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Cookies - Not Always Too Tasty

All too frequently, you read complaints
I sign in from the Navbar link, but it pops up my dashboard for the wrong account.

or
Help! I started my browser, but it says I'm logged in. I can't get to the page layout editor.

or
I checked "Remember Me". It still makes me login, each time. Why??

or even
Help! My blogs are missing from my dashboard!!


And even after clearing cache and restarting, the problem remains.

But besides what's stored in cache, you have another factor affecting what you see in your browser.

Cookies.


The cookies contain settings, used by the many web pages that you've loaded onto your computer, that affect how those pages get displayed. The cache contains the actual page contents, as temporary files. Cache and Cookies complement each other, but don't confuse them - they are not the same.

The problem is that many security experts believe that cookies are a major security threat. Many well trusted security malware detector programs, like Ad-Aware, detect and flag cookies when they find them on your computer. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer, if configured aggressively, may block cookies from some websites. If you configured your browser to allow cookies from "www.blogger.com", you could have a problem from "www2.blogger.com", the domain housing New Blogger.

If you're blocking cookies from "www2.blogger.com", you could find yourself making any of the above complaints. This problem could come and go, if you login targeting alternating login addresses.

You can get various cookie management programs, specific by browser. Short of that, you'll end up clearing your cookies, when you have problems.
  • Shutdown and restart your browser.
  • From your browser, delete all Blogger cookies, and clear your Cache. How to do this will vary by browser.
    • For Firefox, you can delete just Blogger cookies. In the Firefox Control Panel (Tools - Options), under Privacy - Cookies, select View Cookies. Find and delete the cookies for Blogger. Then, under Cache, select Clear Cache Now. Note that under Firefox V2, Cache is part of Private Data.
    • For Internet Explorer, you'll have to delete all cookies (sorry). In the Internet Explorer Control Panel (Tools - Internet Options), select Delete Cookies, then Delete Files.
  • Shutdown and restart your browser.

After you clear cookies, you'll find the various websites asking you a few questions, and showing you a few empty settings. So prepare to spend a bit more time setting things up again.

If you have a lot of websites, that you use frequently, and you clear all cookies, you may decide that this is a pain in the butt. Sorry. Maybe cookies aren't so tasteless after all - maybe, it's better to enable cookies properly.

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Comments

Valentín VN said…
Thank you for your advise. I deleted all cookies, but it didn't help. I think I have a problem bigger than that and I think that is the reason I can edit post but I can't see my page.

What I am happy about is because my problem I get to notice your blog and I will be returning to you for advice.
Thank You.

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