Attn :- Superuser group - Annoying Pop-up amounting to harassment.

[#1]

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@Mav wrote:

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@ejs wrote:

The only winning move is to not use the forums.

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Then what will us mods do?

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Mav you can have your P45 - oh except you don't need one really do you? 

To the people it has affected it may be better to contact someone like Jarad, possibly through PM's. As annoying as it is for those affected (I would be annoyed if it were me), if you can get as much information to someone at PlusNet, with as much detail as possible, such as what system you are using, software, etc. to try and find the cause of it.

The worst ones I've had are:

1. When something works through a development environment fine, works when compiled on a dev machine. Crashes on a non-dev machine. That took me most of a day re-compiling one DLL which I couldn't debug and putting message boxes in to find the line of code that was causing it.
2. Also when the same code works on one machine, but not another even though you think they are the same spec. This is what we have here I think 

[#2]

@Alex, @shutter has already shown that he has changed his browser settings so it deletes cookies thus causing his problem, no doubt others suffering the same issue will have done something similar.

[#3]

Yep fair enough @Browni.

It just seems daft this is stored at a cookie level, not in the underlying database against the user, especially when users wish to delete cookies and access the internet through multiple devices at home.

[#4]

If it was stored at user level that would then constitute personal data which is another can of worms to be opened

[#5]

I know about that. A additional bit flag against the user table is not personal data.

[#6]

Storing a boolean value in a database about preference of the survey wouldn't really be a breach of holding personal data as it would be just the same as switching an option in your profile settings on or off. Unfortunately, there isn't all that much I can do about this and I cannot change the system to work in the way that I would prefer it to work. The surveys themselves are set to reset your choice after 90 days within the system - I beleive that this is likely what is setting the cookie expiry. As for those who use extensions in their browser to remove cookies - there isn't anything I can do for you except suggest whitelisting the forums so that it doesn't remove the cookies here. Either that or you edit the cookie yourself to never expire and make sure it doesn't get deleted.

As I said before, there isn't all that much I can do about this (I do not have access to the code for surveys and I do not have the authority to disable them either) so there is no point in slinging rude insults my way and telling me to 'do your job' which only makes me not want to participate in heated conversations like this.

[#7]

Thank you @jaread83 for replying.

I can understand your position, and your frustration as there are only limited things you can do.

Also, I can understand people who are suffering with this problem.

We can only work together, and all try not to get too annoyed (as much as it is for us) and give as much information as possible.

[#8]

I want nothing more than to make the forums an easy to use, friendly and accessible experience for all. I do share the same frustrations with the system as I try to use these forums as a regular to identify problem areas. The only problem is that sometimes, like in this case, the code is not available for me to change (if I could, this would be on my priority list of things to be looked into) and there is a sense of being at the whim of the software developers at the core level of the application. I have requested an update on my idea over on the Lithium ideas board as last I had heard it was acknowledged and accepted by them and I will be notified if anything changes.

[#9]

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@Browni wrote:
@Alex, @shutter has already shown that he has changed his browser settings so it deletes cookies thus causing his problem, no doubt others suffering the same issue will have done something similar.

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Fair enough @Browni, I must have missed that.

If people are deleting cookies, whether it be manually or getting software to do it for you, they'll have to accept that behaviour of these forums (and anything else Lithium based).

[#10]

Well talk about irony. 

I just got the survey pop-up after that last post, talking about it. Maybe I'm getting targeted now through my posts.

Sorry made me laugh, though it is not a laughing matter for others I can understand.

I use a Mac, and I assume the code dumps a cookie with a timestamp in it. Then checks the cookie and timestamp and says "It has been more than x amount of time since asking, I'll ask again".

[#11]

This is the cookie when you click the 'no thanks' button. Not sure what it does if you just hit the X button though..

I did this about a week ago and its set to expire 90 days later. Haven't had any since I clicked the 'no thanks' button.

[#12]

Yes - sounds like it is working as it should be. Not sure when I was last asked but 90 days sounds about right.

EDIT: Just noticed I had a few sessions of the forums open. Safari will automatically open the browser with all the tabs you had open (handy) unless you tell it not to, and so I got asked on all sessions, so sounds like my cookie had expired. Just in case that helps.

[#13]

I mentioned the 90 days expiry back in post #34

[#14]

I also got the survey 'pop up' two days ago, filled in some suitably anodyne responses - not appeared since.  So it appears to sort of work!  What useful output will be gained from the 5 questions is debateable.

[#15]

@MauriceC and so,  from your post..I assume you have had enough of being harassed and given in to the bullying approach... in order to get some peace  by completing the survey with a load of rubbish answers...