CameraGuy...you're NOT logged out. We can still read your posts.....

It has been a week since I began this thread and I just tried logging out again and still can not do it.

Until this situation is corrected I will not feel free to access FlyerTalk from any public computer. I suggest that everyone else -- including those who are not having this problem -- also stay away from them as there is no way to know which computers will run into this.

Same here.

I admit I was stretching things but I thought that possibly there is some kind of virus or something in my computer (and that of others having this problem) which made it impossible to log out of vbulletin boards.

I went to another board, which also is vbulletin (although it uses a different version: vBulletin Version 2.3.0) and successfully logged out there, so now I am really at a loss for an answer.

In view of some of the past experiences we have had with people signing in under other people's names, I can see where this could lead to major problems.

I fully admit to using publicly accessible computers quite often. I simply don't like taking my laptop with me wherever I go. I am sure that many of us do the same thing.

If MemberX happens to log into FlyerTalk at in internet cafe and finds MemberY already logged in, he could well use MemberY's name to flame everyone he doesn't like.

Moreover, if MemberY is a moderator or TalkBoard member, MemberX could go to those restricted boards and publicize all discussions being held there. Conceivably, as a moderator he could then start banning at will.

I know that this sounds exaggerated but in light of what happened to Gaucho and Punki not too long ago, it really does have me concerned.

I'm not sure what problem may be as i never have this problem using Safari. Per your note, it may be the fact that we do use multiple servers for FT. Let me have John and Tim look this over and see if there is a unique fix, etc. Thanks for the observation and finding of this. Just strange that it is not universal.

I found part of the problem when I manually removed all cookies from my computer. After doing that I was able to log in and out of FlyerTalk.

Very possibly there is some cookie which I had (and which the other posters who reported this problem have) which prevents people from logging out.

Of course, solving this on my home computer does not solve the problem. If a FlyerTalker logs into a public access computer and then logs out he will be told that he is logged out and that the cookies have been deleted but this may well not be the case.

All of us should be aware of this and make certain that we never check "remember me" on a public computer. (Even then, however, I don't know if effected computers will really log us out.)

Banning a user is done through the moderator control panel, which for security purposes requires a separate log-in.

Unfounded speculation does not really help things.

FewMiles..

Read ORP and get an education .

Who, except for the FT staff & moderators would know, particularly if they are not in the IT business, that there is a seperate control panel used to ban users?

I'll add this to ScottC's google hint earlier.

Don't take for granted what ordinary people would know. My job is working with computer applications all day long & I don't have a clue how a bulletin board application works. Well, at least now I have some more knowledge than I did yesterday

Looking at the vB support board it appears that there is a problem with IE 6 that causes corrupted cookies on occasion and this leads to the problem of not being able to log out. I have installed a add on to the bulletin board that should allow you to remove any board related cookies without going into the browser preferences:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mycookies.php

If you use this or the your browser preferences to delete all of your FT cookies you should be logged out. Please post how the above link works for you if you give it a try. Hopefully there is a patch for this in the future, but I am not sure if that will happen if the cause really has to do with IE 6 corrupting cookies. Thanks,

--Tim

Thanks, Tim.

I can not try it now because after having cleared my cookies manually I have no problem logging in or out. Perhaps one of the others who posted in this thread that they can't log out can give it a try and report to us.

I am using both FireFox and IE. Both have same can't-logout problem.

I just tried a) using the "regular" logout link, then, b) using your link to delete all the cookies listed.

When I again go to FlyerTalk I am still logged in

I just tested the cookie tool. Unfortunately, for some reason, it works just fine on one machine (the one I didn't have problems logging out on in the past), but on my laptop, where I've always had problems, it won't delete some of the cookies (most importantly bbuserid and bbpassword). Because it won't delete them, I still can't log out.

That being said, I decided to become a geek for a minute.

I went into my cookies (on my computer, it was in C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files ) and looked at the FlyerTalk cookies. On the machine where I could log out, the cookie was Cookie:administrator@www.flyertalk.com/ whereas on the machine where it was broken the cookie was Cookie:[email protected]/ . I manually deleted the cookie on the broken machine, closed all browser windows, and re-opened IE to connect. I had to log in. I logged in and hit remember me, then clicked log out. Sure enough, I was logged out.

So it looks to me like the answer is not just to delete individual components of the cookie, as the script that the vBulletin folks provided does, but to delete the entire cookie. Unfortunately, it's not easy for a non-technical person to do, because you can't do it through IE. Instead, you have to find the folder with your cookies and manually delete the one specific to flyertalk. One way to do it is to do a search on your computer (should be a search button on the Start... menu) and search for the term administrator@flyertalk - if you find that file (there may be one or two, if there are more, you probably found something else) you should be able to delete it and everything should work well again.

Still a bit on the techie side, but hopefully this will help some folks...

Thanks for the heads up on this tool not working for this problem guys. For now I would suggest using the manual method of clearing cookies that dmfriedman suggest/describes. I cannot confirm this as I have not been able to duplicate the problem at all, but you may be able to use the delete all cookies option in IE to solve this problem as well. Not the most elegant way to take care of this, but shouldn't be a problem if you are using a shared computer and want to make sure.

Another idea, if there is someone else with this problem that has not resolved it yet, please try this and let us know how it works before manually deleting...

First go to the url from before and delete all cookies:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mycookies.php

Then immediately go to this second and delete all cookies again:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/mycookies.php

Thanks,

--Tim

Hmmmmmmmmmm. I always thought that the computer had a special imbedded program that was able to figure out if you were a real FT junkie. If it decided you were hopelessly addicted to FT, it just set your computer so you couldn't log out of FT. Why should you? If you are a serious junkie, you are never going to log out anyway.

It is hard to believe, but I really have checked FT at least once a day for most days over the past seven years. Seven amazingly interesting years, I might add.