UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums General Suggestions and Feedback Wish: Users could log in with e-mail instead of username

Rick,

Might you be willing to make it optional that a board could be set up so that users log in with their e-mail addresses instead of usernames? It would still use their usernames etc. once they logged in.

After struggling with the issue for some time, we moved our sites to use e-mail address for login a few years ago (as more and more big sites do).

Now, we tell people that they have to log into www.* with email/pw and forums.* with username/pw.

We do have a continous stream of senior (older) users that seem to get confused by all of this.

Thanks for considering it...

Greg

Or... put both e-mail and username on the log on screen so the user has a choice..

E-mail would be better as they would have to keep them up-to-date.

I would vote for e-mail address and get that seperate loginname that's blocking other people's usernames out of the way!

I've never understood the concept of a different Log-in name to Username.

I remember it being introduced to UBB.classic ( around the early version 6 as an additional security safeguard I think ) but it just confuses people or they enter the same info in both fields anyway. I've had to change numerous names around for people in the past because the name they entered wasn't the one they wanted displayed in their profile.

Initially emails where used to login to 7; though some users (:cough:) expressed that other users would find major difficulties with it, not to mention users who have multiple email addresses will sit and dilly daly trying to remeber which one is it...

Also, a reason for login name vs pdn is so that you can:
a. login name "scriptkeeper" pdn "ScriptKeeper" or "Script Keeper" (formatting)
b. security (for example, your username could be gizmo whereas your pdn be "Gizzy"

Then there are several others, yack yack yack, i'm sure you're all tired of me talking :x..

Without a doubt, log-in trouble is the biggest problem users have. It's amazing that something so basic can confound some people. I don't think there is one easy solution. But, I do like the idea of giving people the option to use their email address. But, even that isn't foolproof. I have some people who registered putting "www" in front of their email address. Unreal.

you too? lol

of course don't forget some sites allow more than one login per email - in those cases what would you input?

However maybe it would be an option to use either - the problem is I would strongly object to switching solely to email as it would confuse many people who already login just fine using their username.

Such a change would have to be gradually introduced IMHO

My argument precisely when this was initially proposed just over a year ago ...

Though I can definitely see where this would be beneficial to some select communities, but a lot of other sites will see no real need for such an option (and would cause much un-needed confusion to members).

I would love to drop the display name field, and have loginname the same as the display name.

Is there any reason to block a display name because somebody else uses it as as a loginname?

I think so, you know, if I use the login Gizmo i'd hate some schmo using the PDN Gizmo if I temporarily was using one like "Admin Gizmo" or such...

Or a better example would be firstnamelastname as the login, and FirstName LastName as the PDN, I wouldn't want someone creating FirstNameLastName as the PDN and masquerading as me...

Don't switch temporarely to Admin Gizmo then.

I have to sell to users that they can't use name X because user Y has it as a loginname. In my opinion, if you register you can claim one name, not two.

As far as maskering, How about G1zmo and Gizm0.

That's why I added: