Limitations when using multiple browser windows

Sessions in the WebSphere Commerce Server are used to share user information, such as a user ID and locale, across pages in a Web site. When you log on to any of the WebSphere Commerce tools, a session is created. This session is then destroyed when you log out of the tool. The session is also destroyed if you open a separate browser instance and log in to any of the WebSphere Commerce tools using the same user ID.

The tools in WebSphere Commerce, as well as the stores, are browser-based. Each instance of a browser can have only one session, thus, if a new browser window is opened from the current browser, both browsers will share the same session. For example, when you launch a store from the Administration Console, you are logged into the store with the same user name and password that you used to log in to Administration Console. That is, if you change your password in the store, you will also change your Site Administrator password used in the Administration Console. As a result, be careful when changing any personal information in the store, such as password, since these changes are being made to the Site Administrator user.

The following situations are two examples of a new window being launched from a browser:

• Launching a store from the Administration Console
• Launching the Organization Administration Console from a store based on the advanced B2B direct starter store

If you log in or out of a store or a tool, or change the display language in the store in one browser, you may also change information in another browser. For example, if you change the display language in the store to one that is not supported by the tools, then images and text may not appear correctly in the tools.

As a result, before making changes, close all browser windows, then log on to the store or tool again.