TOPIC:

I am using Firefox (current) on a Mac running OS X (current). Whenever I try to login to my local chapter site, I get a message to enable cookies; however, cookies are enabled. What can I do???

Third Party and Session cookies need to be enabled.

What do you have your privacy settings set to?

The code literally tries to set a test cookie to determine whether to show that message or not.
Something is blocking the code from saving a cookie...
Could be browser settings or maybe your security software, also. (Norton, McAfee, etc.)

Thanks Brian and Steve!

I've played with third party cookies and my privacy settings and wasn't able to fix the problem.

I will look into the possibility of something blocking the cookie... that could be it.

The weird thing is, I had no problems for several months, then all of a sudden I can't log in and get these messages about cookies. I can't recall making any changes to anything on my computer in the last week. It's very strange!

I added the cookie message a couple of months ago as a quick and informative diagnostic message since we were getting a number of issues with cookies and member logins. It is not supposed to stop the login process... However, it does let you know that you may have issues with the login process not working as intended. The cookie is used as a way to have the system "remember" that you are logged in. If it cannot set a cookie, it will either seem like you never logged in or it will seem like the login was "forgotten" with each screen refresh. Therefore, even if your login was successful, unless the cookie was properly set, the system will act like your login was unsuccessful.

Troubleshooting:

1. You may try resetting your browser settings to factory defaults, disable all add-ons, then setting your privacy/cookie settings to see if that allows you to login. If that helps, then you can starting adding settings and add-ons back in incrementally to determine if there is a conflict.

2. *Temporarily* disable your security software to see if that makes a difference with the login. If yes, then you know it is something with your security software. Make sure you remember to re-enable it promptly after this check.

3. Make sure that you pay attention to "exceptions" in your browser and security software. For example, in IE11 (which I use), you can set it to always allow cookies (and/or popups) for certain websites and domains. Setting up exceptions for privacy/security varies by browser and security software so you may need to dig a bit to find how to do that.

That explains why at one point I was sure I had logged in successfully, but as soon as I clicked on anything in the member area, I found that I wasn't logged in.

I wasn't able to tackle the problem over the holidays, then found that my password was rejected, so I created a new password and now I have no problems. (I thought I tried that before, but didn't take notes on my attempts, so I'm not certain.) With the holidays and the passage of time, it's hard to know what worked for sure, but your information was helpful.

Thanks,
Susan