IE Commenting Error

My apologies to Internet Explorer users unable to sign in through TypeKey.

Recently I noticed, while doing some design work (the only time I use IE; because IE is notoriously not standards-compliant), I noticed that a Run Time error occurred after signing into a post through Internet Explorer.  After signing in at TypeKey, the user would be redirected back to the entry, but a Run Time error would display in a system pop-up box.  I left a help query at the Movable Type Community Forum — generally, a desert without oases — but have not received any feedback.

Today, I began working on another design issue (linking the banner at the top of pages to the main page of D5GW) and discovered another IE issue:  now, signing in through TypeKey does not work at all!  After clicking on the sign-in link, the page reloads without actually signing the user in.  I tried clearing my IE cookies; this caused the TypeKey page to load, where I could sign in, but the redirect back to the page reloads the page with the sign-in link without signing the user in.  Another MT user has had this exact problem.  When I first read of his problem, I was still able to sign in at D5GW through TypeKey with IE.  But no longer.

These issues suggest to me that TypeKey may have altered its routines for handling the sign-in process — particularly since, as with the other user, nothing has been changed (that I know) on D5GW that would cause this problem.  Perhaps TypeKey’s method of sending sign-on information or creating it is not entirely compatible with IE?  (I use version 6.0.x of IE.)  On the other hand, perhaps certain settings within IE cause the problem, and changes at TypeKey or with MT itself in 3.34 are now conflicting.  Dunno.  The other MT user actually has a much older version of MT (version 3.16) and had not changed anything before the error began occurring — so, it’s probably TypeKey.

The Yankees fan found one solution —

That solution may not be ideal for everyone; but isn’t it about time to join the future?

Another solution would be a plugin I recently found which would allow an on-site registration and login features run through this site rather than the ‘global’ TypeKey registration: CommentRegistration at MT-Hacks.  This would mean that anyone wishing to comment would need to first register on-site with D5GW.

Yet another plugin I’ve recently found at MT-Hacks would mask the MT commenting script’s name while, in theory, stopping spammers before their attempted comments could even reach the MT application:  Spam Firewall.  Perhaps this could allow commenting without registration with authentication services local or global.  Either way, this plugin, if it works as well and as smoothly as advertised, would also alleviate some of the burden on the server that spam-plus-MT causes.

I’m leery of using new plugins after the recent MT/FastCGI bugaboos.  However, I simply cannot handle the massive loads of spam that would hit the site if I removed comment registration altogether without finding alternative methods for limiting comment spam.

Of course, a solution to the current problem might come from TypeKey or the MT Community Forum.  I’ll keep you posted.


UPDATE 4-7-07:  Problem solved, I think. At least, I’ve been able to sign in through TypeKey with IE and leave a test comment. A simple removal of “www” from the MT configuration file for the CGIPath fixed it. Anyone using IE and still experiencing problems should drop me an email; thanks!