Tech problem

Not sure where we are supposed to post technical problems. I've several times clicked the instruction to log me in automatically on each visit but it often asks me to log in which becomes tiresome.

[Robin Garr]

Not sure where we are supposed to post technical problems. I've several times clicked the instruction to log me in automatically on each visit but it often asks me to log in which becomes tiresome.

This was a problem for many people on the old forum software, but difficult for me to diagnose because it never happened to me. <gulp>

It's almost invariably the result of some kind of cookie or other privacy/security setting on the user's computer, or a conflict with anti-malware software. Unfortunately, it's really hard to diagnose from afar.

Do you at least have your username and password stored in Windows' memory so the entry spaces fill in automatically? At least this makes it easier to log in quickly.

Are you sure that you're using a consistent bookmark to log in, preferably a simple link to the forum home page ( http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/ ) without any long, cryptic numbers following?

Also, for lookers-on, are those of you who had frequent log-in problems on the old forum still having them, or did the upgrade seem to help?

Not sure where we are supposed to post technical problems. I've several times clicked the instruction to log me in automatically on each visit but it often asks me to log in which becomes tiresome.

This is happening on my computer at work (IE), but not my home computer (Firefox). However, I attribute it the corporate network.

This occurs randomly for me, but it mostly happens when I click on a link in a notification that something's been posted to a thread I subscribed to. There's neither rhyme nor reason to it. I was beginning to think that the new and improved, best-thing-since-sliced-salami software had some kind of a built-in identity verification loop. Ya' know. Log in so many times and then you have to do the retinal scan just to be sure.

Not sure where we are supposed to post technical problems. I've several times clicked the instruction to log me in automatically on each visit but it often asks me to log in which becomes tiresome.

Jane, I consistently have this problem on some but not all sign in sites. All varieties of WLDG except [gulp] Netscape.

Strange, it fails on both Firefox and Microsoft.

It's become a part of my online experience -- as they say a "characteristic", not a "flaw".

Robin,
Is there a non-Geek way to explain storing my username and password on Windows memory? Save it to a clipboard?
This is a computer at work so could be firewalls here but it didn't happen with the previous setup.

[Robin Garr]

Robin,
Is there a non-Geek way to explain storing my username and password on Windows memory? Save it to a clipboard?
This is a computer at work so could be firewalls here but it didn't happen with the previous setup.

Umm ... maybe it's an option, but whenever I enter a user name and password, my browser always pops up a little query asking me if I want Windows to save them in memory, and I always say, "Yes!"

Now that I look, in Firefox, it's an option ... I go to TOOLS, then click OPTIONS, then SECURITY, and there's a box to check if I want it to save passwords for me.

I assume Explorer has a similar feature, but possibly if you're on a work computer, this behavior might have been suppressed for security reasons? I wish I had a better answer, but maybe if a computer geek is looking on, he or she could jump in and 'splain this.

JC/Robin,
I have this problem the first time I fire up the computer, but this has just started to happen over the past two days. I use FireFox almost exclusively but it is also happening on IE too. I looked at the privacy settings in FireFox and I am set accept cookies from sites and to keep them until they expire. I have even gone so far as to always allow http://www.wineloverspage.com to set cookies. This should allow the forum to set cookies even if I were to strengthen my privacy settings, which I have no reason to do. In IE my privacy settings are the default which is a medium setting, plus I also have wineloverspage.com to always set as well. I haven't changed an privacy or security settings in my firewall and have that set to allow wineloverspage.com anything it wishes to do. anything from session, to persistent, to 3rd party cookies, as well I have it allowed in the trusted zone and the internet zone. As I said this just began to happen on 1/15/08. If I am at home it doesn't bug me much to login since I usually turn the computer on and leave it on unless thunderstorms are expected. However I could see it might become a bother if I restarted the computer several time a day.

I think it started happening to me yesterday too so maybe it's not in my computer setup but in something in the forum setup.

It's the revenge of the Chat Room Counter .... mwah ha ha ha ...

[Robin Garr]

I think it started happening to me yesterday too so maybe it's not in my computer setup but in something in the forum setup.

I don't know what to suggest to you or to Bob, JC, but I can tell you that we have made absolutely NO changes to the forum setup. We're setting cookies exactly as the default in PhpBB3 and have not modified that standard code in any way.

This kind of thing can be terribly frustrating, because virtually every computer in the world has a subtly different combination of browser and version, operating system and version, personal privacy and security settings, routers, hardware and software firewalls, virus checkers and malware protection.

The forum software issues a very simple, standard "cookie" that your computer stores and uses to identify you to the forum when you return, allowing it to recognize you and your password, determine which messages have been posted since your last visit and so on. But we simply can't see from this end exactly how your computers are handling it.

One thought: I wonder if you and BobH are both using the same browser? Perhaps an automatic update was done on your browser, and it's affecting privacy settings in some way? Just a guess, pointing out that outside changes can occur that affect more than one person.

I'm on Internet Explorer (not sure what version) and they have done two software upgrades this week. I'll put up with the inconvenience for now. I looked at the tools, options, security, trusted site, etc. but don't want to risk any big errors on a military network. By the end of this month I may have a home computer and hopefully it will be simpler. Do FireFox users recommend this utility (or whatever it's called)? I will be getting some advice from a friend's husband who is much more knowledgeable about computers than I am and he can probably steer me towards the best protection, etc.

Jane, I highly recommend Firefox myself and rarely use IE even though I do have version 7 of it on my machine. To me, FF is easier to use and due to less people using it than those using IE, I believe it is less target by those evil people who write viruses and other computer bugs. I suppose that would also hold true for Macs over PC's too, but I do own a PC.

Robin's thoughts regarding an automatic update of the browser is a good one, but I do not think that FF has updated in the past 2 days, certainly the version is still the same as I have had for some months now. We will see if this continues.

For some reason your browser isn't saving the persistent cookies for WLDG.

There are a lot of reasons why this might not be happening. It almost certainly has something to do with security settings either in your browser, or a spam/popup/advertisement filter, or a firewall, or some sort of corporate security setup or filter.

Try entering http://www.wineloverspage.com as a trusted site regarding security for your browser or firewall.

Or temporarily disable the various protections and see if it works with the security stuff turned off.

It's very hard without actually being there to troubleshoot this sort of thing.

Good luck,

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

I'm on Internet Explorer (not sure what version) and they have done two software upgrades this week.

FWIW - I started having this issue, and have been (last night) able to trace it back to some automated Microsoft security updates that I cannot control (at work). It's not the forum.

I don't know why it would happen on Firefox, except that if security is set really high all sorts of issues crop up.

Thanks for the replies and explanations.

[David M. Bueker]

Just for the record, Windows updates happen on Tuesday. Coincidence?

Likely not a coincidence

I'm running XP pro with both FF and IE7 on a fairly new computer (homebuilt) using Zonealarm pro, NOD 32 AV, AVG antispyware and a wired router for hard firewall. After the MS auto updates Jan 8, many, but not all, of my login cookies stopped working and I had to redo logins, after which they worked correctly and repeatedly. Tuesday Jan 15, the same happened again, but only with WLDG, West Coast Wine Network and a couple of other obscure, minor sites(???). No idea what's really going on, but the pattern leads me to believe that it's more likely OS or other software related than web-site related.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum today. I was up early this morning and did not start the computer. I usually do this to check weather for the day, but was in a hurry to get going. This afternoon I decided fire up the computer to read a bit on the forum, and for some reason I am automatically logged in as I have been in the past. However for a couple days there, I had to fill out my username and my password each time I brought the computer up. If I left the forum or even left FF, I was remembered. It was just when I turned the computer off. I don't doubt that the problem was in my computer, but I have done nothing to change anything and it is working as normal today.

Not so lucky here. Still have to re-enter my user name and password frequently.

No problems here, am continually logged in these past 3/4 days.
However have an email problem, takes forever to come up. Virus?

No problems here [knock on wood] but I love the new forum format, Robin.


Brav-O!