Reported Issues and Questions for Freecycle.org

Here's our current list of reported issues and questions for Freecycle.org. We are updating this list as things change.

As a nonprofit organization that is run almost entirely by volunteers, we have to make hard decisions about where to focus our limited development resources. We appreciate your patience as we work our way through the issues and requests for changes.

Email

The Unsubscribe link on our post emails doesn't always change members' email preferences to No Emails. If you find you're still getting emails, please contact your town moderator, who can change them for you, or click the Contact link above and let us know the email address you use for Freecycle and our Help Team volunteers can set your account to No Email or delete it entirely (please specify which) (1780).
No Reply by Email link on posts. You can no longer reply to a post by email. More information here: Announcing changes to Post replies.
Password reset email are sometimes delayed or not received, or go to Spam folder. Here's what to do if you have issues with resetting your password.

Online messaging

It is not possible for members to delete message threads; however, message threads will automatically be removed from the system 90 after 90 days.
Can't see the box to type a message or Send button. Zoom out in your browser to 100% or less. (1463)
Time/date stamps are not showing on messages when using the Safari browser on all devices, and when using any browser on iPads and iPhones. Please try using a different browser or device. (1409).
Not able to report another member. The Report Member link on a member profile is not currently working. To report a member, send a message to your town moderators and provide the other member's username and explain why you are reporting them.

Search and Search Results

Closed posts appear in search results. Clicking on a post that has been closed may result in a 410 error or a message that the post has been closed. This happens particularly with posts that had previously been edited and then closed. (1503)
Some items that are visible on the Dashboard, My Posts or Town page, particularly new posts, are not included in search results. (1472)
Items listed in a Digest email are not found in search or visible on Dashboard or Town page: Since posts in digest emails can be up to 24 hours old, there is a chance that the item has already been given away.
US state and Canadian province abbreviations entered in Find Towns search do not produce a list of Towns in the requested state or province. Try this: spelling out the full name of the state or province in the search box to see a list of all towns. (1462)

Error Messages

If you get an error message in the 500 range (500, 503, etc.), this is a code or server issue. Specifically, a 503 error is probably an indication that what you were trying failed because some part of the system timed out (database, email, etc). This is likely temporary. Please try again later.
Error messages in the 400 range usually mean that the post you are trying to view is no longer available, possibly because it was closed or is awating approval by the Town moderators. You may also see the post details grayed-out. If you are clicking through from a Reply Online link in an email, try going to the Town page for the town the post was made in to see if the item is still availale.

Unsupported or problematic apps, operating systems and browsers

Please See Operating Systems, Browsers, and Applications not working well.

Viewing posts

All posts for a Town aren't displaying on Dashboard, even when you click Load More multiple times. This is related to filtering and is particulaly noticeable when you filter your Dashboard on a specific Town and that Town has only a small number of posts. A workaround is to view the posts directly on the Town page. (1352).
No posts display on Dashboard, My Posts, or Town page. If you are using an older iPad, iPhone or Windows Vista or XP, See Operating Systems, Browsers, and Applications not working well.
Clicking the "Show photos full size" link in the post details window doesn't enlarge the size of the photo. If the photo was below the maximum allowed size when uploaded, then it will be enlarged when the link is clicked. If it was already the maximum size, it cannot be shown any larger.

Making and Editing Posts

Including Photos in posts:
- Some members experience intermittent issues with uploading photos when making posts. Click here for more information (1389, 1286)
- Photos don't appear in the post in the order in which they were uploaded (1286)
- Some members, particularly Mac users are not able to drop and drag photos. Try this: Upload photos instead, or try using a different device to make the post. (1763)

Member Accounts and Account Settings

If you see a message that your username was not accepted when signing up, try tabbing or clicking into the next field to restart the username check. See this page for more information: https://freecycle.helpscoutdocs.com/article/272-username-not-accepted-for-signup.
Member Since date is inaccurate. We are aware of this minor issue. (1184)
"Password" error when making changes to settings to changes other than password. This may be caused by your password manager (particularly Last Pass) trying to insert a password automatically. Try disabling or logging out of your password manager and then changing your settings.
Don't see a place to put a password when creating a new account? Try this: Close your browser tab and open an new one, then try signing up again.

Alerts

The Alerts feature is currently online only. We plan to have it also send emails in the future. (870)

Notes for Town Moderators

The ability to send Town Notices (formerly Files) to all members of a Town group has been restored and mods find it works most of the time. Please make sure your Notice is created using plain text (no html) directly in the online form, is brief, and doesn't include attached documents. Another option is to create a post on your Town to communicate to members.
Automatic file sending (for example, Welcome email when a new member joins) is working intermittently. (1461)
It is not possible for a moderator to initiate a conversation with a member using My Messages This is by design. Mods who need to contact a member a Town should use Modtools to send the first message. You'll see that message and all replies in My Messages after that.

Last updated October 31, 2022