55

Is a "log out from every SE site in the network" button technically feasible?

With so many SE sites popping up, it would be a very useful feature.

Edit: has this been implemented now, as @Ben suggests in his comment? I've lost track.

|improve this question
  • +1 from me, although given how unreliable the Windows Live logout used to be across multiple sites (As an example of another SSO implementation - I haven't used it in a long time so don't know if it's improved!), I suspect that using your browsers "Delete Cookies" tools may well be less painful! =) – Rob Apr 11 '11 at 9:00
  • 3
    Also, as Safari on a Mac has no means to clear HTML5 Local Storage, it would be the only way to achieve this in that browser, other than manually deleting files from the file system... – Arjan Apr 11 '11 at 9:16
  • 3
    @rob delete cookies won't work; cookies != html5 local storage – Jeff Atwood Apr 11 '11 at 9:33
  • @Jeff, on a Mac in Google Chrome "Delete cookies and other site data" does clear local storage as well. In Firefox, it's deleted whenever cookies are deleted. Just not so much in Safari. – Arjan Apr 11 '11 at 9:34
  • @Jeff - I wasn't aware that SE uses html5 local storage, I just assumed cookies (Yes, I know, my bad!). Substitute "Clear persisted data" for "Delete Cookies" for an implementation agnostic version of my comment =) – Rob Apr 11 '11 at 9:35
  • @Rob, please find a button labelled "Clear persisted data" in my Safari on a Mac ;-) (Well, actually, I use Chrome most times, so no issue for me. It's more about Safari users being oblivious about what is stored on their disk, even after clicking every available button that might clear it. I dislike that a lot.) – Arjan Apr 11 '11 at 9:37
  • @rob very few browsers clear HTML5 storage in that manner, though I haven't checked FF4 and IE9 recently. – Jeff Atwood Apr 11 '11 at 9:38
  • 1
    @Rob, Global Network Auto-Login and How does SO's new auto-login feature work? are a nice read. – Arjan Apr 11 '11 at 9:40
  • 1
    @Jeff, in Chrome on a Mac, I have no option to only delete cookies. It's Delete cookies and other site data, or nothing. – Arjan Apr 11 '11 at 9:45
  • So if I clear all browsing data in, say, Chrome 14 (PC or Mac), am I logging myself out of all SE sites or leaving them logged in if I forgot to actually click the logout link? – dgw Oct 17 '11 at 1:42
  • See also: "Improve SE OpenID logout security and user experience on shared or public machines", to which this feature request would be a solution. – Charles Mar 8 '12 at 0:57
  • where is the converse? network wide login would be quite useful for me – prusswan Mar 16 '12 at 12:27
  • I think this is what happens now... – Ben Brocka May 23 '12 at 21:53
  • @BenBrocka it clears the globalauth local storage data, and it logs you out of the site you're presently on. It does not, however, log you out of all sites. So if I'm logged into Superuser.com and Stackoverflow.com, and I initiate a logout on SU, I won't be auto-logged-in to Serverfault.com if I go over there, but I'm still logged in on SO. – nhinkle Aug 20 '12 at 2:39
  • @nhinkle hm, that's not what I get at all. In fact it seems to log me out on all devices on all sites, or it did the last time I did it. Which is not something I'd like to test again... – Ben Brocka Aug 20 '12 at 13:30
19
+250

Yes, please implement this

I often like to check SE sites while not at home, and I don't like leaving myself logged in on someone else's computer. Currently I have to go to each site individually and log out. If I miss any site, then they get logged in as me if they go to any SE site afterwards.

As for the current suggestion of clearing cookies/temp data, it doesn't seem right to clear someone else's cookies and temp data, so its not a solution I ever use.

|improve this answer
  • 4
    One solution is to use incognito mode when logging in. This should clear out the cookies etc. automatically. In addition it won't mess with their browsing history. – ChrisF♦ Mar 16 '12 at 12:02
  • @ChrisF Is that available in all the major browsers? – Rachel Mar 16 '12 at 12:05
  • 4
    It's certainly available in Chrome (incognito mode), IE9 (InPrivate browsing) and Firefox (Private mode). It's also available in Opera (Private mode) and Safari (Private browsing) – ChrisF♦ Mar 16 '12 at 12:08
  • @ChrisF Thanks :) I was aware that Chrome had something like that and suspected FF did, but didn't know IE had that feature too, and IE is usually what's on other people's computers. – Rachel Mar 16 '12 at 12:22
  • @ChrisF: Incognito is good... assuming you think about it in advance. It helps nothing if already logged in. I wonder on how many computers and on how many sites I'm currently logged in. – maaartinus Dec 8 '13 at 5:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .