Simple Sign-up/Log-in Ideas

By Perchpole - September 24, 2014

Hello, All

I recently built a cmsb site for a large but elderly community. It has proved very successful - so much so that there are plans to expand. The only problem we've had is the signup and login process.

I use the Membership Plugin which - under normal circumstances - does a great job.  When you're aged 70+ on the other hand, all that password stuff starts to look like the Matrix!

That said, we do need to control access to member's blogs and such like so how can I make it simpler? A couple of ideas I've had include:

  • Signing up members manually and giving everyone one the same global password - which could be changed every month.
  • Allowing members to log-in by using their email address only.

I don't know if  either idea is worth pursuing. Perhaps there's a better way?

Perchpole

By claire - September 24, 2014

Hey Perch

This is a really, really bad idea. Honestly the stuff of security nightmares! I don't recommend it at all, even though it'd be more simple for your users. That said - there are options that may be just as secure, but a little more user-friendly. Javascript, for example, can put a more friendly face on having to enter a password, and it's been used very successfully for variations on CAPTCHAs, for example.

Here's one idea:

Your users enter their email address first, then they're presented with a set of clickable pictures of cats, then the same of dogs, then a little number pad. Their password consists of one picture from each list, and three numbers from the pad.

Javascript can turn each of these elements into chunks that become a password, say 'tabby-terrier-958'. This is still stored normally in the database, and all you have to do is add some more code to the front end to generate the text string from the user's input. That then gets sent to the server as normal.

So there are a lot of options for graphical password entry that could be easier for your users, while still being almost as secure as a regular password.

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Claire Ryan
interactivetools.com

Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/

By claire - September 25, 2014

I actually can't, sorry. Graphical password authentication using images is still more or less theoretical, and what I described above is a sort of halfway between that and regular password entry. I could build it, but I don't know of any existing examples of it.

--------------------

Claire Ryan
interactivetools.com

Save time by getting our experts to help with your project.
http://www.interactivetools.com/consulting/