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Is it Firefox causing me to be unable to login to multiple accounts on a single site (in mulitple tabs) at the same time?

  • 4 replies
  • 19 have this problem
  • 9 views
  • Last reply by PoochPest

TheMistressT
TheMistressT
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For instance I can't look at multiple inboxes using the webmail app at one domain. Also, I have 2 etsy shops and can't log in to both at the same time on different tabs. Logging in as one on one tab, logs me out on the other. Is this a Firefox feature and if so, can I turn it off?

For instance I can't look at multiple inboxes using the webmail app at one domain. Also, I have 2 etsy shops and can't log in to both at the same time on different tabs. Logging in as one on one tab, logs me out on the other. Is this a Firefox feature and if so, can I turn it off?

All Replies (4)

lmandel
lmandel
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The issue you describe is likely due to how the sites are storing session information. Many sites set a cookie on your system that identifies your session. Cookies are set per browser not per tab. This allows you to open a new tab and have the ability to keep your settings from previous site visits. This does come with the drawback that you can only have a single session active at a time.

Some sites, like GMail (http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=69570), have specific solutions for this. Unfortunately, it seems the solution for most people is to have two different browsers running to handle the two accounts.

TheMistressT
TheMistressT Question owner
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Thanks so much for your answer! I suspected it was site-specific, but was hoping Firefox would have an easy solution. Have 2 or more browsers running isn't really all that much more convenient than having to login/out a few times.

Thanks again!

PoochPest
PoochPest
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OK. This is not "site specific" it is Firefox specific. I have older versions of Firefox in which this does not happen. The moment I upgrade to a updated version, I have this problem. I have multiple accounts on a single site. When I open another tab, and try to open another account on that new tab, Firefox switches the initial tab to the new account. Previous versions left the original tab alone until I recycled that specific tab. 

  This particularly affects games, emails everything where you are working on one project with something, stop, someone opens a new tab and opens a new account on same site, and your work is wiped out on the initial tab. 
  My conclusion: since this multiple accounts-same site was possible on the old versions of Firefox, and it isn't possible on newer versions and it IS possible on Chrome (and I'm checking Safari, Opera and others) - it is a Firefox issue. Let's address it instead of pushing it off on various sites.
PoochPest
PoochPest
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Oh, this is not a Mac issue, and it has been around for two upgrades so I don't know what I'll do about it. I have a Firefox/Mac 5.0 version that is working fine. I have a Firefox 13.0 version that works, but not in the way I can work efficiently. Thanks.