The title is probably not the best description of my issue. Here goes: sometimes when I am reading threads on this board, the back button does not take me out of the thread, but just reloads the page I’m currently reading. The list of sites in my back button drop down menu will only contain the page once, no redirect link or anything. This may mean it’s a software issue, but it hasn’t been a problem on any other website.
For the record I’m using the latest version of Chrome (stable channel) on a Mac.
When that happens to me I go to the little “downward-pointing-triangle” (upper left near the Back button) and discover that Back is pointing either to the current page or else to some ad. I just highlight where I want to go Back to and click on the two arrows at the right of the URL box. I use IE8 so the buttons may differ for you.
Chrome? There’s your culprit. Some sites (like the Dope) just seem to have this problem with Chrome. Yet another reason Chrome is not my main browser.
As a workaround, instead of just clicking into the thread, open the thread in a new tab, then when you close the tab you should be back in your original tab, where you started from.
Apparently, chrome is having issues with the back button. Google says they’re working on the problem. I agree with you, though; it seems to affect the Straight Dope more than anywhere else.
Thanks everyone. Chrome does seem to have several occasional bugs. It’s faster than any other browser on my computer - I can live with this minor annoyance.
If you click on the back button in Chrome and hold the click down, it gives you the history of that tab and you can click on the page you want to go back to. It takes an extra 1.5 seconds.
To your original point, I use Chrome and don’t have that issue. It always takes me back one page.
I don’t use Chrome, so can’t be sure, but Zeldar mentioned that sometimes when the board loads it loads ads as separate lines in the page history. So when you hit the back button it takes you back one item - an ad reloads. You’re still on the same page.
If you look at the history tab or back history, or whatever it’s called - the list of the pages you’ve been on - you can manually scroll back past the ads to the page you wish.
Or it could be Chrome has a separate issue with the back button just randomly failing every once in a while. But I suspect if you’re only seeing it on the SDMB, then it is the ad thing.