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[Wilson Logan]

Gabe,

Sorry to be slow here, but are you saying there are TWO login screens, one directly after the other?

That would definitely throw PGO.

What I don't get is that  its only you & Michael that are having this trouble. I'd expect everyone in the same geographical location to be affected.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[gfineman]

I first noticed this in November and was one of the reasons why I finally purchased PG Offline so I would not have to change my own vba program to constantly keep up with changes to Yahoo.

If you look at the document in my previous post (found at www.cpposts.com/example/Yahoo_Groups_Asking_for_Login.doc) you will see both screens and the html code behind each.  (Be patient if you see a blank page, it takes a second or so for the image to generate) The first screen shows me as signed in but asking me to push a button to "Sign in to access your groups". Pressing the "Sign In" button brings us the second screen with the text "Why am I being asked for my password" and a new login box with the ID filled in but needing the password.

When this first appeared, the code behind the second login had name="antipishing" but that is now changed to just name="login_form" that goes to "https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?". It appears to me that there is a timer kept of when you last went to groups.yahoo.com (or perhaps just a group) and it is different from the length of sign in option you can adjust (somewhat) under options. That timer is by browser and I usually use Firefox so the one for IE (the one built into the operating system DLL) is never refreshed unless I use IE.  My current work around is to manually go to groups.yahoo.com every night. If I see the button, press it and enter my password. If everything looks fine, then to log out and log back in. If I do not do this, then I will often see PG Offline failing within a day or two.

So, the reason you do not get complaints from most users is that they use Yahoo Groups differently than I do and visit it under IE to post replies (perhaps through PG Offline) or whatever.

However, Yahoo Groups recently hired 5 new programmers and have slots for 5 more (according to their blog) and that is why the search capability has improved and why more changes are coming soon. I would expect improved security to be a part of what they do and all users will soon face timers, counters and other tricks to keep out pishers and spammers.

-Gabe Fineman
Washington, DC

[Wilson Logan]

Hi Gabe,

Are there two images in that .doc file? I see the one with URL:

http://groups.yahoo.com

but not a second one.

Cheers,

Wilson.

[sonex293]

Wilson,

I see two images.  One on page 1 and another on page 14.

--
Michael

[Wilson Logan]

Hi,

Ah, OK, I needed to switch my View in Word to see it.

Can you sign in with a 'Remember me on this machine' option?

Anytime I go to Yahoo I'm not required to login. I expect my Cookie for Yahoo Groups is saved in my browser cache.

If you don't use IE then you should only need to do this once in IE & that should be it. Unless you have some privacy software that periodically deletes your browser's caches ( I think AdAware does this).

Cheers,

Wilson.

[gfineman]

Wilson,
Yes, I always us the remember me check box when it is available. Note that on the second login screen (that I will call the varify screen) , it is not available. I do not have any software that deletes my cookies. Note from my earlier posts that if I fill in the Verify screen using IE, then open a link to groups.yahoo.com with Firefox, the Firefox connection shows no groups and forces me to go to the Varify screen again. Perhaps it keeps a different cookie?

In the past, if I cleared cookies I would get the login screen, but the Verify screen is new.

-Gabe Fineman
Washington, DC

[gfineman]

Wilson,
On re-reading my previous post, I find it confusing. This is because we are using the term 'log-in" for two different screens and for two different reply processes. The second screen, that I now call the Verify Screen, is not really a log in screen because it pre-fills-in the User ID and omits the check box for 'remember me'. Instead it is the same screen used by Yahoo for confirming identify before doing serious things such as changing your profile. What it does is not a log-in but a confirmation.

PG Offline needs to recognize the request for confirmation (the first screen I sent to you) and send back the form so that it can get to the second screen and send back that second form with the password.

Thank you for examining this issue.
-Gabe Fineman
Washington, DC

[Wilson Logan]

Hi Gabe,

I agree.

Cheers,

Wilson.