This page discusses how cookies are used by this site. If you continue to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your computer by your web browser at the request of a site you’re viewing. This allows the site you’re viewing to remember things about you, such as your preferences and history or to keep you logged in.

Cookies may be stored on your computer for a short time (such as only while your browser is open) or for an extended period of time, even years. Cookies not set by this site will not be accessible to us.

Our cookie usage

This site uses cookies for numerous things, including:

• • Registration and maintaining your preferences. This includes ensuring that you can stay logged in and keeping the site in the language or appearance that you requested.
  • Analytics. This allows us to determine how people are using the site and improve it.
  • Other third-party cookies for YouTube or apps used to develop this site.  In general I avoid apps that advertise to our members, but sometimes they get sneaky. …. These cookies will generally be set by the third-party independently, so this site will have no ability to access them.

I do not add Social Media Sharing Links (Facebook, Twitter, et cetera) to our site specifically to avoid their cookies and tracking.

Standard cookies we set

These are the main cookies we set during normal operation of the software.

• • xf_csrf
    Stores a token, unique to you, which is used to verify that the actions you perform on this site were intended to be performed by you.
  • xf_session
    Stores the current ID of your session.
  • xf_user
    Stores a key, unique to you, which allows us to keep you logged in to the software as you navigate from page to page.

Additional cookies and those set by third parties

Additional cookies may be set during the use of the site to remember information as certain actions are being performed, or remembering certain preferences.

Other cookies may be set by third party service providers which may provide information such as tracking anonymously which users are visiting the site, or set by content embedded into some pages, such as YouTube or other media service providers.

Removing/disabling cookies

Managing your cookies and cookie preferences must be done from within your browser’s options/preferences. Here is a list of guides on how to do this for popular browser software:

• • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Google Chrome
  • Safari for macOS
  • Safari for iOS

More information about cookies

To learn more about cookies, and find more information about blocking certain types of cookies, please visit the ICO website Cookies page.