Paypal return - login expired - IE8

Has anyone figured a workaround to this problem yet? It is affecting us now too.

I think I may have fixed it, although I do not have IE8 on any of my computers to be able to test it. Could somebody with IE8 try this fix on their zen cart and let me know if it works?

Ok, now the fix:

After researching this for hours I believe the problem is as others have suggested, just an IE8 problem. It has to do with the way that IE8 manages Sessions.

So the trick is that in IE8 there is a button in the web browser that the user can click to force IE8 into IE7 compatability mode for a particular website (your zen cart store). Of course this is ridiculous to expect your customers to be smart enough to do this everytime they come to your site from IE8, so I figured there had to be a way to have the zencart store force IE8 into IE7 Compatability mode. I have found that if you put the following meta tag into the header of all of the pages on your store then IE8 will be forced to operate in IE7 compatability mode for every page in your store (Horray I hope this works).

The Meta Tag: ```
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />

So then the next problem is how do we put this meta tag in every page of our store? Some quick research found that all you have to do is copy and paste the meta tag into the appropriate spot (along with all the other meta tags) found in the file: html_header.php, which is found at this location:

includes/templates/template_default/common/html_header.php 

Also, if you have a theme installed that overrides this file then you should instead do it in:

includes/templates/your_theme_directory/common/html_header.php (if the file exists there). You can also copy the html_header.php fom the default template to here before making your edit.

To cite my sources here is where I came up with this stuff from:

The Meta Tag came from:
[http://www.ditii.com/2008/08/28/ie8-standards-mode-and-ie7-compatibility-mode/](http://www.ditii.com/2008/08/28/ie8-standards-mode-and-ie7-compatibility-mode/)

And the way to add the meta tag into zen cart came from:
[https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=62](https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=62)

Joe Politzer:

I think I may have fixed it, although I do not have IE8 on any of my computers to be able to test it. Could somebody with IE8 try this fix on their zen cart and let me know if it works?

Ok, now the fix:

After researching this for hours I believe the problem is as others have suggested, just an IE8 problem. It has to do with the way that IE8 manages Sessions.

So the trick is that in IE8 there is a button in the web browser that the user can click to force IE8 into IE7 compatability mode for a particular website (your zen cart store). Of course this is ridiculous to expect your customers to be smart enough to do this everytime they come to your site from IE8, so I figured there had to be a way to have the zencart store force IE8 into IE7 Compatability mode. I have found that if you put the following meta tag into the header of all of the pages on your store then IE8 will be forced to operate in IE7 compatability mode for every page in your store (Horray I hope this works).

The Meta Tag: ```
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />

> 
> So then the next problem is how do we put this meta tag in every page of our store? Some quick research found that all you have to do is copy and paste the meta tag into the appropriate spot (along with all the other meta tags) found in the file: html_header.php, which is found at this location:
> 
> includes/templates/template_default/common/html_header.php 
> 
> Also, if you have a theme installed that overrides this file then you should instead do it in:
> 
> includes/templates/your_theme_directory/common/html_header.php (if the file exists there). You can also copy the html_header.php fom the default template to here before making your edit.
> 
> To cite my sources here is where I came up with this stuff from:
> 
> The Meta Tag came from:
> [http://www.ditii.com/2008/08/28/ie8-standards-mode-and-ie7-compatibility-mode/](http://www.ditii.com/2008/08/28/ie8-standards-mode-and-ie7-compatibility-mode/)
> 
> And the way to add the meta tag into zen cart came from:
> [https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=62](https://www.zen-cart.com/tutorials/index.php?article=62)



Thank you, that is what I asked for about a month or so ago... PROPS to that man for feeding back to us, this is how we all keep moving forward.:clap:

I have tested this and although it may not be a perfect test (just little old me sat here clicking away)
things went OK...

Anyone else confirm because Joe you deserve a big thank you... and I can't believe no-one has been on to thank you...

Why would anyone want to help anyone else out if we don't say thank you when the help is offered

:cry:

ok

I'm going for a sleep now, it's been about 2 months without decent sleep:frusty:

Yea, its kinda funny that I was never able to reproduce this error for myself, although I was hearing alot about it from customers. I just did alot of research on it and this was my best guess, but I feel pretty good about it.

I understand that after the fix everything tested out ok for you, however I just want to confirm that before the fix you were able to repeat the error with some level of reliability, and now you can at least no longer reproduce the error yourself after the fix.

Unfortunately this fix didn't work for me but I know that there are many variations based on this fix so I will try them and see if any of them works.

I found this problem for the first time tonight. Looked for a solution and I cant find one. I may have a clue if this helps anyone. I have IE8 (fully patched) at the office and it works fine, at home same IE8 fully patched and I get the timeout when returning from pay-pal using the WP standard. I figured it cant be IE8 it muse be config or something different installed. I found it was the Skype add-on. I disabled it and my home IE8 is fine now. Does anyone with the problem also have skype?

Sorry, my test was flawed. Ignore the above I managed to put my site into permanent compatibility mode when I disabled the modules somehow

I put this in my main page

The div only exists if IE8 is used. I made an image red square with the text something like " we can see you are using ie8. be aware there is a known issue between paypal and IE8. Press the compatibility button next to address bar and this warning will disappear"
Rather than it look like a programming mistake.

netmag.co.uk/zine/discover-interview/the-truth-behind-the-ie8-blacklist

This link shows an email address that allows you to add your site to the compatibility list in order that your site is rendered by IE8 in compatibility mode....

or am I seeing things?????

Man, paypal has been giving me some serious issues, first its that it doesn't like cloaks, and now this :censored:!

After some testing I have found that it doesnt even matter if your site is combatable or not, its the paypal site that you need to make compatable - is this right or is it because I have been sitting in front of this frigin screen for so long trying to figure it out! -- Which explains that although why entering that code that Joe gave us (thanks anyway) in my header may make my site compatable, but I still get the same error.

I realise this thread may be a bit old -- are there any updates, has anyone solved this yet - without having to get your customers to do it themselves?

I worked with my ISP to force my site into compatibility mode which we did but the problem remained. The only way it will work for me is if I manually press the compatibility mode button. Forcing it just removes that option and fails anyway. Here is something really odd. In my office we have two proxy servers and a firewall. In my office it works in IE8 and if I switch to compatibility mode it fails. Totally the opposite to home and other reports of the problem.
I hunted everywhere for a solution and I don't have one yet, apart from the IE8 popup message.

steveb8385:

I worked with my ISP to force my site into compatibility mode which we did but the problem remained. The only way it will work for me is if I manually press the compatibility mode button. Forcing it just removes that option and fails anyway. Here is something really odd. In my office we have two proxy servers and a firewall. In my office it works in IE8 and if I switch to compatibility mode it fails. Totally the opposite to home and other reports of the problem.
I hunted everywhere for a solution and I don't have one yet, apart from the IE8 popup message.

OK this sort of does make sense, because in your office you will have a group policy for IE security or not on all computers meaning they will allow session cookies or have low IE security levels... and maybe at home it is higher...
I have been trying to diagnose it

"As regards steps taken when trying to order, all I did was follow the process to the PayPal site and this was when I got the "session ended".

It may be my fault as I am not very competent with computers.
My IE8 settings have not to my knowledge been changed. They are set to medium high on security etc.,and cookies are accepted but deleted after each session.

Hope this helps and I haven't caused you any trouble.
Will advise on installation of kit as soon as snow allows.
"

This customer reported that his cookies were set to be removed after each session which made me think it is related to cookies and when the site switches from Paypal to Zen cart it deletes the cookie and thinks it's screwed up somewhere along the line.....

maybe if we all show the reports on this thread from customers we can work something out ...

What say you?

Ok I have found the problem myself today after re reading my own post believe it or not.....
If you go through using IE8 and set your PRIVACY settings to anything above medium you get the WHOOPS TIMED OUT error message when you go back to your site......
Setting this back down to Medium resolves this issue and normal checkout is resumed.....

NOW ALL WE NEED TO DO IS GET THE BROWSER OR THE CUSTOMER TO ACCEPT FIRST-PARTY COOKIES
there is a setting to override cookies in the browser itself but no way of preventing people or warning them that this needs to be changed to checkout without issue....

Anyone got an idea??????????????????????????????????????????:clap::censored::no::clap:

I don't know if I should tell you all really.....

but I've fixed it over this way.......

FIXED FIXED FIXED FIXED FIXED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no more whoops session expired with IE8 and PAYPAL with ZEN CART

I'm off to sell

Nice to hear it's fixed for someone. We're still getting calls for help from some customers.

Simonbcc, which way did you fix it....?

Such a major bug, and i've scoured the forums looking for a solution and not found any working solutions.

Im using Zen Cart 1.3.8a, am in getting customers complain about this issue on a regular basis.

was there ever any verdict on what to do about this?

Looking at Google analytics, it looks like about 40% of customers who visit my site use Ie8, and i've got to take this as a 40% loss in profit, not to mention the loss in customer confidence in the site.

If i cant resolve this issue then its a show stopper for zencart.

I would be more than happy to interact with one of the devs to try and find a resolution to this, just let me know.

Start by testing the same issue using the 1.3.9 beta, listed in the News & Announcements area of the forum.

simonbbc:

I don't know if I should tell you all really.....

but I've fixed it over this way.......

FIXED FIXED FIXED FIXED FIXED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no more whoops session expired with IE8 and PAYPAL with ZEN CART

I'm off to sell

How did you fix it?

Can you post the code?

Thanks :smile:

DogTags, a number of things were done in 1.3.9 to address issues like that. Feedback from your testing would be appreciated.