Update, 11/24/09, 8:24PM

We’ve made some progress addressing the login problems that some of you have been experiencing, and I’d like to share some information about what we’ve learned today, and the steps we’re taking to address these problems.

There was no security problem

Some of you reported receiving what looked like someone else’s account information in your password reset email. As soon as we found out about that, we stopped sending out reset emails, to avoid exposing any account data. After investigating the issue, we determined that what looked like account information was actually data generated as part of database operations by this site’s previous owner. No actual user data was exposed, and we are now in the process of reviewing those records to make sure all affected users get the information they need to log in to the site.

Login problems have been fixed

If you found yourself having to repeatedly reset your password to log in earlier today, you should now be able to log in and stay logged in with your current password. If you’re still unable to do so, let us know and we’ll look into it. There may still be a handful of accounts affected by this, but most of you should be able to log in without any problems.

If you’ve forgotten your password, or couldn’t log in with it earlier today, you can get a new reset link by entering the email address associated with your account on the Reset Password screen.

Display problems are being addressed

We know there are some problems with comments not displaying or threading properly and we’re working on fixing them. Our priority today was to make sure that everyone could get into their accounts, and to address any possible security issues. Now that this has been done, we’re turning our attention to the display issues.

Thank you for working with us to resolve these issues. We won’t stop until all commenters are able to log in and all comment display issues are resolved.

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Original Post:

We know there are some problems with the password reset process, and we’re working on it. If you’re having trouble logging in, even after responding to a password reset email, go to the Password Reset page, enter the email address you used when you set up your profile, and click Recover. You should receive a new temporary password, which should work the next time you try to log in. We’ll keep working on this, and will make sure that all registered commenters are able to log in.

Update: We’re continuing to work on all issues related to the commenting system. Please continue to add any comment bugs that you find to this thread and we’ll follow up. Thanks!

Update 2: Here’s something that may help those of you who report being logged out and having trouble logging in again. On your first login, be sure to check “Remember Me.” Then, do not log out. You should stay logged in for the current session, and on your next session, if you’re not logged in, clicking on the “Log In” link should log you back in, without forcing a repeat visit to the Login page.

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