I'm having some real issues posting Posts and PM's. It started a couple of days ago, i think around the time the new updates were made though I have no idea if it is connected at all. It's really hard to explain so I just hope that somebody is experiencing the same thing and can understand what I am talking about.

When I go to make a post or write a PM, about 90% of the time, when I move my mouse, the posting box will vanish. The background of the page remains but the box disappears. Sometimes it is when I move my mouse to click on the post button, sometimes it is as soon as I open the page to write something. I am anticipating struggling with posting this. I have dealt with the issue so far by pressing CTRL and using the scroll wheel on my mouse to re-size the page which often brings the box back but that is no solution to the problem. I have no idea what is causing this but it is highly frustrating. I would love some help figuering out what is going on and how to fix it.

I have heard of this, but not seen it myself.  I'd suggest trying a different browser (Safari works for me so a WebKit based browser like Chrome might be the best bet).

I've had a similar problem, but the mouse isn't involved, sometimes it's links that don't immediately appear, or form boxes not being there.  I do know that usually when it happens there is a high volume of traffic on this site, so that might have something to do with it.  I however, have experienced these problems off and on since I got here, I just assumed it was a problem do to volume.  This however might not actually be the case.

I really don't want to have to switch Browser if I don't have and the problem is only very recent. I have never had any issues similar to this before and I've been on this site for several years now.

I'm having the same problem (using Explorer). Trying to post in an IC thread and when mouse goes over Post Message button the message goes blank and wont work. However, it is fine in PMs or OOC chat. Weird?

Same problem here for myself and some of my players. Has this been confirmed as a browser issue? Is there another solution or anything?

I've been having the same problem tonight trying to post a reply in a private thread in the game I run here but it is not happening here with this message in this forum. Everything on the message compose screen that is a link or button acts the same way - the compose button on the right, portraits beside messages, everything (except those on the top or bottom bars of the RPoL screen). If I pass over one of them with the mouse cursor it immediately makes the posting box disappear off the bottom of the screen (I could still see the top line of text I had written but nothing else, including the name and subject line that should be above that first line of text). Anything that forced the window to resize would bring back the post box and its contents but I still couldn't post that message.

I've never seen this problem before and I've been using RPoL for years.

Edited to add:

.... and now after posting this message I went back to try again to post a reply in that same private thread and it all worked fine. Intermittent bug?
This message was last edited by the user at 14:22, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

An An equally good question is, does everyone use the same brouser?

I mean does  everyone having this problem use  IE?

I use both IE and Chrome, (and sometimes Firefox), and don't have this issue.

Please also note your browser and version since, especially in the case of Internet Explorer, the versions can behave in vastly different ways.


So, all that said, I use IE9 on RPoL, and haven't had any such problems.

I'm on IE8

Firefox at home - no problems.
IE at work - problems.

In reply to thefusilier (msg #12):

What version of IE?

I'm using IE8.

I'm so glad other people are having the same issue. Knowing it's not just me is good. I use Internet Exploer version 8.

I think mine is eight as well, but not sure.  I wonder if that's the problem then.

Doubt it - I'm on IE8 and it's fine, sorry :-(

To potentially help I'll tally here and note browser in a mod coment below. If I put you in the wrong category, please let me know!

Yes: Post Box Display Problem     No: No Post Box Problem
Enchanted_breeze  (?)             cruinne (IE9)
Apoplexies (IE8)                  TheRiddler (IE8)
Jarodemo (IE8)                    Wine Guy (IE 9)
thefusilier (IE7)
Robin (IE8)
Heath (IE8)
Wine Guy (IE7)
cptcthulhu (IE8)
Rathorne (IE7)
Brygun (IE8)

This message was last edited by the user at 01:31, Thu 27 Oct 2011.

It does seem to be just an intermittent problem. I have posted in several games this evening and all have been fine apart from the one I mentioned above until just now, in the main thread of another game something like it happened again, only this time the post box just slipped about a third of the way down the screen. The post message button still worked this time, though, so it was a different variant on the problem.

If it matters, you can also add me in for "No posting problems" when I use Firefox at home.
This message was last edited by the user at 16:08, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

Hmm, bit of a loss to explain this one.  I've gone over the changes and there's nothing I can see that would cause this.  I've also gone over the site's HTML output and it's fine - there was a tiny error I just fixed but IE is normally fine at adjusting for that (was missing a closing "td", for those who are curious and know what that means!).

It seems to be IE8, but there's 7 thrown in the mix.

A few questions for those with problems:

1. Is the zoom set to 100%?
   
2. Is the text size set to medium?
   
3. Is it only private messages?
   
4. Is it only replies?
   
5. Does it happen when you move the mouse?
   
6. Does it happen when you move over a button?
   
7. Does it happen when you move over a hyperlink?

Thanks guys 'n' gals, looking forward to figuring this one out!
This message was last edited by admin at 16:43, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

In reply to jase (msg #21):

It happens only in some threads. For example, I have an 'in character' thread in which it happens, and an 'out of character' thread which is fine. PM's seem to be a problem too - but unless I am mistaken, only some of the time.

The text and zoom are 100% I believe.

It happens when the mouse pointer moves over the "Post Message" box. When that happens the screen immediately switches to the background screen (without even pressing the button).
This message was last edited by the user at 17:38, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

Correction, it happens when the mouse pointer moves over ANYTHING below the actual text box (preview post and the text options).

When you hover over sounds a tag suspicious.  I've removed some colouring of input boxes that is done via javascript when you (oddly enough) hover over.  I've checked and nothing changed with it from the previous version, but it's one less thing to worry about.

Press Control-R to get the new javascript include and let me know.

If it still happens can we please confirm what settings users have (unfortunately I need hard data, not best guesses).


thefusilier - Interesting you say it only happens when you hover over the post message box, I'm sure others have said it can happen on any link, or even when they load the page.

If you've got a thread it does happen with, and another it doesn't, please rMail me the details.

Correction, it happens when the mouse pointer moves over ANYTHING below the actual text box ('preview' and the text options such as bold and italics).

I'm at home now and it works totally fine with Firefox. Only when I used IE is there a problem. I believe the others in my game with the same problem are also using IE.
This message was last edited by the user at 19:06, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

This is the exact same problem I was describing in the other thread about the new version.

It only happens when you hover over the preview, post message, or compose buttons, and then not 100% of the time.  You can still tab to the buttons to use them.

It hasn't happened yet today, but happened multiple times (about 50%) yesterday.

My problem went away in IE when I upgraded from IE7 to IE9.

No problems with Chrome.

I've updated above.

Note too, that about the same time as I posted (above) I put my IE9 into IE8 mode and spent a long time hopping place to place attempting to edit and reply all over the place, and could not get this to happen.  (My settings are 100% and medium text size.)
This message was last edited by the user at 20:32, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

IE 9 is limited to Windows Vista or Windows 7, not Windows XP, as far as I know.

Yes, it appears XP users who only want to use Internet Explorer will be out in the cold since Microsoft will not release IE9 for XP, and fewer sites are going to be supporting IE8 and below as things go forward (and now that IE10 is starting to make the rounds).

Support for older, more difficult versions of IE (8 and below) is likely going go by the wayside for a lot of developers.  I think they figure that there are alternatives, so those who care to get "the best web experience" will move to those.

I'm not necessarily agreeing, but it does seem to be inevitable.

(I believe the stats are somewhere around about 40% of people online use IE; but only 25% use IE8 and 4.7% use IE7, and both are in steady decline.)
This message was last edited by the user at 20:45, Wed 26 Oct 2011.

Thanks for the feedback.

Unfortunately, though at home I use IE9, there's not much choice at work.  I think most offices probably still use XP for its functionality.  I think offices try to hold onto old technology as long as possible to preserve the bottom line.

I'm getting the same problem. Both my home use and the library where I post use IE 8.

In reply to cruinne (msg #30):

I have the same 'issue' at work though 72% of our public sector clients still use IE7!!!  And they won't budge.  Go figure!

Can those still getting the problem confirm that it's since I posted the previous message and also since they've done a control-R?

Thanks.

Hi all,

Just a reminder that I'm waiting on feedback as to whether the issue is still happening.  I need to know if my last change has made a difference.  Thanks.

I'm just waiting for the player in my game who was having problems to get back to me.  As of two hours ago she was still having trouble, but I don't know if she's tried the Ctrl-R thing.

I've just tried that CTRL R thing though I don't know what it did, I think it fixed the problem. Seeing as it is only happening in some threads, some of the time, it's hard to say if the issue is completely gone. For now it seems to be but i will let you asap if it comes back.

In reply to jase (msg #21):

Sorry for not responding sooner. Yes it is still happening. Control R doesn't fix it.

Answers to your few questions : IE8 running in Windows XP
Is the zoom set to 100%? Yes
Is the text size set to medium? 'Larger'
Is it only private messages? First time (message #7 above) was when I tried to reply to a private message in a game I GM. The second instance (message #19 above) was in one of the game threads in a game I play in.
Is it only replies? Yes
Does it happen when you move the mouse? Not unless I moved over a button or hyperlink.
Does it happen when you move over a button? It did yesterday but not today???
Does it happen when you move over a hyperlink? Yes

I have had problems on RPoL before that seemed to be linked to tabbed browsing in IE8. When I opened RPoL pages in multiple tabs I would sometimes not be logged in in the last few tabs.  If I only used one tab for RPoL I didn't get that problem at all. I haven't had that problem lately but I wonder if this one could have something to do with tabbed browsing as both instances yesterday were in later tabs in IE8.

I have held off posting this reply while I post in my games again. I have had the message #19 problem again i.e. post screen slipped about 2cm down the screen so the bottom of it is inaccessible behind the bottom menu bar. No problem with the post message or other links/buttons. This time it is in the main game thread in the game I GM. Same thing happened when I opened another tab to try to post to that same thread. This time I took a bit more notice of what happened. The post message screen was initially OK but when I moved the cursor from the scroll bar on the right I passed across the Compose +/- button and that is when the page slipped down. A bit of experimentation shows this happening consistently each time I try to reply to this same thread. Passing the cursor over any hyperlink anywhere on the compose message screen (but not the preview or post message buttons) causes the page to drop down 2cm. This only happens with the message thread at the top of the list of threads in this game.

I had not tried Control R when this happened tonight but I have just done so. It refreshes the message compose screen but the same problem still happens again when the cursor passes over a link.

I just found the same thing happening in the top 7 private messages in the game I DM as well.  Curiously, replies to the top PM drop down so far the message compose screen disappears altogether, replies to the second PM drop down a bit less and so on to the seventh PM where the reply message compose screen only drops down by one line.

Forget what I said about multiple tabbed browsing. It is happening with only one tab open too.

Hey, it just happening here with this post too! Dropped down 4cm when the cursor passed over the compose +/- link.

Thanks Robin, that's a big help.

I think it's tied to zooming.. at least that's the only way I can get it to happen.  But at least I can now see it happening!

In IE the scrollbar should only appear within the content area (that is; it won't go into the header or footer).  The scrollbar should tuck up nicely against the bottom of the footer and top of the header... my question is: when this happens, does the scrollbar suddenly drop down so it's not tucked up against the header?  If the screen drops down 4cm, then does the scrollbar as well?

Thanks!!

Yes, the scrollbar drops with the rest of the page. You can't get to the down arrow at the bottom any more when it happens.

IE7, Win XP here and yes the scroll bar goes away as well leaving just the header and footer regions.

Currently on medium text at 100% zoom.

When I select another tab and then go back to that tab it's back to 'normal' but just as sporadically will dissapear.

Point of interest I think.  I full screened the window (1680 by 1050) and when it did it's dissapearing trick again it actually shifted the entire thing down where the top arrow of the scroll bar can be seen perhaps at the bottom inch of the screen.  Put your mouse in that bottom inch and scroll down and everything is there just stuck way below the normal view area...of course only seen on full screen, anything less and you won't see the top arrow and the bit of the post box to manipulate and scroll down and only white background.

Changing the text size to medium in IE8 reduces the problem but doesn't eliminate it. For example, in my list of private messages,
Text size = largest, 7 private messages are affected
Text size = larger, 7 private messages are affected
Text size = medium, 4 private messages are affected
Text size = smaller, 3 private messages are affected
Text size = smallest, 3 private messages are affected

Still haven't figured out what's causing it, it's specific to some threads, so possibly something within the message text of the last 5 messages when doing a reply.

However, I think I might have put in something to stop it.  At least, it's stopped doing it on my test computer.

Yes, it seems to have fixed it for me too. Thanks Jase.  :o)

Indeed so, thanks much Jase.

I haven't seen it pop up again.  I will post again if the problem comes back.

My laptop is old, not sure which version of IE, but certainly no better than 8. Currently using safari on my iPad, and that seems to work fine.

Therefore I suspect it may be an IE8 issue as has been discussed.

Used the desktop today with no issues in making messages.