Posting to the "Getting to know each other" forum

Post Reply New Topic

I was about to post my long-delayed introductory message to the "Getting to know each other" forum (there is a reason for the delay, and I was going to post about this), but I was presented with a page where I had to enter my nickname and password, and I noticed that the page is not secure, so I just want to check that all is as it should be. (I did not have to enter my nickname or password in order to post this message.)

(I don't know if I've been clear, so I'll be more explicit.) A link to the forum is: Getting to know each other The first thing I notice (now) is this piece of text:

Consistent with this is the fact that I am asked to log in when I try to start a new topic. (This does not happen with any other forum at Wrong Planet.) The page that then comes up is entitled "User Registration/Login", and it has a long URL (just possibly, although improbably, encoding some of my personal information, so I won't post it) which begins with "http:", not "https:".

There are two questions (which perhaps I didn't take enough care to distinguish before):

(1) Is it usual, on this website, to have to enter your password into a page whose URL begins "http:", and not the more usual (for purposes requiring security) "https:"?

(2) Should I not be worried about this?

I'm sorry if what I meant was not clear before.

I'm a bit confused. Are you saying that you are already logged in but when you try to create a new thread in the "Getting to know each other forum" that you are being prompted to login again? That shouldn't happen. It would probably prompt you to login if you weren't already logged in and tried to post in any of the forums.

I've never noticed if the login screen is http or https, personally I'm not that bothered as it isn't an online banking site.

Yes, exactly. I'm permanently logged in, and for instance I can post this reply without having to log in, but whenever I try to post in the "Getting to know each other" forum, I am asked to log in. It confused me, too! And in more than one way, hence the two questions.

If everyone else does it, I'll do it, too. But, as something else already seemed odd, I thought I'd better check before entering my password. I was worried that the site might have been hacked.

(I also had a worry, a few days ago, when I clicked on an image that came up in a Google search when I was trying to find a cartoon image to use for my avatar, and I got an extremely fishy-looking message about viruses, and had to improvise a way out of the situation. So it is also possible that my system has been compromised. However, I think that would not have this specific effect, and only this specific effect.)

It sounds like something is screwed up somewhere. Have you tried logging off and telling your browser to clear its cache of everything and reconnecting? Might we worth a try. If the problem were common then I'd expect a lot more people with the same issue, the fact you are the only one implies the problem may be at your end.

Story of my life!

I'll try logging off and on again, certainly. As a last resort, I'll try clearing my browser cache. First, I'll try another browser. But it seems awfully odd that it only happens with this one forum: surely that means that, even if there is some sort of problem at my end, there is also some code at the WP end which is switching over to the login page in some cases (even if I am the only case!)?