I have a classmate who apparently forgot to log out and the home page has showed her logged on continuously for the last day. I know this isn't true. She lives in a nursing home and has difficulty using the computer there. Is there any way that I, as administrator, can log her off? Or can you?
Thanks,
Mike

Nope, It is done with cookies that are stored on her computer. We would need access to her computer to do what you want.

Another option is to delete her profile and re-add it again, but in my opinion, that isn't worth it. If you did that, her MemberID (internal number that represents her) would change and the old MemberID would still be logged in, but since that user would be deleted, she wouldn't show up on the Whos Online Now module.

But of course, when she logged in again with the new profile, you would have the same problem again when she forgets to logout the next time.

I did try to delete and reenter her but, as you say, it didn't work.
She lives in a facility with multiple public computers. Are you saying that she has to logout on the same computer she used to login?

Yes, Cookies are stored on a per-computer basis. If she logs in on one computer, then logs in on a 2nd computer, then logs out of the 2nd computer, she is still logged in on the first computer because she never logged out.

It seems that if a person is logged in at one location and then logs in at another, they should be automatically logged off at the first location. Isn't this typical? Can it be done with CC?
Mike

Mike,

We haven't forgotten you. Still discussing the options.

PS. I was told by the programmer that what I described was wrong. If a classmate logs on to one computer, then logs on to another computer, when they logoff of the 2nd computer, the first computer's cookies become invalid, so if they tried to use the first computer again, it would force a login again. The cookies would still be there on the first computer saying she was logged in, but the next page she accessed that was password protected would cause her to login again.

Kyle Erickson wrote:

That's how it works and I hope you do not change this too much. I often log in on multiple computers with different operating systems and monitors to verify how pages look. I do NOT log out on purpose and go back and forth as I make changes.

There is no general method concerning multiple logins at the same time from multiple locations, but here's one that may work

Use an Inactivity Timer If there are multiple logins 12-24 hours? That would solve this issue. If there has been no activity for 48hrs all users get logged off? Would help your system too. And then we all get to update our docs

Thanks, Kyle.
That makes a lot more sense. When I went to her nursing home, there were 5 computers, all in a row. I checked them all and she was not logged on to any. By the way, they use the Mygait.com user interface, a (supposedly) more user friendly front-end. But she did log on to the one she said she had last used, then logged off. The problem went away, she no longer showed as online.
She is a semi-invalid with short-term memory issues and computerphobia, yet still want to stay in touch. Fortunately, she is in the same city as I am and I could go over there and work things out.
But if she were 1000 miles away, it would have been nice to have a (last resort) administrators remote forced log off button.
Thanks for all the quick and helpful responses and all that you folks do. I get a lot of compliments on the website, but they really belong to you. The hard work is under the hood, I just put the paint on.
Mike

Despite my earlier comment. I agree with the message from Jack V. that a 2nd log on should not automatically bump off the first. I sometimes do the same thing he describes - for testing, working with a classmate on an issue, etc.
It should require a very deliberate process, used only after verifying that the "stuck" log on is real. Jack's clock scheme might work but it would probably have to exempt admins.

Mike, Your issue certainly made me stop and think, I am sure as I and my classmates continue to age similar problems with accounts staying logged-in will occur. My thoughts went to some other person sitting down at a communal computer could have changed her profile, photos ... and had access to non public pages.

I also find it very valuable to be able to be online with multiple computers simultaneously and will vote for "don't take that away"

Joan

Mike - Do you have an example of a Last Name + First Initial that still shows up as being logged in at your site? We have a possible solution that is on our end that I can test to see if I can successfully log that user out. Please let me know.