Wouldn't it be better for all if you just continued on your existing postings, instead of making new ones for the same topics now and then?

Just saying ...

Hi Breck,

Had a look at the problem you're discussing where the checkout page (after you click "confirm order") shows an empty cart after a period of non activity. Also, where you continue the shopping process and then find your new order contains items you recognise from a previous visit some time ago.

The first issue may be related to a timeout of the your server due to the delay (of approx 2 hours) and could be considered an advantage due to security. This is a normal response from our experience, as opposed to a bug and occurs on other e-commerce sites with different servers if you try some other examples yourself. We don't like the idea of waiting 2 hours between tests, but it may be possible to resolve for you if you change the settings on your server or your browser. You could also probably save these setting based on the the information passed to your own e-commerce site if you store the details for the user accessing it.

You may get a different result if you refresh the checkout page as opposed to re-shopping and adding new items to your existing order too. It probably has remembered what you originally ordered, as it usually gets cached in your browser. To avoid confusion you could empty your browser cache before re-trying as we think the issue is caused by the temporary data your browser stores. You could try a different browser and check the results too.

If you are going to leave your order on hold for a long period, perhaps you could add a wish list so you don't lose it at all.

When we tested after less than two hours we were directed to "/index.php/checkout" when we submitted the "confirm order" with results that appear to be the same as you describe, but if you then re-select your desired Checkout Options:-

Login
Register Account
Guest Checkout

The data that your browser has cached for the order and the forms you fill in for to complete a purchase is still there from your previous selections including your order, your name and address etc, possibly with the exception of your credit card payment details, and then you can proceed by clicking continue on each page until you can re-submit your "confirm order".

Lots of web services log you out after a period of non-activity. Long forms on web sites are often painfully forgotten, so after a few times you either post it quickly or save a draft of what you have been typing before you lose it. Don't go for a cup of tea before you save it.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Hackasacka

Breck, this reply shows why you should continue on your previous postings, instead of creating new ones without all relevant info. Another reason is that people easily start ignoring your new treads.

Hackasacka, take a look at GitHub Issues: https://github.com/arastta/arastta/issues

Like those:
https://github.com/arastta/arastta/issues/707
https://github.com/arastta/arastta/issues/706

Then also some of Brecks older postings, like those:
https://arastta.org/forum/unexpected-unexplained-session-cache-handling
https://arastta.org/forum/completed-order-isn-t-clearing-the-cart

Hi Rune,

Ok thank you.

Regards,

Hackasacka

@Hackasacka

I'll try to reply to your post above best I can.

The issue is after the order is completed, it can be a couple hours or a couple weeks down the road, when attempting another new order, items from the old completed order appear in the cart with the new items that were added.

Funny part is that when the cart is completed, I can refresh the page and the cart appears totally empty. I can go to the website a couple days later and login, refresh the page and the cart is still empty.

This seems to happen as far as I can tell if I go onto the website while logged off, add items to the cart and start the checkout process. Going through the checkout process, at some point I have to log in. Then afterwards, as in one of the images, the cart in the top right corner shows the correct order, but the main page cart has extra items from the previous order that was completed. If I refresh the page, the top right popup cart now shows the extra items.

This happens with already purchased items and not items previously left in the cart and not purchased so the wishlist doesn't apply here.

I don't see this as a browser issue as I can place an order on my mobile phone, and a couple days later place another order using my home computer and the same issue happens. I can use my home computer to place an order and a couple days later place an order on my cottage computer, and the same thing happens. 3 different devices all with the same outcome. Note this is using Chrome browser on all 3 devices. Possibly Chrome related to the website but not the device.

Rune thought possibly it was a server caching issue. I never got around to finding out what caching system was used on the server but I will check into that now. I am using "File" caching for the website. I would assume that is fine, unless you think I should try something else.

I was also wondering if there was a way to run a cron job to clear all the carts and/or cache say every 6 hours to test it and see if that clears up the issue and we can at least narrow down the issue.

Ok so I checked with our host, and they tell me there currently isn't any built in caching.
And they provided me with a list of what was installed if it provides you any insight.

[PHP Modules]
bcmath
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openssl
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Hi Breck,

We think you could probably describe your problems better by including just the relevant information required to replicate the issue you are experiencing.

If you use a systematic approach, as opposed to a random guess based on spurious results, then you may be able to determine what is happening with the orders in your cart.

Try and make one change at a time and repeat testing your results.

Firstly, if you use the same browser and add products to your shopping cart some activity is stored (so another browser or device would make a difference as to whether this affects the results).

If you "login" to an account as opposed to being a Guest (if this option is enabled).

If you "login" with another existing account.

If you create a new account.

For instance if you arrived in an Internet cafe and somebody else had left items on an e-commerce site with items already in a shopping cart. If they had not logged in or had logged out (or it has timed out), you could probably create an account or login to your existing account and buy the items the previous person had added.

For testing purposes you can pretend the server has logged you out (to save waiting for 2 hours or guessing) by actually logging out deliberately. Otherwise you cannot know without refreshing the page and thus updating the browser anyway. Just the same as when you add a product in the backend admin you won't see it in the frontend unless you refresh the public page for your web site to see if the new product item is there as the page you are sat looking at is old and not up-to-date. The server and site has changed, but your browser needs an update or refresh to know.

We dispute your statement:-

"This happens with already purchased items and not items previously left in the cart and not purchased so the wishlist doesn't apply here."


Our evaluation shows that:-

We have found that once the order has been "completed" and has been confirmed (it appears in the orders in Admin) it does not effect the results.

We believe it only happens with items previously left in the cart.

In particular in only occurs if you were also logged in as the same user account too.

In particular if you had items in your cart before you were logged out whether by the server timeout or by yourself.

If you do not login to your account (or the same account) and repeat the process it won't remember that user accounts previous "shopping cart".

It is a feature and does work as described by Arassta (and is the same as many other e-commerce applications).

Once you are logged out as a user your order will be reset and you cannot checkout unless you either :-

login again
or
you add new items to the cart so you have the option to checkout

You are taking the latter route, but may avoid confusion if you simply login again as the same user and complete your order as it will remember as it should.

Also, this effect is cumulative in that you can add an item a week ago or any time interval and as long as you do not complete the order it will keep adding these previous items to your new orders too (as long as you logged in). Pretty useful really as it saves you time.

The sequence of events you describe can be explained and has nothing to do with any server caching or settings in our opinion.

If you have access, via PHPMyadmin or an equivalent, you can see what is stored in the database by looking at the table for "_order_product" :-

`any_suffix_order_product` (`order_product_id`, `order_id`, `product_id`, `name`, `model`, `quantity`, `price`, `total`, `tax`, `reward`) VALUES

This includes items not necessarily completed, but stored against an account user (not cached) You could add an item whilst logged in and logout before completing the order with payment. You should see it is in the database now too.

The feature you have been describing as an issue in your posts is behaving as is expected and is not a problem just a confirmation it is working correctly.

Hopefully this has helped and you can now confirm this too.

Regards,

Hackasacka