Annoying problem with this forum...back button

I'm in IE 7 using Window XP Professional 2002

Sounds like you resolved this problem ... but switch to Mozilla!

J

I am new, but I seem to have this problem as well. I use IE 7. When I use my browsers back button, it goes to a page saying this website unavailable.

Go to the favorites menu (the star to the left of the open tab) and select "Today" on that list.

Where are we supposed to look Randy? I cannot find "favorites".

[David M. Bueker]

Go to the favorites menu (the star to the left of the open tab) and select "Today" on that list.

Where are we supposed to look Randy? I cannot find "favorites".

Bob - are you just using IE, or are you in the adapted browser of your internet service company (e.g. Yahoo)?

Okay so the problem I have is with the search and back button. If I search a forum, I get a list of threads with the search item in it. If I click on one of those threads, read it, and then use the back button, I don't go back to the search results, I get a page that says that the page has expired. Am I the only one, and if so, what am I doing wrong?

Okay so the problem I have is with the search and back button. If I search a forum, I get a list of threads with the search item in it. If I click on one of those threads, read it, and then use the back button, I don't go back to the search results, I get a page that says that the page has expired. Am I the only one, and if so, what am I doing wrong?

Greg
Not the only one - same problem for me (and the links work as per Randy's post).
FWIW I'll live with it without worrying, plenty of other internet applications with worse 'features'

Okay so the problem I have is with the search and back button. If I search a forum, I get a list of threads with the search item in it. If I click on one of those threads, read it, and then use the back button, I don't go back to the search results, I get a page that says that the page has expired. Am I the only one, and if so, what am I doing wrong?

I think the Search feature has a real problem. The Back button functions properly for me while reading Forum entries. However, it simply fails to function within Search items. This really limits the usefulness of Searching for information on this site.

-- Clark

Thanks for the suggestions, Randy. They both work fine for me, and will help with future Searches. -- Clark

Out of curiosity, could you (and anyone else having this problem in IE7) please try this:

Go to the favorites menu (the star to the left of the open tab) and select "Today" on that list. Now click on a few of the links. (Not while you're posting, you'll lose the post if the link works!)


If there are no links, that's the problem right there,, but if there are links and they work, then I really am puzzled, because "Back" and "Forward" should be identical to that list of links. By the way, Back and Forward are also Alt+Left Arrow and Alt+Right Arrow respectively.

Randy, to be more specific, you probably should have pointed out that it's Favorites/History/Today. But to answer your question, I tried this and yes, I have links there and yes, they work, but I do have the back arrow "problem" that has been much discussed here. FWIW, I can replicate the symptom 100% of the time by switching fora. I think I probably notice because for whatever reason I put the Forum Kitchen in my Favorites and so I when I visit the Wine Forum, I usually enter by switching from the Forum Kitchen. When I first enter the Forum Kitchen, there's no back arrow problem: I can select a thread and then use the back arrow to go back to the forum main page. But if I then switch to the Wine Forum, the back arrow problem appears: if I read a thread and then use the back arrow to get back to the Wine Forum thread listing, I get the IE "Web page expired" message. As I've said, it's not crippling, I can use the "return to Wine Forum" link on the page to get back. After that, the problem goes away; if I read a second or subsequent thread, the back arrow works. If I then switch to the Forum Kitchen, the cycle repeats: I can't use the back arrow to return from the first thread I read. But only the first one, it seems.

Hopefully that helps somebody. Again, I'm running IE 7.06 on Vista 32/Home Premium.

Yes, yes there are ways to get around this problem.....but this is the ONLY place I have ever encountered this error message. The only one...

Yes, yes there are ways to get around this problem.....but this is the ONLY place I have ever encountered this error message. The only one...

Oh, I'm not saying it's not a bug, just that it doesn't cause me much pain. And it's not the only place to encounter this error message. You must not spend much time on personal finance-related websites. This message pops up regularly on those when you use the back button - I believe the old pages are made to expire for security reasons, they're afraid you might be on a public computer and somebody might use the back button to see private information.

[Robin Garr]

Yes, yes there are ways to get around this problem.....but this is the ONLY place I have ever encountered this error message. The only one...

Jim, with all respect, that may be true. But it is not the forum. It's your browser. It really is. I'm not trying to be argumentative here - and it's not even as if I'm defending our work. The PhpBB3 forum software is right out of the box. But in fairness, you're placing public blame on the forum software for something that is actually a known issue in Internet Explorer.

I don't think I said that, Robin...I just said this is the only place I have encountered this... As Mark said, maybe if was logging on financial sites, I would have had this issue before....

[Robin Garr]

I don't think I said that, Robin...I just said this is the only place I have encountered this... As Mark said, maybe if was logging on financial sites, I would have had this issue before....

I kind of took "Annoying problem with this forum" as criticism, Jim, but maybe I was just thin-skinned.

No harm done! Have some wine and some wings, and let's go watch the Super Bowl!

Jim, with all respect, that may be true. But it is not the forum. It's your browser. It really is. I'm not trying to be argumentative here - and it's not even as if I'm defending our work. The PhpBB3 forum software is right out of the box. But in fairness, you're placing public blame on the forum software for something that is actually a known issue in Internet Explorer.

Robin, as I've said, I myself wouldn't even have mentioned this minor glitch had others not brought it up. You can call this a "browser problem" if you want but there must be something slightly unusual the site is doing. The fact that it always happens - and only happens, as far as I can tell - the first time you use the back button after switching fora seems odd. Also, I believe this is the first time I've ever encountered this IE "feature" when returning to a page where I entered no data.

Sounds like a good reason to move to FireFox 2. Or use the tabs in IE7. Click the scroll wheel to open a new tab.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like a good reason to move to FireFox 2. Or use the tabs in IE7.

Not so helpful when using a work computer with software defined by the ever-unhelpful IT department. It is so bad here that we (a company that makes the space suit) cannot use NASA's website because we are so far behind on things like IE, Java, etc.

------------------------

By the way, I just have to say this - many people report this issue. They only experience it with this forum (by which I mean the phpBB, not so much the WLDG) while using the most popular browser in the world (no, not by choice, but still...), and it's a browser problem that is supposed to be worked around by the users???

Ok, end of rant, but you get my point (and yes I know that if it's a phpBB issue there's little to do but GOI, but I had to say it).

[Robin Garr]

By the way, I just have to say this - many people report this issue. They only experience it with this forum (by which I mean the phpBB, not so much the WLDG) while using the most popular browser in the world (no, not by choice, but still...), and it's a browser problem that is supposed to be worked around by the users???

Ok, end of rant, but you get my point (and yes I know that if it's a phpBB issue there's little to do but GOI, but I had to say it).

I understand the frustration, and I didn't really mean my remark to sound dismissive.

It's a real dilemma, though. For years we used Eric's home-brewed software. In many ways it was great, not least because it was developed in actual use by participants in this community, so we could build it exactly as we wanted. And having the developer right on board meant that we could often respond quickly to bug fixes and enhancement requests.

Unfortunately, it was also buggy and - less visibly - a security nightmare, not only on the forum, but more important, in back-scene issues that made the entire site vulnerable to hackers. Ultimately we couldn't live with that, so, after the nightmarish Netwcape experience, we settled on PhpBB. It's sturdy, robust, easy to install and learn, and best of all, very secure.

But the problem with PhpBB is that it's developed by a worldwide committee, and enhancements aren't easy. Frankly, with the last install we tried to have it both ways, by installing all sorts of mods and local tweaks. Threading! That in turn came back to bite us, as the forum became so highly modified that we could no longer install routine upgrades.

Hence the (joking!) slogan, GOI. Forged in the crucible of hard experience, this time we're largely going to stick with the box that PhpBB gave us.

Now, given that the back-button to forms-input pages issues is not even a bug, it's a planned security feature by IE's developers, I don't see a PhpBB mod as being even feasible.

But, bottom line, that's the story. And while I really try not to let myself do this, I think it's true that both the ForumAdmin and I get just a little bit crabby at being told there's a bug in "our" forum software when the issue - frustrating as it may be - lies outside.

I don't mean any of this as scolding or didacting. Just hoping that a little explanation will help give some context to "GOI."

[David M. Bueker]

Robin,

What are some other interesting fora running phpBB3? I would like to do a few tests.

Again I'm not scolding or accusing nayone of anything, but just curious.

Now, given that the back-button to forms-input pages issues is not even a bug, it's a planned security feature by IE's developers, I don't see a PhpBB mod as being even feasible.

Robin, what makes this site (or maybe, this forum software) unique in my experience is that it triggers the IE error message with no forms-input involved!

[Robin Garr]

Robin,

What are some other interesting fora running phpBB3? I would like to do a few tests.

Again I'm not scolding or accusing nayone of anything, but just curious.

You know, I really don't know, David. On RR's advice, we adopted it early (not beta, but soon after it hit production), and it's clearly not widespread yet.

If you'll go waaaaay down to the bottom of any forum page, you'll see a small-print "Powered by phpBB". If you'll click the "phpBB" you'll go to their home page, where they'll likely have links to some examples. (Also, the "knowledge base" and FAQs and forums are all open to the public, you don't have to be a registered moderator to browse them.)

FWIW (not much, I think, since it's to be expected), phpBB's software behaves the same way on their own forum as it does here: "jump to" another forum, click on a thread, use the back button, get the IE webpage expired/out-of-date message. The only mystery for me is what it is special about this software is what forms-input the phpBB software wants from the browser when there was no apparently entered in the first place.

[Robin Garr]

FWIW (not much, I think, since it's to be expected), phpBB's software behaves the same way on their own forum as it does here: "jump to" another forum, click on a thread, use the back button, get the IE webpage expired/out-of-date message. The only mystery for me is what it is special about this software is what forms-input the phpBB software wants from the browser when there was no apparently entered in the first place.

Mark, I'm just guessing here, but maybe the pulldown menu in "jump to" is interpreted by IE as a form?

[David M. Bueker]

I looked at the phpBB "bugs" forum & did not see the back button listed as a bug issue. Could Robin or ForumAdmin add it? The can't stay logged in issue is listed though, so it's not just us.