I wanted to reply inthis thread but it’s locked, so here we are. Anyway I was having this very problem for a long time (though my getting logged out issue was intermittent)…I accept cookies, I check the ‘remember me’ box but it kept happening, but now I’ve inadvertantly found a solution:
I was having some issues with Shutterfly a few weeks ago and called their customer service who told me to download Firefox (I was using Internet Explorer). It solved my Shutterfly problems and ALSO solved the frustrating problem I was having here of constantly getting logged out. So my suggestion is that if you follow Skipmagic’s advice and still experience problems, try Firefox. And if you are currently using Firefox, try IE (others have reported the opposite). IOW if all else fails, it might be worth it to test your luck with another browser.
I have been using firefox ever since I discovered it.
Since I became a subscriber I have never been logged out unexpectedly.
I’ve seen the hamsters on a bad day though.
"On another note, I have finally converted all the people who ask me “how do I do this?” or “whats wrong with my computer?” To firefox. I am a lot less busy now, and I don’t have to keep up with IE constantly either.
I’m convinced there is a setting in IE, possibly something in the registry, that logs people out of any site after a timeout, with the default of about 30 minutes. I’ve been trying desperately to find it. Moving to Firefox solves it because Firefox doesn’t use the IE settings.
I use IE6.0 on several different computers, most running XP, and the logging out symptom doesn’t happen in all. Yes, I know about cookies, etc… :rolleyes:
But for some, using Firefox isn’t an option due to work requirements and restrictions.
Firefox has its share of timeouts, though, so it’s just not an IE issue. I’ve not been able to reproduce the problem in IE (6, 7, or 8 beta 2), Firefox or Opera, but I also don’t set any of my browsers to expire any cookies, whether old or new. Typically when people have problems logging in, it’s because the security settings on their browsers are such that they’re not retaining new cookies.
Logging “in”? Or do you mean “out”? I’ve been over and over the Internet options in IE, and haven’t spotted one that would relate. Which one would that be? (I won’t be at the computers that give me trouble until next week to try it.)
“Keeping from being logged out” would have been a better way of phrasing it. In IE, a person would want to check what the settings are for Inernet Options/Security and Internet Options/Privacy. For the former, I have “Internet” set to medium-high (I don’t have any sites listed under Trusted Sites or Restricted Sites); for the latter, I make sure it’s set at Medium, and that, when clicking on the Advanced button, “Override automatic cookie handling” is not checked.
I’d also make sure that no 3rd-party security software is set to handle cookies; or, if it is, make sure there’s an exception in place for the SDMB.
And, of course, make sure you’re browsing the site using its DNS name instead of its IP address.
The settings for security level invoke a myriad of defaults. Once chosen, each of the individual settings can be overridden, AFAIK. So what specific setting is the culprit here?
Yes, on all of my cases, but why would that make a difference? Matching to a whitelist that contained only names, not IPs? That assumes such a list exists and controls logout timeouts. Is there such a list/setting?
Edited to add: In the computer I’m using right now, which does NOT log me out unexpectedly, I am using “custom” security level. I do not see an option in the advanced section that says “Override automatic cookie handling”.
I’m not sure, but then I don’t use IE as a browser. I’m just letting folks know how my set-up is since it works for me and auntie em (she uses it as her browser, and I rarely do), and we’ve never experienced the logging out issues.
The cookie handed out by the site is for straightdope.com and not the IP address. If you browse the site by IP address, log in, and continue to browse by IP, the cookie will not match up and you’ll be shown as logged out.
I was only randomly logged out (every time I changed screens) while using my iPhone to surf the Dope last week in NYC. Oddly, it has never happened before now…
In my case, I was using Google Chrome at the time. It hasn’t happened since, but it wasn’t the first time, either. I always have the “Remember Me” box checked so when I come here I automatically get logged in.
For me, the issue was that I was literally just reading a thread when it logged me out. I opened it, it was not “read”, I read the thread for maybe three minutes, I went back to Cafe Society and every thread was listed as “read”. In fact, the entire forum (all boards) were the same, so if I had clicked on “New Posts”, there would not have been any.
That was my frustration - since the traffic can be high here, I depend on seeing what threads have new posts on them since my last visit when reading. When something like this happens, I completely lose that ability and it just annoys me. No big deal in the long run, I just was interested in finding out what the deal was.
Maybe using the phrase “logged out” wasn’t the best choice of words for me. It’s like I got logged out and then logged back in without my knowledge, thus telling the boards to erase any record of what was read and unread.
What you describe is likely due to errors on the SDMB server side, which happen occasionally. Example: yesterday I got a “database error” when accessing a perfectly good thread. It happens often enough that I rarely report it unless ALL threads appear to be out. The error wasn’t there an hour later.
SDMB & vBulletin software is far from reliable or perfect, but I don’t think we can blame it for the automatic logouts I have experienced on some computers. It’s more likely a hidden or very obscure setting somewhere on the client’s computer.