Forum Timeout is too Draconian, or is Bugged

I'm finding myself timed out for inactivity far too much. Most egregiously, I just got timed out seconds after I'd posted a comment. I found out I'd timed out because right after quoting someone and posting, I clicked "Helpful" on their post and was told I had no permission; I had to sign back in to laud them. Something is wonky in the software if it's not re-upping your participation timer once it decides you've been quiet too long.

Do you have more than one window open of the forum?That might cause your time outs to happen.

@DBZVelena.5186 said:Do you have more than one window open of the forum?That might cause your time outs to happen.

Not of this one, but I am keeping the old forums open for reference until we lose them. I'll see if the timeouts get better once I no longer am tracking new posts over there. Still, given that I had just posted, I feel that I should have counted as active :)

I time out a often too. I timed out while editing a comment earlier.I think it should be like on the previous forum and only log us off if we close the browser.

I had a time out too, but since i closed the old forum window. I've not had one. Maybe the old forum doesn't like the new one and is causing authentication errors?

I timed-out when having 2 instances of this new forum open. I have to agree that the time-out window is too short. At most, I would expect to only have to log-in once a day.

They have a script that will automatically log you out if there hasn't been any input for 30 minutes. Besides being annoying, the obvious problem with that is having multiple tabs, where it only takes 1 to go inactive to kill your session.

Personally, I just blocked the script (/plugins/AutoSignout/js/autosignout.js).

Might be best to post this in the official forum feedback thread: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/269/feedback-new-forums#latest

I can do you one better. I had it log me out WHILE I was typing up a reply. All of a sudden I kept getting "you don't have permission to do this" messages instead of "Draft saved" and I was like "Huh... that's interesting". Not until I actually tried posting and found myself unable to do that did I figure out what had happened.

I'd rather have them just turn it off altogether. This isn't some kind of important bank website or something where someone could get access to something vital if you accidentally left it open, its a video game forum. And its not like you gain access to the game itself by logging into the forum, so there's not even any threat of scamming within the game or anything. I don't see why they need the added security of "inactivity timeouts" within the forum code.

Or at least make it an option so I can turn it off.

I know its not hardcoded into the forum software, as there are other forums I use that use this same system that don't log me off every half hour.

@Healix.5819 said:They have a script that will automatically log you out if there hasn't been any input for 30 minutes. Besides being annoying, the obvious problem with that is having multiple tabs, where it only takes 1 to go inactive to kill your session.

Personally, I just blocked the script (/plugins/AutoSignout/js/autosignout.js).

Thanks for the tip.

Same here. (Side note: Using several tabs should not be a reason for the timer to miscount your "inactitivty". Nowadays, who doesn't use multiple tabs when navigating the web, especially on a forum?)

Yeah, the timeout is really annoying.

I tend to have the forums up a lot, so the timeout thing is rather annoying. Having to log in the first time that day? Fine. Every time I'm idle for 30+ minutes means I'm pretty much logging in again every time I go back to the site.

It's a forum. Not a bank site. There doesn't need to be such a short timer for inactivity to log you out.

What purpose does timing out the login even serve? I don't quite see why we can't just stay logged in, nor why the forums can't remember you between sessions like so many other forums and websites gives the user the option to enable when logging in. You can close idle connections server-side until a handshake is established from the user's browser interacting with the server again, saying it is still there and requesting to do something within the forum software.

@Absconditus.6804 said:What purpose does timing out the login even serve?

The idea is that you may have forgotten that you left your account logged in at a public place. For everyone else, it's just an annoyance. For now, if you're using a firewall that is capable of blocking specific URLs or can do so with an ad-blocker, simply block this script. I'm still logged in after several hours.

@Healix.5819 said:

@Absconditus.6804 said:What purpose does timing out the login even serve?

Is blocking the script okay or would it be considered against ToS?

@DakotaCoty.5721 said:Is blocking the script okay

Yes, and if you're using an ad-blocker, you already are blocking some scripts. These forums also support disabling javascript entirely. Technically, the legal docs say you can't interfere with the "proper" working of the site, but it's really referring to an attack on someone else.

Seems the forums do remember the session between visits, and I haven't been logged out for a while now. I have not idled for periods of time though, but at least it does keep me logged in when I revisit the forums after having closed the browser. That functionality I wanted out of the old forums for ages. I would have edited my earlier post striking out what can be seen as misinformation, but sadly that is on a 15 minute grace period. Not a fan of that at all.

This definitely needs to change. I just got timed on while writing a reply, as well, and the worst thing about it is that all my other open tabs were redirected to the "you've been signed out" page with no option to get back to the threads I had openened. That is seriously user-unfriendly.

Strange. Mine isn't logging out, even after hours on. I'm on an iPad though if that makes a difference. I usually don't have more than one tab at a time though.

I got kicked out while typing a lengthy answer that got lost after re-logging.

This issue could single-handedly sway people away from the official forums even before they gain steam.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:Strange. Mine isn't logging out, even after hours on. I'm on an iPad though if that makes a difference. I usually don't have more than one tab at a time though.

It occurs after 30 minutes of no input, meaning mouse movements, key presses, etc. JavaScript must be enabled and you need to be logged in for this happen. Leave the forums open on your computer in the background while playing the game, then you'll see. For a quick sample, simply open the web console (F12) and enter the following script $.idleTimer(0); and watch the top of the screen for the 30 second warning.

@Healix.5819 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:Strange. Mine isn't logging out, even after hours on. I'm on an iPad though if that makes a difference. I usually don't have more than one tab at a time though.

My iPad ain't got no f12s. ^^

Just a alphabetic/number/symbol keyboard