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Why can't I log out?

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Why can't I log out?
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Thursday, May 9, 2019 8:49 PM

Does anyone have any idea why I can't log out. I have tried multiple times, used different browsers, restarted the computer; nothing helps.

Ideas?

Still in training.


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Posted by SD70Dude on Thursday, May 9, 2019 9:36 PM

I just logged in and logged out without any trouble.  On Windows 7 Home Premium using Firefox 66.0.5

But I am not surprised to see that the gremlins have struck again, this forum's various technical problems have become quite the running joke over the years.  It would be funny if only it wasn't happening to us!

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, May 9, 2019 10:18 PM

I'm not overly concerned about logging out of this particular site, however the LAST time I did was when Kalmbach's IT gremlins were working overtime, and when I tried to log back IN I couldn't, and it took two weeks to correct after a call to Customer Service!

However, if you must log out and can't, try the following...

If you're using Google goe to "Settings," then "Advanced," then select "Clear Browsing Data" and do so.  You'll be logged out afterward.  Everytime I perform same I need to log in again if I want to use the Forum.

With Windows, go to "Settings" and then select "Clear Browsing Data."  Same as before, you'll be logged out.  

Every so often I perform the above to clear "Cookies" and such.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, May 9, 2019 10:31 PM

LithoniaOperator

Does anyone have any idea why I can't log out. I have tried multiple times, used different browsers, restarted the computer; nothing helps.

Ideas?

 

Relax said the night man.

We are programmed to receive.

You can check out any time you like,

but you never leaveMusic

 

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Thursday, May 9, 2019 11:26 PM

I think the thing that means you are "Logged-In" is a cookie on your computer that is created when you log-in.  Then whenever you do something that the system wants to limit to only those that are logged-in, it just requests the cookie to see if it says you have logged-in.  If not, then it won't allow you to do that thing, if it indicates you are logged-in, then it lets you do it.

Logging-out is either deleting the cookie or re-writing it to remove the indicator that you are logged-in.

Sometimes, a cookie gets into a state where the web page cannot delete it or update it, thus you cannot log-out.  Another program might be able to delete it, (such as "CCleaner") or Windows itself or the browser can clear everything and thus delete the cookie, and again, you are then no longer logged in.

But it is only a cookie on your computer, not some personal info kept on the internet someplace.

 

"IF" I am right about this, if you log-in using one computer and then go to another computer and access the Trains forum you will not be logged in on that computer (because the secnd computer does not have access to the cookie on the first computer).

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, May 10, 2019 9:09 AM

Thanks, Flintlock and Semper. I took your advice, and then was able to log out/in. And I learned a bit about cookies.

And was horrified to see how many are on my computer, and from whom! OMG. Further housekeeping is now on the docket.

Still in training.


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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, May 10, 2019 11:18 AM

LithoniaOperator
And I learned a bit about cookies.

And was horrified to see how many are on my computer, and from whom! OMG. Further housekeeping is now on the docket.

And none of the cookies are oatmeal/raisin.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, May 10, 2019 12:00 PM

BaltACD

 

 
LithoniaOperator
And I learned a bit about cookies.

And was horrified to see how many are on my computer, and from whom! OMG. Further housekeeping is now on the docket.

 

And none of the cookies are oatmeal/raisin.

 

Which, in my book, is a doggone shame.

Still in training.


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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Friday, May 10, 2019 12:37 PM

LithoniaOperator:  I'd recommend "CCleaner" (yes, two "C"s on the beginning, it used to have a semi-vulgar word that the 1st "C" stood for and they took it out, just keeping the initial).  It is free for personal use and Generaly won't do anything to your computer that is harmful... especially if you don't alter the default settings to what it can clean.  (I am adventurous and often select things that could shoot me in the foot, but I dood it anyway!  And sometimes shoot me little feetsies or at least leave some powder burns.)

The more 'dangerous' selections will warn you about selecting them, but I'd recommend you investigate what the items are before you willy-nilly select more than the defaults.

I could extole on the program's virtues (and pitfalls for the unwary).  I do like the program.  If you (anyone) would like more info, send me a PM via this site and I will bore you with lots of details!

 

Balt:  The only thing that should go in cookies is chocolate chips... Oat Flour is fine, but Oat Meal rips up my intestines.  And I can never tell if those are raisins or flies that got in the dough.

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, May 10, 2019 12:46 PM

Download CCleaner and Defraggler DIRECTLY FROM PIRIFORM when given the option -- do NOT use FileHippo unless you have to (or know your antivirus package is competent and up-to-date!)

Also get, and run, the free version of the malwarebytes Anti-Malware program.

Be advised that there are 'default options' for software "partner" downloads in the CCleaner install, notably installing wretched Chrome, that you must uncheck or refuse ... some of these may require scrolling down to find.

Be further advised that there is no guarantee that everything identified for 'cleaning' is actually stuff you want to get rid of.

The registry tool is a godsend... but DO save the removed items each time (and you will have to run the tool repeatedly each time, until it stops finding things to fix -- my personal record was six passes)

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Posted by Convicted One on Friday, May 10, 2019 7:20 PM

Semper Vaporo
I'd recommend "CCleaner"

I agree! That is a very useful utility that has corrected my "slowloading" problem a couple times.

I suspect that the "slow loading" problem here is caused, at least in part, by obsolete cookies from this site, which are mismanaged after they periodically  make updates to their software.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, May 10, 2019 7:38 PM

The slow loading I periodically observe is the result of malformed ad code.  The Kalmbach page code calls a routine (perhaps in part intended to set cookies) which the remote ad site can't or doesn't complete, hanging the page load.  

Of course, proper programmers don't write code that does that (or that relies on the integrity of inverted content).  But this is a brave new world of 'don't fix it if it doesn't pay'.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, May 10, 2019 7:40 PM

Can't say as I've noticed it on the Kalmbach sites, but the hosts file I uploaded a while back certainly has cut down on my cookies and ads...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Convicted One on Friday, May 10, 2019 9:14 PM

Overmod
new world of 'don't fix it if it doesn't pay'.

 

LOL, too true!

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Posted by MikeF90 on Saturday, May 11, 2019 3:30 PM

I recommend Cookie Quick Manager for Firefox users. From within the browser it lets me selectively delete site cookies, context cookies, and/or site local storage as needed.

Cookies can be used for good or evil and I would not recommend deleting all of them en masse unless you suspect a serious malware infestation.

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 2:32 PM

In my ongoing tech fight with the Trains websites, I was able to go on my wife's computer (same iMac model, same OS) and change my avatar. So, progress.

But now I notice this anomaly (on my own computer): Even though I can log in and out of the forum page now, I cannot log out of the Trains mag page. When I click Log Out, the page reloads, but still gives me the option to log out, not in.

I guess this doesn't really matter, but it does have me scratching my head.

Any thoughts?

Ya know, it took me a year or more to figure out (I think) that being logged into the forum page also means one is supposedly logged into the forums also. Yes? No? There is something about all of this that really confuses me. It seems that I do everyday things, but then randomly I am asked to log in again to do that.

Still in training.


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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 3:21 PM

If I'm logged in to the "Trains" Forum it seems I'm logged into all the other Forums I visit, such as "Classic Toy Trains" and "Classic Trains," automatically.  

And if I log out of one, I'm logged out of all.

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 4:27 PM

Out of curiosity, what version of Mac OS is involved here?

I have my page display set to 'latest first' as it vastly simplifies reading long or frequently-updated threads.  But to this day the Model Railroader site refuses to render threads that way, although it is easy to click 'descending' to have them display that way.

(On the other hand, and this is probably a window into Bangalore programming, it doesn't matter if I select 'increasing' in the Trains or Classic Trains forums: when the page goes to redisplay with the regular ordering, it duly fired the preference and "fixes" it back to the global setting -- 'give the user what they asked for' with a vengeance!


I have not analyzed the various cookies that Trains sets on my Mac systems to see what functionality (or commercial opportunities I know nothing about) are included in each one.  I have to suspect that the logout problem is associated with at least one of these that has become "somehow" corrupted -- you might want to work through your cookies and wipe the identifiable Kalmbach ones 'one by one' to see if that at some point solves the internal software confusion ... it should be doing garbage collection on the 'logged-out' cookie content but isn't doing a complete enough job, perhaps not coincidentally leaving some kind of preference or other tracking enabled.

I also notice that my logged-in status is not recognized whenever I look at one of Brian Schmidt's Newswire posts (it prompts me to 'log in or register') but I remain properly recognized as soon as I go back to the previous page.  Not sure how that might be related to your issue.

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 4:46 PM

SUCCESS!!

Thanks Overmod and Flintlock.

Overmod, I did what you said and fixed it. I am confused a bit, though, because BaltACD had told me the same thing, and I thought I had done it. ?? Anyway, this time I found cookies in the Ks (Kalmbach) and in the Ts (Trains). Maybe I had not noticed the Trains one before.

Now I am either logged into both or neither. Smile

Still in training.


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Posted by Flintlock76 on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 5:16 PM

Your welcome LithoniaOperator!  Glad I was able to be of some small assistance!

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 5:26 PM

Just today I updated to Mac OS 10.13.6

My first attempt to log out with the new OS was unsuccessful. It was the cookie purge that fixed things.

I had been running 10.11.something

Still in training.


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Posted by GERALD L MCFARLANE JR on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 6:34 PM

The bigger question is...why would you want to log out?   I don't, manually at least, if I do it's either when something in the system gets updated and logs me out or some other usually unknown reason.  Now, granted that the Trains website and forums are unsecured(have not been updated to hpptS standards yet, probably still running old http) it's probably a good idea to log out, but the likelyhood that nefarious people are going to use Kalmbach and Trains for malintent is unlikely...and in that case my firewall and virus/malware software will take care of it.  

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Posted by Lithonia Operator on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 8:28 PM

It wasn't so much that I wanted to log out per se. I was having trouble getting the website to let me change my avatar.  I thought that maye if I logged out, then back in, I possibly would have a different result. (I didn't)

Then, when I saw I could not log out, I got curious as to why.

Still in training.


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Posted by MR ROY MIZE on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 1:05 PM

April 2021 / new site very nice looking/  User navigation problematic. LOGOUT IMPOSSIBLE  Has your IT Group updated their skills or are they tryig to use Berkeley UNIX for a modern online world.  Also never sure I'm logged on.  Many other sites have a simple interface on the opening page - they say LOGOFF and it works.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 1:30 PM

Yep   locked out of news wire .  tried to log out would not let me tried to change pass word no help.  This just  sucks!

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 2:47 PM

Kalmbach IT strikes again!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 3:05 PM

Until they get done unifying the security model across all the disparate functions of the sites, I expect there to be different ways they handle clientside data in cookies and associate it with different serverside resources and permissions.

Until then, clearing the Kalmbach 'cookies' may be the only thing a user can do, in the absence of responsive and knowledgeable customer-service representatives.

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 3:16 PM

Overmod
Until they get done unifying the security model across all the disparate functions of the sites, I expect there to be different ways they handle clientside data in cookies and associate it with different serverside resources and permissions.

Until then, clearing the Kalmbach 'cookies' may be the only thing a user can do, in the absence of responsive and knowledgeable customer-service representatives.

They haven't accomplished site standardizarion in the past 18 years - I won't hold my breath.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by rixflix on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 4:23 PM

What's all this log out stuff? The only site I log out of is my bank account. Is it important to do this?

RIck

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 4:45 PM

rixflix

What's all this log out stuff? The only site I log out of is my bank account. Is it important to do this?

RIck

 

Only if it's important to you to do so.  It isn't to me, but then I've got NOTHING on my lap-top that would be of interest to anyone with a nefarious purpose who might happen to peek in.  

Others may tell you differently. 

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