I got an email from Mark Roach who is a member of the forums. He has asked me to post a message explaining the problems he is having signing in.
He has not been able to sign in for over two weeks. All he has been getting is an error message that tells him to contact customer support, but that has been "fruitless". He has to be signed in to contact any of the administrators so that isn't working.
He is hoping that one of the administrators will see this thread, and he would like to hear from anyone who has had similar problems and how they were resolved.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I cannot sign in using my PC and am getting a similar message. But I can still sign in using my phone... I tried to log out, but it does not allow it.
I was also thinking of sending an e-mail to the administrator, but I think I'll wait since it appears to be a bigger issue.
I just need to figure out how to post pictures through my phone...
Simon
I made the mistake of clearing my cache a couple of days ago so I now cannot log in using my desktop PC. I contacted customer service about it and got the customary response that it's "a result of the ongoing changes to the website due to the acquisition of Kalmbach by Firecrown" and to be patient yada, yada, yada.
So, basically, there's nothing that the admins can do about this issue. It's up to the IT department and I'm sure they have "larger fish to fry" at the moment.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Here's two things I am noting:
1) It's almost a set 25-30 seconds to get in with my PC. That's been stable for more than a week. And once in, there's no delay at all opening one of the four categories or moving between them. Just the opposite of before.
2) I'm noting that no one else is showing as "Users Online". But I think that's been iffy for some time.
Oh, and here's a third - I'm missing any banter whatsoever on Dave's side-discharge snowplow scratchbuild thread!
John (of Attu)
If you are a trains.com member you can access the forums from there.
Hi John,
The snow plow project is on hold for a while. It started to get tedious. It is sitting right at the front of my project shelf so when I do get back to modeling, it will be the first thing I tackle.
In the interim, I have been focused on getting the garage upgraded and on sorting out my workbench and storage units.
This is the response that I got from Eric White, Editor of Model Railroader:
Here is something I have noticed.
If I try to refresh or click on a thread a tab of the forum that has been open for a while it takes long enough that I get a Timed Out response. If I open a new tab the forum loads almost immediately and I have full functionality (at least the way I use the site.) I haven't done any testing to see how long it takes for the problem to surface.
Rick
I got an email from John York1 this morning. We haven't heard from him for a while in the Diner. He cleaned out some stuff on his computer and now finds himself unable to log on. He's fine but unable to communicate here.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I tried to post on another thread and got a 403 Forbidden error. Again, this is something out of my control, but it keeps me from posting. If anyone thinks a read-only forum going forward is a good thing, well, good luck with that.
Over the last few months, the number of active threads has steadily declined. It appears to be the same for the number of active members. If the Powers That Be think that just letting these issues which prevent existing users from posting can just be ignored, think again. Delaying the necessary fixes will result in people leaving and never coming back.
Hi MisterBeasley,
I suspect that FireCrown is fully aware of the reductions in active forum members and I also suspect that the IT guys are peddling their bums as fast as they can go.
Some of us seem to be able to stay signed in.
Would it be worthwhile for someone to set up a temporary email account? Those who cannot sign in could sent their posts to that account, and that person could do a cut/paste and enter that info to the appropriate topic.
hon30critter Hi MisterBeasley, I suspect that FireCrown is fully aware of the reductions in active forum members and I also suspect that the IT guys are peddling their bums as fast as they can go. Cheers!! Dave
I suspect the priority to and concern about the forums now is the same as it was before the Kalmbach acquisition by Firecrown. It's VERY low on the totem pole in the entire scheme of things and there are bigger fish to fry than worrying over dwindling forum member participation.
I got messages from Brent and TF that they're both unable to log in, thus make any replies. It happened to me about two weeks ago and I still can't log in from one WIN 11 laptop I have.
Regards, Ed
tstage I suspect the priority to and concern about the forums now is the same as it was before the Kalmbach acquisition by Firecrown. It's VERY low on the totem pole in the entire scheme of things and there are bigger fish to fry than worrying over dwindling forum member participation.
Yes, I unfortunately share your opinion of the low regard in which Kalmbach and now, apparently Firecrown, hold the forums and its members. Unfortunately, the latest SNAFU is hitting the few members who have stuck around but are now locked out through no fault of their own. These are the long-participating members who might help reboot the forums, but will likely be gone before anything actually is working again.
I guess I'm either too stupid or too naive to believe that FireCrown isn't interested in the forums.
I do hope that those who have followed and/or contributed to the forums previously, and have decided to move on, will return to MR if and when FireCrown gets their act together.
As of late I haven't had any problems logging in from my tablet. However, I have had the chronic problem that my tablet is the only one of the devices that I use that I can log in to the forums on. (I also have a smart phone, the desktop in the house and another device that has internet access. None of them has ever worked.) For some reason, not being an IT person, it sounds similar to what's going on now.
There was a post on every magazine's Facebook page two weeks ago that they were working on the forum software and things would likely not work.
Strange how the rest of the Internet (including other forums) seemed to know this but no one here does.
[Snarky remark removed by moderator]
I usually use my tablet to log in here, because the. PC is upstairs. Today I tried the PC because I was there. It's an old Windows XP machine but it still works.
It would not let me log on here. I have not logged off or cleared a cache. I have not tried to log on since the onset of "The Troubles." But, like too many others, I can't log on from my PC, either.
Communicating via Facebook is all very good and well, but how hard would it have been to post a thread on this Forum?
Direct communication with those directly affected!
Seems to be a "No Brainer" to Me!!
The Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
....but how hard would it have been to post a thread on this Forum?....Seems to be a "No Brainer" to Me!! The Bear.
....but how hard would it have been to post a thread on this Forum?....Seems to be a "No Brainer" to Me!!
You get no argument from me, Bear. It defies logic.
All the techo permutations are Greek with me. I don't normally try to access by my smart (?) phone but have done so in the past with my laptop when traveling. Almost always, like now, with my desktop running Windows 10 Pro and via Chrome. I have not been rejected in at least three weeks though the connect time runs 27 or 28 seconds. Once in, no problems.
I'm apparently going to hang in until the bitter end - if it comes to that.
It's interesting to open each of the four categories in the forum to see the levels of their activity. Prototype Modeling has not had a new posting for 14 days; Electronics and DCC: 16 days except for the thing on arduinos; Layouts: the diorama string 4 days ago, update on Dave's layout resumption 5 days, otherwise the most recent is 14 days. I suspect these reflect the great loss of participants. And particularly those with technical interests only. Only the General Discussion gets any regular attention and that has also dropped off significantly. I was amazed that WPF got less that a handful of postings over the long weekend.
John
I suspect that the glitches are preventing new people from joining the forum. Newbies are an important source of new threads.
I just learned something that may be of interest for those that use Flickr.
I mentioned earlier that I can only log in the Forum using my smartphone. One of the challenges I had was adding pics to my posts using Flickr on my Android phone. From my phone, I could not access the BBcodes to copy. Well, I learned that if I access Flickr through the navigation (not the app), I can use the site in "computer mode", by clicking on the 3 dots, top right, while in Flickr. Once on computer mode, I can access the BBcodes. Otherwise, I could only copy a link that does not work.