navigating 'back' or 'forward', directed to the 'Third Birthday' page

July 19, 2002 12:32 AM

Using IE5.0, navigating 'back' or 'forward' to homepage results in being directed to the 'Third Birthday' page. Crazy frustrating. Am I the only one?
posted by glennie to Bugs at 12:32 AM (19 comments total)

weird. you're on a pc? Others have reported it. If I can recreate it, I'll look into fixing it.

It is possible to navigate the entire site without the back button, though.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:38 AM on July 19, 2002

Yes, Matt, I'm on a PC.
Navigating from the top bar works fine until I leave the site via FPP link. The rest of the site is navigable using my standard routine (click, back, click, click). It's only the homepage that redirects me to that nefariously delightful page. The strange thing is, if I plug in the URL for said page manually, I get the MeFi homepage.

Did that make sense?
posted by glennie at 1:17 AM on July 19, 2002

I got the same behaviour (also using Win/IE5).
posted by sylloge at 2:44 AM on July 19, 2002

My first answer would be to empty your cache. [Please forgive me if I'm stating the obvious.]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 6:15 AM on July 19, 2002

the obvious is the best answer. learn to operate your software people. sheesh.
posted by quonsar at 6:20 AM on July 19, 2002

It seems like half the time I click Back, I end up on what seems to be a porn site for amnesiacs, "Memories of Mammaries" or something. What's up with this?
posted by pracowity at 6:51 AM on July 19, 2002

thanks for the mammaries!
posted by quonsar at 7:32 AM on July 19, 2002

What worked for me (after I stopped crying over being "sheeshed" at) was to open up the Temporary Internet Files folder (in the Windows folder) and delete all the ones dealing with Happy 3rd Birthday Metafilter. Apparently they were mugging all the other Metafilter files in an effort to be heard.
posted by JanetLand at 8:15 AM on July 19, 2002

hmm. I don't understand how or why this is happening, it shouldn't require anyone to flush their browser cache, but I'll check today on one system that is running IE 5/pc and see how it reacts.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:20 AM on July 19, 2002

and one can control the behavior of the browser with regard to the cache by going to Tools | Internet Options, clicking the Settings button under Temporary Internet Files and selecting an option. "Every time you visit the page" will avoid the cache altogether. "Each time I start IE" will only use the cache if you have already visited the page in the current browser session. only god and gates know what "Always" and "Never" do and how they differ from the other options.
posted by quonsar at 8:23 AM on July 19, 2002

Shhh. I'm hiding in here from all the Flash and the bunnies. Don't tell anyone.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:15 AM on July 19, 2002

quansar: I trust it will shock you that the no-brainer solution you offered could be anything but gospel, but I did think of that (sheesh, indeed!). All IE content, all temporary internet files, and being broadband, my browser is set to refresh at every visit. So there!
posted by glennie at 10:23 AM on July 19, 2002

..and what the hell precipitated this rabbit-fest?
posted by glennie at 10:26 AM on July 19, 2002

...and thank you, monju.
posted by glennie at 10:44 AM on July 19, 2002

Mathowie: change the birthday page to something else to see if it's a cache thang?
posted by holloway at 4:11 PM on July 19, 2002

glennie - is it possible your ISP is routing you through a proxy server? They may be caching it even if you aren't. Have you tried a forced refresh?

Have you tried sacrificing a goat? I don't know why, but sometimes that helps too.
posted by willnot at 4:36 PM on July 19, 2002

Holloway, you're always right about these things.

ok, I changed the birthday page, you IE 5 guys still see it?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:54 PM on July 19, 2002

Thanks alot, Matt.
Got a white screen with text: 'test'
Hmmm....
posted by glennie at 11:46 PM on July 19, 2002

Yay! It's fixed.
Thank you for your generous attention, Matt!
posted by glennie at 8:36 PM on July 20, 2002