Issues with condo community website -- how to resolve?

[omni550]

My condo community has a website for community info (directory, forms, emergency contact info, etc.) hosted by front steps.com. I rarely use it, but we were asked to update our info recently.

I'm using Firefox 72.02.2 as my browser. It's the latest version, and I updated it on Jan. 22. 2020.

Yesterday, I went to access the website and got this "Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead" page.

I sent an email to the management company, letting them know that getting this Warning would be offputting to most owners here.

They wrote back and told me to update my browser. So I deleted Firefox 72.02.2 and reloaded Firefox 72.02.2 today. I also rebooted my computer.

Now I get a "403 -- Forbidden" message.

I then wrote back to the management company, and got a reply (with a screenshot) that they have no issues accessing the website when using Firefox 72.02.2.

I have had zero issues accessing any other websites that I used in the past few days.

Any ideas/suggestions on how to resolve this?

Here are screen shots of the Warning page and the "403 Forbidden" page.

 

[Sunset]

You could use a chrome browser.

As long as the site is https, and you know that even though they have the certificate configured wrong, it is the correct site, there is no danger.

They probably don't see an issue as they may have clicked on a button to ignore the issue and trust the certificate, and this setting stays so they never have an issue again.

You can tell firefox to ignore the issue by clicking on advanced, and then I think there is a button to go to the site knowing the issue.

 

[Sunset]

I tried the site and it redirects me to here: https://auth.frontsteps.com/login?

this is with 72.0.1 (64-bit) (but on linux).

 

[njhowie]

I have the same issue (the first warning) with the same version of Firefox on Win 7.

Go up to the address bar, and click on the shield icon to the left of the address. In the popup, under Blocked, mine indicates Cross-Site Tracking Cookies and the site is https://jslog.krxd.net.

If you go in to your security settings and disable the blocking on cross-site tracking cookies, then it should work. Maybe reinstalling Firefox reset that for you?

I have received the Forbidden 403 error periodically with Cloudflare sites - generally coming back a short while later resolves it for me. I quickly googled and found that this is a common thing. This page provides some quick fix ideas - #2 might be your issue:

https://community.cloudflare.com/t/community-tip-fixing-error-403-forbidden/53308

2. Try using a different browser, or use a private/incognito window. Your DNS cache may be pointing to the origin server.

 

[pb4uski]

I tried the site and it redirects me to here: https://auth.frontsteps.com/login?

this is with 72.0.1 (64-bit) (but on linux).

I tried it in Chrome and got this.

 

[omni550]

Thanks for the suggestions.

First, I tried deleting frontsteps cookies.

Then I turned-off the tracking shield next to https. Still got 403 Forbidden.

Then I went to incognito mode. Still got 403 Forbidden. Noticed the Tracker was still active in incognito mode, so I turned that off in incognito mode. Still got the 403 Forbidden.

(I have all the screen shots, but I think my verbiage^ suffices.)

Didn't have time to load and check Chrome browser, will check that later tonight or tomorrow as I have a bunch of commitments starting now.

Frustrating. (Can't imagine some 80+-year-olds here trying to deal with this.)

omni

 

[Sunset]

I updated my firefox to 72.02 (64 bit) linux version.
I still get the same redirection result without errors.

 

[Gotadimple]

I would turn this entire argument around, and follow it up with a U.S. Mail letter to the management company and your board president. They are hosting a site which two different browsers have identified as not private. And provide screen shots.

Your personal contact information is at risk. I would ask the board to provide an alternative to providing the materials you cite in your original post. You pay a monthly assessment, a part of which goes to the management company. They need to resolve the issue, and your board needs to work with them to provide a secure and private site.

 

[omni550]

I would turn this entire argument around, and follow it up with a U.S. Mail letter to the management company and your board president. They are hosting a site which two different browsers have identified as not private. And provide screen shots.

Your personal contact information is at risk. I would ask the board to provide an alternative to providing the materials you cite in your original post. You pay a monthly assessment, a part of which goes to the management company. They need to resolve the issue, and your board needs to work with them to provide a secure and private site.

+1

"THEY" collectively, however, think it's my problem and suggested that I use a different browser.

omni

 

[pb4uski]

Great! Turn it around and ask them which browser works with their website.

You might also ask them why the two most used browsers with a combined 78% market share (Chrome and Firefox) don't work with their website.

 

[omni550]

Great! Turn it around and ask them which browser works with their website.

You might also ask them why the two most used browsers with a combined 78% market share (Chrome and Firefox) don't work with their website.

They tell me they have no issue accessing the website with Firefox, and I'm the one with the issue.

They suggested IE or Chrome. (And tell me I likely have a security setting set too high. I'd be surprised, as I don't typically overdo security settings.)

I just tried Internet Explorer and got a "This site is not secure" message.

I will try Chrome in the morning, as it's getting late.

 

[target2019]

The correct address is coconutshares.frontsteps.com

No www in front of that.

 

[pb4uski]

The correct address is coconutshares.frontsteps.com

No www in front of that.

I copied and pasted that into my Chrome browser and got this:

 

[jollystomper]

The correct address is coconutshares.frontsteps.com

No www in front of that.

Actually, coconutshores.frontsteps.com


Using https://www.coconutshores.frontsteps.com gets the security warning page.


Using https://coconutshores.frontsteps.com gets the login page.


Edited to add: this is with Firefox 72.0.2

 

[pb4uski]

coconutshores.frontsteps.com works in Chrome:

 

[omni550]

BINGO...we have a WINNAH!!!!

My appreciation goes out to target, jollystomper, pb4uski, and everyone else who has responded. We have such great minds and helpful folks on this site. Thanks!

I had been following the pro forma sent out by the management company to access the site. [So silly of me to follow their directions. ]

I would click on the link in their pro forma and that's how I always ended up at www.coconutshores.frontsteps.com. As jollystomper and others have pointed out, this brings up the security warning page...in both browsers I tried (Firefox and Internet Explorer).

Leaving off the www. and simply accessing coconutshores.frontsteps.com gives me access to the community login page while using my usual browser (Firefox 72.02.2).

Thanks, again, everyone!

omni

 

[pb4uski]

So the link that they provided to you was wrong? If so, they're eating crow.

 

[target2019]

Shores, shares. Lol. I mistyped that quite a few times when first looking.

 

[davebarnes]

Their server settings are wrong.
There is a setting to make www and no www equivalent.
They have not done that.

 

[target2019]

It may be frontsteps that has to set that?

 

[omni550]

So the link that they provided to you was wrong? If so, they're eating crow.

Yep, it was w-r-o-n-g, big time.

I sent them a politely worded email that the reason I was having all these issues was because I was following their directions. Clicking on the hyperlink in their directions took me to a security issue page (using both Firefox and IE browsers)....and they may want to issue corrected instructions so others in this community don't end up with the same access problems I had. LOL

So far, I've gotten no response.

Shores, shares. Lol. I mistyped that quite a few times when first looking.

Easy typo to do. No worries. Importantly, you figured out the www. issue.

Their server settings are wrong.
There is a setting to make www and no www equivalent.
They have not done that.

Thanks, I learned something. I've noticed on other websites I've used in the past, when typing in the http: address, it will 'self-correct' the www. I was unaware this was due to server settings. Makes sense.

It may be frontsteps that has to set that?

Possibly so.

---

I'll report back on this thread if I hear or see anything more from the management company.

Thanks, again, everyone!

omni

 

[omni550]

Rest of the story

I got an email back today from the management company suggesting that I drop the www. from the website address to access the community website.

(FWIW, this^ is exactly what I had sent to them in an email on Friday. )

I responded suggesting, yet again, that they may want to send out an email blast to the community so that others here (many of whom are in their late 70s-80s, and not the most computer-literate) will not run into this same issue. So far....zip zilch, nada. <smh>

And I don't expect to see anything further on this matter from the management company.

omni