Cookie expiration

[bcc1234]

Hey guys, are there any disadvantages to settings expiration for cookies to something like 10 years?

I currently set cookies for 6 months to track visitors, but thought about setting it to 2-3 years. Are there any browsers that reject cookies based on the value of max age?

[dmorison]

Don't think there's a problem - I just checked RFC 2109 and there is no mention of a limit to the expire duration.

Personally I would stick with 6 months (a year maybe) and just refresh it each time they return.

[gsx]

No, but Netscape has a limit lifetime of cookies option - it can be over-ridden (but then again they can be deleted!)

[bcc1234]

Personally I would stick with 6 months (a year maybe) and just refresh it each time they return.

Why?

I get the same thing everywhere - you can set them for as long as you want, but I wouldn't...

Any practical reason?

[bcc1234]

...bump...
anyone?

[StanBo]

Just for consistency sake. If you want to have a true picture of your audience, cookies work best when they're as close to "eternal" as possible.
Especially for a seasonal" site. Imagine that the site is devoted to superbowl alone - what good will a cookie be there, if its lifetime is less than one year?

[bcc1234]

StanBo, I'm all for it.
Just looking for practical disadvantages before I start setting cookies for 5 years or so.

[StanBo]

None. I sincerely believe that's the reason this tread has fallen silent - it's hard to come up with an objection to something that natural, convenient, handy, practical whatever... :)

[bcc1234]

I'm most worried that some browsers might not accept cookies with the expiration date set for too long. I know it's not a standard and should not happen, but I was asking if anybody had any headaches with cookies in practice.