2009-04-07, 03:21 PM
OK, first off, I don't know how to reproduce this, but I see this on a daily basis, since I first saw this in January, and have various ways of showing something is wrong.
See this screenshot:
[attachment=13407]
Now, user A was viewing the thread the WOL said they were. However, user B wasn't. I know this, because I had seen this issue for a while, so wanted to see if it was real... I asked user B if they were actually replying to that thread, and they said they weren't. Now, what I've noticed is that when user A is viewing a thread, user B is replying to it. It seems that the action for user A is accurate but the action for user B is more random. It usually seems that user B is replying to the thread user A user viewing at the same time, user B is usually directly under user A, like in the screenshot.
I've also seen how the location of a user can change, even if they have been inactive for ages. So, they are viewing/replying to thread/forum X, and after a while, it says they are viewing/replying to thread/forum Y, despite the fact their last active time hasn't changed. So say they view thread/forum X at 12:00, after, say, 10 minutes, their last active time is still 12:00 but they now seem to be viewing thread/forum Y. Thing is, thread/forum Y is also being viewed at that same time by somebody else. It's as though their location is governed by where other people are. Or, it just says 'Viewing Forum' or 'Reading Thread'. When this happens, the location in their profile is usually 'Unknown Location' instead of where the WOL says they are. Sometimes clicking this link takes you to a link that even the WOL isn't showing.
Another thing is people viewing things they shouldn't be. This isn't directly related to the issue where it should say 'Viewing No Permissions Page'. This is when someone is viewing a thread/forum they can't possibly even have a URL to, for example, a staff thread/forum. I've noticed here that when a staff member is viewing a staff forum/thread, another user also seems to view it. Then, when that staff member goes somewhere else, the regular user who seemed to be viewing it, changes to something else, something that someone else is seeing, similar to my paragraph above, but their last active time doesn't change, so they haven't clicked anything, it's like I said above, it's as though their location is governed by where other people are. This has been reported by various people, someone is viewing something they can't possibly have any sort of access to at all, short of guessing the URL.
Now, as I said above, I have no idea how to reproduce it, it just... happens. I idle on the WOL when I'm doing other things and notice this a lot. I'm hoping that by posting this, someone might be able to think what might be happening here. I also don't think that this should be marked as bogus straight away because of no reproduction steps, idle on the WOL whilst you're watching TV and you'll see what I'm saying eventually. I could easily fill this page with screenshots of each of the 3 points too.
See this screenshot:
[attachment=13407]
Now, user A was viewing the thread the WOL said they were. However, user B wasn't. I know this, because I had seen this issue for a while, so wanted to see if it was real... I asked user B if they were actually replying to that thread, and they said they weren't. Now, what I've noticed is that when user A is viewing a thread, user B is replying to it. It seems that the action for user A is accurate but the action for user B is more random. It usually seems that user B is replying to the thread user A user viewing at the same time, user B is usually directly under user A, like in the screenshot.
I've also seen how the location of a user can change, even if they have been inactive for ages. So, they are viewing/replying to thread/forum X, and after a while, it says they are viewing/replying to thread/forum Y, despite the fact their last active time hasn't changed. So say they view thread/forum X at 12:00, after, say, 10 minutes, their last active time is still 12:00 but they now seem to be viewing thread/forum Y. Thing is, thread/forum Y is also being viewed at that same time by somebody else. It's as though their location is governed by where other people are. Or, it just says 'Viewing Forum' or 'Reading Thread'. When this happens, the location in their profile is usually 'Unknown Location' instead of where the WOL says they are. Sometimes clicking this link takes you to a link that even the WOL isn't showing.
Another thing is people viewing things they shouldn't be. This isn't directly related to the issue where it should say 'Viewing No Permissions Page'. This is when someone is viewing a thread/forum they can't possibly even have a URL to, for example, a staff thread/forum. I've noticed here that when a staff member is viewing a staff forum/thread, another user also seems to view it. Then, when that staff member goes somewhere else, the regular user who seemed to be viewing it, changes to something else, something that someone else is seeing, similar to my paragraph above, but their last active time doesn't change, so they haven't clicked anything, it's like I said above, it's as though their location is governed by where other people are. This has been reported by various people, someone is viewing something they can't possibly have any sort of access to at all, short of guessing the URL.
Now, as I said above, I have no idea how to reproduce it, it just... happens. I idle on the WOL when I'm doing other things and notice this a lot. I'm hoping that by posting this, someone might be able to think what might be happening here. I also don't think that this should be marked as bogus straight away because of no reproduction steps, idle on the WOL whilst you're watching TV and you'll see what I'm saying eventually. I could easily fill this page with screenshots of each of the 3 points too.
