Passwords and forms made easy with 1Password.
The Login Headache
Logging in to some site or other is something I often do. Usually each site requires its own username and password — remembering them all is a huge headache. Or at least, it could be if I didn’t have a wonderful piece of software called 1Password.
Choose from multiple logins
Sometimes you may have multiple logins on one site. In the case of this screenshot it’s various sites on my computer, but for some sites I visit I may have several usernames to choose from. I’ve installed the 1Password toolbar in Firefox. To login I’ve clicked on the Restore item in the toolbar and can choose from amongst the possibilities.
One thing I love about 1Password is that I can use it with all my web browsers (except Opera, darn it!). It stores passwords in its own file and makes them available to all the browsers, even NetNewsWire. I just wish other software would use it too: MarsEdit and Interarchy, I’m looking at you.
Login with a Keystroke or Contextual menu
The Toolbar isn’t the only way to use 1Password. Set a keystroke or use a contextual menu instead. The screenshot here shows the contextual menu at work.
The keystroke is even easier: set 1Password to autosubmit, choose your keystroke and then all you have to do is press the correct key combination and you’re logged on. If there are multiple possibilities you’re given a menu to choose from. Select the right login and press Return.
Fill other forms
1Password doesn’t just fill in usernames. If you’d like it to, it can store one or more ‘identities’ for you — things like your address, phone number etc — and also credit card information. I pay for a lot of stuff online, and using a couple of different credit cards — one for business and another for personal items. It’s a blessing to just call up the correct card from the ‘wallet’ and boom — all those numbers are entered for me.
Insecure? Nope. It has settings to require a master password to unlock it before it will fill any items.
The problems
OK, there are some problems. It doesn’t work with Opera and some other software I’d like it to work with (ScreenSteps, for another example). I wish it just worked with any program that accesses Internet passwords.
I have two Macs and each has its own 1Password file. It’s a pain when I’ve stored (autosaved) a password on one machine but need it on the other. They’re working on that though.
I made a big mistake: I imported passwords previously saved in a couple of different browsers. I now have many duplicate entries and some incorrect passwords thanks to the browsers letting me save passwords before I knew they didn’t work. I’m slowly whittling down the duplicates. In the screenshot above I’ve obscured most of the otherwise visible entries.
The benefits
I log in to a lot of websites: half a dozen of my own blogs, and their half dozen control panels, client blogs and websites, sites that want passwords, banks, affiliate schemes, book exchange schemes. Everyone wants a password. And with one keystroke, maybe two, I’m in.
1Password keeps me sane. It’s worth every penny of the US$35 it costs. But while you’re at the Agile Online Store increase your sanity saving with TextExpander too.
Thanks ScreenSteps
This post was experimentally created with the ScreenSteps software.
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