Log in

Why do I have to login every time that I come on to this site? Other forums that I use enable me to stay logged in. They make life so much easier. Is Model Engineer so special that they do not need to consider their customers?

It's my browser that remembers my login details. I am a member of 5 other forums. They all operate the same. Click log in. Box pops up. My details are there from my browser remembering. log in. All the same.

Steve.

It doesn’t work that way here. I have to type in my username and password every time.

I never have it works just fine, like the other forums. Are you using the same browser as your other forums.

I'm on Microsoft edge, it always asks do you want to remember these login details. Then never asks again.

Steve.

+1 me also

regards

I normally can automatically log in to the site but occasionaly (like this time), I had to do it manually. But I only have to enter my email addres and not my password. I use MEW daily and this only happens after many days. (have to check how many days apart. maybe its a monthly thing ??)

Paul

On the login page, just below the name and password, there's a "remember me" checkbox .... did you check it?

Also, if you log in from another machine, you will lose the auto login on the first machine.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 12/02/2020 22:47:52

Norman,

I can remain logged in for a whole day, even more, on occasions. Other days I need to log in on every visit. Other forums give me no trouble at all - only this one.

Yo will likely be told ‘cookies’ is the reason for not staying logged on. If it is, my ‘puter and this forum don’t work consistently!

This was discussed here once - some time ago with input from the manijment - it's not as simple as a single cookie on the log-in machine. If it were, why would logging on from a another machine or device lose you the remembered login cookie on the first machine (which it does)?

Edited By Bandersnatch on 13/02/2020 01:54:45

I have the same problem as NDIY. Yes I do tick the ‘remember me’ box. I do not log in with any other devices. Sometimes I have to log in on every visit even on the same day. Funnily enough when I came on this morning I didn’t have to log in.

I have seen this discussed here before but unfortunately  didn’t take any notice

Edited By norman valentine on 13/02/2020 07:59:10

The O.P. asks: " Why do I have to login every time that I come on to this site? " My reply would be "You don't." I only log in if I want to reply to a query, or look at the digital magazine. When I do log in, however, my browser "remembers" the log in details every time. (Windows 10 + Firefox 73.0). I also use a password manager, so maybe that is chiming in instead.

John

(Logging out)

I use Linux Ubuntu with Firefox browser. I usually stay logged in unless I don't visit the site for several days, in which case I find I have been logged out. I have never checked to find out precisely how long this is. It doesn't bother me as I only need to log in if I want to make a post.

Something odd has happened in the last few weeks. I have to log in several times a day, even if I keep the MEW site open all day. Very odd indeed.

Formerly I could stay logged in for months or every day or so, without any apparent rhyme or reason. Doesn't bother me, but wouldn't mind knowing why the process of logging in is so random?

This is a recurring problem not a deliberate feature. The exact cause is unknown, but a little forensic digging with a network monitor and web inspector revealed two different mechanisms.

• The Server is built on Microsoft Internet Sharepoint, which has a login timeout mechanism. Web servers can be programmed to log users out after a period of inactivity (method popular with Banks because people leaving their account open are a fraud risk) and/or if the server is busy. Servers, like any other machine, have limited capacity. Basically, when the machine is overloaded, it can be arranged that fresh logins push the oldest inactive user off the system, ie when resources are short priority is given to active users rather than inactive ones. Furthermore, this forum doesn't have it's own dedicated website. Rather the forum is one of several maintained in a group by MyTimeMedia, thus it's possible that high activity on the Woodworking, or Needlework fora will bump Model Engineers or vice versa. Only the system administrator has access to the data, my perception is that the forum is not generally overloaded, mostly OK but I noticed the odd 'bump' - slow photo uploading, missed & delayed posts, double posts, jambed edits etc. The effect of a server delay is more critical to anyone with a slow network connection or computer, because the total time may add up to cause either side to bail out, rather as people hang up phones if no-one speaks straight away.
• A second mechanism issues a cookie on the users computer when he logs in, and the cookie is destroyed when he logs out. Except this forum remembers logins by storing cookies between sessions and reusing them to provide an automatic login feature. The cookies are local to your machine, not part of the website, and they can and do go wrong at the user end. Furthermore, because cookies are a security and privacy risk, they are targetted by user-side security policies, (browser settings) and by Anti-Virus and Web privacy protections.

More bad news, both mechanisms can go malfunction. Server-end issues are usually self correcting because the system is periodically flushed. User end issues are more difficult because few users are capable of detecting & fixing errors such as corrupt cookies, or subtly inappropriate security behaviour on a home computer. Easy fixes, like deleting all cookies, have temporary negative effects.

Earlier threads discussed the problem without an obvious pattern emerging. It's doesn't appear to be specific to a particular Browser or Operating System. When it goes wrong, a few individuals are repeatedly annoyed whilst everyone else gets normal glitch free service. That hints that the problem is local: something adrift at the home computer. What might help pin it down would be those effected reporting their full configuration. Broad stuff such as 'it only happens on this website', and 'I have Windows' is useless, what's needed is detail, at least:

• Browser: Mozilla Firefox 72.0.2 (64-bit) for Ubuntu canonical 1.0,
• Operating System: Ubuntu 19.10,
• Memory: 15.5Gib
• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz × 8
• Disc: 1.5Tb
• AVM: None
• Firewall: None
• Router: BT SmartHub
• Max Download: 52Mbits/s
• Max Upload: 10Mbits/s
  

Collecting many examples might reveal a pattern, perhaps linking the bug to, slow network speeds, out-of-date software, a particular AVM, low memory, or an ISP etc. etc.

I was trained to never leave a computer logged in. Memory lapses apart I logout at the end of every forum session. It means I don't carry a login cookie between sessions, which may make me less vulnerable to login problems due to a mangled cookie. Worth trying I think; log in and then log out immediately in hope it reissues a clean cookie on the next log in.

Dave

Still doesn't explain how logging in from a second machine cancels the effect of that first cookie - which has been an admitted "feature" of this site since time immemorial.

Unfortunately there are several ways people can be logged out. This has been discussed at length on other threads.

Repeated logouts are probably local issues. You can try deleting cookies and logging in again but this will may log you out of other websites as well!

Also, if you use any of our other websites (Model Boats etc.) using the same email address, then logging into one of them may log you out of this one as its all dealt with by the same server.

Neil

Safer to get a cookie manager add-on and just delete cookies from this site.

See first mechanism. I guess the server only allows one login per user per machine and issuing a new cookie invalidates all the older ones. Database and Website Administrators are generally keen to prune anything that consumes server resources unnecessarily.

Just guessing, to find out exactly how it works we'd need to see the documentation. Life is too short!

Dave