Technical Problems Thread, A couple of minor niggles/questions

Hi there, can any of you technical people help with the following:

(1) Sometimes if I've been reading a thread and need to activate a link to see/do something, when I come back to IDF I find I've been logged off. - IDF is still there, but I am not logged in any more.

(2) There are more besides me to ask this question, and I've not seen any answers to it: can the old avatar piccies be traced and re-installed from IDF records. I didn't dislike my old one, but I haven't still got it on my pc, so if you haven't still got it, it's gone for good.

Thanks for your help.

__________________
I never shoot a rattlesnake that hasn't bitten me first.

Windows XPHomeSP3; Mailwasher Pro6; Comodo; AVG8; SpyBot; Ad-Aware; A-Squared; Spyware Blaster; Spyware Guard; Super Antispyware; System Mechanic 8; MalwareBytes;

Lyndy,

I stand to be corrected by our 'techies' (please?) and admit these are not necessarily educated guesses on my part but:

1) IDF's new bulletin board is set to 'time out' or disconnect you after a period of what it considers 'inactivity'---such as a your lingering too long at some other site or (apparently) taking an inordinate amount of time to compose a post/reply.

This is both a security and resource-saving feature.

2) The IDF machinery does not 'store' avatars.
In fact, your avatar will be displayed only if it is instantaneously retrievable from some other source via an 'URL' (ie: a 'path' to it's original web source or a folder on your system).
It was actually said path that you inputted to your profile.
In essence, when you log on, the IDF machinery searches out your avatar from wherever you said it was and attaches the path to your postings. The same machinery then refers to said path each time your post is opened or viewed.

At least, I think that's how it works.
Don't quote me.......

Ain't technology awesome??

You can see where questions 1) and 2) are kinda related, no?

__________________
The first rule of tinkering is to save all the parts.


Compaq Presario, Win XP, Firefox, WMP10b, Comodo, MW, Avira AntiVir, lots of other stuff.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, Kas. I had actually wondered if the logging off scenario was attributed to a time log-out - quite understandable and if it helps security, then I'm all in favour; after all, it doesn't take but a few seconds to log on again. Like I said at the beginning, they were just niggling questions, not anything for me to get upset with IDF about.

As to the avatar? Well, not a major calamity either - I'll just have to wait until I've got friends & camera together so that they can take a couple more for me to see what I might like. Mind you, I've still got a slight hang-up regarding the information (it was re: the singles thread) given about how much of our identities can be seen and/or guessed at on the Internet by people "taking an interest in the IDF site". When I put my info. on this site, I inadvertantly assumed it was just for, in effect, a private site, and I didn't mind other members knowing who I am, where I'm from, etc. I'm wondering now if it might be safer to become more anonymous and go for a silly avatar and remove some of the information on my profile. I'll ponder it some more.

Thanks again for your time,
Lyn

__________________
I never shoot a rattlesnake that hasn't bitten me first.

Windows XPHomeSP3; Mailwasher Pro6; Comodo; AVG8; SpyBot; Ad-Aware; A-Squared; Spyware Blaster; Spyware Guard; Super Antispyware; System Mechanic 8; MalwareBytes;

I doubt that this is the answer. It does not happen to me. When I open a link it opens in another window (or tab if I so choose) and the idf window remains open. Sometimes, like this evening, I'll have the idf window open whilst i spend an hour or more away and I don't get logged off. Also bear in mind that http is a sessionless protocol. There is no need for idf to maintain resources for logged on users. As with most sites it uses cookies to keep track of where it is. That is my understanding anyway.

My avatars were uploaded to idf from my pc they are not accessed via a url (of mine anyway). The same with the old forum software. In which case they were stored on the server. Now, if the two sets of software (old and new) manage them differently it might have been impractical or very difficult to carry them across. No doubt if there is a back-up of the old forum they will be in that back-up but it might still be impractical to retrieve them.

__________________
Chris
___________________________________
AMD Sempron 2800+; 2048Mb ram; Windows XP SP3; Firefox; Thunderbird; Open Office; Online Armor Firewall, Nod32 Antivirus, Virgin Media cable broadband, Skype, Trillian

Chris,

Thanks for the feedback.
As I said, I stand to be corrected.

So if mine aren't the answers to the original queries , what are?
Perhaps you could explain what is happening to cause a log-off----and where the avatars have gone?

Kas

__________________
The first rule of tinkering is to save all the parts.


Compaq Presario, Win XP, Firefox, WMP10b, Comodo, MW, Avira AntiVir, lots of other stuff.

I wish I could.

First the log off. There are many variables that come into play and it might just be that a particular combination causes it to happen. The obvious variables are browser, use of tabs and windows with the browser, how cookies are handled. To get to the bottom of the problem a pattern of how the problem manifests itself would need to be captured. Is Lynn the only user with it or are there others? Do they all use the same browser and version? How do they open links- new tab, new window, same window/tab?

For what it is worth, I open each unread post in a forum in its own tab but open any links in a new window. If I leave idf to do something else, I will often have it open in a tab whilst I use other tabs or windows. When I come back to idf (may be hours later) I am still logged on. If I close all idf windows and later return (even next day) I am still logged on.

Only Graham and his techies know what happened to the avatars. If the two sets of forum software handled them in very different ways - one just files in a folder, the other in a database or both in databases but in incompatible ways it may just have been too difficult to carry them across from one to the other. Even if both just use files in a folder, different naming conventions might have made using the old avatars in the new forum very tricky. Also retrieving the avatars from a back-up of the old form might be tricky unless it just used files in a folder. I appreciate that a great deal of planning and work was needed to convert the forums and I would not have had avatars as a high priority - a nice to have rather than a priority.

Not much help am I?

__________________
Chris
___________________________________
AMD Sempron 2800+; 2048Mb ram; Windows XP SP3; Firefox; Thunderbird; Open Office; Online Armor Firewall, Nod32 Antivirus, Virgin Media cable broadband, Skype, Trillian

Hi,
Regarding avatars, I notice kasapres's "hacker3"one has stopped typing.
I thought at first it was a setting on my computer but the one on this site HERE
is still typing away.
It's not a problem just an observation.
Regards,
Tezzer.

__________________
XP Home SP3-IE7- OE6-ComodoFirewall Pro-AVG Antivirus-Ad Aware2008-Spybot S&D-SpywareBlaster

When I click on new posts or quick links and in quick links todays post after I have logged in successfully
I am asked to log in again on each occasion

__________________
Bob
(Bob12a)
MY PHOTO GALLERY
Medion MD8800,Win XP (vista ult ltop) IE7, Firefox/3, ZAPro ver:7.0.483.000, AVG8.0164,spybot S&D 1.6, Canon ixus 860,pshop element 5

Thanks, Bunnysan, Tezzer & Bob12 - I'm not tehnical-understanding enough to join in now it's gone over my head, but .... no doubt your input, along with others (????) may help the "boys in the background" find a common denominator.

Thanks again to you, Kas, for watching the thread.

__________________
I never shoot a rattlesnake that hasn't bitten me first.

Windows XPHomeSP3; Mailwasher Pro6; Comodo; AVG8; SpyBot; Ad-Aware; A-Squared; Spyware Blaster; Spyware Guard; Super Antispyware; System Mechanic 8; MalwareBytes;

Hi Folks

Most of the points have been clarified by Kas. Lyndy the main reason I decided to go for the new board was for security reasons. No piece of software can ever be guaranteed but I believe we have the best piece of kit available. The biggest forums I have found on the internet are run on Vbulletin.

Only logged in members are able to view your membership profile.

Transferring data from the old board to the new board proved a bit of a headache for me and I had to rope in a bit of help. Rival boards aren't going to make transfers easy. We were unable to transfer avatars and the photo albums. I am not saying it's not possible but I don't have the skills to write the scripts required.

Time out as Kas has mentioned is a security function and I could vary the time.

I have just realised I am replying under the name of 'Test' I regulary use this to check out the site as per Bob's query above.
Graham

Bob
I have logged in numerous times - clicked on new posts, quick links etc. etc - no problems whatsoever. I will keep at it but at the moment I can't find anything wrong with the board.

Graham