members posting about the same issue.

[Pekka]

Richard,

I've checked your account and there are no anomalies with it.

Please, please try another web browser as I suggested.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
http://www.google.com/chrome
http://www.opera.com/

Trying another browser and seeing the same problem would verify that problem is not in file cache (damaged javascript) or browser settings (allowed cookie domains). What browser do you use now?

As Tommy said, the way cookies are used here is standard, and no one else has your problem. It is indeed so that the problem is in your end.

I have seen virus killer and firewalls stuck with certain flawed settings. Only remedy to that is to completely uninstall them and reinstall without retaining old settings. If Symantec suggests that you run without virus killer a while, you only need to do so for e.g hour or so, and open only POTN website, nothing else. If the problem persists then you taken one variable out of equation.

[Lowner]

It occurs to me that a wireless broadband connection issue that TalkTalk are helping me with might be the more likely culprit here?

I get unexplained and random failures in connection that I have been asked to log as they occur, but there are also short connection failures that appear to re-establish without my having to reboot. Is it possible that POTN fails to recognise the re-established connection when other sites seem unfazed?

The next step in the broadband problem is to return to the old wired connection for a set period and see how that works. Certainly I would rather give that a try first.

[Pekka]

It occurs to me that a wireless broadband connection issue that TalkTalk are helping me with might be the more likely culprit here?

I get unexplained and random failures in connection that I have been asked to log as they occur, but there are also short connection failures that appear to re-establish without my having to reboot. Is it possible that POTN fails to recognise the re-established connection when other sites seem unfazed?

The next step in the broadband problem is to return to the old wired connection for a set period and see how that works. Certainly I would rather give that a try first.

If connection is breaking there are few possible pitfalls with POTN:

1. Login session IP changes in midst of writing message (maybe you get different IP for each page load): this will force you to re-login.

2. Page source code is loaded incompletely, and that incomplete code is cached. All pages will be "faulty" unless you clean browser cache and reload the page.

I suspect it might be no.1 that is the problem. POTN uses also very specialized www server software which might reject/re-request bad/broken http requests more eagerly (we do have strict security measures active).

While you keep solving this problem, you might want to keep another page open when you write a message. Before clicking "submit post", reload the other page and you see that login is indeed active. If it is not, login with that other page and then send the post.

[Lowner]

Pekka,

Thanks a lot for that information. It just "feels right" that the two issues are related!

I will do as you suggest until TalkTalk and I have resolved the broadband issue, then I'll take another look at it.