Problems with posting threads

[Chris D]

I have received word from el Chi that he is currently having problems posting threads.

At this time, we're under the impression that it may be something to do with Starmonkey's recent hack that disables outside referrers from accessing the forum's newthread.php file and posting spoiler threads.

One mini fix we've found that will help most people is to ensure (for the time being) that you're surfing the forums using the following URL: "http://www.halflife2.net/forums". Until SM fixes it later, you will not be able to post on the forums by using our IP address or the "http://halflife2.net/forums" URL as the hack will think you're making a spoiler thread.

However, this hasn't solved the problem for el Chi... Can you all please let me know by posting in this thread if you're having similar problems.

Please don't go running around posting test threads anywhere, but if for whatever reason you encounter any problems, please post here.

At this time, there are no known issues with making normal posts.

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

Damn spoiler-people. They do nothing but cause trouble. /me donates a life to all spoiler-fans.

 

[StarMonkey]

Damn my dodgy vb hacks

As Chris_D said, if you can't post new threads (new threads are the only things affected here), then make sure the url you use for the forums is http://www.halflife2.net/forums and not http://halflife2.net, or the site's IP.

If you still have a problem (you'll get a blank screen when you try to post a thread), then make sure your browser is set to send referrer information - there are extensions for firefox/mozilla/opera etc.. to disable the sending of referrers which will mean you cant post new threads.

 

[Tropico]

Chris i was the one that just sent you an e-mail.
I turned Norton internet security off.
That seemed to be imediate problem solved.
I´ll try to see if it was a config problem with it and HL2.net.

I´m going to use this post for testing if thats ok?

..

 

[Chris D]

As I explained in my last e-mail there is no need for you to investigate what the problem is. We deliberately installed something on the forum that disables people posting unless the forum software can see that you're posting directly from a form at halflife2.net.

However, some firewalls will disable websites sending this information which is why the forums wouldn't let it work. Turning off the firewall will ensure that the information can be sent, but rather than actually turning the firewall off, follow the instructions on this page: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...6bc7005c3bc6/b9b47ad7eddd343b88256c6b006a85a8

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

I had problems posting, it turned out to be my firewall. But I suspect its all connected in a conspiricy kind of way...



*Turning off fire wall.... Posting! *


EDIT: OK OK I'm stupid...... Thanks for that Chris.

 

[-Omegaxvi-]

test cause i cant post

 

[-Omegaxvi-]

nice

great it works when i do the firewall thingy thanks chris

 

[dart321]

testing, 1 2. 1 2 3.

 

[DirtyApe]

tes post. hope this works

 

[DirtyApe]

yup i tried the whole firewall thing it didnt work at all. so ill disable the firewall when im mgoing to post.

 

[FragBait0]

For some stupid reason many firewalls block referer information..I myself can't see why...But it's almost certainly what is causing most people's problems.

Why do you use the site ip and http://halflife2.net URL's to mean that someone is trying to make a spam thread? Possibly someone is accessing by IP because their linux gateway won't resolve hostnames but will happily pass you pages if you give an IP...(happened to me ..not here) or someone is speeding up their forum browsing by not having DNS getting in the way. (can take a while for it to resolve. But don't most thingys cache them?..meh.)
I don't understand why it's going to stop spammers - leave it on for all I care - but an explanation would help those who ARE having problems.

I dunno...it just dosen't make sense to me.

 

[theGreenBunny]

I don't think it's a setting as such. StarMonkey just hacked in some code that checks if the referrer contains "www.halflife2.net" and blocks the posting action if this is not the case.

Could be wrong though.

 

[FragBait0]

Yes....but why does a non www.halflife2.net URL automaticly mean someone is trying to spam?

They just going to post a new thread without even being on the site?

Clever.

 

[StarMonkey]

I don't think it's a setting as such. StarMonkey just hacked in some code that checks if the referrer contains "www.halflife2.net" and blocks the posting action if this is not the case.

Could be wrong though.

That's correct

The spoiler script was posting the form using javascript, so wasn't passing referrer information. I wrote a script to check that the referrer is correct (but I didn't include the IP, or http://halflife2.net because at the time it was just a test to see if it worked).

 

[Ren.182]

testing....