2025 technical issues (logon delays, Cloudflare, blanks, redirects; SEPTEMBER)

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

The verification splash page could have a identifying bit indicating its purpose, to alleviate any anxiety when we first see it.

It is a slight nuisance, but I find that LAF pages actually loads a bit faster than before.  No more waiting on the bots to get through the queue at the server before it gets to me!

[fred]

I'm getting the cloud flare page most visits, but only once, and it auto resolves then goes to the forum.

Adding branding to cloud flare is a good question - I suppose I am so used to having CF in place at work, I know that it is a good thing, so don't see it as a problem. But for many people they have no idea what CF is and what it does in protecting websites, so having something on its verification page that indicates it is legitimate would be good (but might be a chargeable option).

It is a real pain that 3rd party bots, either trying to gather info, or perhaps acting maliciously can cause such problems to a hobby site. I do wonder if the way the forum presents pages, with lists of links at the bottom, ends up being a bit of tar pit for bots, as they keep seeing new links to follow and then cycle round and round requesting pages. The view count on threads was enormous over the last few days.

[Ninefingers]

When I try and post something with an attached image I get an error come up saying "Path cannot be empty" and the post doesn't appear. But if I say the same thing again I get the "You've already posted this" error.

[has.been]

It keeps verifying that I'm human, no idea how it does that as it doesn't ask
me to tick the boxes that have traffic lights in. 

I get through to the LAF pages, so I'll put up with that.

[YPU]

It is a slight nuisance, but I find that LAF pages actually loads a bit faster than before.  No more waiting on the bots to get through the queue at the server before it gets to me!

Now you mention it, yeah!

[HerbertTarkel]

Yes, other than the cloudflare verification, it’s been flawless now  - huzzah and such.

[fred]

It keeps verifying that I'm human, no idea how it does that as it doesn't ask
me to tick the boxes that have traffic lights in. 

I get through to the LAF pages, so I'll put up with that.

There is a lot of clever logic now (probably AI) to help with this, without you needing to find traffic lights! IIRC it looks at your browsing cache and some other metrics, to work out if you are a real user rather than a bot. I few times CF will prompt you with a simple tick box to confirm you are real, which seems to be enough to trip up bots.

[Wilgut Spleens]

It keeps verifying I am human too and I can't post any pics

[fred]

If I link to an external image




That seems to work (I'll try adding one next - but I don't normally do that)

[fred]

Trying to attach a 10mm orc comparison photo (not mine, but one of the right size I happened to have to hand)

This fails with the Error that the path can't be empty. But it doesn't say which path it is failing to resolve.

[HerbertTarkel]

I find it reassuring that I’m human. Whew!  🤖

[Jemima Fawr]

Oh thank god it's not asking us to identify foreign fire hydrants, traffic lights or 'crosswalks' (whatever they are)...

[Tactalvanic]

Yay ! apparently I am human too.

mores the point the algorithms track mouse movement and other shtuff, that cannot be supposedly done by bots yet...

Whereas i am sure AI powered  bots soon will be better at identifying hydrants, ladders, bikes, etc, etc, than any humans..

If it helps the site work, then I am a happy to be human

[zemjw]

Took me two cycles of clicking "I am not a robot" to get in this time. Does it know something I don't

[carlos marighela]

The verification is fine at my end. Photo posting still seems to be an issue. Path empty warning comes up if you use attachments.