Dear Dan, just so you know...I can only get on your site now once or twice per day, and for only a few minutes...

Question

Most of the time, I cannot do anything on this site except private messages. I cannot post an answer or a comment or a question, I cannot even vote. I am blocked somehow.

But once or twice a day, for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, I can do everything; everything works well, and then suddenly I am again blocked. So when things are working, I have to hurry!

I hope it gets better soon.

Answer 1

Hi Virginia,

I was having trouble too. Sometimes I hit the "Enter" key several times then walk away to get coffee or take a nature break and then the site loads while I am gone. Voting seems to register slower but has worked for me.

I emailed you an ORH post than was one of his cleaner ones with his humorous closing.

LH

Comments

Hi Ladyhorse,

I also try to just wait; but it spins and spins for half an hour and then I finally give up. Right now it seems okay, I was able to vote on your answer. But, except for Private Messages, the site seems to block me after about ten or fifteen minutes!

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Yeah, half an hour is a bit long...sometimes restarting the computer works too.

Answer 2

It maybe because of 'cache', i will try to fix it.

Answer 3

Yes, it's a bit slow, but workable today.

Virginia, is it possible that your browser has something to do with your difficulties?

Comments

O'Tink I am guessing the old browser is part of the problem, simply because others are having less blockage than me. However, the fact that I can get on the site and do just fine a couple of times per day, that makes me think there is something about the new software also.

Right now for example, I am not experiencing any slowness at all! However typically this lasts for ten or fifteen minutes and then I am again blocked from everything except the private messages.

Quite strange!

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Virginia, have you tried clearing your browser's history and cache when you get blocked? Maybe it's just filled up to its capacity.

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O'tink that is a good idea and I will try it!

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"Yes, it's a bit slow, but workable today" I have disabled the Cloudflare but now re-enabled it. Cloudflare is used to make the site load faster.

Here is the reply from my hosting provider:

"I've read the thread you've linked to and I can confirm that this would not be caused by mod_cloudflare. This is not how that would function. mod_cloudflare simply allows you to see visitors' IP addresses instead of CloudFlare's IP addresses. It's just a header that queries their IP and replaces visits to your website with theirs.

I'll note however that I do see a lot of mod_security hits. This is the issue for your website.

You can solve this by either,

1: Disabling mod_security (I strongly advise against doing this). If you must do this, then enable Suhosin (php extension) as a backup security means.

2: Updating your website. Many of the exploits mod_security is protecting you against is likely due to out-dated software. Once you update, most of these issues will go away. If you're already updated to the latest, then it's highly likely that custom software is causing this.

The issue is with mod_security (which can be disabled, but strongly discouraged)."

I have updated the code of this site and disabled the mod_security. I guess the problem will not occur again.

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Dan, I don't really understand what mod_security is, but for the whole day today I seem to be able to maneuver on IHAVESOLVED successfully.

I will not be able to update to a current browser and OS for a while yet, and I am not sure when I can do it. The message you posted strongly advises against disabling the mod_security. I am the only person here who seems to be having this problem, and if you need to restore the mod_security for the safety of your site, then I will certainly understand.

Thank you very much.

Answer 4

It's been a little slow here and there for me but otherwise has been working fine. Much better than it was as answers and comments seem to go through rather quickly. I've even came on here after I've been several other places without clearing my cache and history and it's been fine. Could this possibly be because of older PC's and older OS systems? Just a guess but after I left Windows 7, this site has been working(for the most part) pretty drn good. Dan's the man and his explanation makes sense to me and it sounds like an update/upgrade is in order.

Comments

Rooster, do you understand about the mod_security? When Dan disabled it, then I no longer seem to have the problems of getting blocked...at least not for the whole day today. I will not be able to update my system anytime soon, but do you think he should enable mod_security for the safety of the site? What is your experience, your opinion?

I have told Dan that I will understand if he needs to do that; I am the only one here who is having the problems.

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It is one of the various security features, there are also other security features.

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I am glad for that, Dan...and I think you are very skillful, thank you.

Answer 5

On my side, I had an error message about a week ago for more than a day - between Monday and Wednesday - then, it was normal, though a bit slow, and later on it worked faster.

N.B.:

Furthermore, I was wondering if local or regional networks could also fail and cause problems.