Login Problem. Unable to stay logged in

[PhoenixUK]

Using 3.8.4.

My members and myself are having problems staying logged in unless the 'Remember Me' box is checked.

When we log in you get all the usual redirecting page with the 'Thank You for Logging In' and then your name shows at the bottom of the board. However once you try to carry out an action such as replying to a post it says that you are not logged in.

I have made several searches on here for similar problems and as a result have tried entering on the Options - Cookies page .mydomain.com but without any success. It would appear that several people have had similar problems with no satisfactory conclusion but they don't post again saying that the problem is continuing so I am wondering if anybody has had this problem and managed to correct it?

Thanks.

[Lynne]

After you change the cookie domain, you need to be sure to clear your cookies for the site in your browser. Using .mydomain.com should work if you allow users to browse the site using both mydomain.com and www.mydomain.com

[ShadowStalker]

Are they using FF when having this issue? My members and I were having the same problem logging in all under FF but if we used IE there was no issue. I cleared cache, cookies, reset cookie domain path and all to no avail. I finally uninstalled FF and reinstalled and it worked perfectly.

[CarlitoBrigante]

The fact you can remain logged in only if you use cookies (remember me is exactly that) indicates that the problem is session related; I have seen this happening in 2-3 vBulletin with high activity.

You need to contact your forum host and make sure that sessions are being handled properly.

[PhoenixUK]

Thanks for the replies everybody.

I have cleared all my cookies in both IE and Firefox and am still getting the problem.

Unfortunately I know nothing about sessions... I think that maybe I am about to learn!

By forum host do you mean my hosting company? How should the sessions be handled?

A very frustrating problem which I fear will become more so if the problem is with my hosting company as I have no confidence in their customer support whatsoever! Maybe a change of company is called for!

Thanks again everybody!

[CarlitoBrigante]

Hello - yes, your hosting company. In our experience, this often happens because sessions are not retained long enough because of server setup, often in an effort to reduce consumption of system resources I think. This can only be changed at server level, usually.

[PhoenixUK]

Thanks for your help with this.

It was definitely a problem with the hosting company. As it turned out it was easier to change hosting companies than it was to get the original company to understand the problem!

So... I'm now with a new hosting company and no problems at all for members trying to log in!!

Thanks again for your help.