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Extremely unfriendly forum :-(

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:09 am
by Lubor Kolar
I am sorry to say that but this forum is one of the user-unfriendliest I have ever seen. I remember I registered here some time ago, but (as usual) I forgot my username and e-mail address.
I clicked "Forgot password" link and on the next page I had to enter both username and e-mail. Since I don't remeber exactly (I use about three e-mail addresses and login name is derived from my real name, usually luborkolar, lubork, lkolar etc.), I have dozens of combination to try. Why I shouldn't enter just my userid or e-mail (like almost every other forum has)?
Second thing is registering. Since I forgot my userid and pass and there is no way to get it, I decided to create a new account. After filling in the form, I clicked Submit. The same page (Register) with empty form (only username remained), without any describtion, what I made bad/what failed. I was not sure if I submitted form (because I am working while browsing) so I repeated the process. The same again. I understand something could happen so registration could not proceed (occupied username, to short password, temporary server error etc.), but I expect it would be kind to the user at least to say, what failed, in the better case where and how to fix it.

So I tried to create the simplies account only with my initials as user name and it worked. Ok, I thought previous behaviour could be a temporary error, and I tried to register once again, now with correct informations. After I filled all the fields in the register form and clicked submit, the same (blank form with only username prefilled) page appeared.

Cowsmanaut, please, look at it. Thanks.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 11:29 am
by Gambit37
It's a quirk in the phpBB code; you'll all notice similar issues when posting a message.

The problem is that when you click on any Submit button, there's some function that makes the page scroll back to the top. The Submit IS working, but because of the scrolling, it looks like nothing has happened and that the form has been emptied.

I'll have a look on the phpBB support notes to see if this has been fixed, or if it's even a known problem.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 12:33 pm
by Lubor Kolar
I'am afraid this is not I am talking about. I got no page scrolls when submiting, I really obtain a new page. Tried in Mozilla 1.3 (my default browser) and even with MS Crap 6.0 (which I keep only for internet banking purposes).
Try it yourself:
URL is http://www.cgfiles.com/cowsmanaut/forum/profile.php

fill username: luborkolar (I think it does not matter, I tried several combinations)
password: 12345678 (to be long enough)
e-mail: lubork at porcus dot cz (of course written as valid e-mail address, not this anti-bot syntax)
Then press Sumbit and if it will work the same way for you as it works (actually, doesn't work :cry: ) for me, you'll get the same page with all form fields blank only with "luborkolar" in username. No account created, no error message.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 1:06 pm
by Gambit37
OK, I've had a look at this and found the problem.

What's happening is this: You DO HAVE an account created, but because you've become confused over what the details are, you keep trying to create new accounts with the same email address.

The forum won't let you do that, and resets the form and displays a warning at the top of the page stating that "Sorry but a user already exists with that email address" or something like that. The problem is that the error message is the same colour as the background (black on black) so it can't be read!

Cowsmanaut, I don't have upload access for the stylesheet, so can you change this line in it to white and re-upload:

Code: Select all

.gentbl,.gentblmed,.gentblsmall { color : #000000; }
should change to:

Code: Select all

.gentbl,.gentblmed,.gentblsmall { color : #FFFFFF; }
That should make errors visible!

Lubor, to answer your overall problem, you've actually created two accounts: lk and Lubor Kolar. Because you've been posting with the lk account, would you like me to delete the other one? Then you can rename to lk account to Lubor Kolar and everything should be OK.

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 1:13 pm
by Lubor Kolar
Yes, please be so kind and delete "Lubor Kolar" account. This is unfriendly forum with very friendly administrators :D

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 2:40 pm
by Gambit37
Ok, I have deleted the Lubor Kolar account. Now you can go into you account using the profile button at the top of the page and change any settings. You can update your screen name, and I'd recommend you change your password if it's anything like the easy one you posted in your message! ;)

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2003 4:31 pm
by Lubor Kolar
As you can see, everything is OK now. You can trust me that I am not using that password I entered above, it was just to demonstrate the problem. Thank you very much for your perfect and fast help.