For example, I was here for 2 minutes- does that make me online? What about me writing this reply?
I assume it will reflect those online at the time of checking, or until there is a refresh. You may show up for those 2 minutes or a few minutes after to someone who checked.
The usefulness is a little limited as this is a traditional forum and users do not typically use it for communication or need to wait for someone to be online to send them a message. But it can have some other applications for those tracking some stats.
- Jay -
Right after Mitchell posted the link, I have studied how the numbers of people online keeps changing. Which ever parameter it is using to determine who is or who is not online is not related to how long the person stays active because after a member goes offline, it takes more than 17 minute before the persons name stops to appear there (I practicalized it). Meanwhile, if I login into my account and immediately logout and then view the account as a guest visitor, it took about 25 minutes before my account showed inactive. That means, someone could be showing as tho they are active/online for upto 17-25 before the system finally detects them to be offline.
While I was viewing my account as a guest after login out, I kept on refreshing the page continually until 17 minutes before my name finally disappeared from the list of people online.
