I've just installed MiniBB and am testing it before releasing it to my group. I discover that the Logout or Sign Out links don't consistently work. I have tried logging in using Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. With Safari it seems to work. But with the other two browsers, if I click on Logout or Sign Out (they both lead to index.php?mode=logout) nothing changes. The page still says that I am logged in. However, if I try to access my profile it says "I can't do this". But I can still post messages even though I am supposed to be logged out.

I have done some customization but I have not changed the code in index.php.

I just checked again. Even though the web page said I was logged in after I logged out, the posting I did appeared as "Guest" rather than under the Username -- so I guess I was logged out, even though the page was not refreshed to the start.

What web server are you on?

Is it localhost or public?

There could be two common reasons for the problem you described:

1. Make sure the domain you have installed miniBB on, either starts with www or non-www. They are actually two different domains, you should have the only one available. If you are logged on www, but the $main_url is set to non-www, or otherwise, you woudn't be able to logout. Another way to avoid it is setting $cookiedomain to ".yourdomain.com" i.e. your domain starting with the dot. But having only one active domain is preferred.

2. Caching issues. Your server may cache every page you visit, and when you are logged in, it also caches this. In this case, try to hard-refresh the page (holding Shift on Windows, for example). If it doesn't help, contact your hoster or refer to server's configuration for switching off caching of dynamic PHP scripts (leave only CSS and JavaScript).

Paul
Thanks for the quick reply. Seems to be a caching issue. The hard-refresh sends me back to the start page, no longer making it look like I am still signed in. A regular refresh does not help, since I guess it just refreshes the generated HTML rather then rerunning the PHP. Am I right? I am surprised that this seems to be browser specific.

So, I uncommented $metalocation='go', in setup_options.php and the problem is solved. If it is a server issue, I don't understand why Safari could handle it without $metalocation, but Firefox couldn't. Anyway, it works now.

Yes, you could be right. Depending on caching algorithms, each browser could interpret it differently.

But am I also right — here on miniBB forum you could login/logout with no problem in Firefox? Here we have installed 100% the similar software version as you've got in Downloads. If so, it seems to be surely your server's issue, at first.

That's fine you've solved it with the $metaLocation option, but it was designed for a different purpose 😉

Yes, if I log into miniBB forum with Firefox, and when I log out, it returns to the same page. So, server issue. My installation might not be up-to-date -- I did not install it from the download. My hosting site offers a "Softaculous" wizard for installing software, and I got miniBB from their offerings. The date on the setup_options.php file is 2023-03-22. Can I update the software without having to start from scratch?

To save you trouble, I'd suggest that you install the newest version directly from this site.

That's obviously an outdated version. Btw, what version it is?

If you have an FTP access to your server/website, it is with no doubt better to install miniBB manually, having the most up-to-date version from our website, or the Compiler's version.

I'm sure it's quite possible. Follow the Updates History from top to bottom from your version, each file change is documented.

I'm also offering paid service for upgrading, basically it could take 1-3 business days (depends on your customizations amount and installed add-ons).