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This is about a feature that lets me log out without having to open a normal SE site. All of the tabs shall stay open, I want to work on them further when I log in again. This is a logout page where you do not see the title bar notifications or anything else, just the logout button. One could then discuss whether you should be able to log out only globally from all of your accounts or whether you should also be able to choose which SE sites you want to log out.

What about a global Stack Exchange logout page that does not show anything of the title bar notifications and that does not count the visit - as if you had not been there at all? How could that be planned so that it would become a good feature request, if at all?

-- This question has been shrunk down to the core, some comments hint at the older version of the question. --

As to the accepted answer: the idea was that the "logout visit" would not be counted - as if I was not there - and therefore the changes would also not update. If I clicked by chance on an open tab some days later, and I am still logged out, I would only see changes that I already know, from my latest refresh when being logged in. This is not in the accepted answer (which is a fast and good workaround only), but it was the idea of the feature.

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  • 7
    why not just use incognito mode?
    – Journeyman Geek Mod
    Jul 12 at 19:30
  • 2
    If this is a scholary or professional environment you guys should really have some global log-in system so that you can work with your own account on any machine
    – Luuklag
    Jul 12 at 19:34
  • @JourneymanGeek There are many reasons. One is that you can have dozens of SE tabs open but do not want to touch them at that time and still want to read through many other non-SE tabs that you saved yourself up for later. You need to care for where you click and which neighboured tab you close then, for example. But you can find 10 bullet points more.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 12 at 19:35
  • @Luuklag It is for me, and for me.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 12 at 19:35
  • 8
    I think overall this feature, while having merit for you and maybe a few others, is so specific for a narrow use-case where I doubt if such a feature when implemented at SE ends of the wire fully covers your needs. The feature seem to have a security/privacy aspect as well, so when done wrong can have huge impact. Wouldn't you feel more confident if you have a local to your machine tailored solution with browsers / OS settings etc that would work for all internet sites where you have an account instead of only SE?
    – rene
    Jul 12 at 20:06
  • @rene Not sure if I understand. I thought I could stick to the Gollum humour, yet I better explain it. I am the only user, just with changing sides (work/weekend, and another non-tech SE account sometimes). There is no security problem in my feature discussion here. I just want a way to log off on a day when I do not want to "open SE only to log it off". If this feature is not there, I need to log off in advance, which I need to plan, and I do not want to plan anything. This is just one point of many more you could make for such a feature.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 12 at 23:53
  • 10
    This seems to be exactly the type of use-case for which browser "profiles" (Firefox) / "users" (Chrome) exist. Just set up an additional "User" or "Profile", depending on your browser of choice, or use a completely separate browser (e.g. if you use Chrome normally, then just use Firefox for the other "user"). This really isn't a feature that should be implemented on a site-by-site basis (i.e. it shouldn't be implemented by Stack Exchange) This is something that already exists at both the browser level and OS login level.
    – Makyen
    Jul 13 at 0:41
  • 1
    You can, at any time when logged in, goto /logout and tick the 'logout on all devices' and that will invalidate all sessions
    – rene
    Jul 13 at 16:35
  • @rene I know that I can log out. That is the reason for this discussion: I do not want to see the new changes when I log out, and I do not want it to be counted as a visit when I only want to log out (without seeing the new changes).
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 13 at 17:48
  • @Makyen I use two browsers and many windows anyway but I mix the SE tabs and other tabs during the week. When I close a tab I might land at a neighboured SE tab, which would then show me the title bar changes when I am still logged in and which would count the visit. I want to have the freedom to log out without any trace of having been there at that time and without the updates of the title bar. This gives me the freedom to decide during the day about skipping SE for that day. Just as an example, to avoid any triggers that could keep me at the computer longer than needed on a workfree day.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 13 at 17:53
  • So, if you would have an AutoIT script or browser plugin that responds to a hotkey and then closes any open tabs that have an address that belongs to the SE network, would work for you? It is still unclear what you expect the developers from SE to build for you. Should they write software to close the tabs for you?
    – rene
    Jul 13 at 18:40
  • @rene I think of a feature that lets me log out without having to open a normal SE site. All of the tabs shall stay open, I want to work on them further when I log in again. This is a logout page where you do not see the title bar notifications or anything else, just the logout button. One could then discuss whether you should be able to log out only globally from all of your accounts or whether you should also be able to choose which SE sites you want to log out.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 13 at 18:47
  • 1
    Create a user script for '*/users/logout' and run $('.js-top-bar').hide(); $('body').css('padding-top',0);. Then you can visit in a new tab [se site]/users/logout and you'll only have a logout button, no top-bar, not even the padding, no distractions and you can click logout.
    – rene
    Jul 13 at 19:14
  • @rene I see there are many user scripts around! Never heard of. Before I search further, is there any guide about how to create it at all? I am new to this. I only see the ready-made ones. Looks good. Small thing only: for the statistics, a mere logout should better not be counted as a visit. That is likely something that only Stack Exchange developers could write. Thanks anyway.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 13 at 19:58
  • 1
    There is a whole site with userscripts targetted at SE sites: stackapps.com/questions/tagged/script (not sure if a disclaimer/affiliation is warranted upfront but I'm a moderator on that site. My recommendation might be biased)
    – rene
    Jul 13 at 20:33

1 Answer 1

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6

I doubt you're best served with a solution implemented by Stack Exchange. Your problem seems to be better suited for a personal / local productivity tweak. For browser based options, userscripts can be a useful and flexible solution.

For example, this user script will hide the top bar on the logout page:

// ==UserScript==
// @name         cleanlogout
// @namespace    https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/158100/rene
// @version      0.1
// @description  No distractions logout
// @author       rene
// @match        https://*.stackexchange.com/users/logout
// @match        https://stackoverflow.com/users/logout
// @match        https://superuser.com/users/logout
// @match        https://serverfault.com/users/logout
// @match        https://askubuntu.com/users/logout
// @match        https://mathoverflow.net/users/logout
// @match        https://stackapps.com/users/logout
// @run-at       document-start
// @icon         https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?sz=64&domain=stackexchange.com
// @grant        none
// ==/UserScript==

/*global $ */

(function() {
    'use strict';
    $('.js-top-bar').hide();
    $('body').css('padding-top',0);
})();

Do install a userscript manager—I tested with Tampermonkey in Chrome and then added the above script—and you're good to go. With the userscript running, your logout page will now look like:

Enter image description here

That might still count as a visit, but at least it got rid of the distractions on that page, so you can focus on the task: Logout!

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1
  • I was not aware of that logout website up to now, thought you linked to the top right symbol logout in your comment. With that, there is also the stone age way: hide the top right of the screen with the hand or a folded paper or the like so that you do not see the title bar. Then log out. The counts on that meta website are statistically less distorting since I seldomly go there anyway. Well. Stone age and childhood is over :), your answer is better.
    – questionto42standswithUkraine
    Jul 15 at 21:19

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