Sporadic non posting - post disappears on submit. Maybe Android issue?

Boardtalk.net · Post by **Boardtalk.net** » Thu May 02, 2019 10:55 pm

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What is the most recent action performed on your board? Update from a previous version of phpBB3
Is registration required to reproduce this issue? Yes
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What version of phpBB3 did you update from? phpBB 3.2.4
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I have a test area [link removed] you can try posting. Just remember to delete them after please
What actions did you take (updating your board; installing a MOD, style or extension; etc.) prior to this problem becoming noticeable? It seems from listening to our members, the issue has been ongoing for quite some time maybe a couple of years? It seems to only affect the same few sporadic members and not myself, hence I hadn't noticed there was an issue. Difficult to know when, where or how the issue came about.
Please describe your problem.
Three issues:
The First but hope I've fixed it: Members who it seems are only on Android phones had difficulty staying logged in if they didn't tick 'keep me logged in'. I updated the cookie settings as they were incorrect according to this article,
Knowledge Base - Fixing incorrect cookie settings

Second issue that need I help with resolving: Members write posts but post disappears after hitting submit, only happens every now and then. Drafts are not available for normal users and some users mentioned they have the 'keep me logged in' ticked. Those that don't have the 'keep me logged in' ticked are still logged in after loosing their post.
I had thought users were on a long time writing before submitting their post and their session had ended but this is not the case. Some users are on Android phones when this happens but can't say if its only happening on Android. I don't have an Android device so can't test.
It seems to happen when the member is writing a long post/reply. I did think fixing the cookie issue would fix the problem but its still happening and happening to several members at different times. I have never experience it.

Third issue but not that important - might be no harm to mention:
The 'Who is online' doesn't work correctly, mostly says logged in users are only on the index even though when I look at Google Analytics I can see users are moving through the site.
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Scanialady · Post by **Scanialady** » Fri May 03, 2019 1:52 pm

...Members write posts but post disappears after hitting submit...

This could happen if someone else has sent a post during the first member was writing. Often the people don't notice there is a preview only and they have to send again, because a new post has been sent in the meantime.

david63 · Post by **david63** » Fri May 03, 2019 2:06 pm

One scenario that I have heard of when using a mobile network (Android) is that the mobile network changes IP address and this can cause the user to get logged out.I am not saying that this is the case here but it may be a possibility.

Boardtalk.net · Post by **Boardtalk.net** » Sat May 04, 2019 10:50 pm

Scanialady wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 1:52 pm
...Members write posts but post disappears after hitting submit...
This could happen if someone else has sent a post during the first member was writing. Often the people don't notice there is a preview only and they have to send again, because a new post has been sent in the meantime.

That's actually a good point, I didn't think of that. Makes sense as anyone who complains said they were writing a long post so someone could have posted before they managed to send their reply. I'll mention this to them and see what they say.

david63 wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 2:06 pm One scenario that I have heard of when using a mobile network (Android) is that the mobile network changes IP address and this can cause the user to get logged out.I am not saying that this is the case here but it may be a possibility.

That's very interesting. I've just tried testing this on my iPhone to see if I could replicate it. I logged into the forum on my phone, 'remember me' wasn't ticked and then turned off Wifi and used the phone's own internet and when I changed page on the forum I was logged out. So this must be what's happening.

At least I have some answers to give to people. Thanks folks, I'll update here if I hear anything back

Boardtalk.net · Post by **Boardtalk.net** » Tue May 14, 2019 10:52 pm

Login problems on Android phones - I think I've found a solution

Android users browse the internet on Chrome - if members have Lite mode enabled on their phone they won't be able to login. They get, 'submitted form invalid' each and every time. Chrome is using their own servers to feed your website to the user - something about speed

To test I asked a member to login with 'private mode' activated on their phone and hay presto, they can stay logged in. No problems and no issues. More info: Use less data and browse faster with Chrome’s Lite mode

The missing and disappearing posts - After Scanialady's suggestion about 'post review' I disabled it in all forums and not so much as a peep about missing posts anymore.

Thanks folks

Google is just OCD about speed