What are cookies?

A cookie is a small text file saved by a web site on to your computer's hard drive. To find out more about cookies in general, try performing a search on 'cookie' in your browser's help files, or on an Internet search engine.

What do cookies have to do with the ROOTS web site?

The login process at www.rootsontheweb.com needs to use cookies to function properly. If you have set your web browser to refuse cookies, you may find that the login process will fail, for example, by appearing to think that you have already logged in and failing to show you the log-in form.

To use the ROOTS web site, you will need to set your browser to allow cookies, either for all sites, or just for www.rootsontheweb.com as a trusted or safe site.

What does the ROOTS cookie do?

The ROOTS cookie is used for session management purposes, to ensure that you don't have to log in repeatedly as you move about between the public, general information areas of the site, and the password-protected content areas. The cookie stores a session ID that is checked against the database each time you go to a private area of the site, to ensure that your login is valid, and that you are allowed to access the information.

We may also store the last login date and time by user ID, and the number of logins per user, to give us some understanding of site usage. This information will not be passed on to any third parties, and is collected only to aid us in our preparation and planning of the site.

How do I enable cookies?

If you are using Internet Explorer 6, go to Tools / Internet Options... / Privacy, where you will see a box labelled 'Web sites' with a button marked 'Edit...'. Selecting that button will let you add http://www.rootsontheweb.com to the list of sites that are allowed to give you cookies. This is the best way to allow the necessary cookie, especially if you do not wish to alter your overall security and privacy settings but do want to use www.rootsontheweb.com. The procedure is similar for Internet Explorer 7.

If you are using any other browser, you should consult your web browser's help files for instructions on enabling cookies, as the exact process will vary from program to program. However, it will often be found under a heading such as 'Security' or 'Privacy'.

Firewall users: Please note that if you are using a firewall then this may also be blocking cookies. You will need to consult the documentation for your particular firewall to see how to ensure that ROOTS cookies are permitted.