Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2019 February 24

= February 24 =

What makes a website act this way?
I have two computers, a desktop and a laptop. When I log into a certain website, the "home page" of the website appears different on the desktop than it appears on the laptop. This happens even after I hit "refresh the page" on the website. Why is this? The only thing that I can think of is that the website is automatically "detecting" some of my computer settings (for example, the screen resolution of that specific computer). But, even that doesn't make too much sense, in the end. If it matters, the website is one that contains a wide selection of desktop "wallpapers", if you want to change the "wallpaper" on your computer. This is the website:. Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 14:54, 24 February 2019 (UTC)
 * What OS, browser do you use in each computer? Have you tried to delete the cookies associated with this website? Ruslik_ Zero 17:23, 24 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks. The OS for both is Windows 10.  The browser for both is Mozilla Firefox.  I will try to delete the cookies, but I don't think that could be the issue.  Thanks.   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:33, 24 February 2019 (UTC)
 * On my Firefox, Tools->Web Developer->Responsive Design Mode lets you see what the page looks like for different devices and resolutions. I bet if you played with that you'd see the differences there. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 23:22, 24 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I will take a look at that.  So are you saying that the website looks at the specifications of my specific computer (the resolution, etc.) and adjusts what exactly I will see on their website's home page?  Is that what you are saying?  Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:18, 25 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, just so. That's how websites can work differently on (say) desktops and smartphones. --jpgordon&#x1d122;&#x1d106; &#x1D110;&#x1d107; 04:58, 25 February 2019 (UTC)
 * (EC) Sure, it is quite common for web sites to do that. The website can get the browser window size via Javascript. Similarly, many web sites (including Wikipedia) display differently depending on whether the browser is running on a mobile device (phone) or a laptop/desktop, although they can get that information from the User Agent string without using Javascript. This page will display your browser size along with other information that a web site can see about your system. You can see it change if you resize your browser window and refresh the page. CodeTalker (talk) 05:01, 25 February 2019 (UTC)


 * OK. So, I "get" that the website might change the format of what is being presented to me (to best "adapt" to the specific specifications of my specific computer in use at that moment).  But, why would it change the substantive content of the web page or the home page?  That would be like me -- for example -- logging onto The New York Times website.  On my desktop, the front page story (on the home page) is something about Venezuela.  On my laptop, the front page story (on the home page) is something about the 2020 USA elections.  Changing the substantive content does not make sense to me, in response to the specifications of what type of computer I am accessing the website with.  No?     Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:13, 25 February 2019 (UTC)


 * I don't know about the Times in particular, but high-volume web sites often have multiple servers, and updates may not propagate to all of them at the same time. It's possible that (1) your two computers are reaching different servers, (2) if you go to the site again from the same computer within some time limit it remembers which server you reached and takes you to the same one, and (3) the content on the servers was different at the time you reached them, and then there is caching at your end or their end.   Something like this scenario seems to happen commonly with Google and I think I've seen it happen with Wikipedia; but it seems more surprising for a newspaper web site where their top story would be chosen manually, so maybe I'm wrong to suggest it. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 05:54, 25 February 2019 (UTC)


 * Many pages feed you different content depending on who you are and what your interest are -- whatever they think will maximize profits. The stupid robots no doubt think that you on your desktop are a different person that you on your laptop. Read this for one fascinating example of this: [ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/opinion/sunday/youtube-politics-radical.html ]. (Wikipedia doen't do anything like that with the sole exception of changing the format if it thinks you are on a smart phone -- and you can change it back.) --Guy Macon (talk) 05:56, 25 February 2019 (UTC)

How to disable Firefox quantum auto refresh
I used have this problem for some time until I googled and found this solution. But after a week of using smoothly, the problem has come back again. I checked about:config and all values are set to "true". But the problem still persists. How to overcome this ? Thank you--103.231.162.134 (talk) 15:20, 24 February 2019 (UTC)