searching the site and adding comments

[Simon-Z-]

Hi, please forgive my posting this here, but after hours of trying to use the site both yesterday and today it is the only possible way I can find of trying to ask. I recently joined this site in order to find information for a history project at work, but there appears to be no way of searching for particular subjects, not even a keyword facility, and whenever I try to reply to a post or add a comment the site just bounces me back to the log in page (this is frustrating as, in addition to my own research I have had answers to some questions posed by others but am prevented from sharing them.) I have tried contacting the admins multiple times, but my messages facility shows no sent messages, and every one I send goes to my private email addressed to me as an admin - even though I am not an admin. Can the site admins please advise how I can search this site, and how I can participate in discussions? Thank you.

[tilly]

Welcome to S/L Simon sorry i cant help but i have replied so you know you are getting through i am sure one of the admins or a member will answer your post.It being a weekend it can be a bit quite so just give it a bit more time you are on the right site if its the history of Leeds you are looking for.

[jma]

I get my grandchildren to help with anything involving a screen and keys so there will be others with more idea than me but one way to search an entire site is using google. There's an explanation on this link which is advertising something else which may help

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how- ... ite-search

[TABBYCAT]

Hi Simon.

The constant log in problem you describe is due to the sites admins employing an unusually low timeout-user inactive setting, just browsing/reading not counting as activity.
Most forums using this off the peg forum software usually set it at about an hour before it logs you out due to inactivity mainly for security reasons I imagine. on this forum it's set at about the 2 minute mark and the way to get around it is to always check the "REMEMBER ME" box when logging in that way posting should be ok, another work around albeit a poor one is to type your post into word pad copy it then log into the site and quickly paste before the time out kicks in. Also sometimes when logging out it may throw a wobbly and you need to log out twice. As for search yes sadly lacking here I'm afraid and my remedy is to google what I'm after and throw SECRET LEEDS in at the end of the search text.

Hope this helps.

[blackprince]

To search the site using google just type

site: www.secretleeds.com

in the google search box followed by your search terms

eg
site: www.secretleeds.com armley jail


This is a site specific search and can be used for any website.

[tyke bhoy]

Welcome Simon2. Unfortunately a site search was a casualty when customisations had to be removed to stop the forum crashing regularly. JMA is correct in that Google can be made to concentrate on a specific domain. So just adding site:secretleeds.com to the end of your search term will restrict the results to this forum. It may work in other search engines too but I'm sure most will have something similar.

As to being returned to the login page, this appears to be an intermittent problem which can only be overcome by using the remember me option. I think this sets a time limited cookie so it doesn't actually remember you permanently just for about a month. I'm aware some do have reservations on using that. If you are losing prospective posts you could compose them elsewhere and then paste in, or compose here but copy what you've done just before submitting.

Good luck with your project.

[TABBYCAT]

Hmmm thougt I just said that, never mind.

Also the problem re log in is permanent rather than intermittent In my experience.

[jma]

I'm sorry I was so eager to suggest the google search that I forgot to deal with the problem of being logged in long enough to submit a post. Apart from "Remember me" I find it handy to copy my posts automatically (as a habit, not some computer facility) to be able to paste it straight back in rather than lose it. The big advantage I find of that is that if a post has a lot of formatting, it may not be preserved if you paste in from something prepared elsewhere

In fact, since I got to grips with remember me it's a while since I had a problem with losing a post

tyke bhoys comment about remember me now being timed out after a month does seem to explain why I sometimes have to log in when opening this site.

Speaking as a total IT numptie (I know what Louis Armstrong meant when he sang "They'll learn much more than I'll ever know) I'd prefer to get the advice I need from two or three people trying to help, rather than not get it because nobody wants to upset anybody else.

[tyke bhoy]

Hmmm thougt I just said that, never mind.

Also the problem re log in is permanent rather than intermittent In my experience.

Yes you did but both BP and I had probably both started typing just as you posted. Yes we both had warnings about new posts on submission but as both were a little more specific I let mine post and I suspect BP was of the same opinion..

It is intermittent because it doesn't appear to affect everyone.

[TABBYCAT]

HMMM I can only say that it effects me on different computers at different locations so will have to agree to dis-agree on that point and if it the site does as you contend send out a month long cookie then it will always be a problem with those of us that scrub cookies after a net session and not for those who don't bother, just reset the session activity counter problem solved.

I wasn't aware this site used time set cookies on my PC and so would expect a cookie warning that it did so at point of use which I believe is a UK legal requirement, aside from the sites privacy policy, though willing to stand substantiated correction on that.

A simple re-set of the activity time out is all that is needed yet no-one seems to want to admit or address that.

None of this is off the top of my head rather it comes from speaking to the admins of other sites I use that have this forum software plus a quick google of phpBB software user activity time out settings will confirm.

LATE EDIT
The area to explore should read something like...

adminCP > Security Settings > maximum time to submit forms = xxxx (Changing xxxx to 7200 will give a log out session time of one hour)