America Online has now confirmed a problem for users accessing us via America Online. AoL's Version 2.5 Web browse, does not necessarily show you the latest version of a Web page such as this one.
The problem also seems to occur with Version 4.1 of the WebSurfer browser, furnished as part of NetManage, Inc.'s Chameleon software suite
If you ask to see a Web page that you've seen before, the browser sometimes displays an old version of that page. We think it's because the AoL software has cached (kept in memory or on hard disk) a copy of the page. If so, the browser may display that cached version of it rather than calling for a new one from a Web server.
For example, go back to the Landmark Computer Labs Home Page and look at the date it was last rewritten. (The date's at the bottom of the page.) Now hit the browser's "Reload" button. The browser will properly request a copy of the page from Landmark's Web server. Once the page is redisplayed, go to the bottom and check the date again. It may be different!
We asked America Online to confirm that this is a bug in their software. It took them a week to respond.
Here's what we wrote:
I believe I've identified a problem with AoL's World-Wide Web browser. When I revisit a Web page that I've visited before, I don't necessarily get the latest version of that page. I have written a series of home pages for the Web, and have noticed that old versions of my page (and the pages linked to it) show up, even though I've revised the page(s). Possibly the AoL software is cacheing copies of pages it "knows" about and not bothering to download the newest versions of those pages. I found the fix: to hit the "Reload" button at the top of the browser screen when revisiting an old page. -- Bud Stolker
Subject: Re:Mail Gateway Questions-2 Date: 95-05-31 16:13:36 EDT From: CDooleyEM@aol.com (Technical Support) To: BudStolker@aol.com Dear BudStolker, I am writing you on behalf of America Online about your recent question. I am sorry for the delay in getting back to you. This is a known difficulty with the AOL Browser. We are working to get this corrected before the final version is released. Thanks for the information. Thank you for using America Online. We hope you enjoy our service. CDooleyEM Technical Support Representative America Online, Inc.
So it's confirmed. AoL has a Net browser problem. (And a traffic problem, too, based on our use of their browser late at night. It cannot always connect to network servers, and home page graphics often do not get transmitted.)
The problem exists also with Chameleon's WebSurfer software.
If you're using WebSurfer, change the configuration. Go to Settings, then Preferences, then deselect "Saved cached documents between sessions." However, even that doesn't work reliably for us. We are not WebSurfer fans; the program appears to be rather buggy. We suggest you switch to NetScape Navigator, which you can download from NetScape Communications.
In any case, the general work-around fix for browsers that cache documents between sessions is this:
Every time you visit a Web page–any Web page–that you've seen in the past but that may have fresh information, tell the browser to "Reload" it.
Landmark Computer Labs Technical Support Page.
url: http://www.landmark.org/aol-prob.html
Last update: 1-8-96