Cookie conundrum

June 20, 2011 4:15 PM

Is there a simple solution for logging into one website under two identities simultaneously using the same (preferably Firefox) browser window during the same session?

I am aware of CookiePie which is no longer supported or compatible with recent versions of Firefox.

posted by fire&wings to computers & internet (12 answers total)

You can use IE Tab for the second user.
posted by kindall at 4:19 PM on June 20, 2011

Couldn't you go through a proxy server?
posted by smithsmith at 4:58 PM on June 20, 2011

To clarify: I mean a browser based proxy website like this
posted by smithsmith at 5:00 PM on June 20, 2011

Same window is hard, but if you can accept one window per user you can get that by setting up multiple profiles. Switching windows is really no harder than switching tabs.

You can avoid a lot of profile setup work by cloning old ones.

Using multiple profiles in this way is also good practice for avoiding any possibility of a CSRF exploit being run against e.g. your bank's web page: reserve one profile for logging in to the bank, and use it for no other purpose.
posted by flabdablet at 5:10 PM on June 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

I use Chrome Incognito (File/New Incognito Window) to open a second window so I can log into two different Google accounts at the same time. The incognito window doesn't look at any cookies or existing logins so it lets me go into the second account without logging out of the first one.

Cursorily, looking at Firefox Private Browsing (Tools/Start Private Browsing), it doesn't let me flip back and forth between two windows. So I think Chrome Incognito is the way to go for this.
posted by beagle at 5:37 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I would use the MultiFox extension for this. I used to use it for multiple GMail sessions before that was allowed.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:45 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding the switching of profiles. It even keeps separate histories and bookmarks, it's super useful.
posted by Brian Puccio at 6:13 PM on June 20, 2011

As Ambrose alluded, multiple sign-in is now available for Google accounts, in case that's a service you need multi-log-in capability for.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 6:29 PM on June 20, 2011

Thank you all. Including the OP for asking it!
posted by IAmBroom at 7:56 PM on June 20, 2011

If you're going to go the multiple Firefox profiles route, there are a couple of other handy things you can do.

One is to set up a profile for porn private browsing: in a Firefox window with that profile, turn off disk caching and turn on all the clear-private-data-on-exit options. This can be more convenient than using the inbuilt Private Browsing feature, because it will let you set up a discreet browsing session without disrupting running downloads launched from the main profile.

The other is to set up separate launcher shortcuts for each profile. Copy your main Firefox launcher shortcut and paste it back onto the desktop; then rename the copy as Firefox (profilename); then edit its properties and tack -profile profilename onto the end of the existing target command line. This saves needing to pick a profile at startup.
posted by flabdablet at 8:26 PM on June 20, 2011

MultiFox is exactly what I'm looking for, and it works perfectly. Thanks for all the suggestions.
posted by fire&wings at 2:28 AM on June 21, 2011

MuliFox does look good - thanks for the link, AmbroseChapel. And because it sandboxes cookies, it should also be enough to defeat CSRF attacks as long as you always open your bank site in its own MultiFox identity profile.
posted by flabdablet at 3:13 AM on June 21, 2011