User talk:JMF/Archives/2011/January

Helpme - changing to Firefox

A few days ago, I changed my default browser to Firefox from IE. This works for everything except Wikipedia! (for me, obviously, of course I realise that many users already use Firefox). What happens is this: after I enter my ID and PW, I just get returned to the login screen - no preferences, no favourites, nada. My credentials are not refused - it is as though I am logged out immediately after logging in. This happens every time I log-in using Ff, so I'm still stuck with using IE to access WP! Any ideas? Anyone? --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 02:19, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

If you go to some other page Wikipedia page do you stay logged in? Can you try logging in again? --Tyw7  (☎ Contact me! • Contributions)   Changing the world one edit at a time! 02:34, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

No change (I went to todays featured article - ACT - and tried there. Same thing, immediately logged out). Yes, I have tried repeated log-ins, all with the same effect. I am currently using IE to write this. Totally wierd! --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 20:13, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

If it helps any, the sign-on process generates a lot of errors in the Ff console. Is this one of any particular interest?

“ Warning: Unknown pseudo-class or pseudo-element '-webkit-input-placeholder'. Ruleset ignored due to bad selector.

Source File: http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/vector/main-ltr.css?283-18 Line: 368

”

? --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 20:31, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

If you're not getting any answers here, you could try asking at the WP:Help desk. I have no ideas - I use Firefox with no problems. JohnCD (talk) 22:11, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

• ??? I have been editing Wikipedia with Firefox for over four years, and made nearly 48000 edits, using several different computers, without any such problem. There must be something wrong with your particular Firefox setup, though I have no idea what. JohnCD's suggestion of trying the help desk is a good one. Do you have any Firefox add-ons installed? Try looking at the various things accessible from the Firefox "Tools" menu. Have you searched Firefox help? (Not likely to be helpful, I guess, but possible, and worth a try.) I don't know if there is anything on a Firefox forum that might help, though I know from experience that even if there is it may be hard to find. You could try searching for Wikipedia login Firefox on the off chance you may find something. Also, have you tried uninstalling Firefox and reinstalling it? Sometimes doing that solves stubborn problems. If I think of anything else I'll come back. JamesBWatson (talk) 22:16, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

When Firefox takes over from IE, it imports all the IE cookies. I think I ended up having to delete them all before Wikipedia worked properly (Tools > Options > Privacy > Show Cookies > Remove all cookies) -- John of Reading (talk) 22:56, 1 January 2011 (UTC)

• Thanks guys. As an experiment, I have created a new account (this one) using Ff, then logged off, then signed in ok. It works. So it clearly isn't the Ff setup per se. --JMF-firefox-test (talk) 01:50, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

One more idea. You have lots of stuff in User:John Maynard Friedman/monobook.js - I wonder if any of that is causing a problem when you log in with Firefox? A way to test this would be to log in as User:John Maynard Friedman using IE, and use the "Appearance" tab at "My preferences" to switch to something other than Monobook. Then log out and try again with Firefox. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:07, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

No luck. I'm now using 'Simple' but with exactly the same effect. I don't really want to delete all cookies but it looks like that's the only option left. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 20:49, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

It worked!!!' I deleted the en.wikipedia.org and wikipedia.org cookies and we're back in business! --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 20:59, 2 January 2011 (UTC)