# How do I log out of the Straight Dope Message Board? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 12, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179 "2024-04-12T01:14:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/1 "2024-04-12T01:14:45Z")
I just joined up, and I don’t see a place to log out. I’ve got all sorts of kids, friends, who have occasional access to my computer, and I’d like to log out so they can’t explore my account, or post here. Is there a logout button or something? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/2 "2024-04-12T01:21:03Z")
Click on the circle top right for your user name. The bottom right item on the list, Profile, has a LOG OUT option. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/3 "2024-04-12T01:23:07Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/4 "2024-04-12T01:23:46Z")
Not sure what the “circle” is. Here is what mine looks like: [![](https://i.imgur.com/srBEMZT.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/srBEMZT.png) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/5 "2024-04-12T03:27:51Z")
It depends on theme, I think. It’s just your character avatar doohickey, which is in a square frame for some themes but a circle frame for others. I just noticed that for at least one theme, it’s a _round-cornered square_. Whoa! OP, just click on @Whack-a-Mole 's face. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/6 "2024-04-12T04:46:38Z")
@GailForce my laptop is running the Windows OS and I’ve created two user profiles, one for Bullitt and one for Guests. Your OS should have a similar capability. Just have your — uhh, — guests use the Guest account and you shouldn’t have that trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/7 "2024-04-12T11:15:54Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > @GailForce my laptop is running the Windows OS and I’ve created two user profiles, one for Bullitt and one for Guests. At first I thought you meant two user profiles for the SDMB, and I was going to say, “No, don’t do that! We aren’t allowed to have multiple user profiles here on the SDMB!” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/8 "2024-04-12T12:08:03Z")
Oh, perhaps I could have stated that more clearly. Yes I was talking about separate login profiles on the OS, not to the SDMB! Separate login profiles on the OS would also protect the OP’s other accounts, like Amazon for example. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/9 "2024-04-15T01:26:02Z")
So apparently, the designers of this forum SW thought this log-out procedure is more “discoverable” than simply putting a “log out” button on top-corner of page? What’s the reasoning, or user-interface design/usability philosophy, behind that? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/10 "2024-04-15T01:40:40Z")
This message board is based on the [Discourse](https://discourse.org/) platform which is an open source platform for many, many websites. Presumably they decided this was the best way and not those who run this forum. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/11 "2024-04-15T01:53:35Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > So apparently, the designers of this forum SW thought this log-out procedure is more “discoverable” than simply putting a “log out” button on top-corner of page? I suspect the developers don’t consider logging out to be a highly used option. They prioritized the notification features. They moved the “account” options into the notifications menu, making it the last “tab.” It’s not actually all that unusual not to have a top level log out button. It is usually on some sort of dropdown menu. But it is rare that you have to then click on another button. Still, it’s not completely undiscoverable for people familiar enough to realize that those icons on the side are different tabs. So, to sum up, they had other priorities besides making it easy to log out. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/12 "2024-04-15T01:59:13Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > What’s the reasoning, or user-interface design/usability philosophy, behind that? See here: > **[A click too many: logging out](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-click-too-many-logging-out/130615)** > > Most settings menus have a log out link visible in the main menu or from one click in the menu dropdown. Recently Discourse updated the log out link placement, now requiring the user to navigate to a subpanel of account summary/settings in order... > [@Jeff Atwood](#): > > Logout is a rare action for users to take, so putting it behind two clicks or taps isn’t a problem. > > It was too prominent in its previous location, if anything, so this is more correct. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2024, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/13 "2024-04-15T05:49:39Z")
To be fair, that’s about usability, not discoverability. Two clicks is, I agree, not too much for such an uncommon feature. But I also understand why the OP didn’t find it. First off, unless you have a notification badge, it’s not entirely obvious that you can click on your avatar, especially since there’s a hamburger button right beside it that we know we can click on. And when you can click on your avatar, usually that shows you account-related things. Usually a bell is used for notifications. But Discourse decided to combine both menus into one, with submenus. And it considers notifications to be priority. You have to then click another icon to get to the actual account menu, and thus the log out option. Maybe there are other sites that do this, but I checked the ones I use and didn’t find one. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/14 "2024-04-22T16:52:08Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > @GailForce my laptop is running the Windows OS and I’ve created two user profiles, one for Bullitt and one for Guests. Your OS should have a similar capability. Just have your — uhh, — guests use the Guest account and you shouldn’t have that trouble. I was gonna suggest that same trick. If you just log out, your browser might remember your login info and let someone else log in using that. Good idea to worry about the situation, though, as one poster found to his chagrin, a while back. It was baaaaad. ---
**Author:** ![boson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boson/32/11407_2.png) [@boson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boson)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-log-out-of-the-straight-dope-message-board/1000179/15 "2024-05-07T22:16:06Z")
I’m starting to wonder if it is like that Eagles’ song. “You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave.” Humor can be found in these parts, too.