Home

Having trouble logging in?

Occassionally users report having trouble logging in to the members' area of this site. If you are able to login with your correct username and password, but your login isn't "sticking" then the problem is probably related to your firewall or Web filtering software settings. Some firewalls and Web filtering software block HTTP_REFERER info by default. This prevents your Web browser from sending referer information between pages, and this referer information is required as part of the authorization scheme at this site... to keep you logged in.

How referer information works: When you click to a new Web page, your browser notes the current page that you are on and it sends that information to the server of the new Web page. This way the server of the new Web page knows which page you viewed last. If you block referer information, the server of the page you are requesting will not know what page you came from.

By default, some firewall and Web filtering software (like Norton Internet Security [NIS], Norton Personal Firewall [NPF] and Zone Alarm) block this referer information. In order to allow referer information to pass to a particular Website, you must create a rule for it.

Suggestions:

  • Disable WebWasher Standard Filter/URL Filter
  • Disable any "ad blocking" software
  • Disable any Pop-up blockers

Zone Alarm Pro:

  1. Click Privacy
  2. Click Cookie Control
  3. Click Custom
  4. Uncheck "remove private header information"

Windows XP's Internal Firewall:

  1. Open XP's Control Panel
  2. Double-click Networking and Internet Connections
  3. Select Network Connections
  4. Right-click on the connection to disable, then select Properties
  5. On the Advanced tab, clear the Protect my computer or network checkbox
  6. Press OK

Norton's Firewall:

To create a rule for NIS/NPF 2003:

1. Open NIS or NPF.
2. Click Options.
3. Click Internet Security or Personal Firewall. (This step is not always needed.)
4. Click the Web Content tab.
5. Click Add Site. A new site/domain box appears. Enter the name of the site that you want to receive the referer information and click OK. In this example, it will be www.symantec.com.
   * (You should repeat these steps for both www.cloud9ranch.net and cloud9ranch.net)
6. The site name appears in the left frame of the Options window.
7. Click the name of the new site.
8. Click the Global Settings tab.
9. In the "Information about visited sites" section, uncheck "Use default settings".
10. Click Permit.

Screen shot of NIS/NPF 2003:



11. Click OK to close the Options window.

Symantec's instructions for In NIS/NPF 2004:

How to pass referer info to specific Websites in Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall 2003 and 2004:

To create a rule
  1. Open NIS or NPF.
  2. Do one of the following.
    • In NIS/NPF 2003, click Options > Internet Security or Personal Firewall (This step is not always needed), and then click the Web Content tab.
    • In NIS/NPF 2004, double-click Privacy Control, and then click Advanced.
  3. Click Add Site. A new site/domain box appears.
  4. Enter the name of the site that you want to receive the referrer information and click OK. For this site, it will be www.cloud9ranch.net. The site name appears in the left frame of the Options window.    
    * (You should repeat these steps for both www.cloud9ranch.net and cloud9ranch.net)
  5. Click the name of the new site.
  6. Click the Global Settings tab.
  7. In the "Information about visited sites" section, clear "Use default settings."
  8. Click Permit.
  9. Click OK to close the Options window.

See the Symantec site for more information...

Home