Use Of "s=*" In Forum Addresses?

Discussion in 'Forum Related Discussions' started by Throwawayaccount12, Dec 29, 2013.

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  1. Throwawayaccount12

    Throwawayaccount12 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2013
    Posts:
    23
    When I click on "Wilders Security Forums > Forum Information > General Topics" I'm directed to a webpage with the address
    Code:
    http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?s =66c7a860125659f9b18ee4d180474766&f=5
    [1].


    If I remove
    Code:
    s =66c7a860125659f9b18ee4d180474766&
    [1] in the address and hit the enter key, I'm directed to the same page.


    I assume removing the "s=*" before saving the address to my favorites isn't detrimental since this forum does it automatically for posts.

    What use does the "s=*" have?



    [1] After clicking the "Preview Post" button of this message, the "s=*" portion of the addresses were removed, so I added a space between the "s" and the "=" since quoting it or displaying it as code removed it too.
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2013
    Throwawayaccount12, Dec 29, 2013
    #1
  2. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Jan 25, 2009
    Posts:
    8,626
    roger_m, Dec 29, 2013
    #2
  3. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2002
    Posts:
    18,280
    Location:
    New England
    The "s" stands for sessionid. vBulletin maintains the concept of a user session in order to keep members logged into the forum, or to allow guests to use things like "new posts" and already "read threads" while browsing here. If your browser allows cookies for this forum's domain, then that value is usually stored and passed from there. If cookies are not accessible at any point, even temporarily, the forum has to pass the sessionid value somewhere, so, it moves it into the URL. You can see sessionid in the URL even with cookies enabled, if there is some transition, usually passing over a session timeout (i.e. inactivity of 15 minutes). But, that typically only lasts for one click.

    If you save bookmarks / favorites, you definitely do not need to keep the sessionid in them. And, old sessionids are valueless anyway. Whenever a user session times out after 15 minutes of disuse, a new sessionid is generated. Old ones are just ignored at that point.
     
    LowWaterMark, Dec 29, 2013
    #3
  4. Throwawayaccount12

    Throwawayaccount12 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2013
    Posts:
    23
    @Moderators

    Please merge this post with the old thread of the same name.


    @Repliers

    Thanks for the replies.


    @LowWaterMark

    That was educational and explained in an easily digestible way for me. I appreciate the time you took to craft your message.

    Now I can clean up my favorites' addresses.
     
    Throwawayaccount12, Jun 4, 2014
    #4
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