timing out

[Amphissa]

 
I have not yet figured out why I often get a message saying that a post was not submitted because my session has timed out, when I am still logged in and the statement above the error message very clearly indicates that I am still logged in.

This is extremely frustrating, because when it happens, the entire text of the message is lost. I cannot click the Back button to return to it. It is just gone.

Is this a "known problem" with the Simple Machines software? Or is it something that can be controlled?

[Mark Thomas]

Hi Amphissa, sorry you've had to wait but I've been ill for a couple of days. Can you give me some more detail. please? What browser (Firefox, IE, Safari etc.) and operating system, (XP, Vista, Mac etc.) are you using? Is this a consistent or an intermittent problem? Does anybody else use your connection? There's nothing that I can find on the SMC forums about this issue and the more background I can get before asking the question, the better.

Thanks.

[Amphissa]

 
Windows XP Pro with SP 3

Firefox 3.5 with updates

Cable broadband connection

It occurs only when I am working on a long message, which often takes awhile, as I tend to multitask. My site login remains active, but there seems to be a limited period allocated for a message session. The message session times out even though I'm still logged in.

Of course, I don't know the session has timed out until after I try to submit the post. At that time, I get a message saying the post failed because the session had timed out.

That would be okay, but the frustrating part is, when I use the back button to return to the message entry screen, the message I've typed has disappeared. So I can't copy/paste what I've typed into a fresh message box.

I'm just looking for some setting or tweak I can do to either retain the message in the box after the submit button is clicked, or an automatic "save" feature that will keep a copy of a message in draft form, or a message entry box that doesn't time out as long as I am logged in.

[Mark Thomas]

OK. I'll get back to you.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks for all the information.

Three types of timeout problems are reported with the software used for the forum. One affects almost all users, and that's down to an upgrade which has gone awry. Clearly that's not the case here. The other two are suffered by individual users. Using Internet Explorer causes timeouts for some, but clearly that's not so in your case. Added to which, my stats show that around 60% of our members use various iterations of IE and no one else has reported the timeouts from which you suffer. The second class of individual timeout problems is caused by the inappropriate configuration of members' routers or session restrictions imposed by their isps, which obviously I can't help with.

In any event, in the hope that it'll solve your problem, I have increased the session timeout setting on UC's own server from 48 minutes to 100 minutes and we'll keep our fingers crossed that that solves the problem. If it doesn't, then I'm afraid it'll be time to examine your router's setup or talk to your isp.

[jerfilm]

I've had similar problems - not on this site and so now when I type something lengthy, before I send it, I highlight it and copy it to the clipboard.  Beats the swearing that accompanies the alternative.

[Mark Thomas]

I do the same thing, but it shouldn't be necessary.

[Amphissa]

 
Thanks Mark. A lot of times, these kinds of things are mysterious. I appreciate the step you've taken to lengthen the session timeout period. I think I'll also try to remember the tactic of copying to the clipboard to save the message in memory before submitting.

[Ilja]

Suddenly, the same thing happens to me in Safari on Mac OS X.6. Not in Chrome (which, like Safari, is based on Webkit). Odd.

[Mark Thomas]

Well, if you will use a Mac  Are you still having problems, Ilja?

[Ilja]

Yes, unfortunately. Not in other browser, mind you.