FT *ATE* my long post/PM
 

Once in a while I type something longer than few sentences into either a post or a PM. And a certain percentage of those times, when I hit send, instead of getting my post/PM on its way, I get the dreaded "You are not logged into Flyertalk" and a login screen. All the info I just spent 40 minutes typing up has vanished, becoming nothing more than scattered electrons on the info superhighway. :mad:

Why does this happen? Sometimes I can work on a post off and on for a while, no problem, and then post it without need to login again. Other times, after a much shorter time interval, BOOM! - post gone.

VERY frustrating.

Be sure you have clicked "remember me" when you log in.

Be sure your browser is not set to clear cookies each time you leave the site or close your browser.

If it does happen, click the BACK button and your text should be there.

I do know that some members who routinely make very long posts (trip reports, for example) will always write them in Word or Notepad and then paste them into FT, do a bit of formatting, and then post.

Sorry about that. I know it does happen. We'll do our best to help minimize it ;)

Yup, always.

Nope, not set that way.

Nope, never has the text been there when I've gone back a screen. It's just the login screen ad infinitum. Sometimes it happens from my iPad, sometimes from my Mac.

<grumble, grumble> That's a PITA when you're including a lot of links that you're pulling off websites of reference material.

Help appreciated.

Similar things happen to me if I leave my computer for say 10 minutes and then after I click on a thread or forum to read, the page will open but it shows me as not logged in so I don't think it's a "remember me" issue but rather being logged out on the back end due to inactivity-and that's what I think happened to the OP as all he/she was doing was typing into a message oust box and the website doesn't think that is "activity".

Now as to possibly losing a long post or pm because of this, what I do is periodically preview my post/message as that is activity as far as the website is concerned and that keeps me logged in. Also, right before hitting send/post, I copy the entire body of my message/post

But going back to the beginning, I don't think this is a remember me/keep me logged on but more of the system/website timing me out due to inactivity

How 'bout we find a way to teach the system that "typing" = "activity" so as to save us all significant frustration?

Sometimes I do this, but tonight I was so focused on the content of the PM that I didn't think of it.

never? apparently a much more complicated issue than i thought, because it works 99% of the time for me. and most of the time when i read experiences of others they match mine.

I have also learned to stop and copy my text if I have been typing for awhile... just to be on the safe side.

Only takes a second to copy the text... and place in an email message or word document...

ditto... the longer the post, the more frequently I hit Ctrl-C :)

While we've all learned the hard way to copy the text, it still doesn't address the issue that imho, the system times you out and if that in fact is the case, then perhaps a) the "time to time out" can be extended and/or b) perhaps a pop-up warning appears saying something like "you are about to be logged out in "X" minutes due to inactivity-click "ok" to stay logged in"

Just my two hockey pucks

Agree... I don't know why people are getting logged out.. is it because they don't press "remember me?"

I only have the problem when there's a connection issue, not because I've been logged out.

I do not recall the last time that I have been "logged out" for inactivity.

I have left FT on my screen overnight... and able to search without logging in the next day.

^^

Two more from me.

When this has happened and I click the back button, it's just infinite login screens. Never once have I been able to recover the text.

Maybe FT has something against Apple devices? I use either a Mac or an iPad.

yes but this is where it gets even more bizarre

CDTraveler gets logged out while using remember me

Mary2e and wharvey do not get logged out while using remember me



its not FT or apple. my experience applies across both osx and winxp and all sites with logins.

Just another datapoint..

I have been logged in for YEARS on FT as well as other sites. I never get timed or logged out.

I do have the problem when the database glitches and I happen to be writing a post, which isn't that often these days, but it happened enought that if it's long, I make a copy while I'm still writing.

for those using remember me, maybe it is some kind of browser/cookie discrepancy that varies

Yes if you have your browser set to clear cache/cookies each time you leave a site or log off or shut down your browser, changing that setting can help.

i should clarify re OSX/iOS safari - recent/current versions do very weird stuff including forced refreshing of pages (mainly with tabs) and i am indeed noticing random logouts, occasionally. i dont think i have lost content to one of those yet.

but OP was clear that some of the logouts were due to inactivity, and i can still recover the content in those situations 99% of the time.

and none of that is leaving site/closing browser etc, but its possible that cookies are still involved, if browser suddenly does something to them.

Tech confirms nobody who uses "remember me" should be getting logged out and it appears to be browser-related.

"Should" however is not the same is "is".

My browsers, on both the iPad and the desktop Mac, are able to stay logged into some sites for months at a time. However, FT consistently logs me out when I close the browser window and I do not have my settings any different for it than for any other site I visit and log into.

you were not talking about closing browser window when you were talking about losing content?


this is something that impacts me, because i never use "remember me"

how many minutes of inactivity triggers logout for those not using "remember me" ?

You should use it. That's how FT keeps you logged on. There's no way around that one.

there may be a reason some users prefer not to use this feature but to ask the question again-how many minutes of inactivity triggers the auto-logout?

Yep, that's what I've seen.

If that question was addressed to me, no, I didn't close the browser window at any point in composing the long message that was eaten. After I look at FT, I close the browser window, and when I come back later, I am always logged out - separate issue entirely.

About 15 minutes.

If you have a cookie issue or are reporting this weird login/staying logged in issue, try going to the following URL first, afterwards making sure you have 'remember me' checked. This will clean out any junk that may be cached, just in case.

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

If it doesn't work... well, that's all we can do. If it does, great!

i never use remember me for anything.

thanks!

I use remember me & I've encountered the same problem of the OP. Write a long post, click submit & get the message that I'm not logged in (even though I am). Log in (again) & lose the entire long post. :mad: The work-around of course is to copy what is being written into an email or word doc 'just in case', but doesn't actually address the problem.

Cheers.

thanks! very odd that different people experience different behavior with remember me.

what OS/broswer SkiAdcock?i think im going to start not using tabs at all, but opening new window each time, as that will avoid the tab problems that apple has created in newer OS

if OP was using tabs, they might consider this as well

The OP despises tabs as a creation of the Satan of Redmond :p and never uses them. This is an Apple only household, completely free of the dreaded Microsoft's spawn.

I keep "remember me" checked and don't have problems with being logged out, but I notice that if I open a page and then later try to post to that thread, without warning I get a message to go back and then refresh the page. As soon as I do so, everything that I've typed vanishes.

not sure what youre talking about.

i like safari tabs (until recent apple 'enhancements'..) and have used them on apple mac osx for years. never any problem in osx 10.4 but ios and now recent osx have real issues. first ios would do refreshes without user command. now recent versions of osx do refreshes without user command, temporarily blank out pages, and sometimes bring up a dialog box saying refresh all tabs or quit. (this is all in safari.)