PhDOE Login Form UX [Was: hola estoy inte resado en corregir errores de traducción]

On 03/12/2013 17:22, Hannes Magnusson wrote:

Are you talking about https://edit.php.net ? You should be able to login anonymously -Hannes

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I did find that login form rather hard to figure out at first. Not having investigated the underlying code, I wonder if there are "quick wins" that would make any of the below more welcoming to novice users: - You are presented initially with the "VCS login" version of the form, and a "Request an account" button. The form seems primarily based on this, with the other options feeling "shoe-horned in". - Only if you leave these fields blank does the "Anonymous Login" button show; if you don't notice this immediately, you may start to type in the fields and not realise that this is an alternative action. - To the right are the "Login with Facebook" and "Login with Google" panels. Although there is space for both, only one can be expanded at a time. The default is *always* to expand the Facebook panel, even if you have previously logged in with Google, adding an unnecessary click. - Since these are external sign-ins, you are redirected on click to verify the access, which is fine; however, there doesn't seem to be a "keep me logged in" option, so this authorisation process must be repeated each time the site is accessed. - After completing the Google validation, you are returned to the form, apparently in its default state. Only by clicking the Google header to expand do you discover that the action on that panel has been updated. (Incidentally, a definite quick win: "Use this credentials" is incorrect English; it should read "Use these credentials" or perhaps "Use this account".) - Clicking that link, having validated with Google, still doesn't log you in - instead, it alters the form on the left subtly, disabling the username and password fields and filling in the e-mail address. The action button remains "Anonymous login", but changes are actually persistently associated to your Google (or Facebook) account. I don't know what the underlying software powering this screen is, or how easy it would be to customise the layout, but I think it would make more sense to separate out the different login flows more completely, rather than making them all return to the same form. For instance, separate tabs or panels (the current login form floats in a large screen of whitespace) for: - VCS Login (username and password, request an account) - Anonymous login - Login with Facebook - Login with Google I guess each would need the "project" and "language" drop-downs, and this is probably also the reason the Google login returns to the form rather than directing straight into the full interface. However, could this either be asked for *before* the 3rd-party authentication step, or in a *separate* form after it? Once Google credentials are authenticated, the primary action should be to use those credentials. All other actions are secondary, and could be accessed by a single "Cancel" or "Back" button to return to the original form. I hope that makes sense, and that this doesn't sound too much like a demand that somebody else volunteers to fix it. Thanks for reading, -- Rowan Collins [IMSoP]