NYTimes.com doesn't recognize subscription in Firefox but does in Safari
I have a paid subscription to NYTimes.com and used it daily for a couple of months. About ten days ago, the website started intermittently telling me I couldn't read without a subscription and now always blocks access when I try to read an article. After several calls to the NYTimes.com tech support, we discovered that Safari does not block access to NYTimes.com while Firefox still does. Tried clearing cache and cookies multiple times without success. I use a Mac but this is also a problem on my Windows laptop where Firefox blocks access but IE8 allows me to read NYTimes.com.
All Replies (8)
Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox (Tools) > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).
- Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
- https://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
You can also try "Reset all user preferences to Firefox defaults" on the Safe mode start window.
Thanks, but this did not solve the problem.
How is that subscription saved?
Is that done via cookies or by other means?
- Create an allow cookie exception (Firefox > Preferences > Privacy > Cookies: Exceptions)
Check that you not run Firefox in permanent Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history mode.
- To see all History and Cookie settings, choose: Firefox > Preferences > Privacy, choose the setting Firefox will: Use custom settings for history
- Uncheck: [ ] "Permanent Private Browsing mode"
Make sure that you allow cookies from the NYT site (Tools > Page Info > Permissions).
Also do not use Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox to clear the "Cookies" and the "Site Preferences"
I'm not sure how the subscription information is saved. The NYT tech support people all wanted me to clear cookies, so apparently they are involved somewhere. I'm not sure if I was clear that this worked fine with Firefox until very recently which seems odd and is why I suspected NYT as the culprit. Also that it is a problem on both my Mac and Windows machines and both started about the same time, intermittently at first and then constant. btw, I really appreciate your clarity of instructions on trying things. But, alas, your last suggestion suffered the same fate as the previous one: no joy.
If clearing the cookies doesn't help then it is possible that the file cookies.sqlite that stores the cookies is corrupted.
Rename (or delete) cookies.sqlite (cookies.sqlite.old) and delete cookies.sqlite-journal and cookies.txt, if they exist, in the Profile Folder in case the file cookies.sqlite got corrupted.
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Open Containing Folder
Dang--I really thought we were getting somewhere. I deleted the file as suggested and was no longer blocked--until I had read 16 of my 20 free articles for the month--which would be fine if I hadn't actually paid for the subscription. So now I wondered about IE8 and Safari. I went back to each of those and started "reading" articles. IE8 appears, unsurprisingly, clueless as I never actually get the message, but there is a little note saying "error on page" and no scroll bar, which is effectively a block. Safari starts warning me at the same place that Firefox does. Sooooo--looks like this is still an NYT problem. But I think you you pointed out the proper direction with the cookies, so tomorrow I'll see if I can find someone there who knows half as much as you seem to, cor-el. Thanks for your efforts.
You're welcome.
It is possible that they try to store data in a cookie and exceed the maximum size of 4096 bytes for an individual cookie.
Modified by cor-el
That's a question I'll have to ask. Thanks again.