You have the choice to restrict who can read your journal entries by setting a security level for the entries. You can set these security levels when you post an entry (by using the full Update Page at
http://www.livejournal.com/update.bml?mode=full or another client that supports security levels), and you can change them when editing an entry (
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=2). There are four security levels, which operate as follows:
PUBLIC:
Anyone, whether logged in or not, may read entries that are marked Public.
PRIVATE:
Only the user who posts an entry marked Private can read that entry.
FRIENDS:
Only you and people that you list as a friend can read entries marked Friends, and only while logged in. If someone adds you to their Friends list, that will not allow them to view your Friends-Only entries. See
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=35 for details.
CUSTOM:
Custom security allows you to post to only certain groups of people on your Friends list. These groups are completely customizable. See
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=102 for details. Note that if you select the "Custom" option and select multiple friends groups, all of your friends in the selected groups will be able to see the entry.
The authentication that determines who is allowed to see an entry is done with cookies. If you're logged in (
http://www.livejournal.com/login.bml) and you have access to see a certain post, it will appear, usually with a textual or graphic indicator of its security level.
If you are logged in and viewing the friends page of someone who lists you as a friend, your Private, Friends, and Custom security entries will appear on that page when you are viewing it, because you have access to them. This only occurs when you are viewing the page. No one else who views the friends page of the person who lists you as a friend will see these protected posts unless they are allowed to.
USING THE WEB INTERFACE:
The web interface allows you to assign a security level to an entry when posting it by using the full Update Page (
http://www.livejournal.com/update.bml?mode=full), and to change the security level by editing the entry (
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=2).
At this time, there is no way to change the security level of your entire journal with one command. Instructions on how you can make your journal Friends-Only or Private can be found at
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=120.
Below the area where you type your entry, there is a dropdown list labeled "Security Level" that allows you to select the security level you want to assign that entry. You may choose from Public, Private, Friends, and Custom. The Custom option will not appear if you have not defined any custom friends groups (
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=102).
To be able to use the Custom option, you need to make sure that the browser you are using to update with is capable of running JavaScript and is set up to allow its use. In most browsers you can set this option in either the appropriate security or preferences menus.
Choosing the "Custom" option from the drop-down list will make a set of checkboxes appear directly below, one for each friends group you have defined. When posting with custom security, you may choose one, some, or all of the currently defined friends groups.
USING A DOWNLOADED CLIENT:
Many clients available for download include the ability to set security levels for journal entries. For more information on your preferred client, consult its documentation or its menu options. See
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=158 for information on downloading a client.
While you can restrict who is allowed to read your journal, it is not possible to know exactly who is visiting your journal. You can, however, add a hit counter provided by a third party, which would count visitors to your journal and/or record their IP addresses. Information on how to add a counter to your journal can be found at
http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=188.
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