Why am I asked to sign in twice?

PostSnag's toolbar popup and its on-page panel are two separate windows sharing one sign-in, and they normally sync automatically within a moment of you signing in on either one. Being asked to sign in on the second surface right after signing in on the first is expected for that brief window; it isn't two separate accounts, and it isn't a broken sign-in.

Why this happens

PostSnag's toolbar icon behaves differently depending on where you are. On a Facebook tab while you're signed in, clicking it opens the on-page panel directly. Anywhere else, or while you're signed out, clicking it opens a small popup instead, since there's no Facebook page to show a panel on. That popup and the panel are genuinely two different windows: they each read your stored sign-in independently rather than sharing one live connection.

Signing in updates that stored information in one place, and both surfaces are built to pick up the change automatically. Most of the time this happens fast enough that you never notice a gap. Occasionally, whichever surface you weren't actively using, often the popup if you signed in from the panel, or the panel if you signed in from the popup, takes a moment longer to catch up. If you happen to look at it during that gap, it can still show a sign-in screen even though you just signed in successfully somewhere else.

This is most noticeable the first time you open PostSnag in a new browsing session. If the popup happened to load in the background before you actually signed in on the panel, or the other way around, that surface only knows what your sign-in state was at the moment it last opened. It catches up automatically the next time you open it, but if you open it in the exact middle of signing in elsewhere, you can land on the brief gap rather than after it.

[Screenshot: The toolbar popup and the on-page panel shown side by side, both signed into the same account]

What to do

1. Give it a second or two after signing in. The other surface usually updates on its own without you doing anything else.

2. Reopen the panel if it's still showing a sign-in screen after a moment. Close it and click the PostSnag toolbar icon again.

3. Refresh the Facebook tab if reopening the panel doesn't clear it. A refresh forces the page, and the panel on it, to reload against your current sign-in state.

4. Sign in again on whichever surface is still asking, if the above doesn't clear it. It's the same account either way, so there's no risk of creating a duplicate or conflicting login.

5. Contact support if it keeps happening across multiple refreshes, since that's outside the normal sync delay.

A quick habit that avoids this

Sign in from whichever surface you're about to use first. If you're heading straight into a capture session, sign in directly on the panel once you're on Facebook rather than through the popup first, so the surface you actually need is already current.

Common questions

Do I have separate accounts for the popup and the panel?
No. Both use the same PostSnag account and the same sign-in. There's no separate account to manage or keep in sync yourself.

Why does this happen instead of both updating instantly?
The popup and the panel are separate windows that each check your stored sign-in independently, so there's occasionally a brief gap between one updating and the other catching up.

Is this the same as being signed out?
No. This is a brief sync delay right after signing in somewhere else. Being signed out everywhere, where every surface shows the sign-in screen with no recent sign-in to sync from, is a different situation. See "Why was I signed out unexpectedly?"

Why does the toolbar icon sometimes open a popup and sometimes the full panel?
It depends on where you are. On a Facebook tab while signed in, it opens the panel. Anywhere else, or while signed out, it opens the popup instead.

What if refreshing the Facebook tab doesn't fix it?
Sign in again on whichever surface is still asking. If it keeps happening, email support@postsnag.com.

Does this happen every time I sign in, or only sometimes?
Only sometimes, and usually only for a moment. Most sign-ins update both the popup and the panel quickly enough that you never see a gap at all; it's most likely to show up the first time you open PostSnag in a new browsing session.