Can't Post In Mac Support...?

[Dribblingwreck]

Hi, I'm new. Please be gentle.

Got a problem with posting in the official Mac Support area. I click on the box (below) but nothing comes out when I type.



I have used this forum before but suddenly I can't get it to respond.

After I deleted all my cookies, Safari has been acting slow. I didn't mean to do this but there was a site that kept on sending me notifications after I accidentally agreed to recieving updates. I only found out afterwards that I can select a particular website to remove it's cookies. Since the start, having only cookies from websites I visit checked on in the Safari preferences meant everything ran fine. Now I have that selected still but everything runs slow and I can't post to the official Mac support.

 

[IWT]

Welcome to Mac-Forums.

Deleting all your cookies, means that:

Safari has to create a history & cache for each site you visit - so it takes longer.

You will have to sign in (log in) to all the sites which previously retained cookies on your Mac as a means of identifying you. In other words, automatic log-ins don't happen.

This may be the case with the Apple Support Communities.

Some sites like Facebook can be a real pain because FB thinks you are signing in from a previously unknown device. Security questions, identifying photos of friends and so on.

Ian

 

[Dribblingwreck]

I realise that and all other sites I have visited since (such as FB) now work fine after a slight hiccup starting up again - but I simply cannot reply to any of my support threads after logging on. Sorry to be talking about one forum inside another, but I'm a bit desperate because I was undergoing some help there and now I can't take it the next step. I can't find any way to contact the people who run the site to inform them of this problem. I've looked and looked. I've found apple help by chat. Now this worked last month but now it keeps telling me I'm in a country outside the United States. I am, but I cannot find any way to access this for UK, as I did last month. Trying to change my country just takes me back through to the opening page and when I try to access the chat help, I'm in exactly the same place again. It's like some hideous hall of mirrors from which there is no escape. What should I do?

 

[IWT]

Don't worry about discussing one forum within another. We are here to help and we are not actually discussing "another forum" in terms of its merits, but in relation to a Member not being able to access a site.

I live in the UK and from here the URL is: https://discussions.apple.com/welcome

The opening page includes includes a Login.

There is another UK URL which includes "Chat" and a link to Apple Support Communities: https://www.apple.com/uk/support/

I don't want to pry, but I presume you are UK based?

Ian

 

[Dribblingwreck]

Thank you, IWT. Yes, I am in the UK.

In the end, I was left with no viable choice but to ring the 0800 Apple number. They were very helpful. The guy confidently went through the standard troubleshooting proceedures and through ARS, we deleted many cached items. At the end of this, he was scratching his head and had to admit that he was stumped, too. He went to consult with a colleague because my screen was appearing very different to how it normally should appear. Then, by chance, as we were discussing the relationship between history and cookies, I suddenly realised I was browsing in private mode. I opened a normal Safari window and suddenly IT WORKED!

So that's it! A very simple solution to what seemed like a complex problem: You may browse but, if you try to USE the Apple Support Communities in a PRIVATE Safari window, it will NOT work. Simple as that. The editing window is stripped of formatting, typing is not possible and several of the links are inactive.

The call was, I believe, toll free and Apple Support stuck it to the end - and helped me solve a couple of other minor, but nagging issues I'd been having. You can't say fairer than that. I'm very pleased.

 

[IWT]

Well done!

I should have thought of that because the main purpose of Private Browsing is not to leave a History Trail and many (perhaps all?) sites won't or can't let you login as they don't "recognise" you.

A good message for others.

Ian