You’re Banned!

[Derek Uzzell]

Just happened again mid-post...

 

Fortunately I'm normally able to save the part-created post before getting completely clear of the O&AL website and reentering it and pasting the saved data into a new post.

[Tracker]

It happens often and unexpectedly, so much so that unexpectedly has turnd to expectation!

I understand that it is a software glitch and I understand that Warners are aware of it and are working on it.

All we can do, as I see it, is to be patient, log off, if it will allow you to, shut and restart the browser and login afresh to OAL which seems to resolve the banning message, albeit only temporarily.

My thanks to Rachel and the team for trying, but as Derek says, cache clearing etc does not seem to be needed, just a restart of browser and OAL - but I may be wrong!!

[paulmold]

Happened again today, cleared cookies, made no difference, couldn't even log off to log in again, so left it a while, just went on now and all OK.

[lancepar]

Next time.

Try the old standard IT fix..................Reboot.

B-)

[Barryd999]

Seems to be happening more and more. I generally just use a different browser if it happens.

 

If Warners cannot fix it or wont fix it because there is a new platform coming can they not at least just change the text of the message rather than a your banned message? How many users will have seen that and just not bothered coming back?

[Derek Uzzell]

My understanding is that the O&AL forums' elderly software is still maintained by a 3rd-party and not by Warners staff. In the past this has meant that any significant change takes time (and money) to implement, as was proven when the spamming attack occurred some years ago and the forum registration process needed to be revised.

 

With no details of the nature of the 'glitch' having been provided, it's impossible to guess where in the Warners' system the problem lies and/or how difficult it would be to address successfully. Altering the text of the 'banning' message itself to (say) "There's an ongoing temporary problem with the forum system - please try again later" may well be difficult if (as I suspect) the message is embedded in the original software's code - if it were easy I'm sure the forum Administrator would have done it by now.

 

(It doesn't really matter you know - the O&AL forums are just one of many similar online discussion leisure platforms - except perhaps for the O&AL's peculiar 'politics-only' Chatterbox forum that may be unique for a leisure-related forum framework.)

 

 

[Zydeco Joe]

Got Banned yesterday all ok today...strange.

[Derek Uzzell]

I've had no 'banning' messages today until a few minutes ago.

 

I changed to another browser (Safari) and that was OK, went back to the original browser (Chrome) and was still 'banned', quit Chrome and restarted it and that was then OK.

 

The 'banning' message may cause confusion, but it's due to a Warners system glitch and forum users can't cure it.

[Alanb]

I have had my first banned message a few minutes ago. Curiously I had just been using a non usual browser, Microsoft Edge, due due difficulties and frustration with a banking site. Reverting to my normal browser I was banned on here. I didn't think I'd been naughty. Logged on OK with Edge, and then reverted to my preferred browser Firefox, accepted OK.

 

Alan

[malc d]

I should think that I've been " banned " once or twice a day for the last couple of weeks.

 

Each time I just logged off - and back on again, and never failed to get accepted at the second attempt.

 

:-|

[stevec176]

I'm getting banned several times a week. Sometimes I just close all programs and open up the Internet again and it works and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I clear the cookies and it works and then again it might not, it's so random and a pain in the rear.

[Gman]

Every day now, if Warner's can't fix it they should close the forum down.

Then open a new and more user friendly forum with a much better photo option.

I stopped buying MMM 18 months ago.

 

Steve.

[Derek Uzzell]

There are two current threads abut this 'banning message' issue - this one and a thread initiated on 30 March 2022 by Rachel Stothert (a Forum Administrator) in the "Code of Conduct and User Guidelines" forum.

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Code-of-Conduct-and-User-Guidelines/Forum-User-Guide/Forum-banned-messages/59874/

 

As explained in Rachel's posting, the message that has occasionally been affecting forum members since late-March is caused by a 'glitch' in Warners computer system and does NOT indicate that the person who receives the message has been banned from the Out&About:ive forums for some undisclosed misdemeanour.

 

The remedial advice in Rachel's posting "This can mostly be cured by clearing your cookies and cache from your internet browser and then logging in again" is (in my view) specious. As I said in my posting of 7 April 2022 8:32 AM above, although clearing cookies/cache may allow a user to get back on to the O&AL forums, it will provide no protection against the user being 'banned' again. It's also the case that clearing the cookies/cache in the (vain) hope that it will cure the banning-message problem may have an unwelcome effect on a user's computer usage (as warned on the 1st page of this thread).

 

I strongly suggest people do not clear cookies/cache unless they are 100% sure that doing this will not impact on them negatively. Swapping to another browser should be a safer approach - there's no certainty this will work, but it's worth a try if you feel an overpowering urge to use the O&AL forums. My own experience (and I'ver never wasted time clearing the cookies/cache on my several devices to try to address the 'banning message' problem) has been simply to be patient, do something else for a while and return to the O&AL forums later. This has always worked for me and, although the issue is irritating, it doesn't greatly bother me.

 

I've frozen the relevant thread on the "Code of Conduct and User Guidelines" forum and as far as this thread is concerned feel free to complain about the 'banning message' issue to your heart's content. But, realistically, you'll be wasting your breath as the implication in Rachel Stothert's posting is that time, effort (and cost) won't be spent by Warners addressing the glitch when brand spanking new forums are (fairly) imminent.

[simian]

Gman - 2022-04-26 12:16 AM

 

Every day now, if Warner's can't fix it they should close the forum down.

Then open a new and more user friendly forum with a much better photo option.

I stopped buying MMM 18 months ago.

 

Steve.

 

Could say we're banned and they're binned!

MMM content has been literally mostly advertisements for many years,. I'd be surprised if it still sells

in any significant numbers. Was an interesting informative read when John Smith ran it's forerunner

many years ago, but as the mag. got glossier the price rose and somewhat paradoxically the content

seemed to commensurately decline.

[Derek Uzzell]

I don't remember John Smith, but my interest in motorhomes only goes back to the late-1980s.

 

My understanding is that John Hunt founded MMM Magazine and he was certainly the magazine's editor in the '80s.

 

The 'observations' about MMM Magazine in this 2011 forum thread may be of interest

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Mike-Jane-Jago-s-Retirement-/22213/

 

Returning to the 'banning message' topic, I received the message a few minutes ago when using the Chrome browser on my Mac. I switched to the Safari browser and the O&AL forums worked OK. I then switched back to Chrome and the 'banning message' had gone. Probably a 4-minute procedure overall.

[crocs]

I suspect Derek’s right in that Warner’s are unlikely to spend money and time on this forum. I’ve also noted recently that ads keep annoyingly popping up on full page and need to be cancelled to proceed. So, I suspect that the forum may wither on the vine which is a pity as a lot of people do get value from it.

[Tracker]

Threre is no point in moaning, as Derek pointed out, it won't help and it won't change anything.

 

I appreciate that it takes time to iron out wrinkles in new software but perhaps someone who is in the know can advise us 'bannees' when the new forum will be ready to switch to please?

 

It would be a shame to lose the mountain of knowledge and experience that has accumulated on this forum especially given that is free to everyone to access due entirely to the generosity and tolerance of Warners which, I think, is worth thanking them all for.

 

 

[simian]

Derek Uzzell - 2022-04-26 9:21 AM

 

I don't remember John Smith, but my interest in motorhomes only goes back to the late-1980s.

 

My understanding is that John Hunt founded MMM Magazine and he was certainly the magazine's editor in the '80s.

 

The 'observations' about MMM Magazine in this 2011 forum thread may be of interest

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Mike-Jane-Jago-s-Retirement-/22213/

 

Returning to the 'banning message' topic, I received the message a few minutes ago when using the Chrome browser on my Mac. I switched to the Safari browser and the O&AL forums worked OK. I then switched back to Chrome and the 'banning message' had gone. Probably a 4-minute procedure overall.

 

 

I stand corrected, It was indeed John Hunt, his daughter Penny 'Smith' took over editorship on

his retirement, for a shortish time, I guess I made a kind of quasi freudian slip! I much preferred

the mags. informed amateur approach under John Hunts' stewardship, compared to the marketing led

business MMM mag. it is today.

I think the Jagos were immediate successors to Penny Smith ?

 

Just read the link. Thanks.

 

[laimeduck]

Strikes me that the forum has now expired? No new posts or updates on any subjects. For a day or two.

RIP!

[Tracker]

laimeduck - 2022-04-26 9:19 PM

Strikes me that the forum has now expired? No new posts or updates on any subjects. For a day or two.

RIP!

 

Possibly because so many people, both new and old, have been put off by the constant barrage of politically motivated vindictive drivel with no remote connection to Motorhomes that Chatterbox has been dragged down to in recent years?

[paulmold]

I get banned virtually every day. I don't switch browsers, just go out off the website (I don't sign off) and come back later on and all is well again, no signing off and signing on again, no changing browsers.

[Steve928]

I was getting banned frequently. The last time it happened I briefly connected via a VPN (choosing a server in Ireland I recall) and instantly I was allowed back in. This was fully 3 weeks ago and all has been good since so it seems, possibly, that forcing an IP change may clear something relevant at the OAL server.

[Derek Uzzell]

In my posting of 4 April 2022 11:26 AM (the date this thread commenced) I said

 

When I've received the 'banned' message when accessing the O&AL forums, I've just waited a while and had another go. I've never needed to clear cookies/cache to cure the fault - it went away on its own.

 

Assuming that Warners actually knows what the 'glitch' in their system is that's causing this issue, that information has not been relayed to forum members. When the 'banning message' appears, the only remedy that Warners have suggested is for the affected forum user to clear their device's cache/cookies, but that is definitely not a permanent cure and has knock-on implications for the user.

 

What evidence there is suggests that whatever is causing the message to appear only lasts for a relatively short time. As Paulmold has said (and as I mentioned yesterday) if a forum member does nothing proactive the message will eventually disappear of its own accord. Based on my own experience, the interval between the message appearing and normal service resuming is unpredictable. As there's no way of knowing how long one will be affected by the glitch if one does nothing, nor whether there are actions one might take to 'encourage' the glitch to bugger off (for a while), you might as well take Paulmold's laissez-faire approach and do nothing other than stay clear of the O&AL forums for a while.

[Keithl]

I have noticed that every time a forum member posts they are attributed a different IP address (Moderators can see the posters IP address) and that the IP addresses used often repeat across multiple posters in a short space of time.

 

For example Tracker posted 26 April 2022 10:46 PM with an IP ending xxx.xx.85.117 and then this morning Derek posted 27 April 2022 7:39 AM with exactly the same IP address! I have noticed this many times over the last few weeks/months. And that IP address has also been attributed to 'Malc d' on an earlier post.

 

Now when a Spammer gets removed from the forum the Admins typically block the IP address they have posted from so it is highly likely at some point in the future an innocent forum member will be assigned the same IP address and hence will get the 'Banned' message.

 

That's how I see it for what it's worth.

 

Keith.

 

Edit to add: And also the IP address shown by Warner's has no bearing on the IP address of the computer the reply was posted from. eg This postings IP is NOT the IP shown by my computer!

[Brock]

My concern, and has been for a while, is that Motorhome Matters is dying through a lack of topics compared with the past. Being banned has now become a regular occurrence for me but one I can overcome. The fall in posts and the loss of knowledgeable contributors over the years is not something I can overcome. Still, MM remains where I go for sensible and trustworthy advice.

 

Perhaps as we move into the busy holiday period after CoVid, things will pick up. Perhaps as with other forums, MM has seen its day and needs to be closed and replaced with something else.