Identities

Ghost Browser offers three types of Identities (regular Identities in the Identity Manager, Temporary Identities and the Default Identity) that can be used in different ways to boost your productivity by allowing you to log into multiple accounts in the browser. Whether it's just for a quick spot check of your ad placements or creating different personas in the browser, with Identities we've got you covered.

This support article covers Identities offered as part of our Identity Manager which should be used for creating those previously mentioned different personas in the browser. If you manage social properties for clients, want to create an isolated  browsing history, or you just want an overall more controlled long-standing persona experience in the browser, our permanent Identities hosted in the Identity Manager is the solution.

Want to learn more about Temporary Identities used for quick spot checks? See this support article

Identities Explained

Ghost Browser's permanent Identities are an evolution of Temporary Identities (previously called Sessions) and will live alongside them. Even for users who have used Temporary Identities heavily, we think that most users will find Identities to be their new 'go to' for managing multiple accounts since they have the following advantages: 

  1. Cookies are persistent for Identities.
  2. You can assign a specific proxy to always use with an Identity.
  3. Identities can be opened in different Workspaces and still keep the same browsing profile. (with Temporary Identities, cookies are separate in different Workspaces).
  4. Identities can have customizable names and colors to keep you organized. 

This contrasts to Temporary Identities (previously Sessions) which are more like ephemeral throw away tabs - the tabs are separate but they have no history and once you close them, they are gone for good. Both have a purpose of course.

That means if you have the Identities 'Personal', 'Work', 'Facebook', Browsing Profile X', 'Acme Client' and only use each identity for what it was intended, you can keep cookie jars and browsing for all of those Identities completely separate!

Another way to think about Identities is if you want to be sure you never cross client accounts on Google or social media, you can use a different Identity for each client to keep them straight.

The Difference Between Temporary Identities and Identities

Feature The Default Identity Temporary Identities Permanent Identities
Cookie Jars Permanent AND shared across all Workspaces. The Default Identity works like tabs in a normal browser where there's one cookie jar across the whole browser. Not permanent. If you close all purple tabs, that cookie jar is destroyed and you'll get a new cookie jar the next time you open them. Permanent. When you create an Identity, the cookie jar is saved permanently even if you close all tabs in it.
Tab Colors The default gray tabs work like tabs you are used to in traditional browsers. 25 colors are pre-selected for you and that limits that number of Temporary Identities you can have per Workspace. You select the colors for all of your tabs so you can select more meaningful colors.
Scope Global. The Default Identity shares one cookie jar across the whole browser.  Not global. A purple tab in one Workspace has a separate cookie jar from purple tabs in other Workspaces. Global. Identity tabs share the same cookie jar no matter what Workspace they are in. 
Proxies You can assign a proxy to a specific tab in this group, but not the whole group. For more granular and controlled proxy assignments across a whole set of tabs that share one cookie jar we recommend you use either a Temporary Identity or an Identity.  You can use Ghost Proxy Control to determine what proxy a Temporary Identity tab will use. Once you close the Temporary Identity tab that relationship is lost. You can assign a specific proxy connection to always be used with a particular Identity so that the browsing history is more consistent. You can also assign a proxy to a full Workspace so that proxy is used on all tabs in that Workspace.
Identity Separation This group of tabs is best suited to standard browsing. If you want more control over the privacy features related to your accounts we recommend using a Temporary Identity or a custom Identity. Temporary Identities are good for a quick way to get an isolated cookie jar to do things like see non-personalized search results or spot check ads. Identities are best for having tabs that you can use to consistently access your clients social media accounts or save different user roles on a web site you are testing.

Using the Identity Manager

Create a New Identity

1. To create a new permanent Identity, click the Identity Manager icon in your extension tray that looks like this: 

2. Create an Identity, adding a name, color, and optional tags to help you group your Identities together. This will make them easier to find later. 

3. You can also set a custom user agent and proxy for each Identity. 

Open a Tab in an Identity

To open a tab in your new Identity, click the plus icon to the right of the Identity name.

Edit an Identity

If you want to edit the name or color of an Identity click the pencil icon to the right of the Identity name in the menu.

Delete an Identity

If for any reason you want to delete an Identity from your list click the X icon to the right of the Identity name in the menu. A message will appear asking you to confirm you want to delete the Identity.  

NOTE: Deleting an Identity will permanently remove the cookies from that Identity from the browser. This action cannot be undone. You will not be able to get the cookies back once you delete the Identity.

Assign a Proxy To An Identity

Before you can assign a proxy to your Identity, you need to upload proxies to the Ghost Proxy Control extension. After you have added proxies to the Ghost Proxy Control extension follow the instructions below to assign a proxy to an Identity.

1.     Click the Identities icon in your extension tray to open the menu.

2.     Click the Set Proxy link under the desired Identity.

3.     Click the drop-down menu to select the desired proxy. The proxy is now assigned to the Identity.

4.     To edit the proxy assigned to an Identity simply click on the link with the proxy name to select a new proxy. 

Add tags to an Identity

Click the edit button for any Identity and tag it however you would like. These tags will be available at the top of the Identity Manager extension so you can quickly view Identities labelled with that tag.

To find an identity quickly just start typing the name or any part of it and your list will filter as you type. 

Sort Identities

There are three ways to filter and sort your Identities to help you stay organized and quickly find what you need.

1. The Search Bar: Search for an Identity by name.

2. Tags: When you create or edit and Identity you can give it a tag. Click on a tag to see a list of only the Identities with that tag.

3. The Sorting Filters: Filter Identities by creation date, alphabetically, or bring Identities you use the most to the top of the list with the Frequency filter.

Reset an Identity

If you wish to reset an Identity you can do so with the click of a button. Resetting an Identity does the following:

  • Keeps the initial properties of the Identity including the proxy assignment, user agent setting, Identity name and color.
  • Closes all tabs in that Identity
  • Creates a new fingerprint

To reset and Identity open the Identity Manager and click the pencil icon next to the Identity you want to reset. When the edit menu opens, click the Reset Identity button at the bottom of the window.

Need help? Contact us.