Rhodabike

Is there some kind of time limit to a login? I logged in, read a few posts, typed a reply to a post, hit the button to post it... and was told I couldn't post as I wasn't logged in. It was a fairly long and detailed reply having to do with swim technique, so I wasn't very happy about having to re-type it. What gives?

Machka 

Yes ... it's about 15 minutes. I know. It's absolutely ridiculous. But it has actually been this way since about 2003 ... I've been complaining about it since way back then.

What's really frustrating is that it should be an easy fix. They just need to adjust the timer to be several hours rather than about 15 minutes, and they need to adjust the "activity" to include various mouse moves such as clicking on forums, clicking on links, clicking in reply boxes etc. Two simple changes. But if they wouldn't do it back in 2003, I wouldn't hold my breath about them fixing it now.

It's the only forum I've ever been on that logs people out after only 15 minutes. Most will keep you logged in for hours.

Oh ... and brace yourself ... they'll tell you the solution is to click the Remember Me box. Funny how I don't have to do that with other forums ... and also not necessarily a desireable thing to do.

Rollfast

How is that? Do you actually use vBulletin elsewhere? Have you actually cleared all your cookies and tried this since the last adjustments to the server in the last two days?

I'd bet you have a lot of Invision Power Boards, YaBB, PhP boards of different sorts.

Machka, maybe you enjoy the frustration and can't see to find the differences.

IE 6 can deal with this now and the only big problem I have here isn't even a vBulletin fault, it's native to IE 7 and happens ANYPLACE.

Most problems with a platform happen because A) Server settings need to be adjusted or hotfixes made to them and

B) The user has not moved to the latest version of their browser, updated correctly/to a most current state and

C) Moved to a more modern browser if their recent one is not supported or backed by current software.

All of this will be like quoffing a heavy headed root beer with the Red Baron.

I will spell it out: OPERA/SAFARI are like Windows 98 now and WHY are you using CHROME and expecting it to be a real OS/browser when it really isn't good for EITHER? Chrome is an experiment, a beta beta, a work in progress?

I would expect a modern version of a Mozilla type browser to be better for you even disdain you use IE. It's never going to help for you to sit and go HMMPH so please help you and them adjust.

Please?

Machka 

Well, I must admit that most of that was a new response to the problem I've been having with BF kicking me out after 15 minutes since 2003 .... all except for the bit about clearing cookies. That was part of the advice given back in 2003 too. And it didn't work then anymore than it works now.

If you, Rollfast, are part of the IT team here, I suggest they let you go and get someone who has some idea what they are talking about. You're just regurgitating the usual stuff that, being translated, means ... "I don't have the faintest clue how to solve the problem".

Please note that it is not just me that has these issues ... there are a lot of us. And I have given you a hint on how to solve it. It is a programming issue.

Machka 

Here's a post from Rowan on this very same topic dated 2006 ... it's an ongoing thing which should have been solved ages ago, such as when it was discovered that the timeout is set to 30 minutes (sorry, not the 15 minutes I assumed earlier):

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ems&highlight=


As in the case of the OP, the longer you take to reply to a message, the greater chance you have of being logged out behind the scenes while typing, and thus losing that long and detailed reply you've created.

PlatyPius

Weird. Of all of the problems I have with this forum, that isn't one of them. The only times I've been logged out is when they update something.

Machka 

But do you use Remember Me?

Try this ... log out, and then log back in but don't check "Remember Me". Start typing a reply to a thread ... either make it a long reply or go away for a while and do something else. But don't post the reply. At some point after 30 minutes have gone by from the time you started typing the reply, post the reply and see what happens.

That's the experiment I tried in the thread I linked to above, and I posted a screen shot of what happens.

PlatyPius

Why would I do that? I never, ever log out.

Machka 

You might not log out, but there are those of us who don't want to be "remembered" by the forums for various reasons.

I can see why there might be a time limit set on users who opt not to use "remember me" ... for security reasons, I suppose. But 30 minutes is really short. I can log onto other forums, and not select their "remember me" option, and remain logged in for a lot longer than 30 minutes. If it was changed to 3 hours of inactivity (no clicking on forums, threads, reply boxes, or mouse-over previews etc.) that would be a much more reasonable time period.

Machka 

Here you go ... I just completed the experiment I described above, and this was ... once again, as usual ... my result ...
.

Rollfast

What do you fear and why?

Log in, check, log out.

What you fear would happen regardless of the circumstances IF the site were exploited.

You can't save our server, a firewall is not a bad thing and it sounds like an irrational fear. Keep your security software running it's best and updated.

When you do this your computer and server will fare okay. What cyberpunks try to do to a singular computer or server will be an unknown. Do your best and mirror your drives, backup often and protect the ports...it will be your best defense.

I had a friend in the 90s who could recover rapidly if attacked for this reason. Times don't change much even if technology does.

PS Unplug the cat 5/modem plug between usages if that bothers you.

Rollfast

Machka I don't even GET 30 mins like that, it's more like 10-15.

Remember me is not some imperial server thing.

IT'S A COOKIE

That is ALL.

I cannot answer a question with no clues.

Machka 

So fix it then. Make it at least a couple hours rather than 10 min, 15 min or 30 min. DO NOT tell me to use "Remember Me" and DO NOT give me all your blah, blah about the "Remember Me" feature. Fix the actual problem.


Maelstrom figured out part of the problem for you, back in 2006, and determined that it is a common vbulletin problem .... so take it from here and figure out how to fix the issue.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=1#post3453693

Rollfast

Fix what? If you are but one of the few complaining, then perhaps the others are on to something. You've still got this going in TWO distinct threads and you're pushing the velvet ropes and you keep telling BF to do something when you should be explaining why it's a problem in DETAIL and working to solve a problem within your own parameters.

How do you suppose I solved my own problems? Mein Gott, Frau I have nothing against you!

Machka 

Who are you? Are you an IT person who is able to fix the time-out problem? If not, then this doesn't concern you.

I can't imagine it would be that hard to fix the time-out problem. It should be just a matter of typing in a new number.

And it is a problem because people, like the OP, don't like losing long posts they have spent some time and effort composing.

Tom Stormcrowe

When you log out after clicking "Remember Me", the cookie also clears......again and meantime, the cookie tells the servers that yes, this is you doing the posting. It's not a "Common vBulletin problem", it's a common vBulletin security feature that is a help in protecting your account security. Just remember to log out before you click out of the forums if you have the remember me box checked, and if you don't, then expect to be logged out based on the time out setting.

Tom Stormcrowe

And all you have to do is check "Remember Me" and your problem will resolve itself. See my post above re security. If we extended the time out to 2 hours, then the purpose of the security programming would be defeated, since someone could access your account from the browser history and pop in with you still logged in. You'd STILL have to remember to manually log out at the end of your session, or risk having your account accessed by others if you use a public computer like a library or internet cafe.

Machka 

I was thinking about this again last night and I think the reason that so many more people are noticing it now is that the time period must have been shortened from 30 minutes down to 10 or 15 minutes.

And it is a problem, not a "feature".

On any other website, "Remember Me" is for those who want to stay logged in for days or weeks. If you just want to log in, browse around, respond to a few threads, and go, you don't have to check any "Remember Me" box ... those other websites are set to remember you for much longer periods of time than 10 or 15 minutes. Their security feature is either that after a couple hours, you'll be automatically logged out, or perhaps they've got a much wider range of actions that are listed as activity.

If VBulletin wanted to make this a real security feature and not a complete annoyance, then they would adjust it so that a person gets logged out after 30 minutes of inactivity ... so if a person is typing, using the keyboard, that would be activity and the person would not be logged out. I haven't figured out what has been designated as "activity" here, but it should be anytime someone clicks on a forum, thread, or button, anytime a person does a mouseover to read the preview, anytime a person clicks in a reply box, and of course the activity of typing. Here is seems to me that the act of logging in is an "activity" and that's it ... 15 minutes later, you're out!

Or if VBulletin and this site insist on keeping this incredibly annoying problem, then there should be a warning message just before the time-out saying, "1 minute till time-out. If you want to continue, click OK". Right now there's no warning. You get typing, click Post Reply, and get the message that all is lost because you don't have permission to post. But at the same time when you scroll up to the top, it still shows you as logged in.

Insisting that people click "Remember Me" should not be the solution. For one thing, because that's not required on so many other websites, it's not an obvious solution. The newbie coming here wouldn't think to click "Remember Me" ... "Remember Me" anywhere else isn't required for quick browses through a forum. And for another thing, because it isn't required elsewhere, for those of us who travel between several forums, we forget that, "Oh yeah, on BF we've got to click Remember Me if we're going to spend more than 15 minutes here because of some VBulletin problem they aren't willing to fix".

Psycle chic

Machka, apparently the people who run this site don't know what they are talking about and it seems as if you have the knowledge about how these forums can be run. How about you start a new forum for us to join? It would probably run a lot smoother than this one. I am really tired of all of this bull****.

Machka 

Nah ... although I have looked into starting my own forum ... I'll just work on my website more often. Aside from the logging out problems, I'm having a great deal of difficulty going from one page to another ... one thread to another ... one forum to another ... page one to page two of a thread, etc. The forum hangs on me probably about 90% of the time when I make those transitions.

Things here were going fairly well before mid-November (although this logging out thing was still an issue then ... only I'm pretty sure we had at least 30 minutes before we were kicked off the forum) ... but I've had no end of difficulty since then. <<sigh>> It's disappointing because I liked this forum.

randya

I have no idea what y'all are talking about, I've never been automatically logged out after 15 minutes or any other length of time as long as I've been a member

Rollfast

So the entire thing now becomes a condemnation of anything not version 3.8.4.

I'll never clean my monitor again...

Maybe a trip to VIC would benefit you. It's summer, live it up.

Machka 

Thanks Tom. I still think more is better, but at least this is some better.

Still having the other issue this morning, but I know you're looking into it.

Rollfast

We know better than to upset any supermodels.