Firefox and Blogger Usefulness Versus Security.

The very first item: Firefox and Blogger: Usefulness Versus Security.

Being a geek my home system is quite secure. One day a friend of mine was using one of my computers to surf a blog hosted by Blogger and noticed they couldn't post a comment. The moment they hit the submit button, all of their text in the comment box simply disappeared. No error was generated and this happened regardless of whether or not most of the security on the computer was turned on, or off... We had ourselves a little mystery. Which is just the kind of thing I love. Here's what's going on with Firefox as it relates to posting on blogs hosted by Blogger.

Firefox is rejecting cookies from websites that are third-party and providing services to the blog you are posting on. In this situation, I believe Blogger is using another company's service to provide the random phrase they ask you to type in when posting your comment. If Firefox rejects the cookie from this company then the post is just dropped. No error message is generated because this might enable someone using software to spam the site to develop a workaround for the security. By default Firefox excepts all cookies, so for most people posting a message won't be a problem.  But,if you're having this problem, it's a good sign that someone has set up your computer properly, and here's the reason:

Normally, it's a very good idea to have your browser, Firefox or otherwise, set up to reject these cookies from offsite companies. It helps limit your information from being misused by other parties.

This information is for a very early version of Firefox back in 2012. It is probably not accurate or relevant anymore. This article is maintained here strictly as an archival copy.

Although I don't recommend you doing this, here's how to turn off this security feature:

1. Open your Firefox options [the method varies by the version of Firefox you have. Look around your menus.]
2. Go to the privacy tab and put a checkmark in the item that reads: "Except third-party cookies."
3. Then click the okay button at the bottom of the window.

Please make sure after your posting to disable third-party cookies once again.