Losing My Identity--or at Least my Login...

[Snorlax]

Same issue on second computer. Same version of Win 10, same version of Firefox.

[iiipopes]

I lose my session on all computers I use the moment I click to a subforum, irrespective of whether I use Edge or Chrome.

[davewerden]

iiipopes just tried a little test for me, where I had created a new profile for him to try. He logged in with that identity and had the same problem. I can rule out a messed-up identity as the cause.

[davewerden]

Has either of you (iiipopes, Snorlax) tried opening a private window and logging in there?

[Snorlax]

I'm in a private window at all times in Firefox. This went through the first time, then I added this second sentence.
Pressing my luck, here's a second edit...

[RickF]

Jim. This may not be your problem but sometimes I have problems using a 'private window' with FF. I know it's supposed to be more secure but some sites won't work for me. Just a thought.

[davewerden]

Jim. This may not be your problem but sometimes I have problems using a 'private window' with FF. I know it's supposed to be more secure but some sites won't work for me. Just a thought.

I'm currently using Firefox in a private window. I logged in, browsed some of the categories, and then came here and hit Reply With Quote. No problems.

However, Firefox private session does kill tracking cookies that connect with other sites. In this case, it killed cookies that drive the social media linking (addthis), and blocks my Google Analytics cookie.

None of that seems to affect my ability to post...or so I think. We'll see if this post works!

[davewerden]

That worked. Now I browsed around and came back.

If you guys feel comfortable with this, open the debugging console in Firefox (hit the F12 key). Click on Storage, click the arrow beside "cookies" and click on this site (which should be immediately below "cookies"). Then log into the forum. You should see a list of cookies something like the attached file. Then maybe browse around a bit (you can hit F12 again to close the debugger while you do that). When you see your session disappear, hit F12 again and see what the cookie list looks like.

[davewerden]

That worked. Now I browsed around and came back.

If you guys feel comfortable with this, open the debugging console in Firefox (hit the F12 key). Click on Storage, click the arrow beside "cookies" and click on this site (which should be immediately below "cookies"). Then log into the forum. You should see a list of cookies something like the attached file. Then maybe browse around a bit (you can hit F12 again to close the debugger while you do that). When you see your session disappear, hit F12 again and see what the cookie list looks like.




If that is too hard to see, view the image here:

http://www.dwerden.com/blog3/postima...rumCookies.png

[carbogast]

Same here. Attempt #4...

[davewerden]

How long has this been going on?

[ghmerrill]

These issues can get very complex (obviously this one already is). One thing I'd try in this circumstance is to go somewhere (a library of some sort, public or university), and try from there ON ONE OF THEIR PUBLICLY AVAILABLE COMPUTERS. This would then either point the finger at your own computer/browser(s) configuration (if everything works from that other remote computer) or point the finger at something else. I'd say "point the finger at the forum", and I'm inclined to believe this IF login from a computer not owned/operated/configured by you gets the desired access -- but there is still a lot of "stuff" in between any computer and the forum (including servers, internet service providers, etc.). Even this test will not be absolutely definitive since it's possible for there to be something in your computer/browser configuration that might be "causing" the problem, but the forum server and software ought to be handling it and isn't. (Just had an example of this with an application I'm using where proximate fault was mine -- bad code -- but the application processing my stuff should have caught and diagnosed the problem differently/better.)

Anyhow, that's what I'd do. Just as another step.

[carbogast]

Noticed on a particular computer... it's hard to post replies...

[davewerden]

I had opened a ticket about this in July and the advice they gave me was to change the name of the cookies we use on the forum. This will force everyone to log out and back in again.

Before I do that, I would like to ask if any of you who are having trouble would be comfortable deleting the forum cookies on your computer. In Firefox, for example, you can hit F12 to open the debugging tools. Then you choose "Storage" and reload the forum page. You can see a list of cookies for the whole site, including forum cookies. The forum's cookies all start with "vb_" and there are several. You can delete them right from there. Then close the browser, open it again, and log in.

Anyone game for that? Thanks.

[DaveBj]

I have an IT guy who comes around and takes care of getting rid of my cookies.