There seems to be an automatic log-out on this website . . . sometimes. Is there supposed to be?

Often, if I'm logged-in but absent for a while, when I return I am still logged in. Other times, not.

I can see why there would be an automatic time-out, I suppose, but it is annoying when I've spent some time writing a critique, to press the button and lose the lot because I've been logged out.

What's the score with this?

Thanks.

Jan

What's the score with this?

An own goal?

Think that may be a bug as have seen a couple of errors myself.

On the subject of session bugs I've also noticed in IE 8.0 that the "Log Out" link doesn't always log me out! (Seems to be browser specific as can logout ok in FireFox etc.)

G

I write critiques in Word and then paste into WriteWords, as this means I can save and come back to it at any point.

Sharley

I never log myself out of WriteWords. I can go back into my account on here on either my Mac or my PC (Windows 7), and not have to log back in.

Is it possible that you have some software which is trying to add security to your browser, and that this software might occasionally log you out of the website? Or else something which occasionally deletes cookies from your PC, so that the site stops recognising you? My PC at work has cookies disabled, which means that when I come onto the site during my lunch breaks, I have to log in. I've never experienced timeouts, but that may be because I don't often stay on the site long enough that I would notice.

Have you noticed which forums are affected by the problem? Is it, for example, Private Members or the Lounge?

The default connection timeout on IIS (which I think may be the technology that this site uses) is 20 minutes. That can be overridden on a page-by-page basis, if the website chooses to do that, or else it can be set globally to a different length of time.

Alex

I've had it before, when my laptop's been set to delete it's cookies regularly so it 'forgets' where I am and I have to log in again. Maybe see if that's the case on your pc.

If I go off and make a cup of coffee or do something else, I have to log back in to WriteWords (WriteWords stays open, but my log-in is deactivated), yet I don't have to do this for Facebook.

I always assumed this was a WriteWords issue. It's strange that I can keep Facebook open all evening and not have to log back in repeatedly, but this isn't the case for WriteWords.

Sharley

If it were WriteWords itself doing this, then I would expect everyone to experience it all of the time. If only some people are experiencing it, and only some of the time, then that is more likely to be a different issue. Other than what I suggested before, possible causes are:

- Your broadband connection somehow disconnected itself, meaning that Windows lost the physical connection for a time.

- If you are using a broadband router, then maybe that lost the connection or reset itself.

- You're on a wireless connection, and this got cut off temporarily.

I'm not 100% sure that those problems would cause your session to log out, but I think it's quite likely.

If in doubt WWmail David Bruce in admin and ask him if it's a problem with your account, but Alex's suggestions sound plausable.

I find I have this problem at work but not at home.

The only differences are;

1) at home I am set to auto-log in, whereas at work I am set to manual log in.
2) work has different/higher security settings.

So I agree with Alex it's probably not a writewords issue, but probably to do with one of those two issues in my case.

That's useful to know. I have this issue at work and home (but assumed it was a standard issue with WW, so didn't do anything about it).

It's not a big deal - but we can look at the home settings and see if there is anything which could be cutting it out.

Best wishes

Sharley

WW is the only site which never, ever logs me out - most others every now and again do - it seems to be EITHER the site, or my computer deleting some kinds of cookies but not others, or some such...

Emma

<Added>

Sorry - meant to say, just putting in my two penn'orth of evidence for... whatever it is.

It is possible to disable connection timeouts altogether, in IIS. There's no reason why that shouldn't be done, with WW, as there is nothing on here that is sensitive (as would be the case with a banking website, for example).

Alex

Thanks, everyone.

I think it must be my computer, then, as it presents as an intermittent fault.

I write critiques in Word and then paste into WriteWords, as this means I can save and come back to it at any point.

Sharley, I tried this but it was fiddly going through putting all the quote coding in. The last crit I did, I opened a 'fresh' window and cut & paste across. Will have to stick with this, I guess.

Thanks again, all.

Jan

Something I do, if I'm writing a long reply, is to use Notepad to write what I want. Then I copy the text and paste it into the text box on the WW webpage. That way, if something goes wrong and the browser loses both the web page and the text (something that has sometimes happened to me), I've still got it in Notepad.

The other thing I can suggest is to keep a note of occasions when you experience this problem (date/time, which forum or group you were posting in, how long you left your computer without touching it, and anything else you were doing on your computer at the time you were using WW). Once you have enough of this information, you may be able to see a pattern. If not, David Bruce might be able to suggest a possible cause.

Alex

I always get automatically logged out of WW, except occasionally if i try and get back in after only a few minutes. Ditto my googlemail. The only one i seem to be able to stay logged into is FB.