Can't visit Carl's forum anymore without going through a CAPTCHA

[MrsFlynn]

I'm not sure what intro you're referring to. Are you talking about the Captcha prompt, when trying to sign into the forum?  It sounds like it's occurring each time you try to login?

We're trying to get more details on this issue. Can you tell us what browser you're using? What type of device are you using - pc, phone or table etc? What link do you use to log into the forum?

For example I use Firefox 94.0.2 on PC and use this link to log into the forum - https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/

So, my question is, do I have to change something to get rid of that intro?  I find it very annoying to have to do that each time I want to come to the forum. It won't stop me from coming in here, but still annoying, lol.

[Carl]

It really could be an issue if it is redirecting old bookmarks or something from http to https... The site and cloudflare both want to do this automatically anyway. If anyone is using bookmarks, you might be able to make a new one and have a better result.

[scoed]

The issue seems to have resolved itself on my end. Hasn't happened in a week.

[jesslc]

This happened to me again today. It's also happened to me a number of times before but I don't remember exactly when.

I think the theory about it being related to using multiple/different browsers probably has something to it. Last night I was accessing the forum on my pc and this afternoon when I tried to access the forum with my phone's web browser, it wanted me to do the captcha thing. They are both on the same internet connection so that can't be a factor. The PC browser was Chrome & the phone browser is the default Samsung Internet that came with it. On my PC it was a tab I already had open from earlier/last week. On the phone my samsung internet home page displays recent most visited sites and it was one of them that I clicked.

I know I've got to the forum via this same "most visited sites" thing in the phone browser without the captcha plenty of times before. Pretty sure I have actually got here without a captcha from the exact same one that I clicked today actually, but it's hard to be 100% certain of that. (There are about 3 or 4 for this forum in my most visited sites at the moment).

Just tested it by opening a new tab in this same phone browser - I clicked (what I'm pretty sure was) the exact same most visited sites link as earlier today and was taken to the challenge forum with no issues or captcha. (That's the same subforum as I landed after the captcha this afternoon).

[oshizu]

I'm still having this issue.  I only visit the forum on my computer using Google Chrome.
Every day, I run into the CAPTCHA at least once.
Today, it's been an hour since I logged into the forum, and I've done the CAPTCHA verification twice already.

If I don't get it before logging in, I get it when I click on a Mention under the Profile section, click on a link in a thread (even a thread I created myself), or click on the "Carls Sims 4 Guide" link in the top left corner of the forum page.
I did try changing my browser bookmarks to the https prefix, as suggested above.
The only improvement these days is that I no longer get the infinite CAPTCHA verification loop.

[scoed]

Never mind it is back. I can't figure out what is causing it.

[Saltypaws]

MrsFlynn, yes, I am still getting the captcha first.  I might go ahead and change to firefox, because this Microsoft edge is not good.  Will see what happens and will let you know. Thanks.

[MrsFlynn]

Carl is still looking into this issue. Meanwhile there are browser extensions that supposedly help with this issue:

For Chrome:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-pass/ajhmfdgkijocedmfjonnpjfojldioehi

For FireFox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-pass/

We can't guarantee the extensions will help with the captcha prompt issue, but it's worth looking into it.

If you try it, please let us know how it's working for you.

[Saltypaws]

Nothing seems to be working for this issue.  I guess I will just continue counting the stupid buses, lol.  I tried different browsers and everything that has been mentioned.  Oh well, it is what it is.  Merry Christmas to all and be safe.

[jesslc]

I didn't encounter the captcha for a while but I had it again yesterday. I am using exactly the same browsers and links that I have been using to reach the forum before and this is the first time I have encountered the captcha in at least several weeks. (And I have been here multiple times during those weeks).

It's not a big deal for me to encounter it occasionally like this but I thought I'd report it again in case any of this info is helpful to you.

After doing the captcha and getting to the forum, it almost tried to make me do it again with the next forum link I clicked. (I clicked on My messages). I thought it was going to bring up the captcha again as it did the "please wait we are checking your browser" thing but after a few moments of that, it didn't pop up the captcha like it did the first time. Instead the page just ended up redirecting to My Messages. But after that one I clicked on more links within the forum with no hint of the captcha or please wait page again thus far.

I don’t know if that means anything, but I thought it was interesting. I guess it somehow worked out that I had already done the captcha, thought I don't know why it needed to show me the please wait we are checking your browser bit. In the past couple of weeks where I didn't see the captcha once, I didn't see even a hint of the please wait part either.

Another thing I have remembered is that I'm pretty sure I've only ever encountered the captcha when using my phone browser, never when checking the forum on my PC.

[scoed]

I too had the issue for the first time in a while. Not a huge deal.

[MrsFlynn]

Thank you Jess and Scoed for the update. I have contacted Carl to see if there's an update on the site end of things.

[Deklitch]

This has just happened to me for the first time ever.

I do notice that my computer is telling me it needs to apply updates, it didn't give that indication to me yesterday. (so not sure if that's the issue or not)

After work (on my gaming computer at moment, which doubles as my work computer when I'm forced to work from my home study (as opposed to my home office)) I will apply updates and see if that makes a difference ... I also have my computer set up as never log out from Carl's site (some things are just TOO important to close down) and get that same screen that sdhoey showed. Oh yeah, it is currently Google Chrome browser with the duck duck go search engine. I just tried opening the Carl's site with Firefox, without a trouble. But on that one, I just clicked on a 'most visited sites' icon, and not typed it into the search bar as I had to with Google Chrome, tried typing it into firefox with duck duck go search engine, no captcha screen.

[jesslc]

I had the captcha again this morning. Same phone browser as before. I didn't click a link this time, I had a forum page open in a background tab of the phone browser from the other day. Looking at that tab again was fine but when I clicked a link on the page to go to a different part of the forum, then it gave me the captcha.

No captcha yesterday or on any of the days since I last posted in this thread. (Same phone or PC browsers, same links or previously opened tabs as usual). I also have it set to be permanently logged in, if that might be relevant - both in the phone browser and on my PC.

[Simsual]

I've also had this happening. I had taken a break from TS4 sometime back in June 2021, came back this past December and noticed I was getting the CAPTCHA thing every time I visited one of Carl's guides. I thought it was just the website so I didn't worry about it. Now, on the forum, I can't open a thread or forum section in a new tab without having to redo the CAPTCHA all over again.

I'm using Brave Browser, I've shields down, I've disabled Adblock Plus, and it's still happening. I do not have any other browsers - I refuse to use Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. I do not run a VPN.