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[Bandit127]

How DOES the forum know who is online :question

And does 'online' mean literally that, or does it mean that I have a valid connection with the server :question

It can't be a socket connection by IP address because I appear as 'guest' if I haven't logged in - even though my IP address is still connected. Hmmm.

Sorry to the uninterested, but I have more than a passing interest in such things and it's been bugging me...

[amigov6]

Not entirely sure but we can all scoll down to the bottom of the homepage & see who's online hence everyone else is offline!

[Vamps]

We all come up as guests untill you sign in, that will be how the site knows, I guess.

[tunnie]

cause your logged in

[PaulW]

Online refers to the time since you last 'visited' the site (clicked a page while logged in)  This is recorded as a 'Session'

Sessions vary in time, from 5 minutes on most sites, to about 30 on others...

The time is recorded from when you last click a page in a special sessions table, which records your username, the time you last accessed, and various other bits (IP address, etc), and when a pre-set time is reached (say 10 minutes), your session them 'times out' and the board software removes your entry from the sessions table, thus making you 'Offline'

If you access OOF, and then turn your computer off, even though your not online, your session will remain active till it times out on here.

If you click 'Logout' then your session is removed from the list (you become offline) and you become a guest till you next login

[Bandit127]

cause your logged in

Sounds simple but I don't think it is.

I can close Firefox, come back to OOF and be me. But if I delete cookies before I close Firefox (or IE), I come back as a mere guest. So it has something to do with cookies.

Also, I am guessing that most of us do the "remember me" thing on the login so we stay logged in. But most of us are not shown as 'online'. It was about 20 earlier, 48 now. But most of us is about 2,000. (All of us is 3,687)

Still hmmm.

[Vamps]

If I forget to log out at night I am still logged on when I come back on the next day, the link must remain live.

[PaulW]

Sessions also authenticate against local cookies... hence if you delete, you become guest as it can't confirm your who you are.

[Bandit127]

Online refers to the time since you last 'visited' the site (clicked a page while logged in)  This is recorded as a 'Session'

Sessions vary in time, from 5 minutes on most sites, to about 30 on others...

The time is recorded from when you last click a page in a special sessions table, which records your username, the time you last accessed, and various other bits (IP address, etc), and when a pre-set time is reached (say 10 minutes), your session them 'times out' and the board software removes your entry from the sessions table, thus making you 'Offline'

If you access OOF, and then turn your computer off, even though your not online, your session will remain active till it times out on here.

If you click 'Logout' then your session is removed from the list (you become offline) and you become a guest till you next login

Ha ha! And the cookie just stores authentication data (hopefully encrypted) for when I come back again to do the logging in for me - and so anther session starts!

'Tis sad but true, but I will probably sleep better tonight for that. Thanks  

[amigov6]

This post is sapping me of my will to live.

[Elite Pete]

This post is sapping me of my will to live.

[STMO123]

Online refers to the time since you last 'visited' the site (clicked a page while logged in)  This is recorded as a 'Session'

Sessions vary in time, from 5 minutes on most sites, to about 30 on others...

The time is recorded from when you last click a page in a special sessions table, which records your username, the time you last accessed, and various other bits (IP address, etc), and when a pre-set time is reached (say 10 minutes), your session them 'times out' and the board software removes your entry from the sessions table, thus making you 'Offline'

If you access OOF, and then turn your computer off, even though your not online, your session will remain active till it times out on here.

If you click 'Logout' then your session is removed from the list (you become offline) and you become a guest till you next login

Ha ha! And the cookie just stores authentication data (hopefully encrypted) for when I come back again to do the logging in for me - and so anther session starts!

'Tis sad but true, but I will probably sleep better tonight for that. Thanks  

Surely this is true of any site where you tick the "remember me" box?

[amigov6]

Excuse me while i switch the gas on.....please make it stop :-?

[dbug]

It's Cookies, cookies effing cookies!!!!  

[Vamps]

It's Cookies, cookies effing cookies!!!!  

Got a packet of them and 40 tea bags, free today in Tesco's.