group of technologies is used on websites in general, and WordPress sites in particular, to save user data, whether permanently or temporarily. Storing information and data on the web is linked to the concepts of cookies and sessions.
There is a difference between these two concepts, as each one has its different uses, whether by users of WordPress sites or developers of WordPress sites. This guide will help you understand these two concepts better and explain to you the most important differences between them and their uses based on explaining the following points:
- What are cookies and their uses in WordPress.
- What is a session and its uses in WordPress?
- Highlight the differences and differences between session and cookies.
- How to use cookies programmatically in WordPress.
- How to programmatically configure sessions in WordPress.
Cookies and their uses in WordPress
Cookies, or what are known as cookies, are files that are stored on the user’s computer via the browser, by sending a set of information and data to be stored in these files.
Cookies are used to record information in several cases, such as when accessing and exiting the site, saving site settings, storing browsing data, etc.
Note that almost any type of information and data you want can be recorded in cookies.
When a customer first visits a website, the website offers the user the ability to store cookies on their device. Conversely, on subsequent visits by this customer to the website, information cookies are sent from the user’s device to the website (via the browser) in order to facilitate the browsing process.
Programmatically, cookies help the WordPress developer store the user’s browsing data to help him facilitate access to the rest of the pages on the site and improve the experience of using the site on the website.
For example, if there is a page on the site that requires login before accessing it, the developer can check the presence of login information in cookies and allow the user to access the page through it instead of re-requesting to log in to the account again.
Among the information that cookies record are site settings (such as the language used, dark mode, etc.), and they also save personal information (such as e-mail, passwords, and the user’s login status).
Recently, other information and data have been added that cookies collect, such as your browsing habits, which are used by advertising companies in order to show ads that are compatible with your desires. Large companies such as Facebook and Google have begun to use cookies to customize their ads.
Types of cookies
- Persistent Cookies
- These are files that remain on your device for a long time unless they are deleted manually, deleted using a device cleaning program, or when they expire. They are mostly used to track you, as they are also called Tracking Cookies and aim to collect as much data about you to help advertising companies.
- Temporary cookies:
These files create a unique identifier for each browser user, and save various information during the process of browsing the site. However, this information is usually deleted once you leave the site.
Why do we use cookies in WordPress?
Cookies can be used on a WordPress website to save a range of information and data. The most important and first is the login information for the WordPress website, which includes email, password, and login status. This will make it easier for users as well as WordPress site administrators to quickly access pages without re-logging into their account every time.
It is also used to save comment options in WordPress, where comment information, which includes name, email, and website, is automatically stored for a period of 347 days automatically so that the same visitor can write his comment again without the need to enter the rest of the other information.
Cookies can also be used to store information related to WordPress plugins and themes. For example, in the WooCommerce plugin, cookies are used to save products that are added to the users’ purchase list.
The concept of session and its uses in WordPress
Session is another alternative technology for storing user information while browsing a specific website. The concept of a session is not much different from cookies, as a session is also a file through which a group of browsing information and data can be recorded.
But the difference between a session and cookies is that a session is a file that is stored on the WordPress website server (it is usually stored in the /tmp/ directory on the web server itself), while cookies are files that are stored locally on the user’s computer via the browser.
A session can be considered a communication between two intermediaries, which is most often the server and the user browsing the website.
During the browsing period, information about the user is stored in the session, which is deleted immediately after the user leaves the website and closes his window.
Therefore, the number of sessions is determined by the number of times the user has visited a particular site. If you visit a site twice, in the morning and in the afternoon, the number of individual users will be one, but the number of sessions will be counted as two.
One of the most prominent strengths of sessions over their counterpart cookies is the principles of protection and security. Storing files in sessions is safer and more protected than storing them in cookies.
Programmatically, the concept of the session revolves around any back-end service, including PHP, on which the WordPress system is built. Through sessions, the developer can record and save various types of data and information during the user’s presence on the website.
The difference between session and cookies
There are several points of difference between cookies and sessions, although they are very similar. The most important points of difference are:
- File storage location:
- While cookies store information in the form of a file on the user’s device, sessions store information in the form of a file on the site’s server. This means that the user can control cookies by deleting them, modifying them, and viewing their content. While the session will only be accessible by the developer and through software technologies.
- The type of information that can be stored in the two files:
Cookies can store information in the form of a txt text file on the user’s device, and they can be in the form of any type of data (e-mail, password, settings…) As for the session, its data is stored on Variables that hold a specific value. It cannot actually be read in the form of text, but rather the variable must be recalled and its value seen.
- The session ends when the user closes the page:
Various types of data can be stored in the session, but once the web page or browser is closed, all information about the session is deleted (more properly emptied). As for cookies, they are permanent as long as the user does not delete them manually, and the site can retrieve them immediately after browsing them again.
- Storage spaces:
Both session and cookies have a limited amount of space and information that can be stored in them. For a session, files of up to 128Mb can be stored and can be modified from the server settings. While the session size should not exceed 4KB. Do not forget that it records information in the form of variables, which means that 4KB is capable of recording quite a lot of information.
- Mandatory use:
- The session is not mandatory, and may not even be on the website, as the developer must configure it in order for it to work. While cookies have become mandatory, and even if you do not want to use them, the site will automatically use them, which is what we find on all websites today. The reason for this is that cookies are not controlled by the site, but rather by the browser and user’s device.
- Differences in terms of security:
Since cookies can be accessed manually, and store information in .txt format, they are not considered a secure way to save browsing information. While the session is considered more secure because it relies on specific encryptions, not everyone can access it. It is worth noting that there is a mechanism in the field of hacking called Cookies Poison that allows user accounts to be hacked by stealing and reading cookies.
These are the most prominent differences between sessions and cookies and the uses of each of them.
WordPress uses cookies programmatically
Cookies can be dealt with programmatically using a set of codes that depend on the PHP programming language on which any WordPress website depends. Through these codes, we can create, disable, add information, delete information and more cookies.
Initialize and create data to record in a cookie
We use the setcookie() function to save and record any type of data in cookies when a user visits a WordPress website. The function takes a set of parameters, including 3 important ones: the name of the variable, its content, and its expiration date. The variable name is the name with which we will later be able to display the content that was stored in the cookie file, then the content (it may be text, a link, another variable, a value, a date… etc.). Then finally, the length of time that the information remains in the cookie is estimated in seconds.
In the example above, we saved the text “save this text for 30 days” in a cookie, with the name WordPressAr for later access, for 30 days. So the day was converted to seconds and its value was 86400 and then multiplied by 30.
Find and display the value of cookies
You can retrieve values that were previously recorded in cookies, using the code above. Make the parameter name entered in the $_Cookie function the same as the name you registered when creating the cookie, as follows:
In the previous example, we recorded the text “Save this text for 30 days” in the cookie under the name WordPressAR, and in order to retrieve it, we search for it by the name, which is WordPressAr.
Note that in the example above, the if condition was used with the isset() function to first ensure that the cookie is present in the system, because if it is not there no result will appear.
How to delete cookies after they are finished
Programmatically, you cannot delete a value from a cookie in order to cancel it. What you are doing exactly is approximating the expiration date of the cookie, then dumping its value as follows:
The example above takes the content of the cookie with the value WordPressAR, then empties its value by modifying it to an empty text string value “” and in order to ensure its deletion, the cookie expiration date is changed to the past (one hour before the current date as in the example). In this way they are deleted.
These are the most important codes that you can use in WordPress to deal with cookies and store data within them.
Programmatically configure sessions in WordPress
It is time to explore sessions and sessions programmatically on WordPress. Their uses do not differ much from cookies, but in terms of writing code, the differences are many.
How to create a session
In order to start using a session, you must first tell the browser that you will record sessions on the site, using the session_start() function. Then you can record the session through the variable $_SESSION, which is a global variable in the PHP language, as follows.
In this code, we specify the session name inside the $_SESSION, while providing its value on the other side. This way, the session named name has the value WordPressAR and the command is the same as the second session named link.
How to retrieve the values recorded in the session
Retrieving the values recorded in the session is done only by printing the value of the variable $_SESSION and carrying inside it the variable that holds the session value.
In the previous code, we registered a session variable named name that carries the value WordPressAR. In order to call this value as well as the value stored in the link variable that holds the value of the link, we use the following code:
How to delete recorded sessions
Unlike cookies, which are deleted by expiring their expiration date, session cookies are deleted in two ways. There are two types of PHP functions to delete all variables registered in the session: session_destroy() & session_unset().
The first method, session_unset, cancels all existing Sessions, and immediately after this code, a new Session can be added and registered.
As for the second method, it is via the session_destroy command. This command destroys and deletes sessions from the system, but in order to create a new session, you cannot do it directly without re-notifying the browser that you will create a session via the session_start command, and this is the difference between the two commands.
Thus, you will be able to manipulate sessions by creating them, recalling them, and then deleting them.
Conclusion
Thus, in today’s article, we have learned about the concepts of cookies and sessions used to store important visitor information on a website, and we have learned the difference between them and how to deal with both of them with code. Following, implementing, and practicing the previous instructions will make dealing with cookies and sessions easy. .
It should be noted that you can use the same previous codes on any PHP-based site, regardless of WordPress sites. If you have any questions regarding sessions or cookies, or have a problem running or understanding one of the codes, our doors are open in the comments. Please ask them, and we will provide you with the full answer
