Folks...
A couple of points it may or may not help to know...
1) We're working on a major overhaul which, unless computers have developed the ability for sarcasm & spite, will solve these issues for those of you still experiencing them once and for all; BUT, it's a very involved process which is going to take a bit more swearing into a database socket to sort out - rest assured I'm swearing like a destroyer full of sailors to expedite it.
2) The issues with the textbox(es) came about because some plug-in code made a dog's breakfast of the style/theme. Basically, PHP and CSS - the same PHP and CSS which goes to every browser which requests it; the only real differences are whether the browser requests it, and what it does with it.
The ideal flow of ones & zeros to your screens goes something like:
PHP/CSS on ASN server.
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Content Delivery Network (a distributed cache which reduces load on ASN server and increases performance for those users whose connections are a greater number of 'hops' from the ASN server).
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[IN SOME CASES] Your Internet Service Provider's 'Transparent Proxy' (a dirty horrible technique some ISPs use in order to reduce bandwidth overheads on the 'uplink' pipes they pay for - for example, if an ISP has many customers requesting the same web page, it's cheaper for them to cache the page on a server inside their network and serve it from there rather than transferring the data from the source site each time (i.e. over the pipes in and out of their network - the bandwidth which costs them the real money).
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Your browser's cache.
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Your browser's renderer (the bit which fires stuff to your screen).
Now, the PHP/CSS is fixed - if not, it'd be broken for
everyone.
The CDN has been flushed to ensure it's holding 'good' code - if not, it'd be broken for
everyone.
If your ISP runs a transparent proxy, this might potentially be where your browser is getting the busted code from; honestly I would hope that enough time has elapsed now that even if their cache didn't notice the difference 'instantly', the time-to-live has expired and it would've refreshed - however, I think transparent proxies in all but an incredibly small number of circumstances are the work of the devil, so my assumption that they're set-up well might be a bit generous.
Of course most if not all of you have tried clearing your cache; but it's worth noting that there are ways to do it and there are ways to do it. Simply clicking refresh/reload will seldom do the trick. Pressing Ctrl+F5 (in most browsers) SHOULD cause them to dump their cache of the current page and re-download the lot.
THE BEST WAY is to go into your browsers preferences, find the page about temporary files/history/cache and look for a control which will clear EVERYTHING (this varies from browser to browser - if you're not sure how to do it, reply here and we'll try to point you in the right direction.
Browser renderers are not all created equal. I'll spare you all the ranting technical lecture, but simply say that IE, and to a lesser extent Chrome, are pigs.
IE has all kinds of silly compatibility modes which sometimes work but mostly just break the output in a different way; this is because Microsoft don't like open standards (i.e. those on which the internet is built), because they can't control them; so they often use their 'spin' on the standards to retain tighter control, often causing sites to not work as intended.
Chrome is more standards compliant, but the last I heard was that the source code for it is so lengthy that the 32bit version needs to be compiled on a 64bit machine, or else it runs out of address space before the executable is built. In other words, it's chocked-full of potential points of failure.
Those of you who haven't, please test with:
[Windows] An up to date Firefox build - if it's not a fresh install, make sure to clear the cache/temporary files BEFORE you browse to ASN (i.e. sat at Google), and make sure to select the clear "Everything" option.
[Mac] Safari or an up-to-date Mozilla (Firefox) based browser - caches cleared as comprehensively as you can - BEFORE you browse to ASN (i.e. sat at Google)
[Android/iOS] The standard Android browser or the Safari built-in to your iOS - again, caches cleared as thoroughly as you can - BEFORE you browse to ASN (i.e. sat at Google).
[Linux/Unix] As if you need my guidance.
For those still finding issues having tested on a reliably standards-compliant browser with a properly cleared cache, you may be at the mercy of a transparent proxy - methods to figure this out will vary, but things to consider:
1) If you've more than one device in the house, ensure they're both connected to your WiFi/Ethernet and compare - both being broken would certainly qualify as a smoking gun.
2) If you've a mobile device (i.e. can connect to the internet through a cellular connection (GPRS/3G/4G)) which has been exhibiting the issue, try clearing the cache, disconnecting the WiFi, and loading the page over the cellular connection - if all of a sudden it works, this is another smoking gun.
3) If you're finding problems on a laptop/mobile device connected to your home network, but are partial to the odd Big Mac, Coffee or do your shopping at big Tesco, try connecting to the free WiFi in McDonald's/Starbucks/Tesco (you might raise eyebrows with a laptop in that last one), clear the cache, and try again. If the textbox returns and works as expected, you've another smoking gun. And are either going to get very fat or very wired.
It would be helpful if future reports of this issue included details of:
1) Operating System (inc. version where applicable) of the device(s).
2) Browser(s) (inc. version numbers - usually can be found in Help/About) used.
3) Which method(s) you've used to clear the browser cache(s).
4) Which ISP(s)/Network(s) you've used.
We'll try to help as much as we can, and in the meantime will continue swearing into that database socket
R
