Don Kendall
New Member
How do I change my password
change password
- Thread starter Don Kendall
- Start date
Mike
Well-Known Member
Don, password changes are easy.
The first step is going to depend a bit on which skin you are using to view the site.
Most of the skins will have some secondary navigation features located in the upper-right corner of each page.
If you are using the CleanCut skin, you will find it in the primary NavBar, on the left of your screen.
In either instance, click the down-arrow next to your username and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on My Settings. (Yes, that same option is available on the NavBar of the CleanCut skin.)
On the next page, you will be given a handful of settings you can change. In this case, look in the left column and click on Change Password.
Here, as you can see, you will have to enter your current password, followed by your new password, followed by your new password again, as confirmation of the change. Then click on the Save Changes button and your finished.
Please note changing your password will change your session ID, so you might see the forum behaving in an unusual manner. I recommend you log out, after changing your password, and then log back in, so your browser is dealing with the same session ID as the database.
I cannot stress how important it is to change passwords on a regular basis. Use unique passwords on different sites, so if someone manages to determine your password on one site, they will not be able to create havoc for you on other sites. Safe passwords will consists of both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation symbols. Safe passwords will be completely random letters and numbers.
Most people create simple passwords that are easily sorted. Here are some pitfalls you need to avoid:
Do not make your password the same as your username.
Do not make your password the same as your name, your spouse's name, a child's name or a pet's name.
Do not use passwords like QWERTY or 12345.
Do not use the name of the street you live on.
Do not use your birth date, your anniversary, your phone number, your license plate number or your Social Security number. :wall:
Do not write your password down on a post-it note to stick to your monitor.
I'm willing to bet over 75% of you are using a password like one of the above examples.
If you're unable to remember random strings of characters, here is a good solution. Create a sentence that you can easily associate with each site. "T-Buckets are based upon Henry Ford's Model T." Then take the first (or the third, or the last) letter of each word and use that for your password. TBabuHFMT would be the password generated by that sentence, using the first letter of each word. Jazz it up, to make it harder to understand. Since Indiana is the 19th state, I could use 1tbABUhfmt9. See what I've done? I split the numbers and changed the capitalization of the letters in my sentence.
I can already hear what most of you are thinking. "That's too difficult, I want something easier." I'm sure you do, just as I'm sure the people trying to crack your account are wanting you to use something easier. Spend a bit of time and you can still come up with something cryptic, yet easy for you to remember.
The first step is going to depend a bit on which skin you are using to view the site.
Most of the skins will have some secondary navigation features located in the upper-right corner of each page.
If you are using the CleanCut skin, you will find it in the primary NavBar, on the left of your screen.
In either instance, click the down-arrow next to your username and a drop-down menu will appear. Click on My Settings. (Yes, that same option is available on the NavBar of the CleanCut skin.)
On the next page, you will be given a handful of settings you can change. In this case, look in the left column and click on Change Password.
Here, as you can see, you will have to enter your current password, followed by your new password, followed by your new password again, as confirmation of the change. Then click on the Save Changes button and your finished.
Please note changing your password will change your session ID, so you might see the forum behaving in an unusual manner. I recommend you log out, after changing your password, and then log back in, so your browser is dealing with the same session ID as the database.
I cannot stress how important it is to change passwords on a regular basis. Use unique passwords on different sites, so if someone manages to determine your password on one site, they will not be able to create havoc for you on other sites. Safe passwords will consists of both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation symbols. Safe passwords will be completely random letters and numbers.
Most people create simple passwords that are easily sorted. Here are some pitfalls you need to avoid:
Do not make your password the same as your username.
Do not make your password the same as your name, your spouse's name, a child's name or a pet's name.
Do not use passwords like QWERTY or 12345.
Do not use the name of the street you live on.
Do not use your birth date, your anniversary, your phone number, your license plate number or your Social Security number. :wall:
Do not write your password down on a post-it note to stick to your monitor.
I'm willing to bet over 75% of you are using a password like one of the above examples.
If you're unable to remember random strings of characters, here is a good solution. Create a sentence that you can easily associate with each site. "T-Buckets are based upon Henry Ford's Model T." Then take the first (or the third, or the last) letter of each word and use that for your password. TBabuHFMT would be the password generated by that sentence, using the first letter of each word. Jazz it up, to make it harder to understand. Since Indiana is the 19th state, I could use 1tbABUhfmt9. See what I've done? I split the numbers and changed the capitalization of the letters in my sentence.
I can already hear what most of you are thinking. "That's too difficult, I want something easier." I'm sure you do, just as I'm sure the people trying to crack your account are wanting you to use something easier. Spend a bit of time and you can still come up with something cryptic, yet easy for you to remember.
