Its a common problem on many older forums. If your session expires while you're typing, you get no hint about it, and once you hit submit, your post is gone forever.

I have noticed this forum has a rather short "life span" for your current login; however, in the event that you're logged out while writing a post, hit the back button, copy it, and then log back in and paste your post.

I did hit the back button, it just sent me back to the same login page. Since I was still no longer logged in, the compose page was no longer valid.

If and when you notice it's going to take more then a couple of minutes to type a reply - type it in Word or Notepad then paste it to the thread.

When you log into the site, check the remember me box.
I have never had a session expire.
I logged in months ago and have never had to do so again.
I've configured my browser to never delete cookies from this site.

I've also run into this issue a few times.... I'm just in the habit of cmd+a/cmd+c before submitting my info. That being said.. the few times I did lose my info, it was a little annoying .

I lost a post or two before, but I usually use Remember Me as well, so its once in a very blue moon that I have to log in to begin with. Both times I had the problem was on a new computer and I forgot to hit remember me when I logged in.

Unfortunately, this occurs to me as well --- and it IS annoying. I've adjusted my habits and now habitually check "Remember Me" when logging in.

FWIW, I don't remember this being a problem before a few years ago. Yet another example of the awesomeness of the Elder Days....

I don't remember the last time I had to log in to this site at all (except for when I open up a moderation page). Maybe I'm just too lenient with my security settings.

I really feel like this problem should NEVER happen. For two reasons. First, forum software should take care of this. This is a PHP website, it wouldn't take a whole lot of complicated PHP to have the server remember 'ghost' posts, and restore them once a user logs in. Also just as guilty: web browsers. Web browsers should keep at least a short term history of the text you submit. That way, when you do lose something, you can very easily go back and get it from your, let's call it, "input history". They should probably come up with a better name for it though.

// these functions don't exist but the name gives you the idea
if( $page == 'form' ) {
   if( stay_logged_in() === FALSE )  extend_session_expiry();
} elseif ( $page == 'post_success' ) {
   if( stay_logged_in() === FALSE ) reset_session_expiry();
}

l008com;10997759 wrote:

I really feel like this problem should NEVER happen. For two reasons. First, forum software should take care of this. This is a PHP website, it wouldn't take a whole lot of complicated PHP to have the server remember 'ghost' posts, and restore them once a user logs in.

While I agree with how annoying this is, it would be a good idea to not gritch too much until you've tried to hack vBulletin yourself. It might cost a good bit of your time (which equals $$ at Internet.com [now Developer.com?]) that management probably wasn't willing to spend.

I hope it comes across that I'm not trying to be mean, condescending, etc. It's just a reality; management has a way of deciding that things are "good enough" when you tell them it will take $x hours to fix something, and they know what they're paying you for each of those $x hours. :queasy:

I mean, they've not even bothered to try and migrate the site to vB 4 ... so you know it's probably "Good Enough". And, more or less, it IS, with a few niggling exceptions (one of which you've made very obvious).

Agreed Dalecosp! There are also a few design problems with the site but in the end is a cost / reward equation if it costs more to change something than it rewards then the change won't happen. This isn't just true in websites but in all businesses!

bradgrafelman;10997764 wrote:

It already does take care of this - that's what the "Remember Me" checkbox is for. If you don't check that box, then you're telling the forum software that you don't want to remain logged in for long periods of time/inactivity.

I interpret the "remember me" differently. I interpret it as telling the forum that I will manage when I log in and out myself, not the forum. In other words, I am logged in until I say otherwise (or the my cookie is deleted or something like that, etc.).

Also, I guess we interpret "long periods of time/inactivity" differently. I don't believe something like 30 minutes is considered to be "long periods of time/inactivity". There are times when I am browsing this site, and I switch tabs and then come back and I'm logged out. I never logged out but it logged me out anyway. I didn't check the "remember me" box because I never left. Whenever I do leave I always log out and expect to log in when I return.

Now, I will note, with all this argument, that there is, at least in vB4, a control panel option for the session timeout. The default appears to be 15 minutes.

I've never administered vB3, but wonder if the option's not there as well. So, they might be able to change it easily enough. I suppose then the question is, "is 15 minutes of inactivity really what we want to enforce?"

As I said, I've been bugged by this on occasion as well. I'm not sure what value I would propose. It can take hours to write a script, depending on its functionality and intended use. I do tend to think that if it's a long one like that, you should probably have it saved someplace besides a text input on a forum site somewhere ;-)

Ditto to the 15 minute time out that happens after you click the Reply button....And this different then the "remember me" function.

Steve R Jones;10997725 wrote:

If and when you notice it's going to take more then a couple of minutes to type a reply - type it in Word or Notepad then paste it to the thread.

08:38 et Here is a timeout test post.

No timeout.

If it's not going to be a "Quick Reply" then instead of using the "Quick Reply" box and the "Post Quick Reply" button, you could "Go Advanced" (anything already in the Quick Reply box will be carried over), and regularly using the "Preview Post" button (which also has the benefit of allowing you to check that you haven't made a hash of any formatting). You lose your view of the thread you're posting in, but the breadcrumb link is there so you can reopen it in a new window.

In fact, I use the go advanced to preview most of my posts with code (sometimes I forget, then you see "Last edited by Derokorian....")