mini cart / cookie problem

General ShopSite user discussion

mini cart / cookie problem

Postby Don Lundell » Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:25 pm

I'm seeing the following problem: If I save some items to my cart,
then come back some hours later to a page with the mini cart, it
shows zero items in the cart (sometimes it does - it's not clear
what triggers the difference). If I go to the supposedly empty
cart page, the previously saved item are still there.

The practical problem is that someone comes back to the store, sees
no items in the cart, maybe adds the items again, goes to the cart, and
he's got the newly added item plus the previous items.

Anyone seen this behavior?

Thanks,

- dc
Don Lundell
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby kory@dancedepot.com » Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:43 am

My site definitely experiences the same problem. It is very random and I
have thus far been able to establish any patterns with which to report to
ShopSite or to troubleshoot on my own. I have verified that the result
occurs on more than one machine as well, tested on both Macs and PC's.

Thanks for bringing this up. I'd love to get to the bottom of it.

Kory

On 10/28/05 2:25 AM, in article
op.szcesoyvhdeb9o@dc-laptop.gateway.2wire.net, "Don Lundell"
<noone@nowhere.com> wrote:

I'm seeing the following problem: If I save some items to my cart,
then come back some hours later to a page with the mini cart, it
shows zero items in the cart (sometimes it does - it's not clear
what triggers the difference). If I go to the supposedly empty
cart page, the previously saved item are still there.

The practical problem is that someone comes back to the store, sees
no items in the cart, maybe adds the items again, goes to the cart, and
he's got the newly added item plus the previous items.

Anyone seen this behavior?

Thanks,

- dc

--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
kory@dancedepot.com
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby kory@dancedepot.com » Fri Oct 28, 2005 6:41 am

Meant to say "not" been able to establish any patterns. Not enough sleep!

On 10/28/05 8:43 AM, in article BF87954D.BE3B%kory@dancedepot.com,
"kory@dancedepot.com" <kory@dancedepot.com> wrote:

My site definitely experiences the same problem. It is very random and I
have thus far been able to establish any patterns with which to report to
ShopSite or to troubleshoot on my own. I have verified that the result
occurs on more than one machine as well, tested on both Macs and PC's.

Thanks for bringing this up. I'd love to get to the bottom of it.

Kory

On 10/28/05 2:25 AM, in article
op.szcesoyvhdeb9o@dc-laptop.gateway.2wire.net, "Don Lundell"
noone@nowhere.com> wrote:


I'm seeing the following problem: If I save some items to my cart,
then come back some hours later to a page with the mini cart, it
shows zero items in the cart (sometimes it does - it's not clear
what triggers the difference). If I go to the supposedly empty
cart page, the previously saved item are still there.

The practical problem is that someone comes back to the store, sees
no items in the cart, maybe adds the items again, goes to the cart, and
he's got the newly added item plus the previous items.

Anyone seen this behavior?

Thanks,

- dc

--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com


--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
kory@dancedepot.com
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:45 am

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that causes
that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not display items.
Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to a store page
that has a different domain name than the shopping cart, going to an
https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the minicart to not show
content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is created so when you
continue shopping the minicart could again contain the items.

If you can find a situation that can cause the problem and it doesn't
involve one of the above please let us know.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
I'm seeing the following problem: If I save some items to my cart,
then come back some hours later to a page with the mini cart, it
shows zero items in the cart (sometimes it does - it's not clear
what triggers the difference). If I go to the supposedly empty
cart page, the previously saved item are still there.

The practical problem is that someone comes back to the store, sees
no items in the cart, maybe adds the items again, goes to the cart, and
he's got the newly added item plus the previous items.

Anyone seen this behavior?

Thanks,

- dc
jim
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby Don Lundell » Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:22 am

On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain the items.

Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc
Don Lundell
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:00 am

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.

Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc
jim
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby kory@dancedepot.com » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:46 am

Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie to $0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
<beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.

Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc

--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
kory@dancedepot.com
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Mon Oct 31, 2005 4:36 pm

The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie to $0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.
Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc

--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
jim
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:01 pm

I was informed by a coworker that the cookie from both http and https at
the same domain should be readable by each other. So there must be some
other difference between the urls that you are going to.

Jim

jim wrote:
The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results
are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess
you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie
to $0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next
question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.
Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items
and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc

-------------- Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
jim
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby kory@dancedepot.com » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:32 pm

Jim -

I tried to run some organized tests and can now report the following bizarre
results.

I followed your steps and in that specific sequence the MiniCart did work.
On my billing page (https...), I can hit "Return to Cart" and then "Continue
Shopping" and yes the MiniCart is still in tact every time.

My next step was to, from my billing page, click on any of the links in my
Footer (Home, Contact Us, FAQ, etc.). The first time I did this the Mini
Cart stayed in tact on the resulting pages. I was ready to conclude this was
not the "trigger" of the problem.

I then moved on to trying all the links in my Header (from the Billing page)
to see if that would present problems, and they too worked. At this point
everything was fine.

I then added a new product to my cart. In the billing page once again, I was
able to backtrack via "Return to Cart" and "Continue Shopping" and the
MiniCart was still in tact. However, at this point on my billing page when I
hit any Footer or Header links, the cart now reported $0.00.

So, when I first began this session, everything worked fine. But when I
added a new item, something changed, and my MiniCart did not work if I
jumped back to a store page using a Header or Footer link from my billing
page. No idea what caused the different result.

As these initial tests were in Safari (Mac OS X), I then tested in Internet
Explorer (still on a Mac at this point). There were no items in my shopping
cart to begin with. I added an item, and from my billing page tested the
Header and Footer links. MiniCart reported $0.00.

Finally, I switched to my PC (Internet Explorer w/ Windows XP Home). I did
have items already in my cart, but here too, from my billing page the
MiniCart reports $0.00 when I select any Header and Footer links.

So, my best summary is that from the billing page when I click on a Header
or Footer link the MiniCart USUALLY reports $0.00, though in the first
sequence of testing it definitely DID report an accurate MiniCart.

Sorry to be lengthy. This is a tricky problem.

I hope this is helpful.

Kory

On 10/31/05 5:36 PM, in article dk6694$upn$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
<beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie to $0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.
Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc

--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com


--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
kory@dancedepot.com
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby Don Lundell » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:07 pm

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 14:36:12 -0800, jim <beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

I'll do a bit of experimentation and see if it's the http vs. https issue
(I enter and exit the store all kinds of ways, many times a day in adding
new features, re-design, etc.).

Thanks.

- dc
Don Lundell
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby Don Lundell » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:08 pm

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:01:16 -0800, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

I was informed by a coworker that the cookie from both http and https at
the same domain should be readable by each other. So there must be some
other difference between the urls that you are going to.

ok. I'll see if I can characterize the behavior.

Thanks,

- dc
Don Lundell
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:53 pm

Are you trying this on www.dancedepot.com? I was able to recreate the
problem when clicking on the Home link at the bottom of the billing
screen. I did notice that when I went to the billing page I got an
alert about secure and non-secure items on the page and that it was
waiting on something from s21.sitemeter.com. So maybe it is the
sitemeter stuff that is interfering with the ability to read the cookie
when you get back to a store page.

Jim


kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Jim -

I tried to run some organized tests and can now report the following bizarre
results.

I followed your steps and in that specific sequence the MiniCart did work.
On my billing page (https...), I can hit "Return to Cart" and then "Continue
Shopping" and yes the MiniCart is still in tact every time.

My next step was to, from my billing page, click on any of the links in my
Footer (Home, Contact Us, FAQ, etc.). The first time I did this the Mini
Cart stayed in tact on the resulting pages. I was ready to conclude this was
not the "trigger" of the problem.

I then moved on to trying all the links in my Header (from the Billing page)
to see if that would present problems, and they too worked. At this point
everything was fine.

I then added a new product to my cart. In the billing page once again, I was
able to backtrack via "Return to Cart" and "Continue Shopping" and the
MiniCart was still in tact. However, at this point on my billing page when I
hit any Footer or Header links, the cart now reported $0.00.

So, when I first began this session, everything worked fine. But when I
added a new item, something changed, and my MiniCart did not work if I
jumped back to a store page using a Header or Footer link from my billing
page. No idea what caused the different result.

As these initial tests were in Safari (Mac OS X), I then tested in Internet
Explorer (still on a Mac at this point). There were no items in my shopping
cart to begin with. I added an item, and from my billing page tested the
Header and Footer links. MiniCart reported $0.00.

Finally, I switched to my PC (Internet Explorer w/ Windows XP Home). I did
have items already in my cart, but here too, from my billing page the
MiniCart reports $0.00 when I select any Header and Footer links.

So, my best summary is that from the billing page when I click on a Header
or Footer link the MiniCart USUALLY reports $0.00, though in the first
sequence of testing it definitely DID report an accurate MiniCart.

Sorry to be lengthy. This is a tricky problem.

I hope this is helpful.

Kory

On 10/31/05 5:36 PM, in article dk6694$upn$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie to $0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.
Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc
--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com


--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
jim
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby kory@dancedepot.com » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:47 am

Yes - on www.dancedepot.com.

Thanks for the tip on non-secure images. I'll clear that up.

Can you describe the SiteMeter alert you received? I hadn't seen/heard any
problem on my site with that.

Thanks,

Kory

On 10/31/05 11:53 PM, in article dk6sbg$8qu$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
<jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

Are you trying this on www.dancedepot.com? I was able to recreate the
problem when clicking on the Home link at the bottom of the billing
screen. I did notice that when I went to the billing page I got an
alert about secure and non-secure items on the page and that it was
waiting on something from s21.sitemeter.com. So maybe it is the
sitemeter stuff that is interfering with the ability to read the cookie
when you get back to a store page.

Jim


kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Jim -

I tried to run some organized tests and can now report the following bizarre
results.

I followed your steps and in that specific sequence the MiniCart did work.
On my billing page (https...), I can hit "Return to Cart" and then "Continue
Shopping" and yes the MiniCart is still in tact every time.

My next step was to, from my billing page, click on any of the links in my
Footer (Home, Contact Us, FAQ, etc.). The first time I did this the Mini
Cart stayed in tact on the resulting pages. I was ready to conclude this was
not the "trigger" of the problem.

I then moved on to trying all the links in my Header (from the Billing page)
to see if that would present problems, and they too worked. At this point
everything was fine.

I then added a new product to my cart. In the billing page once again, I was
able to backtrack via "Return to Cart" and "Continue Shopping" and the
MiniCart was still in tact. However, at this point on my billing page when I
hit any Footer or Header links, the cart now reported $0.00.

So, when I first began this session, everything worked fine. But when I
added a new item, something changed, and my MiniCart did not work if I
jumped back to a store page using a Header or Footer link from my billing
page. No idea what caused the different result.

As these initial tests were in Safari (Mac OS X), I then tested in Internet
Explorer (still on a Mac at this point). There were no items in my shopping
cart to begin with. I added an item, and from my billing page tested the
Header and Footer links. MiniCart reported $0.00.

Finally, I switched to my PC (Internet Explorer w/ Windows XP Home). I did
have items already in my cart, but here too, from my billing page the
MiniCart reports $0.00 when I select any Header and Footer links.

So, my best summary is that from the billing page when I click on a Header
or Footer link the MiniCart USUALLY reports $0.00, though in the first
sequence of testing it definitely DID report an accurate MiniCart.

Sorry to be lengthy. This is a tricky problem.

I hope this is helpful.

Kory

On 10/31/05 5:36 PM, in article dk6694$upn$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

The cookie for the mini cart (ss_cart_<store serial number>) is not
cleared when going to the billing screen but it cannot be read from that
screen. This is because a cookie can only be read by the domain where
it was created and https://domain is a different domain than
http://domain. If browers were allowed to read and write cookies for
any domain it would be a huge security risk.

How are you getting back to the store page from the billing screen? On
my store there is a button from the billing screen back to the shopping
cart screen and then a button that takes me back to the store pages.
When I take this route the minicart on the store page has the correct
values.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Thanks for the information. This is helping me understand. My results are:

Add items in Store Pages (http://www.domain.com).
View Cart (still http://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart is accurate.
View Cart but then move on to Billing Page (now https://www.domain.com).
Back to Store Pages - MiniCart now shows $0.00.

I can then view my cart and the items are still included, but I guess
you're
saying that when I viewed the https Billing Page, it reset the cookie to
$0.

So if my understanding of this is now correct, I guess my next question is
"Is this avoidable?". It would be nice to save the MiniCart content no
matter where the customer visits.

Thanks again!

On 10/31/05 12:00 PM, in article dk5iit$i75$1@eval.shopsite.com, "jim"
beeutahful@gmail.com> wrote:

A couple of simple examples. 1. You have some process or setting that
automatically clears cookies when you close the browser. 2. You go to
the store page at www.domain.com but the cart is at domain.com. The
browser sees those as two different domains so the cart cookie isn't
recognized.

Jim

Don Lundell wrote:
On Sat, 29 Oct 2005 08:45:44 -0700, jim <jstavast@xmission.com> wrote:

The minicart relies on a cookie on the browser, so anything that
causes that cookie to be invalid would cause the minicart to not
display items. Things such as disabling or removing cookies, going to
a store page that has a different domain name than the shopping
cart, going to an https: vs http: url, etc would all cause the
minicart to not show content. If you go to the cart a new cookie is
created so when you continue shopping the minicart could again contain
the items.
Hi Jim,

Can you explain why the cart would show the previously-added items and
the
mini-cart wouldn't?

Sequence:

- add an item to the cart
- do some other stuff (not sure exactly what the trigger is)
- back to the store, mini-cart doesn't show the items
- view cart; items not showing in mini-cart display in the regular cart

Thanks,

- dc
--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com


--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com


--------------
Kory Barrett
Dance Depot ­ Performance Dancewear at Discount Prices!!!
kory@dancedepot.com
http://www.dancedepot.com
kory@dancedepot.com
 

Re: mini cart / cookie problem

Postby jim » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:14 am

I have my browser (Mozilla) set to warn when being redirected from a
secure to non secure site. The warning that I saw was this warning. I
saw the reference to sitemeter in the bottom frame of the window where
it displays the url to which a link points. I think it is pulling some
javascript code from sitemeters site via a non-secure url.

Jim

kory@dancedepot.com wrote:
Yes - on www.dancedepot.com.

Thanks for the tip on non-secure images. I'll clear that up.

Can you describe the SiteMeter alert you received? I hadn't seen/heard any
problem on my site with that.

Thanks,

Kory
jim
 


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