Some problems with using alternative browsers with the site

[Troglodyte]

Hello,
Not sure if anyone else has noticed these problems; but I have been dealing with them for a while. I just haven't been able to find the time to post about them.

Most of the problems I have found with the site so far involve using Firefox and / or Google Chrome. Although the market share on these browsers is still small compared to IE, there are still a substantial number of users of these alternative browsers. Therefore, I think it would be great to get these bugs out of the way to help keep GameGavel's user base growing.

I also think that any bug that appears when using Google Chrome with the site will also appear when using Safari under Mac since they both use Webkit as the underlying architecture. This could be a real problem since we don't want to alienate Mac users. I can't test the site with Safari at this time, but I should be able to soon; after I am done reinstalling OS X 10.6 on my netbook

I'm sure I have ran into a few other small problems then the one's I am listing in this post, but these are the most glaring / annoying and the ones I can remember at this time.
The following problems are all related to listing items for sale on the site using the standard "non bulk uploading" method:

• Uploading images in Firefox does not complete; the up-loader hangs and does not display the status of the upload (percentage complete).
  This seems to work fine in Google Chrome; and I assume it works in IE.
• The WYSIWYG html / text editor box doesn't display in Chrome. I'm not certain; but I think your developer is using FCKeditor / CKeditor; but I have no idea which version. From what I have read; some older versions don't work in Chrome, while the newer versions do. The editor works fine in Firefox. I haven't used FCKeditor, but I have used TinyMCE for projects in the past.
  I know TinyMCE works with Chrome for certain.
• There is still some sort of Cookie timeout under Firefox and or Google Chrome in relation to not remaining logged into the main site for greater than about 20-30 minutes. I inspected the Cookie that is generated directly after clicking on the link to list a new item; and the Cookie is set to expire after 30 minutes; which makes sense. This is particularly annoying since if a seller starts listing something and takes longer than that to get their descriptions filled out before clicking the "next" or "save" button, they are thrown out of the system and they either A) have to fill everything out again, or B) If they are lucky, then they can click the back button, and then they can start a new listing again, and manually copy and past the descriptions etc, into the new listing.

I'm not sure what the best way to fix the timeout problem is; but I would assume that the same problem occurs in IE; since it seems Cookie expiration related. Any easy fix would be to just increase the alloted experation time to say about an hour or two. However, a better fix would be to some how create a "save for later" listing and just have it save to the pending listings.
I realize it saves when you click the next button; but I often don't reach that point in time; if I step away from the computer or it won't allow me to go to the next step without filling out some of the required forms / selections. Yes, despite popular belief I am not tied to the computer at all times

As a workaround to these problems, a suggest that sellers either try and stick with IE (yuck ), or use the IE Tab addon / extension. This extension is now available
for both Firefox and Chrome. If anyone needs any help setting up this addon to "kick-in" only when visiting this site, please let me know, but it is pretty easy to figure out.

I apologize for writing the latest technical edition of "War and Piece" ; but I wanted to be clear and complete.
If any of this is forwarded to any GameGavel developer(s);
I figure some of the technical mumbo-jumbo in relation to the observed problems might be helpful.

If anyone needs anymore info or pictures of the problems; let me know and I'll see what I can gather.

[GameGavel]

Hello,
Not sure if anyone else has noticed these problems; but I have been dealing with them for a while. I just haven't been able to find the time to post about them.

Most of the problems I have found with the site so far involve using Firefox and / or Google Chrome. Although the market share on these browsers is still small compared to IE, there are still a substantial number of users of these alternative browsers. Therefore, I think it would be great to get these bugs out of the way to help keep GameGavel's user base growing.

I also think that any bug that appears when using Google Chrome with the site will also appear when using Safari under Mac since they both use Webkit as the underlying architecture. This could be a real problem since we don't want to alienate Mac users. I can't test the site with Safari at this time, but I should be able to soon; after I am done reinstalling OS X 10.6 on my netbook

I'm sure I have ran into a few other small problems then the one's I am listing in this post, but these are the most glaring / annoying and the ones I can remember at this time.
The following problems are all related to listing items for sale on the site using the standard "non bulk uploading" method:

• Uploading images in Firefox does not complete; the up-loader hangs and does not display the status of the upload (percentage complete).
  This seems to work fine in Google Chrome; and I assume it works in IE.
• The WYSIWYG html / text editor box doesn't display in Chrome. I'm not certain; but I think your developer is using FCKeditor / CKeditor; but I have no idea which version. From what I have read; some older versions don't work in Chrome, while the newer versions do. The editor works fine in Firefox. I haven't used FCKeditor, but I have used TinyMCE for projects in the past.
  I know TinyMCE works with Chrome for certain.
• There is still some sort of Cookie timeout under Firefox and or Google Chrome in relation to not remaining logged into the main site for greater than about 20-30 minutes. I inspected the Cookie that is generated directly after clicking on the link to list a new item; and the Cookie is set to expire after 30 minutes; which makes sense. This is particularly annoying since if a seller starts listing something and takes longer than that to get their descriptions filled out before clicking the "next" or "save" button, they are thrown out of the system and they either A) have to fill everything out again, or B) If they are lucky, then they can click the back button, and then they can start a new listing again, and manually copy and past the descriptions etc, into the new listing.

I'm not sure what the best way to fix the timeout problem is; but I would assume that the same problem occurs in IE; since it seems Cookie expiration related. Any easy fix would be to just increase the alloted experation time to say about an hour or two. However, a better fix would be to some how create a "save for later" listing and just have it save to the pending listings.
I realize it saves when you click the next button; but I often don't reach that point in time; if I step away from the computer or it won't allow me to go to the next step without filling out some of the required forms / selections. Yes, despite popular belief I am not tied to the computer at all times

As a workaround to these problems, a suggest that sellers either try and stick with IE (yuck ), or use the IE Tab addon / extension. This extension is now available
for both Firefox and Chrome. If anyone needs any help setting up this addon to "kick-in" only when visiting this site, please let me know, but it is pretty easy to figure out.

I apologize for writing the latest technical edition of "War and Piece" ; but I wanted to be clear and complete.
If any of this is forwarded to any GameGavel developer(s);
I figure some of the technical mumbo-jumbo in relation to the observed problems might be helpful.

If anyone needs anymore info or pictures of the problems; let me know and I'll see what I can gather.

Thanks and duely forwarded to my dev. Hopefully he will be able to fix some of these issues. Let ya know.

[Troglodyte]

Thanks and duely forwarded to my dev. Hopefully he will be able to fix some of these issues. Let ya know.

No problem... thanks... and I'm glad to provide your dev with some level of job security...
though he probably "hates" me at this point lol

(uhm... where on earth did that laughing Duck Hunt dog just go... I really could have used him here :P)

[Troglodyte]

In relation to this:

The WYSIWYG html / text editor box doesn't display in Chrome. I'm not certain; but I think your developer is using FCKeditor / CKeditor; but I have no idea which version. From what I have read; some older versions don't work in Chrome, while the newer versions do. The editor works fine in Firefox.

I have confirmed that the same problem exists in the forums; as the same editor appears to be in use and is not working with Google Chrome.

[omega_supreme]

....

• Uploading images in Firefox does not complete; the up-loader hangs and does not display the status of the upload (percentage complete).
  This seems to work fine in Google Chrome; and I assume it works in IE.
  ...

Does the same thing for me in IE7, but I'd always just assumed it was because I'm online with a dial-up ISP.

[Troglodyte]

Does the same thing for me in IE7, but I'd always just assumed it was because I'm online with a dial-up ISP

That's a bummer (both the dial-up and that it doesn't seem to work in IE 7)... I will check it with IE8 next time I list something.
I don't have access to IE7 at the moment. I would assume that it works in some version of IE; as many more people would be
complaining about it not working.

Even though it works fine in Google Chome... the only percentage bar shown as "moving towards completion", is the one at the bottom of the screen...
the bar in the AJAX popup / modal window or whatever you want to call it; doesn't seem to move; no matter how many images you are uploading at one time.
I assume that it is supposed to show per file completion of each upload in this popup.

For those that might not know what I am referring to when I say "modal window";
it is the progress-bar pop-up that appears when uploading...
I think it is grey in color; but I would have to go back and check.

I can try and grab a screen shot of these behaviors later;
as it is awfully hard to explain what I am trying to describe
without some kind of visuals.


UPDATE: I was able to grab a few screenshots showing these behaviors. Yes, there is a small issue with the upload script even in IE.
The screenshots, found below, display the current update process in Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 8, respectively
(all running under Windows 7):

Google Chrome 4.0

Notice that Google Chrome does not display the percentage completed, number of files uploaded, etc in the popup correctly,
however, it does display a small overlay on the bottom of the screen displaying the overall upload progress.


Mozilla Firefox 3.6

Notice that Mozilla Firefox is not updating the percentage completed, number of files uploaded, etc in the popup correctly. Also, unlike Google Chrome, it does not does display a small overlay on the bottom of the screen displaying the overall upload progress. If you look closely at the detailed information inside the Firefox popup vs the popup in Chrome; there are some differences; or instance, Firefox is displaying the number of files being uploaded correctly, and corresponding file size, while Google Chrome is not. I did notice that if using Firefox to upload; the progress bar in the popup quickly updates after the upload has completed; by showing the progress bar "filling up" with the color green, and then quickly closing the popup window vs showing the actual progress as it uploads.

Also, I have the Firebug add-on installed for my own web development purposes;
but I noticed it generating the following error
(information only potentially useful for your dev):

S is not defined (line 212):

uid='610836094838';num='0';changeValue('files_total','1');changeValue('data_total','2.33 Mbytes');S('0.0','0.00','',0,'',0);interval = window.setInterval(function (){jah();},1000);

stopUp is not defined (line 204):

<'input type="button" value="Stop Upload" onclick="stopUp();" class="btn" id="stop_btn"'>

Notice that the function S is undefined in the first error; and on the second; the function stopUp is not defined.
I think this was a simple typo, as the function StopUpload is defined later in the code, but there is no stopUp function.

See here (line 458):

function StopUpload(no_close)
{
	.
	.
	.
}

Internet Explorer 8

Much like Google Chrome; the progress bar is not showing anything correctly in regards to upload progress.
Just like in Firefox; there is no small overlay on the bottom of the screen displaying the overall status of the upload progress.

There were also two errors that IE picked up:

Message: Syntax error
Line: 8
Char: 15
Code: 0
URI: http://www.gamegavel.com/upload_status.cgi?uid=673758055030&nfiles=1&tmpl=&xmode=1&files=:arkanoidinlayfront.png&inline=1

Message: Object expected
Line: 212
Char: 28
Code: 0
URI: http://www.gamegavel.com/upload_status.cgi?uid=673758055030&nfiles=1&tmpl=&xmode=1&files=:arkanoidinlayfront.png&inline=1

Despite all of these issues; Firefox is usually the only one that often completely chokes on the upload, and doesn't ever complete.

Hope that helps narrow the problem(s) down.
I know that all was probably a little too techy;
but maybe it will help your dev.

[Troglodyte]

I hate replying to myself... in my own thread...
but I figured It might be best to keep this all
in one thread for now, and to keep it a bit
organized.

I just remembered a few general bugs I have
encountered while using the site.

Lets start with the simplest to fix,
and the least annoying, first.

"Consider the following" - Bill Nye
General Bug 1:
-------------------------------
My Listings


Listings
Pending ()
Current ()
Closed w/No Bids and Reserve Not Met ()
Closed w/Reserve Prices Met ()


I'm sure most of you recognize the above portion of the site.
Clicking on each the links obviously pulls up the type of
listings you clicked on; this works without problems.

However, when clicking on Closed w/Reserve Prices Met,
you are shown the correct page, with the following
confusing title:
Current Listings


I assume this is a mistake, as it is at the very least somewhat
confusing. I would think a better title for this section of the
interface would be "Closed Listings with Reserved Prices Met",
but that would be up to GameGavel and the dev. In relation
to this error, is that if you click:
Closed w/No Bids and Reserve Not Met

You are shown the following title:
Closed Listings

While not incorrect, if the above change is made, it would probably be best that this one was changed to something like "Closed Listings with No Bids and Reserved Prices Met";
or something like that. I know I'm nitpicking on this one, but I just thought I would mention it, because it would take literally seconds to fix and would make things clearer for everyone.


General Bug 2:
-------------------------------
Although, I believe that this problem exists with all browsers;
I have only confirmed that it occurs on Firefox at this point.


When inserting a link in an auction listing, although the pop-up
lets you insert a link, when you click OK, the "hyperlink options"
pop-up box, does not close, most of the time. Even if it does
close, then when you click the next button on the listings
page; your link is changed to some kind of JavaScript like:
javascript:void(0);/*1267676666992*/

If you go back and try to fix the hyperlink; you will notice
what I described in the URL form in the pop-up "link" box.
At this point, if you change the URL, your changes stick;
and are not transformed into some broken JavaScript.

This behavior is shown in the following picture:



I know these posts end up being ridiculously long;
but I hope this helps GameGavel in someway

[GameGavel]

I am looking at all this and things will be addressed as soon as we can get to them

My dev is running Firefox as well, and has mentioned on some of the browser issues he is not able to replicate some of the problems you are having.

[Troglodyte]

I am looking at all this and things will be addressed as soon as we can get to them
My dev is running Firefox as well, and has mentioned on some of the browser issues
he is not able to replicate some of the problems you are having.

OK... no problem.
Not in a rush or anything. I've found ways to work around the issues so far...
some are just kind of annoying / make posting items more difficult.

Just let me know if you / the dev ends up needing more information on how to reproduce these problems. I'm pretty sure it's not just me... I have experienced at least some of the problems on another computer I use as well. I admit some of these problems could be difficult to recreate though. Technically, the issues mentioned about the Firebug and Internet Explorer errors arent exactly issues in-it-of-themselves; they were just an observation that could be pointing to part of the underlying problem(s). Most people aren't ever going to be running these types of debugging software in the background while using the site. I'm just the crazy one

Anyway, much appreciated.


EDIT:
Quick Question:
Why is it that when I click the login link on the front page; that I am directed to:
https://www.chasethechuckwagon.com/member_login.cgi

Is the server's secure certificate held the chasethechuckwagon domain or is there another reason?
Just curious if this was intentional or a simple oversight.

This could be related to the timeout cookie problem in some way; but maybe not.
I'm not sure if you answered this is the other thread before here:

It's because of the secure side. Cookies are only stored with one side after
logging in. When you go to the secure side it is a different web address.

But I thought you meant http://www.gamegavel.com (or http://gamegavel.com) vs
https://www.gamegavel.com (or https://gamegavel.com), and not the chasethechuckwagon domain.