Can't access Apple Discussions. Any clue why?

Hello forum. I'm here because, after 20 years of loyal activity, I'm unable to access Apple's official discussion forum. I can access them alright when I'm not logged in but once I am logged in, I get this message:

Looking for something in Apple Support Communities?

The page you tried was not found. You may have used an outdated link or may have typed the address (URL) incorrectly.

Please visit the main page of Apple Support Communities for links to discussion areas.

I tried all the household medicine I had: switching browsers, renewing my password, but to no avail. I searched for threads with the same problem, eventually found some but they all end up dry. All of them are quite recent, btw. At the same time, I learned that there is no way to get the least bit of Apple support if you haven't purchased one of their products recently, unless of course you live in a big city with an Apple Store and a Genius Bar. I'm upset and sad.

It can be a pain to find anything on that site. What kind of problem were you researching?

Cannot log into Apple Support Communities

I'll be very interested to hear if anyone comes up with a solution. I cannot login and get to that error page every time I submit what I am sure is my correct Apple ID and password. I have tried with Chrome, Firefox and Safari, completely clearing cache and history.

You are not automatically a member of the Apple Discussion Forums just because you have an Apple ID and password. You need to register with them first and choose a user name and password. Same as you do when joining our forums.

Re: Cannot access apple support communities

Thanks for your reply. Maybe I'm being dense but all I see when I visit Apple Support Communities is the option to sign in with my existing Apple ID or create a new one. When I click to create a new one, it is a registration page to create an Apple ID. What am I missing?

No, you're not missing anything. It's me that's missing something.... ;D They have since changed the way you sign on to their discussion forums. I haven't been there in ages since I'm always busy here. Anyway, it appears you need to use your Apple ID and password in order to sign in. I tried to sign in with mine which I know is good and got an invalid page error. I can only assume the forums are down right now. I'll try again later to see what happens.

I just tried using my Apple ID and password. Got in without any trouble.

@tgodfrey99 Are you using private browsing or do you have cookies blocked? Not sure that is relevant but worth checking.

I just tried to sign in again with my Apple ID and password and it gives me this:

Looking for something in Apple Support Communities?

The page you tried was not found. You may have used an outdated link or may have typed the address (URL) incorrectly.

Please visit the main page of Apple Support Communities for links to discussion areas.

What the heck is going on? The page I went to identifies itself as the Apple Support Communities. Very confusing. BTW, another member reported the same thing.

I just checked it out. I had to create a name for posting but that was it. I am not sure I like the fancy page they have with all the pictures to click. It is a bit confusing. I finally figured out how to get to what I call the forum part.

For the OP - a suggestion - try clearing your browser history and website data. Sometimes the browser will hang onto a website's old page cache and this can cause issues. I see you tried different browsers but it can't hurt.

This could also be a cache issue on Apples end too. If that is the case I don't know who to complain to. We had this issue on our church website. I had to remember to clear the page cache when I made changes or people would see old information even though I had saved the updates.

Lisa

I couldn't log in last week either so I would suspect it's now an issue of the Support Communities being down but something else. I did try totally clearing out browser history and cache with no success. Wish there was a way to Apple to address the issue. I recently bought a new iPhone so I could get through for support. The rep wasn't aware of the issue and said he had no problem logging in on his end. Ugh.

You're not alone. I tried at least 6 times last night to log in to their forums and received the same message as I posted above. I too cleared browsing history, etc, to no avail. The strange thing is that I could access the forums without a problem as a guest but not to be able to log in. I then thought that maybe it was my Apple ID and password which was wrong, however, I was able to log in to the Mac App Store using the same Apple ID and password without a problem.

Which... leads me to believe that the Apple Discussions Forum was having problems from my end.

Losing faith in Apple

I've been an Apple user for so long but I'm quickly losing faith in the company and its products. I don't know if it is a product of them becoming so large and successful or what. The support (except in the stores) is terrible, they are release buggy products (can you say Photos - it's a horrible upgrade from iPhoto). I cannot login to the Apple Support Communities and I'm seeing many users experiencing the same thing. They do seem to prioritize making the parts like iTunes where they take your money, work just fine.

Apple Support and Apple Discussion Forums are two different web sites. The latter is not conducted by Apple. Entry to the Discussions seems to have changed entirely but you can select what you are seeking help with. As Sly says it is a pain:-


https://discussions.apple.com/welcome

I've been having this problem for weeks and Apple Support haven't been any help. I'm getting the same message as the OP. I too can access and browse the Discussion Forums as a guest, but cannot post. I manage a fleet of Macs and the Apple Discussion forums are a useful source of help. Not being able to post is bit inconvenient.

I've tested my account from three different locations on three different computers (two of which had never been used to access the Discussions forums) and get the same error, so that rules out cache issues at the client end. Which leaves a server side problem. Apple's Engineering Support have suggested I use another email address as my Apple ID. Great, I use this for work and I want the subscription notifications in my WORK inbox. I could set up an alias, but that's a lame response from one of the largest tech companies on the planet in my view. What is I had a history of posts stretching back years? I suggested they delete my Apple ID and I recreate it and start again, to which they replied that I was using a TOR network and that they don't support such connections. I'm not sure what they are on about.

Not impressed.

I was finally able to log on using an old userid and password that I created years ago. The log on page asks for your Apple ID and password, but when given comes back with the statement I posted above. Clearly Apple has a problem with their log on procedures. Odd though that it seems to work for some and not others. If any one can figure this one out, please post it to this thread so we can get the word out.

Boy that site sure has changed a lot since I was last there, but just posting to say I could still log in with my username/nickname plus password dots showing thanks to Keychain Access I guess, otherwise I probably wouldn't have guessed correctly right away what my username was. Nor did I see it in my Keychain Access list. Strange!!

Anyway, it worked and unfortunately I still see some of the most arrogant and biggest "Mac" AHs still posting their "knowledge" or whatever it should be called. If they would disappear, it could be a nice useful place to visit I'm sure.