[pmwiki-users] Author cookies

[Pico]

Patrick R. Michaud wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 12, 2006 at 01:35:32PM -0400, Henrik Bechmann wrote:
>>>> Or are you advocating that the saving of author name be 
>> completely separated from ?action=logout ?  
>>
>> I'm finding this a bit hard to articulate; let me try this:
>> [...]
> 
> I'll need some time to absorb and respond to your other comments,
> but first, a quick question in response to...
> 
>> Having a checkbox as I advocate would allow the user to decide what to do 
>> about the user name *between* sessions.
>> [...]
>>>> If this is the case, then after someone has indicated they 
>>>> want the author name saved on a particular machine, how do 
>>>> they get it removed later?
>> By unchecking the "Save author on this computer" option.
> 
> ...where do you expect the checkbox to appear?
> 
>

How about always display it on the login screen?

I think I must be missing something, because it seems so obvious, so 
I'll break down the steps to make the discussion explicit:


1. User1: First login, wants to be remembered.

a. PmWiki renders this:

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [_____]  [__] Remember me next login
Password: [_____]  [OK]

b. User submits this:

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User1]  [ X] Remember me next login
Password: [*****]  [OK]

2. User1: Subsequent login

a. PmWiki renders this:

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User1]  [ X] Remember me next login
Password: [_____]  [OK]

b. User submits this:

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User1]  [ X] Remember me next login
Password: [*****]  [OK]

3. User2: First login on machine used by User1

a. PmWiki renders this:

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User1]  [ X] Remember me next login
Password: [_____]  [OK]

b. User submits this (for one-time login):

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User2]  [__] Remember me next login
Password: [*****]  [OK]

c. or User submits this (to take over machine):

PASSWORD REQUIRED
Name:     [User2]  [ X] Remember me next login
Password: [*****]  [OK]


Discussion

Under this scenario, checking the Remember me box means that the cookie 
will be save *AND* that the input field will be pre-filled with a 
default value, with the user being required to fill in the password field.

If a new user comes along, they can change the contents of the name 
field and choose whether to check or uncheck the Remember me box before 
filling in the password and submitting.  If they check the box, then the 
cookie is changed, but if they uncheck the box, the existing cookie (if 
any) remains unchanged but its contents are disregarded (or trumped) by 
the contents of the name field.  If that isn't possible with the 
existing system of cookies and variables, then maybe the existing 
cookie, and or variable, should be split off into two separate cookies, 
or variables.

Pico