Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Since this is a new forum I'm looking for everyone's feedback so that we can customize the site accordingly. Post your suggestions and ideas here!
Post Reply
brothers
Posts: 21513
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by brothers »

That's something I've been tempted to do for quite some time. For no reason other than curiosity. My fear is that I delete something I depend on, and make a big mess out of something. Is this something others have tried, and if so, why and with what results? Is it something one might want to do more than once? Sorry to appear dense!
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
User avatar
drmoss_ca
Admin
Posts: 10731
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:39 pm

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by drmoss_ca »

If it works the same way deleting all smf cookies in your browser preferences does, you would lose your saved log-in, and have to re-enter username and password. All posts and threads would appear unread, and any notifications of follow-up posts would be cancelled. Nothing terrible, in other words.

Managing browser cookies is quite useful at times. For example, those news sites that let you read ten articles a month for free use cookies to keep track of how many you have read. There are utilities that will delete unwanted cookies at set intervals, or on browser quit or log-in, which means no limits for news articles. Some cookies are used for tracking you, so a website obtains your browsing history and then serves you targeted ads. So deleting tracking cookies is a good thing (SMF has no trackers at all). As well as such a utility, I use Firefox with four privacy related extensions to foil the evil empires of Google and the like - Disconnect, uBlock Origin in advanced mode, HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger. They all need setting up and tuning to suit your needs, but uBlock Origin, and it's relative uMatrix, are rather complex when you go beyond simple mode, and allow you to customise what you see and who sees you. It's a bit dry, but here's a video on how to achieve that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lisQQmWQkY

For example, if you look at https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ you will see there is a big banner across the top of each page, and quite a broad one at the bottom inviting subscriptions. On a 13" laptop screen there is only a thin letterbox to read in between them. So I have uBlock Origin block the elements of the lower banner and I see nothing at all of it on any page on that site. A boon.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
brothers
Posts: 21513
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by brothers »

Chris, thanks for that information. Now I understand.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
User avatar
fallingwickets
Clive the Thumb
Posts: 8813
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:59 am

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by fallingwickets »

I dont mind 'paying' for sites i visit, but the count ( which seems to be creeping smaller) does get tedious to take care of and so I appreciate you sharing some solutions to that.

clive
de gustibus non est disputandum
User avatar
drmoss_ca
Admin
Posts: 10731
Joined: Thu Jul 08, 2004 4:39 pm

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by drmoss_ca »

The stupid thing about the Globe and Mail is that I tried quite hard to get a subscription to the physical paper, but they didn't deliver it in rural Nova Scotia, and now for the last year, they don't print a copy for sale in the whole of eastern Canada at all. Once they stopped, our other 'national' newspaper, the National Post, also stopped offering a print version anywhere east of Quebec. They could have had my money, but I don't enjoy reading on a computer very much so I'm not interested in a digital subscription.
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
Rufus
Posts: 2370
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:25 pm
Location: Greater Toronto Area

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by Rufus »

drmoss_ca wrote: Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:45 am The stupid thing about the Globe and Mail is that I tried quite hard to get a subscription to the physical paper, but they didn't deliver it in rural Nova Scotia, and now for the last year, they don't print a copy for sale in the whole of eastern Canada at all. Once they stopped, our other 'national' newspaper, the National Post, also stopped offering a print version anywhere east of Quebec. They could have had my money, but I don't enjoy reading on a computer very much so I'm not interested in a digital subscription.
I have a physical paper subscription to the G&M, but at the rate they’ve been increasing the cost I might just cancel it. On top of the escalating cost they’ve slimmed down the content and I find there is more and more filler it each addition. The one thing stopping me cancelling my physical subscription is my dislike of reading articles on a computer. I also have a physical subscription to The Economist magazine and the annual cost of that is getting up there. Fortunately they have not watered down the content.
Bryan
brothers
Posts: 21513
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 am
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by brothers »

I accept that millions of folks prefer not to bother reading a paper newspaper any more in favor of seeing it online, or so they say. I don't agree at all. Fortunately I can and do receive our state's Daily Oklahoman by home delivery twice weekly. Going online and consolidating printing with a number of other newspapers may have saved them money, but I know for a fact that it reduced the number of jobs dramatically. I suppose that's called progress. I also know for a fact that very few people within my little universe actually look forward to reading the entire newspaper from front to back on the internet. Most people just ignore it altogether. Just as I ignore the daily 24/7 news cable broadcasts. What used to be called idle gossip is now accepted as news and that makes me sad.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
User avatar
Sam
M'Learned Friend
Posts: 12017
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2004 9:13 am
Location: memphis, tennessee
Contact:

Re: Hypothetically, what would happen if I click on "delete all board cookies"?

Post by Sam »

I too prefer a physical hard copy paper. Locally, our daily paper, the Commercial Appeal, was bought out by Gannett, the publisher of USA Today. The number of pages of the paper shrank and the price increased to $2 daily. Sundays, they have men on street corners hawking it for $1, when home delivery is $2. Thanksgiving Day is a $4 paper, mostly sales ads. WHEN I get the Sunday edition, I give the paperman at the corner $2, as he gets to keep 25 cents per copy as his wage if you will.

So, with Gannett making the paper now, they cut out many local writers. If the Grizzlies play a game at night, you do not get any coverage the next morning, but rather, the day after. By then, I have had my fill of reports online, or on TV. Local stories? Right, we get stories from 400 miles away about something local to Chattanooga. No thank you.
Post Reply