Password generator questions
To use the password generator previously:
1. Click "Generator" (or similar) to get new password and copy it
Now to get a new password (not from the mini app)
1. File > New Item > Password to create bogus Password record which will never be used
2. Click on gear
3. Generate a new password
4. Try to copy it
5. Cannot do it -- it just creates a new password
6. Try to work with the control, but it is obstinate
7. Give up on that way
8. Move the cursor and can no longer see the password
9. Go round and round about 5 times trying to get the password -- give up again; no way to copy from there
10. Click Save and now useless bogus password becomes permanent
11. Now the "copy" function is available so copy it to the clioboard
12. Open a text editor
13. Copy the password into the editor
14. It better be an acceptable one, because otherwise you have to start all over
15. Go delete all the useless, bogus password records created while floundering about
What an improvement! We have lot of security here, because I cannot see the password as it insists that I am in a public place and the password must be obfuscated, making a lot of extra work for no benefit.
Why cannot there be a password generator on the menu, that you can simply create and copy from?
And why cannot there be a simpler control to "copy" or "reveal" instead of the hard-to-use pull down?
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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Hi @jasimon9,
I'm sorry you're having some trouble with the password generator in 1Password! It should definitely be much easier to use, and I'm sure I can help you with that.
To use the password generator previously:
1. Click "Generator" (or similar) to get new password and copy itI'm not sure which version of 1Password you're referring to, but in 1Password 4 or 5 for Mac, it should be just as easy to use the password generator:
- Click 1Password mini in the menu bar and go to the Password Generator option.
We have more information about the password generator in our User Guide here: Generate a strong password
Now, you said "not from the mini app" which I assume means you don't want to use 1Password mini to generate passwords, but I'm not sure why. Using 1Password mini should make it even easier to access the password generator because it's available from any app on your Mac - you don't have to open the main 1Password app at all. Is there a particular reason you don't want to use 1Password mini for that?
You can certainly generate passwords using the main 1Password app if you want, but it will take a few more steps than using 1Password mini. However, it shouldn't take 15 steps to do that. I think I can clear up confusion about some of the steps you said you have to take:
1. File > New Item > Password to create bogus Password record which will never be used
In the main 1Password app, the password generator appears in an item with a password field (such as a Password item, or a Login item). So that step is correct if you want to generate a password in the main app. If you don't want to create an item to do that, I recommend using 1Password mini to generate a password.
2. Click on gear
3. Generate a new password
4. Try to copy it
5. Cannot do it -- it just creates a new passwordIf you click on the generator "dial" icon (or if you change any options in the password recipe), that will generate another password. Could that explain what's happening? Instead, click in the field containing the password, and you'll be able to select that text and copy it.
I think that should eliminate the need for the rest of your steps, so generating a password from the main app should be possible with just these few steps:
- File > New Item > Password to create a Password item
- Click on the generator "dial" icon next to the password field
- Copy the generated password from the password field
That's still a couple more steps than using 1Password mini, but a lot less than 15! ;) If you have trouble copying the generated password, please let us know.
It better be an acceptable one, because otherwise you have to start all over
Many different websites/services have different requirements and restrictions for their passwords. Before generating a password, you should find out what those restrictions/requirements are (if any). Then when you generate a password, you can manually edit it, if necessary, so it will work with that site or service.
We have lot of security here, because I cannot see the password as it insists that I am in a public place and the password must be obfuscated, making a lot of extra work for no benefit.
Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to here. Can you please elaborate on what you mean?
Why cannot there be a password generator on the menu, that you can simply create and copy from?
There is - as I mentioned above, you can find a Password Generator option in the 1Password mini menu.
And why cannot there be a simpler control to "copy" or "reveal" instead of the hard-to-use pull down?
There is - simply hold down the Option key on your keyboard to temporarily see the passwords. Or if you want to always see your passwords instead of the dots, go to the View menu in 1Password and disable the option for Conceal Passwords. To copy a password, just click on the password (this won't work in Edit mode though). Alternately, use the
⇧⌘Ckeyboard shortcut (i.e. Shift+Command+C) to copy a password from an item in 1Password. These shortcuts work in both 1Password and 1Password mini.I hope this helps, but please do let us know if you have more questions or problems. We're always happy to help! :)
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Here is a perfect example of when you might not want to use the "mini" - I have a vendor that has a flash-based login and tools, and the mini is not available in the password change process. So it is not my choice, it simply is not available. The whole browser including the gear is dimmed out.
Almost everything you have said pertains to the mini, and in fact 99% of the time that is what I use. I just miss the relatively simple password generator function that is no longer in the main app.
The option key suggestion will be helpful, as is the ability to turn off the obfuscation. Regarding some of the other steps, I still think they have been made unnecessarily difficult.
I will endeavor to get an exact use case of all the issues and suggestions for how I think it should work. Does anyone else have issues with the "copy/reveal" functions and the inability to just go into the field, select and copy the value. That is how most controls work. Obviously you have no incentive to change it if everyone loves it and I am just the outlier.
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Hi @jasimon9,
Sorry for the confusion; it sounds like you may be referring to the browser extension button: the 1Password lock icon button next to the navigation bar in your browser window.
When we refer to 1Password Mini, we are speaking of the 1Password lock icon in the OS X menu bar:
These two buttons offer the same menu choices and do the same things. The main difference to you is that 1Password Mini is available at the very top of the screen no matter which application has focus (unless something is purposefully expanded to full-screen).
Does this help clarify? Are you able to use the Password Generator from the Mini at the top of the screen?
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I am sorry that my post was not clear. By "mini" I mean the one that is in the browser at the upper right, which seems should be properly termed the "browser extension". I have not been using the one in the menu bar, which is apparently the actual "mini". The other one that has all the steps which led to the 15-step process is in the Application > File menu of the main program.
It appears that actually using the mini would solve the problem, as it does have the Password Generator. And it looks like it is easy to copy from there. I will be advised to use that when a similar need arises.
My ease of use issues still stand however with many of the user-interface reactions. For example:
When you click in a field, it is disconcerting to have something different happen depending upon context. Here are three different responses that I got today when clicking in the password field:
The cursor goes into the field, allowing editing or copy operations. This is what I think should always be the case.
The field is replaced with obfuscation characters (what I was referring to above that you did not understand)
Worst of all, the password is instead regenerated. I don't ever expect that - fields that you navigate into should not automagically be changed in most cases.
I definitely experienced all three of the above behaviors. However, in trying to reproduce them now, only the #1 is occurring; that is,#2 and #3 I cannot cause to happen! Previously it was driving me nuts when these were happening. I have tested in the main app, the min, and the browser extension and cannot cause it to happen. Maybe something was temporarily wrong with the program instance. I have noticed that sometimes the browser extension in Chrome "goes nuts" and I have to restart Chrome to get it to work.
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Hi @jasimon9,
I'm sorry to hear that there still seems to be some confusion here, and I'll do my best to help clear things up.
When you click in a field, it is disconcerting to have something different happen depending upon context. Here are three different responses that I got today when clicking in the password field:
It sounds to me like you might actually be clicking around that field, rather than directly in the field. I've done some testing, and here's what I'm seeing (my passwords are set to be obscured by default):
- I click 'Edit' on an entry.
- Clicking inside the password field changes the obscured dots to my password
- Clicking outside the field reverts my password to the obscured dots
- Clicking on the combination lock icon will generate a new password and bring up the generator to let me refine the details.
I've done a fair bit of clicking to see if I can reproduce the behaviour you mention, but 1Password seems to be consistently behaving as expected. Please do keep an eye on this, and if you notice it again, we'd love to hear about it. It would be particularly useful to know if there are any specific steps prior to this that cause it to occur, or if you notice it only in a particular entry. If there is something wonky going on, we definitely want to track it down!
Also, if you have a bit more detail on the extension's "nutty" behaviour, we'd be happy to investigate.
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As I said, I was unable to reproduce the weird behavior, which caused no end of chasing my tail as described in gory detail. If it happens again, I'll capture a screencast so it can be shared.
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