Safari does not persist logged in state between tabs/windows

[DarrenMcRoy]

From Jean-Olivier:

The "return to classifying" link restarts the tutorial every time. I suspect this is also because it (often) signs me out. A side effect is that it chooses a new location (randomly I guess). If I then sign back in, it leaves me in the location that was chosen instead of moving to my location of choice. So the following can easily happen: I am in the Med, I classify something, I add a remark in Talk, I come back to PP (and sign in again), I continue classifying except I am now in California (and it is pretty easy to miss).

People getting signed out when visiting and returning from Talk is a sporadic problem on several projects. I'd hope we could do something about it, because it discourages discussion, but it might be hard to lock down.

At the very least, the data group shouldn't switch when you return from Talk, right?

[jiho]

Hi, to help Darren and other folks get to the bottom of this I tried to test it more thoroughly.

Case 1

1. sign in on http://www.planktonportal.org
2. click the Talk menu item
3. land on http://talk.planktonportal.org where I am correctly signed in
4. click "Return to classifying" and land on http://www.planktonportal.org where I am still signed in

= everything OK

Case 2

1. sign in on http://www.planktonportal.org
2. Command+click the Talk menu item
3. land on http://talk.planktonportal.org where I am not signed in

Case 3

1. sign in on http://talk.planktonportal.org
2. on any link (a recent object, a recent discussion, etc.) Command+click
3. land on a new tab/window in which I am not signed in

After the case 2 or 3, clicking "Return to classifying" brings me back to planktonportal.org but signed out, so the site is reset and it may change the data group. But the main problem is being signed out.

This is with Safari 8.0.5 on OS X 10.10. It does not happen with Firefox or Chrome. This is actually a good news (isolated problem) but it may make it more difficult to fix.

[srallen]

Thanks for the detailed information. Darren, if any other volunteers are reporting this, could you gather their OS and browser info? It would be useful to know if the random logging out is solely a Safari problem.

@jiho, When this occurs does the interface correctly reload your location preference once you log back in?

The site is only set to save the preference when logged in, otherwise it is random. One simple workaround for people who are not logged in, but do not want to lose their preference, would be to have the talk page open in its own browser tab and to encourage people to close that tab when they're done rather than use the return to classifying button.

[yshish]

Hi, I'm not sure whether it is the same thing you were talking about but I've just had problems getting to the classification:

I was in Talk (and I was logged in); then I clicked on the blue 'Return to classifying' button. No image had loaded but suddenly the 'We've run out of data' message popped up (Screenshot). I reloaded the classification page but without a success. I saw only the grey loading attempt page(Screenshot). Then I realized that I'm not logged it at all! So I clicked on the Sign in button, typed my login and password, but it wasn't accepted (Screenshot). So I gave it up and went back to the Talk.. which signed me back without typing anything. Then I used the blue button again and it let me classify without any problems. After a few images I came back to the Talk and clicked on the blue button, and then repeated this a few times. The issue hasn't appear since that.

I'm using Firefox 37.0.2 on Ubuntu. It is a new issue for me, it wasn't happening yesterday.

Btw, as you can see in the last screen shot, I can't see properly what I'm typing since there is white text on white background for the login text fields. Please, could you set the text/background colour there? Shall I post it as a new issue report (It's been reported already)?

[srallen]

@yshish, I've added a text color for the input field. Is it fixed for you now?

[jiho]

@srallen indeed, when I log back in, my data set of preference gets loaded.

But actually, from the further tests I did, the issue is not with data group switching but with Talk and PlanktonPortal itself not retaining login information when I open links in new tabs/windows with Safari on OS X, Chrome and Firefox on OS X work. Don't know about the other browsers/OSes.

I cannot rename the issue though.

[srallen]

I was able to replicate in Safari (6.1.6) the login issue. It was not signing me in to Talk when I used the Discuss button, but I'd like to put this issue on hold for two reasons:

I'm getting new hardware soon and will be upgraded to OS X 10.10 and will then be able to test with the latest version of Safari. Right now I can't upgrade since I'm still on 10.7.

Second, we're going to be releasing a new Talk soon which may address this issue. I'll ask around about it.

@yshish, I think what you experienced may not be the same issue, so could you pull that into its own github ticket?

For now, though, I'd like to propose having the subject Talk pages open in their open browser tabs as that may help prevent some of the log outs when reloading Plankton Portal in the same tab.

[yshish]

@srallen I even cleared the browser cache but it still appears white on white to me.. :/

[jiho]

@srallen I have Safari 8 on 10.10 and I still see the problem.

In addition, the problem is not limited to planktonportal -> talk links but also within planktonportal (Case 4 below) and within talk (Case 3 above).

Case 4

1. sign in on http://www.planktonportal.org
2. Command+click the Science menu item
3. land on http://www.planktonportal.org/#/science where I am not signed in

So, to summarise: any time I Command+click a link in Safari on OS X, I am not signed in on the new page that opens.

It is not critical by any means (I can just reconnect or use Chrome) but annoying nonetheless.

[yshish]

It keeps signing me out - not always, but often (I'm used to visit the classification from the Talk) and the 'We've run out of data' message pops up always when I'm signed out automatically. It doesn't matter whether I open the classification in the same/new tab of the browser.

When I visit the Field Guide, the 'no data' message pops up too (many times today, not always) and perhaps it would happen also at other pages.

The problem is that new users may think there really are no data available and won't try to reload the page :/

[yshish]

Btw, when the image loads and I click to sign out a new image loads instead of the current one = it is possible to classify when I'm not signed in (as it should be). So it's really weird that when it signs me out, it tells me there are no data. It should be loading images anyway...

[yshish]

Another user, mkmcguir, has reported the Running out of data issue - it appears after clicking on the 'Return to the classification' button from the Talk at the moment the page is trying to recognize the account......

[srallen]

@yshish, I did some refactoring that may have fixed the issue with location loading after clicking 'return to classification'. Please let me know if you are still having this issue.

The cmd+click a link is a separate Safari only issue which is not fixed yet. Safari isn't persisting log in states between tabs. However, I got my new laptop and am upgrade to Yosemite, so I should be able to start debugging with the later version of Safari now.

[jiho]

The title of this issue should probably be changed to "Safari does not persist logged in state between tabs/windows". All the rest was unrelated and is now fixed.

[yshish]

The signing out with No data message has just appeared (after some time) again when I returned from the Talk to the Classification page (I didn't open the classif. in a new tab).

Firefox, Ubuntu

[yshish]

It happened again and reloading the page didn't work (I gave it up after 6 attempts). Still no idea what could be causing it? (my internet connection is slower today so it takes more time to re-sign in after opening the Class.page)

[yshish]

Well, it's been pretty difficult to get to the Field Guide or to the Classification page without this issue appearing. It behaves badly. I made a screen record for you too see the behaviour. Hopefully it will help to solve it. It's really frustrating.

You can watch the record here: https://vimeo.com/130632616

Here is the description of the behaviour: The No data message is connected with the automatic signing out. Reloading the page doesn't help. After cancelling the message and signing in again, the No data message keeps appearing. Moreover, the Tutorial starts running when I visit the Classification page by clicking on the Start classifying button and no frame starts loading after.* The No data issue happens even when I enter the page by opening a new browser tab and typing the Plankton Portal URL into the address bar.

*Notice the bottom part of the classification page after cancelling the Tutorial. The menu displays more narrow than it should unless I go with the cursor over it. It's an old issue which appears even when I use zoom in/out of the page and then set it back to the 100%. (Shall I start it as a new issue thread?)

[srallen]

@yshish , I just noticed that you are still using our beta testing link! The URL in your browser in the video is planktonportal.org/beta. It's failing because our beta site is using subjects from our development database (which is unavailable right now, so it's failing to fetch subjects since about last Thursday). Do be sure you are using just www.planktonportal.org which is the live production site.

This may also be why the location sync issue still wasn't fixed for you in #74. I'm going to leave this issue still open since I know the sign outs is still a problem for Safari.

[srallen]

Oh, and @yshish, do make a separate ticket for the display issue in Firefox. I've noticed it a couple of times in the OS X version. I think it'll just need some adjustments to the styling to fix.

[yshish]

Oh my! So sorry I didn't notice that. I typed the correct URL but it was switching automatically to the beta version as I run the classification. It seems to be working without any troubles now :)

[yshish]

APK0008a6k Check out this thread, the NO DATA issue is still happening (to me again at this moment and other users reported it too two days ago. I use the correct version and it appears when it signs me out during loading the first image on the Classification page.

[yshish]

The problem with automatical signing out and getting We've run out of data message when returning to the Classification from the Talk still happens.

One user (motmot2x) is complaining about it every day, experiencing it several days in a row (she tried Chrome and Firefox, no difference), it is appearing her every few minutes and it is pretty annoying. She said, that when trying Chrome, after signing out the classification worked but nothing else worked consistently. Her words:

"There are two ways the program seems to jam. The first is that it loads each screen in jerks and when I click to identify, it doesn't show the first screen for a few beats, and then, when I click one of the five categories, it doesn't give me the selections for a few beats. That leads to a very staccato (and annoying) process. The other way is that I'll be clicking along just fine and then I'll get a message that you're out of data. I usually can go to talk for a few minutes and that clears up."

By the way, the Science Gossip signed me out today after returning to the classification and displayed the No data message too. After reloading it signed me automatically in. The reloading doesn't always work on the Plankton Portal. (I haven't classify planton for about a week but it was happening to me before very often too.)

Could you please look at it again? Is there anything I should ask motmot2x to help you?

[yshish]

User motmot2x wrote:

Today I had problems with both Firefox and Chrome -- getting the same message about being out of data within 10 minutes of starting the program. It may not be a priority for Zooniverse, but I definitely access the site less, knowing that there will be problems. You used to get hours from me each day and now it's minutes.

I'm afraid this may may be related with loosing volunteers. I asked how many users experience this issue. You may see, that everyone who has visited the Talk during the last few hours does: http://talk.planktonportal.org/#/boards/BPK0000002/discussions/DPK0000bgh?page=1&comment_id=55d329ba98e7eb0096000d5e and reloading doesn't always help, moreover, when a new user comes to try this project and first thing he see is the 'It appears we've run out of data', there is no reason to reload but to leave the project.

[srallen]

@yshish, I haven't been able to totally replicate what is being reported, however, I was able to recreate a case of the out of data message and made a change to hopefully eliminate it. Please let me know either way if you notice the behavior change for you or others. Thanks.

[yshish]

@srallen Many thanks!! I'll let you know for sure, but will wait a few days to be sure in case it will seem to be working.

[yshish]

I'm sorry to say so, but someone had the No data message again yesterday: http://talk.planktonportal.org/#/boards/BPK0000002/discussions/DPK0000bgh?page=2&comment_id=55d6112f17662700bd0031e3

[yshish]

@srallen

It just happened to me too, even in a different situation: I was classifying plankton and wanted to check the previous image again, so I opened my Profile page in a new tab and while the page was loading, I was classifying the current image.. Suddenly, it jumped to the new tab to show me the "It appears we've run out of data" message there. It showed me as signed out, so none of my previously classified pictures was loaded. Which reminds me that the same problem happened also at other projects (chimp&see, science gossip) a few times, when I wanted to load my Profile page.

I tried to reproduce it by opening the classification in more tabs at once, and I succeeded! I made some screenshots of the browser console, since it shows Out of memory error which corresponds to my feelings (and it also shows 3 pages of those blue errors and some common red and orange).

To me it looks like the problem appears when the loading takes more time - not sure whether it's caused by both, slow computer and slow internet connection or just by one of that, but it definitely happens when it is trying to load more things at once.

Is that helpful for you anyhow?

[yshish]

User motmot2x:

This happens to me all the time. All. The. Time. Sometimes I'm able to use the screen for just a couple minutes. When I log off and back on, I get the same message. When I switch from Firefox to Chrome and log on, same thing happens. I was only able to identify one screen before it said it was out of data. Extremely frustrating. I have very fast internet and no other applications on, and it still happens. I've run virus checks just to see if there's something happening at my end, but nothing has altered the situation.

[jiho]

There's a lot of stuff in this issue. I think we need to separate it in smaller issues. I see several pieces:

• logged in state in safari
• out of data issue
• visual bugs.

I'll open one for the logged state in Safari. @yshish, if you see that popping up again, could you open one for the out of data problem, referencing this thread as well as https://github.com/zooniverse/chimpandsee/issues/124 please?

[yshish]

OK. It doesn't happen to me lately. Will ask the other users who were experiencing that before. Thanks!

[jiho]

@DarrenMcRoy you can close this now. The new one is #95.

[srallen]

Issue broken out into separate single issue items.