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coursera.org stuck on the "loading" page when cookies "Keep until" is "ask me every time"

  • 2 replies
  • 35 have this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by fyrefox26

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The coursera web pages do not load if the cookie setting "Keep until" is set to "ask me every time". This happens with version 26.0. All the old cookies, cache, history etc have been cleared. The problem is repeatable, and I have only seen it on http://coursera.org/. When the coursera main page is accessed it clears the page and shows the "loading" text with a spinning circle, but it never goes any further. With the "Keep until" set to anything else, the page loads and all is OK!

The problem occurs on GNU/Linux (debian) as well as windows 7.

Can anyone else confirm this? Is there a workaround, other flipping between the cookie settings?

Many thanks

The coursera web pages do not load if the cookie setting "Keep until" is set to "ask me every time". This happens with version 26.0. All the old cookies, cache, history etc have been cleared. The problem is repeatable, and I have only seen it on http://coursera.org/. When the coursera main page is accessed it clears the page and shows the "loading" text with a spinning circle, but it never goes any further. With the "Keep until" set to anything else, the page loads and all is OK! The problem occurs on GNU/Linux (debian) as well as windows 7. Can anyone else confirm this? Is there a workaround, other flipping between the cookie settings? Many thanks

Chosen solution

Hi jscher2000

Thanks for the explanation.

Yes, adding coursera.org to the cookie exception list does help. Unfortunately, I tend to clear my cookies, along with the exceptions, on regular basis, so this is a bit of inconvenience but less so than switching between the "Keep Until" settings :-)

I would be interested to learn if the local storage prefewrences can be configured separately, perhaps through the about:config settings, otherwise I'm OK with your suggestion.

Thanks and all the best

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I suggest creating a site-specific allowance by hand to see whether that solves the problem. This recommendation is based on past issues with some sites that use "local storage", also known as DOM storage, which Firefox also controls with your cookie preference. In those cases, Firefox blocked the local storage request unless there was an exception at the base level, i.e., coursera.org. On those sites, when you used the cookie dialog, you created an exception at the full domain level, i.e., www.coursera.org. So they didn't match.

You can add an exception by hand using the Privacy panel of the Preferences/Options dialog:

(LINUX) Edit menu > Preferences > Privacy

On the right side, click the Exceptions button, then enter coursera.org and click Allow.

Does that work?

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Chosen Solution

Hi jscher2000

Thanks for the explanation.

Yes, adding coursera.org to the cookie exception list does help. Unfortunately, I tend to clear my cookies, along with the exceptions, on regular basis, so this is a bit of inconvenience but less so than switching between the "Keep Until" settings :-)

I would be interested to learn if the local storage prefewrences can be configured separately, perhaps through the about:config settings, otherwise I'm OK with your suggestion.

Thanks and all the best

Modified by fyrefox26