Web Design, Cookies
November 2, 2010
Web Design, Cookies on your computer. I am not talking about the Cookies you can eat.
Cookies are objects web sites store on your computer that contain data. This is a file that a web site places on your computer. For example Adobe’s Flash player stores user information in cookies on your computer. Every time you visit a web site with using Adobe’s Flash Player a cookie is stored on your computer.
Ever visit a web site that plays a video or contains animation? Most likely the web site creators are using Flash. Good examples are media sites like Pandora Hulu and YouTube. They store cookies on your computer to preload music files for a smoother playback. The problem is some of these cookies are getting larger and larger and they are also storing and tracking information without your consent. Flash cookies have gotten a bad reputation because web sites do not need your permission to store these large cookies on your computer.
How much space are cookies taking up on my hard drive?
Some of these files can be as large as 7MB or so. In addition, some cookies hang around for years. Yes, that is right you read correctly, years. An expiration date for cookies is not required so they may take up space on your computer for many years. Regular cookies are easy to get rid of. Your browser settings can be set to delete upon exiting the browser. Flash cookies are another story. They are harder to get rid of. And advertisers can use Flash cookies to restore the old cookies you deleted. They can be restored as fast as you can delete them.
How to delete Flash cookies?
To delete Flash cookies you will need to go to
Adobe Help and click on the “Web site Storage Settings” on the left side of the web page. Then click on all the Flash cookies you want to delete. This will remove the Flash data.
Final thoughts
When designing web sites the size of Flash cookies should be taken into consideration. Be considerate of the amount of space used on the user’s computer and design web sites to only utilize what is needed. In addition, clean up afterward and use expiration dates. We all want to provide the best experience possible.