To the admins

[OrthoFan]

Someone describes something similar happening on another board/site:

http://renext.nusseymagazine.com/viewto ... view=print

It may have some thing to do with the embedded WebRing banner and search box at the bottom of the page, and/or a problem with the code. (David would probably know.)

I posted this yesterday, but deleted it since there were no further responses to this thread--I hate being a thread killer--but if you use Firefox, you can prevent pages from redirecting automatically by doing the following:

Click on Tools menu
Click on Options
Click on the Advanced tab at the top
Click on the box next to "warn me when web_sites try to redirect or reload the page" to put a check in it.

This will cause Firefox to display a tool-bar message at the top whenever a site tries to redirect or reload--much like the pop-up blocker. It's an added layer of security in the event that you call up a page that was hacked that tries to take you to an unsafe site.

[MordEth]

Someone describes something similar happening on another board/site:

http://renext.nusseymagazine.com/viewto ... view=print

OF,

Thanks for posting that, but unfortunately, they’re really unhelpful at describing what was going on or how to fix it. But at least that seems to confirm there’s an issue.

It may have some thing to do with the embedded WebRing banner and search box at the bottom of the page, and/or a problem with the code. (David would probably know.)

Quite probably, but I would have to play with it a bit to figure out what they could possibly be doing with their Javascript that could be resulting in the described behavior.

I just tried quickly with Firefox to get it to do anything odd, but initial tests could not recreate it. I’ll look into it further. After playing with it more I managed to get it to hijack my browser to the Phonograph hub...very bizarre. I think it may have something to do with me blocking cookies from WebRing...

I posted this yesterday, but deleted it since there were no further responses to this thread--I hate being a thread killer--but if you use Firefox, you can prevent pages from redirecting automatically by doing the following:

Click on Tools menu
Click on Options
Click on the Advanced tab at the top
Click on the box next to "warn me when web_sites try to redirect or reload the page" to put a check in it.

This will cause Firefox to display a tool-bar message at the top whenever a site tries to redirect or reload--much like the pop-up blocker. It's an added layer of security in the event that you call up a page that was hacked that tries to take you to an unsafe site.

I use this in conjunction with the RequestPolicy add-on for Firefox, although keep in mind that if you use the RP add-on, you may have to either allow specific sites to request to other domains or temporarily disable it for certain sites to work or display properly. A lot of the web depends on a site loading content from somewhere else or transparently redirecting to somewhere else, and while it the additional user intervention required can be a hassle, it is certainly safer to decide who is allowed to load from where, etc.

I’m really not a fan of WebRing, but John wanted to include it, and it is his site. (Plus, I think other people here use it, as well.) By default, RequestPolicy blocks me from ever seeing it, unless I tell it that I want it to load.

I tried to send a pm to the admins but couldn't work out how to do that.

If you go to the team link on the main page, it has the profiles and PMs for all of the staff. Send all of your technical issues to me; because even if John wasn’t currently on hiatus from the internet, he’d just forward them to me.

In a somewhat tangential note, in the interests of transparency: John is doing well (I wished him a happy birthday earlier this week) and the talkingmachine.info domain is now renewed until December of 2013. We’re not going anywhere.

More details on resolving the WebRing issue when I have them.

Your friendly internet daemon,

MordEth

[phonophan79]

Hooray for David!

Glad to hear John is doing well ...and thanks for the great news about the domain renewal!

[Andersun]

Very strange....... I run Firefox 3.6.13. Today I went into preferences/content and checked the box that reads "block pop up windows". Well, the problem that all of you have been describing started happening with me! I went back in and unchecked it and everything worked fine again.

[Covah]

I wish the administrators would unlock the "Featured Phonographs" thread.

[phonophan79]

I wish the administrators would unlock the "Featured Phonographs" thread.

*sigh* ... no comment.

[Discman]

This has been happening to me pretty regularly. Just happened now ((9:03AM EST)with Google Chrome. I was taken to http://hub.webring.org/hub/phonograph. I opened IE 8 and did not get redirected, but I've had times when IE 8 got redirected and Chrome doesn't, so go figure.
Dave

[icemandan01]

this happens to me probaly more than half the time. not a huge deal just mostly annoying. i am always able to get to this site it just takes a few times of either hitting the back button or somtimes i have to go back to my favorites and click on the site again. dan

[OrthoFan]

From what I've been able to find out, this has been impacting several other sites.

Do a Google search for:

Webring redirects OR hijacks OR hijack OR redirects

and you'll spot quite a few references. (Typing OR in caps between words causes Google to add the words to the search string as optional words or phrases.)

It seems that the only fix at this time is to remove the Webring banner from this forum, something David or John may want to consider.

[spin78's]

This happens to me quite a lot here. I've noticed that the page comes up, then there is a 1 second pause before being re-directed. If you can move your mouse fast enought to click on a topic (any topic) on the board it will usually solve the problem...till next visit.