Discussion on:

Unmask your passwords

Having an easy way to unmask passwords can be convenient, but don't misuse it -- and you may not want to create that unmask button if your browser autofills password fields and you share the computer with others.

I was thinking the same thing, but if you have a master password for the browser, you won't have to worry about it.
You can even go further and have a separate profile in Firefox for each user that contains their bookmarks, passwords, etc.

The button can be created in much the same fashion as for Firefox.

That's good to know, especially since I expect to make Chromium my primary browser as soon as it gets ported to FreeBSD.

Could you elaborate? What about controlling scripts? Do you have your own hacks for that? (I didn't see any 'add ons' for chromium eg noscript and adblock...)

An extension system exists for Chromium. I think it's still in beta, though.

Unmask your passwords? How can anyone be off their meds long enough for this to sound like a good idea, and still manage a keyboard?

Generally, there are times when unmasked password fields are preferable though obviously, public places and shared desktop views are not the time for it. A password field defaulting to masked but with an unmasking option like the passkey field in a wireless router would be preferable also.

Well, I would like to think I can type 10-12 letter in succession without messing that up, in three tries. If I can't, I shouldn't be using a computer .....but, that's another whole discussion...which I'm sure someone will start later on, I just don't want to be the instigator.

that's another whole discussion...which I'm sure someone will start later on, I just don't want to be the instigator.

I think you just did start it.

I've managed to fat-finger a 13-character password four times in a row, at least once.

Don't think I could remember that one and I am still looking at it!

That password was created much the same way as how I create the passwords I actually use. I use modifications of mnemonics to create my passwords, which makes them easier for me to remember and, even if someone else sees them, harder for others to remember -- because they don't know the mnemonics behind the passwords.

The fact you're having trouble remembering them is a good thing for my means of generating passwords.

Hmm. Maybe I should write an article about creating passwords.

Most people need that badly. Then they could use something other than the name of their pet followed by an incremented number.

I guess I'd better go change my passwords now.

jk

I still have to write it, of course. Maybe next week . . . ?

edit: . . . and I still have to figure out how to put my technique into words, too. Hopefully I can manage it.

Perhaps it wasn't the entire focus of the article, but I thought you had shared methods for generating memorable passwords previously.

I'm of the opinion that "show password" should be an available option but not selected by default. This is a very nice opt-in trick for website logins.

it was the caretaker all along!

The "Unhide Passwords" plug-in will do this. It can be enabled or disabled by double-clicking the prompt. It works on most sites. I run it at the house and on my work desktop, but not on servers or laptops.

So it's kind of a hack (only works if the password field has an id='password') but here's the same script that now toggles masking and unmasking.

var pswd = document.getElementById('password');
if (pswd.type.toLowerCase() == 'text')
{
var test = pswd.type = 'password';
}else {
var els = document.getElementsByTagName('input');
for(var x = 0; x els.length; x++)
{
if(els[x].type.toLowerCase() == 'password' )
{
var test = els[x].type = 'text';
}
}
}

Do the same thing as the article; put javascript: in front of it and make it a one-liner.

Thanks for posting that enhancement of the script. This could be particularly handy for people who want to include a password unmasking link on a Webpage.

It's always good to see new faces avatars.

This is bit longer but more generic and should toggle back any field that has been revealed:


var els = d ocument.getElementsByTagName('input');
for(var x = 0; x els.length; x++) {
if(els[x].hasAttribute("type") &&
els[x].getAttribute("type").toLowerCase() == "password") {
var test = els[x].value;
els[x].type = "text";
els[x].value = test;
els[x].setAttribute("newtype", 1);
}else {
if(els[x].hasAttribute("newtype") &&
els[x].getAttribute("newtype") == 1) {
var test = els[x].value;
els[x].type = "password";
els[x].value = test;
els[x].removeAttribute("newtype");
}
}
}

great

The place I think this is most useful is in your router when setting your WPA password/key!

This is some great information. This idea of using javascript to unmask passwords will really be a big help as I go about doing web page design for clients. Thanks for the info.