Automatically Logged Off

[Inquartata]

If I get interrupted in the middle of writing a post, or take "too long" writing it, the system boots me out, which I only discover when I try to post. I have to copy the post, log in, wend my way back to the forum I was in originally ( because I get an "invalid reply" message ), find the post to which I was replying, paste in the reply and then post. This is very annoying when it happens, and very cumbersome. Is there any way I can NOT have this happen?

[Zilverzmurfen]

If I get interrupted in the middle of writing a post, or take "too long" writing it, the system boots me out, which I only discover when I try to post. I have to copy the post, log in, wend my way back to the forum I was in originally ( because I get an "invalid reply" message ), find the post to which I was replying, paste in the reply and then post. This is very annoying when it happens, and very cumbersome. Is there any way I can NOT have this happen?

It happens to me too, occassionally.

The good news is that you don't have to copy your post and trawl all the way back to where you were. When you try to post you'll get prompted to log back on, simply do that and your post will be added and you will find yourself back in the thread where you were.


(I still find the log-off timings/occassions very random.)

[Inquartata]

I tried that the first time it happened and lost the post. I couldn't even get back to where I was without using the "Jump to forum" drop-down menu, because I got an "invalid thread" message ( or something like that ) after I loged back in...

I still have to do that. It's like when I log in again everything before that point is unavailable.

[keropie]

While I've never used this board software (or any for that matter), if it stores your log in state etc in a session cookie (we'll presume you're not in the 'remember me' category), then these sessions persist for a given amount of time on the server. This can be dependent on the settings (24 hours, 60 minutes, whatever) and the VM state of the server in question (though given f.net's up time, I don't see and VM issues, but who knows?). So, if you happen to go over a session limit and your cookies (on the server) gets invalidated, you'll be logged out and any partial post you were working on could easily become lost in cyber space.

IF this is the issue, the only fixes I can think of is longer session persistance (which has trade offs in memory on server, and some security issues) or using the 'remember me' feature (if it's a personal machine), but of course this will put a cookie on YOUR machine, so make sure that's ok with you or your job or whatever.

But like I said, this is a stab in the dark (never very safe, you know? how do you make sure they're all wearing masks?), and hopefully Craig (or at least someone with experience w/ this software and/or php) will comment.

HTH

Edit: sorry, been out of the game too long... session cookes (duh) are stored on your machine, because there is no other way to identify your machine >< I'm imagining that the 'remember me' cookies just has a much longer persistance than the other cookies. Clearly these sessions aren't being stored in URL rewriting, though they could be stored in a hidden variable on the page and thereby bypass cookies for those who aren't using the 'remember me' setting.

[parrythis]

If I get interrupted in the middle of writing a post, or take "too long" writing it, the system boots me out, which I only discover when I try to post...

If you wish to send a reply to a post and you think it will be a long one, try typing the reply in another tool, like wordpad or something similar. While you are typing, occasionally go back to your browser session and click "refresh". That should keep your session active and you should not time out.

When you are done typing your reply in wordpad, highlight it and click "copy", then go to the post in question and click reply to post. Paste your reply and click submit. Your "reply to post" window will be active for only a few seconds and will not time out.

[Inquartata]

Still seems awfully cumbersome. This is not a problem I ever had before the last system "upgrade". ( Downgrade? )