Forum: Site Announcements

Forum Read Data Syncing

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)
Updated:

I implemented a functionality necessary for anybody with more than one device.

In the forum footer box, along with the link to the rules, there is now two new links, one to 'Sync Read to Server' and the other is 'Get Read from Server'.

For now it's a clumsy work around to have the 'Thread is read' data available across devices like phone, tablet and computer. In the future it will be solved when I implement a proper data syncing method.

To use the new functionality is fairly simple. If you're accessing the forum on your computer and you need to leave the computer, click the 'Sync Read to Server', this will save the data to the site's server so that it's preserved and available for other devices.

If you need to access the forum on a different device, right before you start reading on the forum, click the 'Get Read from Server' link and it will download the read/unread data from the server (the same data that you saved). Then proceed to use the forum as usual, when you're done, click the 'Sync Read to Server' link.

Vincent Berg 🚫

Thanks for the update (and the temporary workaround)!

Clansman 🚫

INhave changed ti itunes doc writer called Pages.I have several times I'm the last few days tried to to my submissions to no effect. can you suggest
somefhing. I have always kept chapters short enough to use the paste method.

Vincent Berg 🚫

I don't believe Pages synchs to websites. I've always used cut & paste to move text from websites to word processors.

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@Vincent Berg

INhave changed ti itunes doc writer called Pages.I have several times I'm the last few days tried to to my submissions to no effect. can you suggest
somefhing. I have always kept chapters short enough to use the paste method.

If you copy from Pages (I have Pages too) and paste into the submission form, then it should work. It doesn't matter which program you use to write, copying the text and pasting it into the form should work as the copy function should be identical across applications.

paliden 🚫

I am under the assumption that this feature enables me to move from computer to computer without losing my place on the forums. Doesn't work for me. Am I mistaken as to what this is for or am I doing something wrong.

Here's the steps I use:

1. After browsing the forums before I leave the forum web page I click the 'Save read to Server' link.

2. Sign out of SOL.

3. Shut down the computer.

3. Startup my other computer.

2. Log in to SOL.

3. Open the forum web page in another tab or window.

4. Click the 'Get Read from Server' and the response I get is 'No Data Yet'

Replies: Grant Ernest Bywater Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Grant 🚫

@paliden

Are you logging back in using the same account?

I've got a couple of systems, and I always stay logged in on each of them.
If I "Sync Read to Server" on one I can then "Get Read from Server" on the other an all the read posts and threads stay that way.

I have multiple browser windows open on my main system and I find if I have been following the forums in one window, then go to another browser window all the posts I've read will show as unread, till I click on a post. When I then click on another link all the posts & threads that had been read in the other browser window then show as read. I'm guessing it's just a caching thing which isn't an issue IMHO.

Replies: paliden

paliden 🚫

@Grant

Are you logging back in using the same account?

Yes, I only have one account for SOL.

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@paliden

Doesn't work for me.

Your local security settings may be causing the issue. Without knowing the full technical side of what Lazeez does on the servers I can't be sure. However, my understanding of the behind the scenes actions is what this does is to save the Forum related cookies to the server then pull them back to another device. But some browser security settings related to Private Browsing are capable of interfering with this process so it doesn't work.

Replies: paliden

paliden 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

Your local security settings may be causing the issue. But some browser security settings related to Private Browsing are capable of interfering with this process so it doesn't work.

I am using Firefox, version 50.1.0, I do not use private browsing.

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@paliden

I am under the assumption that this feature enables me to move from computer to computer without losing my place on the forums. Doesn't work for me. Am I mistaken as to what this is for or am I doing something wrong.

You're doing the steps in the correct order. However few thing that could interfere.

1 - You have to be logging in with the same account on both computers/devices.

2 - Your browser will need to have support for something called 'local storage'.

3 - You can't use private browsing in your browser because private browsing erases local storage getting rid of the 'read thread' data.

4 - Your security software must not be configured to clean up after browsing sessions.

Replies: paliden

paliden 🚫

@Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

1 - I log in with the same account on every computer.

2 - I am using Firefox v 50.1.0. Firefox has supported 'local storage' since v 3.5.

3 - I do not use private browsing.

4 - This could be the problem -

A - I use Ccleaner v 5.25.5902 to clean up internet cache and delete cookies. I have 'Enabled browser monitoring' (under options) to automatically clean on closing with notification. I disabled browser monitoring.

B - I am using Eset Smart Security and experimenting with the settings. We will see what happens.

Replies: Capt. Zapp

Capt. Zapp 🚫

@paliden

A - I use Ccleaner v 5.25.5902 to clean up internet cache and delete cookies. I have 'Enabled browser monitoring' (under options) to automatically clean on closing with notification. I disabled browser monitoring.

Usually programs like that have an 'exemptions' setting. You might look fo that and add SOL to the list.

LonelyDad 🚫

Pressing the 'Refresh' button for that page would do the same thing without having to click into a story.

LonelyDad 🚫

Starting with entries on 4/30/17, the Forum keeps presenting already read topics as new, and if I click on them they start at the beginning of the thread.

This is happening on a single machine

Up until 4/30 everything worked fine.

I have tried to manually 'Sync Read to Server', which says 'Data Saved', but when I try 'Get Read from Server' I get 'No Data Yet'. I have tried this with the Forum overall, and with the individual sections - same results.

I just went through my Firefox 53 options, and can find no entries for local storage of any kind.

Suggestions?

Replies: LonelyDad Ernest Bywater

LonelyDad 🚫

@LonelyDad

Never mind. While searching again for any local storage options I cleared my web content cache. That seems to have done the trick.

Replies: LonelyDad

LonelyDad 🚫

@LonelyDad

Temporary only - now it's doing it again.

Ernest Bywater 🚫
Updated:

@LonelyDad

Starting with entries on 4/30/17, the Forum keeps presenting already read topics as new, and if I click on them they start at the beginning of the thread.

I've had this happen from time to time, so I took the trouble to check the entire thread out. What i found is if someone Edits a post the thread comes up as if a new post is made. I'm not sure if this is the only cause, but I've had checked and found this to be the case several times, so I now simply check the bottom posts and ignore the rest.

edit to add: What i saw may have been a different issue to you, because I only ever check the forums on my main PC, so I don't use the sync functions at all.

Replies: REP

REP 🚫

@Ernest Bywater

I don't use the sync functions at all.

Does anyone know the purpose and use of the Sync Function?

Replies: Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@REP

Does anyone know the purpose and use of the Sync Function?

The read/unread status is saved in your browser. If you clear your browser's temporary data, then you lose this info. If you use multiple devices to read the forum (like I do) then it would be annoying to read on one device and then on the other device nothing gets marked as read.

So, the sync function is like an instantly usable backup of the forum's database in your browser. When done with the forum, click that sync to server link to save your status. If you lose the data or move to another device, click the Get Read from Server to restore the info to your browser and resume using the forum from where you stopped the pervious session.

It's complicated to make it automatic (especially with multiple devices), so I didn't do it yet. At some point there will be no need for those links, but for now, it works well enough.

LonelyDad 🚫

Is Javascript involved anywhere in here? I searched the Firefox help area for local storage, and found a mention of Javascript, mainly if it was turned on or turned off. I had a Firefox extension that turned Javascript off. When I disabled that everything started working just fine again.

Replies: Ernest Bywater

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@LonelyDad

Is Javascript involved anywhere in here?

Yes, Javascript is used for making the site work well. Most Firefox add-on like 'No Script' and 'Ad Block Plus' etc. have the facility to allow you to set some sites as an exception so that things will work on the site but be blocked on other sites.

LonelyDad 🚫

Well, that wasn't it either. But I started thinking about anything I changed in my browser in the last two weeks. I went back into the options, and was reminded that I had told it to only accept third-party cookies from sites I actually visited, and to flush them when I close Firefox. I dropped the flush part, and it now seems to be working properly. That would probably explain why whenever I clicked on 'Get Read from Server' it would tell me no data. Since the cookie was gone, there was no data to be loaded.

Replies: Grant

Grant 🚫

@LonelyDad

Since the cookie was gone, there was no data to be loaded.

That would do it.

StarFleet Carl 🚫

I never seem to be able to get this to work properly when I'm trying to go multi-device. I can click Sync Read to Server from my PC and it seems to work fine. I click Get Read from Server on my iPhone (same account) and it just sits there, telling me it's downloading - and never does anything.

Using Chrome on my PC, and Safari on the evil iPhone. No extra security downloaded. Any ideas?

Replies: Dominions Son Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

Dominions Son 🚫

@StarFleet Carl

Get a laptop and stop trying to use your phone as a computer. :)

Replies: StarFleet Carl

StarFleet Carl 🚫

@Dominions Son

Get a laptop and stop trying to use your phone as a computer. :)

Some of us still work for a living and can't carry a laptop around during the day. And I sure can't go to this website on our company's computer ... :)

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@StarFleet Carl

I never seem to be able to get this to work properly when I'm trying to go multi-device. I can click Sync Read to Server from my PC and it seems to work fine. I click Get Read from Server on my iPhone (same account) and it just sits there, telling me it's downloading - and never does anything.

Any ideas?

while viewing the forum on your iPhone, click the 'Reload' button in the address bar a couple of times to make sure that the javascripts are correctly loaded and memory cleared then try the download data link. If that doesn't work, then you'll need to clear the site's data from your phone (through the settings app) and start fresh with the site as it's likely that the database storage for the site is corrupted or something.

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Forum: Site Announcements

Forum Read Data Syncing

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