Idea for a browser feature

C

Christopher M.

How about a 'sign in' button on a browser's toolbar. There are so many idiot
webmasters out there that make it so difficult to just sign on a site--even
sites like Amazon.com.




W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)
 
N

Neredbojias

How about a 'sign in' button on a browser's toolbar. There are so many
idiot webmasters out there that make it so difficult to just sign on a
site--even sites like Amazon.com.

What's wrong with amazon.com? All you need is name, password, and
(perhaps) returning-user checkbox.

Before adding new features, the browsers, -all browser-, should be
corrected for the multitude of errors in existing functions. The CEO of
Mozilla came out with an open letter to this effect recently. I agree with
him and have been saying the same for years.
 
C

Christopher M.

Neredbojias said:
Before adding new features, the browsers, -all browser-, should be
corrected for the multitude of errors in existing functions. The CEO of
Mozilla came out with an open letter to this effect recently. I agree
with
him and have been saying the same for years.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

It's not obvious how to log in. Try it:
http://www.amazon.com/




W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)
"He who laughs last lacks breasts"
--Unknown...perhaps Leonard Nimoy
 
J

Jonathan N. Little

Christopher said:
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

It's not obvious how to log in. Try it:
http://www.amazon.com/
Sign In

What is your e-mail address?
My e-mail address is ________________________
Do you have an Amazon.com password?
[ ] No, I am a new customer.
[x] Yes, I have a password:___________________

[ Sign in using our secure server > ]

Hmmm seems pretty clear to me...
 
I

Ingo Schmidt

Hi!

Well, but to actually GET there, is not that obvious. But instead of
changing browsers, I would ask amazon to redesign their page so that
there is actually a login box right on the very first page.

I have always found this confusing in amazon, that you can follow some
"my XYZ" links without having signed in yet.

E.g. click on "Your account". These words suggest that you end up in
some personal area to which you need to sign in.
But no, you get a huge list of options and only after choosing one of
them, THEN you need to log in.

I find this very confusing and I don't like it, but I also wouldn't
change a browser for it.


Cheers, Ingo =;->
 
J

Joel Shepherd

Well, but to actually GET there, is not that obvious. But instead of
changing browsers, I would ask amazon to redesign their page so that
there is actually a login box right on the very first page.

Why?

A basic principle of web UIs is not to ask the user for anything
personally identifying until either it's needed, or until the site can
give the user something worthwhile in return.

If you're visiting Amazon from a personal computer, and you allow
cookies, Amazon already has a pretty good idea of who you are (and say
as much on practically every page), and is already offering you tidbits
like personalization, etc., based on that ... and without requiring you
to log in. What do you want to do more work for?
I have always found this confusing in amazon, that you can follow some
"my XYZ" links without having signed in yet.

Like what? Recommendations or "[your name]'s Store"? Things that have no
personally identifying information on them? Or a "My Account" link,
which takes you to a list of links of things you can do with your
account ... without showing any account details? Do you really want to
have to log in to simply be shown what you can do with your account once
you log in?
E.g. click on "Your account". These words suggest that you end up in
some personal area to which you need to sign in.
But no, you get a huge list of options and only after choosing one of
them, THEN you need to log in.

Right, because THEN you're going to be shown personally identifying
information that you may not want others to see. But there's no special
privilege in seeing a list of generic links, so why make you go to
special effort to see it? Why make you log in before you can use any
part of the site, when the overwhelming percentage of pages on the site
have practically nothing to do with you personally?

Perhaps you like feeling very secure, and somehow logging in gives you
that feeling. Nothing wrong with that (and if you want to, you _can_ log
in to Amazon from the first page, and if the first page you're seeing
looks like what I'm seeing, it's not hard to figure out what to do).

But many folks don't want to have to announce who they are, simply to
read reviews about some tool they're thinking of buying, or to see
what's on the New York Times best-seller list, or to see what's new in
classical music.

I can guarantee you that if Amazon required customers to log in to see
anything on the site ... it probably wouldn't be in business today.
 
J

J.O. Aho

Christopher said:
How about a 'sign in' button on a browser's toolbar. There are so many idiot
webmasters out there that make it so difficult to just sign on a site--even
sites like Amazon.com.

It wouldn't be difficult to implement on SeaMonkey/FireFox, just some
redesign of the skin,, but the bad thing is that sign in works
differently on most sites, so you would need to have a load of those
buttons, each custom designed for a site. It's a lot easier if you
bookmark the sign-in page at your first visit.
 
N

Neredbojias

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

It's not obvious how to log in. Try it:
http://www.amazon.com/

Well, kinda. I see what you're saying. But...
On the 1st page is this line:

'Hello. Sign in to get personalized recommendations. New customer? Start
here.'

The "personalized recommendations" and the "Start here" are both underlined
links which take you to a direct sign-in faculty. Instead of the former,
they could have underlined & linked "Sign in" instead. I will add,
however, that for the way in which I use amazon.com, signing-in has never
given me pause.
 
C

Christopher M.

Joel Shepherd said:

I think some people actually want to sign in to Amazon--maybe to see
personalized recommendations or something.

Oh, I see that Amazon has updated their page. The 'personalized
recommendations' link now lets you sign in. For a while it was really messed
up--you had to click on a tab, and then a link or something. It was really
ridiculous.

There is also a problem with Firefox (version 2.0.0.2) and Netflix. I type
in 'www.netflix.com' and I'm taken to the 'Register' page
(www.netflix.com/register). There's an input box for an email address--but
it's for new customers only. Members have to click the much less significant
'Member sign in' link at the top.
http://www.netflix.com



W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)
 
A

Adrienne Boswell

You mean like Opera's "Wand"?

http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/wand/

Very handy.

I love that - I think it's one of the best things about that browser.
It's especially annoying to have to use someone else's computer and have
to take the time to type in a username and password. Eventually, I get
tired of it, tell the person to download Opera, and once they've
installed it they're thrilled not only with that feature, but mouse
gestures, and all the other neat things Opera does.
 

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