While reviewing one of our stake's Newsletter articles, I was frustrated to find that I was being unexpectedly signed out from LDS.org. I eventually determined that the situation that causes this is very simple:
If a Newsletter article contains a link to any content on http://LDS.org, following that link to the content will sign you out from LDS.org.
It's quite common for a Newsletter article to link to a general conference talk, an Ensign article, or many other kinds of content on LDS.org. This problem makes it very inconvenient for anyone who is reading an article on Newsletter with links to LDS.org. Each time you follow a link, you are signed out, which means that the Notebook and Journal features for that linked content are not available to you unless you sign in again, and if you try to use the browser's Back button to return to the Newsletter article, you have to sign in again just to continue reading the article.
I have tried this with multiple browsers, multiple computers, and multiple user accounts. The problem happens every time. Links to content on sites other than LDS.org have no such problem; you are still signed in to LDS.org if you click Back to return to the Newsletter article.
UPDATE: It turns out that it has nothing to do with Newsletter. Actually, the problem is that the links to LDS.org content in this article all used HTTP, rather than HTTPS. When you are signed in to LDS.org but use any HTTP link on LDS.org, you do get signed out. The same thing would happen if you used a bookmark to access http://lds.org
Following links to LDS.org signs you out
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aebrown
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Following links to LDS.org signs you out
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
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zaneclark
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aebrown
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As long as you make sure that you use HTTPS in the links, it works fine.zaneclark wrote:Good catch! I am testing the newsletter before I attempt to "sell" it to the ward and will avoid using links to LDS.org until this is corrected....
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
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russellhltn
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aebrown wrote:UPDATE: It turns out that it has nothing to do with Newsletter. Actually, the problem is that the links to LDS.org content in this article all used HTTP, rather than HTTPS. When you are signed in to LDS.org but use any HTTP link on LDS.org, you do get signed out. The same thing would happen if you used a bookmark to access http://lds.org
Are you really signed out or do you just have to switch back to https?
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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aebrown
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aebrown
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Re: Following links to LDS.org signs you out
Just to close the loop on this, I happened across this post from about 16 months ago, which directly addresses this question:
matthewehle wrote:I'm glad you found that your issue came from the crossover from HTTPS to HTTP. I was partially responsible for implementing that security change.... The session loss when going to HTTP is an intentional change that we made earlier this summer, and there are no plans to change it.