Monday, October 15, 2007

Cookies

BibleShared.com uses something called a Cookie in order to determine if you are logged in or logged out. A cookie is a very small text file a website can store on your computer to help it function properly. In the case of BibleShared.com, that cookie contains your user name and a piece of data that proves to the site that you have logged in.

I'm sharing this piece of information, because I've had reports of users being unable to log in. They can type their user name, password, and group code, and are redirected to the main page, to be presented with the log-in screen again. The reason for this is the site is unable to create a cookie on their computer to say that they have logged in. To correct this problem you have to allow cookies in your browser's settings. For Internet Explorer 7, this means selecting "Internet Options" from the Tools menu, clicking the "Privacy" tab, and moving the slider down until it indicates that cookies will be accepted.

There's a lot of FUD (Fear, uncertainty, doubt) around the Internet about Cookies, and most of this FUD has little to no basis in reality. Cookies have a legitimate purpose on many, many, many sites. Blocking or disabling cookies can cripple the Internet experience, and will definitely prevent you from being able to access BibleShared.com.

About the Author: Nick is the creator of BibleShared.com -- a web application that allows you to read the Bible, write notes in the margin, share these notes with others, and track your Bible reading progress.

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