# Blocking users? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 7, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195 "2023-08-07T16:01:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/41 "2023-08-10T17:06:36Z")
It works for me. Even the odd problems like posting media, minimum number of words, etc. are easy to get around for a casual user like me. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/42 "2023-08-10T17:14:40Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > It’s okay; I don’t mind explaining. For short responses like this or if I think someone’s going to engage with me in an exchange, I’ll log in first. Otherwise, especially if I’m writing a longer post like a lengthy review of a film, I prefer to do it in a Word document. Gives me time to edit out the superfluous bits, double-check my assumptions and spelling, etc. I understand that, and I’ve done that before. For the same reason as you; I’ve lost posts. Even in Discourse, I’ve had the software eat posts as I’m trying to compose them, usually because I’m trying to reference something in another thread, and I go to another thread to grab a quote or link, and when I go back to my draft it throws a tantrum and dumps it. It’s rare but has happened a few times. None of that has anything to do with being logged into the site. In my experience you are always logged into the site when you visit it unless you deliberately log out. So I’m trying to figure out why you’d do that. Maybe there is some neat trick around that which I’m not aware of. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/43 "2023-08-10T17:27:11Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > In my experience you are always logged into the site when you visit it unless you deliberately log out. Doesn’t work that way for me and I’m kind of surprised to read that. Maybe there’s an “always logged in” option that I haven’t noticed. Even if I’ve seen it and am blanking out now, it’s not something I’d ever use. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/44 "2023-08-10T17:36:44Z")
I believe that there is a “keep me logged in” option, but it’s been so long since I’ve explicitly logged in that I don’t remember exactly how it works. I’m permanently logged in both on the PC and on my tablet. It’s very helpful for the reasons I cited, and probably others I’m not remembering. I don’t understand why anyone would NOT do that. For instance I can start reading a thread on my tablet, quit part way through, go to my PC and Discourse automatically picks up from the “last visit” point. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/45 "2023-08-10T18:00:47Z")
I’d go so far as to say that the software is designed to be used while logged in, and doesn’t really work when you’re not. It’s like saying just FYI, there is some drag if you drive this model of car with the doors propped open. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/46 "2023-08-10T18:01:46Z")
Does that mean that you never turn off your devices? I’ve gone maybe 48 hours without turning off the computer, and that was on only one occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/47 "2023-08-10T18:06:46Z")
Every time you turn on the device and go to a site you are logged in. That’s how cookies work. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/48 "2023-08-10T18:11:56Z")
Well, something’s not making sense here. When I visit this site I’m not able to post or do some other things until I log in. If I try, a message will inform me that I have to log in first. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/49 "2023-08-10T18:29:20Z")
I’ve checked to see if there’s some kind of “keep me logged in” option and I don’t see it, either on the login screen or in Preferences, so I suspect that creating a cookie that keeps you logged in is automatic. It should work for you as long as you don’t log out, unless you’re running some sort of security feature that blocks cookies. For instance, I’ve been playing around with different browsers, and I can run a browser that I haven’t used in days, click on the link to the Dope, and it comes up already logged in. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/50 "2023-08-10T18:32:13Z")
As an experiment, I logged out, then logged back in to the board. Like @wolfpup, it has been so long since I’ve logged into this web site that I couldn’t remember what it looked like or what options there were. When I did so (on my PC, running Windows 11, using the MS Edge browser) there was a simple username and password and a log in button. No check box to stay logged in or anything like that. So it seems automatic. (I also checked my profile preferences, looking at the security section in particular, to see if there was an option to stay logged in or not and there isn’t anything.) I am wondering if your security settings for this site or the browser as a whole is blocking cookies or otherwise set to a high level, such that it prevents your browser from allowing you to stay logged in. ETA: Almost entirely ninja’d by **wolfpup** as I was typing, LOL. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/51 "2023-08-10T18:33:19Z")
Thanks for the interest and suggestions. My setup/procedures work fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195/52 "2023-08-10T18:34:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > For instance, I’ve been playing around with different browsers, and I can run a browser that I haven’t used in days, click on the link to the Dope, and it comes up already logged in. One thing I noticed is that if you go into the security settings for your profile here, it shows every device you are logged into, and it gives you an option to log them all out. So it actually keeps track of your logged-in browsers from this board. It really is designed from the ground up to operate with you always logged in, and if for some reason you have a browser that’s not allowing that, it’s going to probably cause some difficulties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-users/988195.md?page=2)