Technical question -- Can't post to a thread. Do you know how to fix the problem?
 

Hi, I've noticed that occasionally I can't post to a thread but that others would be able to. So the thread isn't locked. Have you had this problem and is there a way to fix this?

I've e-mailed [email protected] but haven't received a reply.

Thanks!

The latest example is I can't post to this perfectly harmless thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...p;tid=34521872

From time to time, i have experienced this problem. Usually means i can't post to any thread for a day or so - no idea why -it just happens

Just for a day or so?

I've noticed that on some threads, I can't post forever.

Yesterday I decided to delete all my cookies and temporary internet files, and that didn't solve the problem either.

When I click onto the thread link you provided, I could post a reply.

The problem could be with your internet server. If you are using AOL, you might try closing it(click minimize) and use internet explorer instead. I had an old computer and was using an old version of AOL and had many problems. I've gotten a new computer (with lots more memory) and the current version of AOL and have had many fewer problems since, but still occasionally have some problem.

Hi 111,

Sometimes its the fodors server having indigetion.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I use IE at work (!). So it's not an AOL problem. I can see that Fodor's frequently has bottlenecks, but well, there're cases when I'm never able to post to a thread again.

I'm just mystified by this whole thing.

Oh well. Maybe they'll write back and suggest something.

I always have this problem when I am using the AOL browser.

So for the Fodor's website, I use Internet Explorer and haven't had any problem.

I had emailed the Fodor's editors several times and this was the only suggestion they could offer me.

I have never had this problem. The only times I can't post are when the thread is on lockdown (which is obvious as there is no reply button), or when they are having really bad server problems or repairing the site (which is often Sunday). When it's that situation, you have all kinds of problems even reading the posts, though, and it's not just one post.

Very weird.

This has happened to me for at least three threads and maybe more. I did notice that the problem can be computer dependent -- once I was at Kinko's and I noticed that I could post to a thread I couldn't post to with my work computer. But I'd rather not pay 30c a minute to post to a thread at Kinko's. :-)

Sometimes it's the server (proxy) of the ISP or work connection you use to connect to the internet. AOL and other proxies can hang on to cached copies of pages.

As a test - look at the address you're connected to right now. If it starts with "http://www.fodors.com", then change it to "http://fodors.com". Or vice versa if the www. part is already not there. This will sometimes trick proxies into thinking it's a different page.

Thanks Clifton -- that didn't seem to work though: I tried fodors.com rather than www.fodors.com .

Wouldn't deleting the cookies and the cached files have the same effect? I did try that, but that didn't work.

I suppose I could try to reboot my machine and see what would happen.

Deleting cookies and cached files is a good step to take, but remember, it only affects your computer. When you're on the internet, you're not hooked directly to the fodors.com site though. You hook through a series of servers, the first being the proxy server of your ISP (or work)

If the cached is stuck on the proxy server, it's possible that it wouldn't work right. And you'd pretty much have to ask your work's network people to fix it. But it would work if you went onto a different network (like Kinkos) since it's a different route and proxy server to reach Fodors.

Ah, that sort of makes sense (I'm not a computer person, really) -- but I wonder why this would affect a few isolated threads though.

Anyway, I don't think that I want to ask the work people here -- it's probably not a good idea for people to know that I'm posting on Fodor's rather than working. :-)

;) I hear you on that one.

<font color=#cc3366>I had this happen once when I tried posting a VERY LONG link. It wouldn't post the composed message nor let me post a different message it got stuck in &quot;post a reply&quot;, but on the Preview page. Actually, it wasn't even the preview page, it was the non-frame version of the thread with my response, but I hadn't hit &quot;post my reply&quot; yet.

Then I started a new thread with the same link and I couldn't reply to it, nor could anyone else.

I was never able to post on the original thread again.

~gnr~ :-O</font>

I had this trouble a while back and got help. I can't paste the link - it isn't linking for me - but look under &quot;techies, please help a poster post.&quot;

Writing a long reply, clicking on post, and then having the whole thing disappear happened to me, too. Of course, one becomes frustrated and reluctant to write the post over. Today I started a post which then had maybe seven replies. It disappeared. I answered another post which had 174 replies - I was not going to read through 174 to put my two cents in. Perhaps someone gave the same reply I did, but I wasn't going to read through that lot in order to find out if another had the same thought. This post concerned who Rick Steves is - was originally written by a Brit. I said that he was today's Arthur Frommer. There followed a number of replies which were rather anti-Steves. Hmm, wonder if Steves has a hand in these boards as he did with the AOL travel boards a couple of years ago.
Does Rex have a hand in managing the posts ? I seem to remember that he compressed two posts into one. Anyone ?