Cookies set by IPB

[Administrator]

IP.Board will set various cookies that will allow for sessions to be utilized across pages, and even "remember" a users logged in state the next time they visit. Below, I have provided a brief outline of the cookies that are set by the software, and what they are used for. Please note that the names of these may vary if you have defined a Cookie Prefix in your Admin CP. Cookies marked in red are set as HttpOnly cookies, which means they cannot be accessed via client side scripting (reference). It should also be noted that, while some cookies will contain user preference information (as outlined below), none of the cookies set by IP.Board contain any users personal information.

• session_id - This is the users current session. The value of this cookie is used to link the client with the software to help identify that the session is correct and unique to this user.
• member_id - This is the users unique ID used to help verify that the users session actually belongs to the person who is browsing.
• pass_hash - This is the users login key that is utilized to remember their logged in status so that, if they elect to be remembered on subsequent visits, this cookies verifies that information. This cookie does not store any password hashes, or any other authentication based data.
• rteStatus - This is a user preference cookie that determines whether or not the user wants to use the Rich Text Editor, or a standard textarea, for posting content.
• acp_mergecenter - This cookie is set when an administrator does a Template Merge report when upgrading between versions. This is not set for your average, everyday users, and is only set in the Admin CP.
• ipsconnect_XXXXX - This cookie is utilized by the IPS Connect feature to allow for Single Sign On functionality between multiple IP.Board installations on the same top level domain. The XXXXX portion here is typically replaced with a 32 character string to identify the legitimacy of the "master" IP.Board install.
• guestSkinChoice - This is used for anyone browsing who has not registered for the site yet. It is a "preference" cookie that allows guests to determine what skin design to browse the site with, in the event you have multiple designs installed in the software.
• language - This is similar to the guestSkinChoice cookie, except it refers to the guests Language choice instead.
• forceEnglish - This is a debugging cookie used by technicians and developers to force the site to use the master "English" language pack.
• mobileApp - This cookie is set in the event that a user may be using our (since deprecated) Mobile Application.
• mobileBrowser - This cookie is set when a user is browsing via a mobile device.
• cm_reg - If you are currently using IP.Nexus (which I do not believe you are), this cookie is used during registration to determine if the user is attempting to purchase something from the store-front, and if so, contains the ID of the invoice that was generated.
• referred_by - Another IP.Nexus cookie - this is used for guests to help determine what member referred that guest to the site so that, in the event the guest registers and purchases something, the referrer can receive a commission, if configured.
• uagent_bypass - This is used by those browsing via a mobile browser, but elect to view the full site rather than the stripped down, mobile version.
• hide_sidebar - This is a preferential cookie used to determine if the user wishes to hide the sidebar that is typically displayed on the board index.
• coppa - This cookie is used during registration by the COPPA feature to determine whether or not the user is under 13 and, if set, deny them from registering.

In addition to these, you may also see cookies that are prefixed with "itemMarking" - these, specifically, are used to keep track of what topics, forums, and other content items a user has read. These are only set if Database Read Tracking is not enabled.

Further, the following cookies are set and used for IP.Chat:

• chat_blocked - This cookie indicates that the currently viewing user is blocked from chatting.
• chat_user_id - This cookie is used for Guests that may be in the chat room, and is used as a unique identifier to allow multiple guests at one time.
• chat_ignored_guests - This cookie is used for Members who may wish to ignore chat messages from Guest users.

For the forums, you may see the following cookies:

• ipbforumpass_X - This is used if you have any password protected forums, and will identify that the user knows the password to the forum and allows them access without prompting them each time. X is replaced by a number to identify the actual forum.
• mqtids - This cookie stores a list of Post ID's to allow users to quote multiple posts across topics.
• X_prune_day, X_sort_key, X_sort_by, X_topicfilter - These four cookies are used to store a users sorting and filter preferences when browsing a forum. X here is replaced by the forum ID.

Moderators may see cookies similar too the following:

• modtids (Topics)
• modpids (Posts)
• commentmodids (for comment areas in other applications)
• modbids (Blogs)
• modiids (Gallery Images)
• modfileids (IP.Downloads Files)

These are specific to moderators, and contain a list of items that the moderator has queued together to allow for applying a single moderation action to all items selected.

During searches, you may see the following:

• sfc - This cookie stores a timestamp of the users last search. This cookie is then used as a comparison to prevent flooding the search system with multiple requests in a short time span.
• sfct - Used in conjunction with the previous cookie, this stores the search term used in the previous search.

In IP.Downloads:

• idm_wait_period - If the "Time to wait before the download starts" feature in IP.Downloads is used, then this cookie will store the current time, so that the application knows how long the user needs to wait before they can download the file.

In IP.Gallery:

• members_gallery - Another preference cookie, this is used to determine the users display preference for the Members Gallery category.
• gallery_view_size - This is used to store the users default image size preference (either default to viewing the fullsize image, or a thumbnail)
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