I am regularly running into a very annoying posting problem. I will be logged in, and I will spend some time composing a post, and when the time comes to actually make the post I will find myself kicked back to the logon screen. That in itself is not too bad. Firefox automatically fills in my login info for me, and sometimes, once I have logged in again, my post goes through OK. Other times, however, the board refuses to log me back in again, apparently because it thinks I am already logged in (well I was, yes!) and I get a message like this:
If I follow these instructions, either it does not work and I get the same error message again, or else I risk losing all the stuff I have typed in the when the page reloads. Weirdly, I have found that, in this situation, I am able to do other logged-in things, such as access and make changes via my own board control panel (not that it helps), but not post.
The last time this happened, the only way I was able to make my post was to copy the content to my word processor, exit all tabs from straightdope.com, log in again, relocate the relevant thread, copy my text into the box, and reapply all the formatting codes by hand. Is there any way to avoid this happening? It is very annoying.
I used to get this a lot. What I’ve found is simply opening another tab before hitting submit and seeing if it has me still logged in. If not, a quick log on to the other tab does the trick. I am also in the habit, from past experience with this board, of saving longer posts to clipboard before submitting them. I don’t do that when I’m posting from the iPad, since it’s more trouble than it’s worth, but if I’m posting from my laptop I always copy before submitting if it’s more than a few lines of text.
I’m guessing your cookie is corrupted, which is why you aren’t staying logged in. (Assuming you’ve checked the “remember me” box when you logged in the first time, that is. If you haven’t checked that box, do that.) Try clearing your cache and deleting your cookies, I’d bet dollars to donuts that will fix the problem.
As an aside, that expression made more sense back when donuts were cheaper.
I do that at all message boards, due to my shitty internet connection. It also solves the problem of the OP for coding as well, as the clipboard keeps that (I assume the WP strips it out).
So njtt, did accepting a new cookie fix this for you? It does sound like you have a corrupted cookie going on here, that’s the most logical explanation.
Thanks, people. I have cleared my cookies and I made sure to check the keep me logged in box when I next logged in. Whether the problem is now solved it is hard to say as it was only ever intermittent, and generally only happened when I had written a particularly long or thoroughly researched post. The next time I am inspired to do that, maybe I will know.
Incidentally, if you check the “keep me logged in” button, does that mean that your little green light keeps shining even if you are not actually on the Dope site, or even if you are off line? What about if you happen to have left a tab with a page from the Dope open, but have not actually looked at it for hours?
No, the board checks whether or not someone logged in as you has actually done anything in the past X minutes, where X is the threshold defining currently active users. Just having a page open doesn’t qualify – once the server sends you that page, they’re done with you. You have to click on links to remain active. Once the board realizes you aren’t active (it only checks this a few times an hour), it snuffs your green light.
Now I have “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” going through my head. Thanks a lot.
Generally, if you have been inactive on the Dope for the last 15 minutes, you are automatically logged out. What the “Keep me logged in” box does is automatically sign you back in when you revisit the Dope so that you don’t have to retype your password every time. You’re not kept logged in 24/7, however, unless you are actually active (that is, refreshing a page, reading a new thread, posting, etc.). Your dot doesn’t stay green if you’re not actually online. It turns into a faded blue-gray circle.
