July 15, 1996
It's time to register
By Bob O'Donnell
Today marks the day you'll need to have a username and password to get access to our
Week in Print/Back Issues section, as well as individual Forums. (As before, anyone can
get to the Forums overview page, where we list all the available forums and describe their
contents.) When you attempt to access either of these sections, your browser will pop up a
username and password dialog box that you need to complete to enter the restricted
area--even if you're trying to get there from a previously saved bookmark.
To get a username and password you just need to fill out our Registration Form, which is also
linked off of Page One. In addition to basic contact information, our form asks questions
about your buying habits as an IS professional. (If you've ever filled out the
registration form for a free subscription to InfoWorld print, you'll notice a
rather strong resemblance.) If you work in an IS department, or are a student of the IT
industry, and don't necessarily make purchase decisions, simply select the None
options--we won't deny you access for doing so. As with the print version of InfoWorld,
we're collecting this kind of information to get a better idea of who you are, what you
do, and what your informational needs are so that we can better tailor our content to your
interests.
If you previously registered with us to get access to our Forums section and find that
your old password no longer works, you'll need to re-register using our new system, which
came online June 17. We're very sorry for this inconvenience, but as I wrote in previous
columns, our old registration system had some serious flaws and the resulting data proved
to be unsalvageable. Please note that unless they've already been selected by someone
else, you can re-register your existing username and password. A glitch in our
registration system initially prevented this, but we quickly fixed it after an
understandably huge outcry from long-time Forum users.
We're also introducing a few new refinements to the registration system today. First,
as we initially promised, you now have the ability to change your password. Simply go to
the Change Password part
of our Reader Services page, fill out the short form, and you'll receive a confirmation
that your new password has been accepted. In the event you forget your password, you can
also now retrieve it remotely by providing us with your username. Jump to the Forgotten Password page--again,
located off Reader Services--fill out the simple form and we will e-mail the password to
the address you specified in your original registration.
Finally, in response to security issues raised by a number of you, we now offer the
option of not receiving an e-mail confirmation of your username and password when you
initially register. (Part of the standard registration procedure was to automatically
e-mail you an unencrypted message including the username and password you chose, both to
confirm the registration and to provide you with a simple means to remember it.)
While we weren't concerned about the security issues of accessing restricted areas of
our site, a number of readers pointed out that they use the same username and password
combinations for other sites or resources that could be potential security problems, so
that option is now available.
We're planning to restrict access to our Search page and other still-in-progress
sections over time, so if you're a regular visitor to the site, I highly encourage you to
take a few moments and fill out the registration form. It's really quite easy.
©
Copyright 1996, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
155 Bovet Road, San Mateo, CA 94402. Further reproduction is prohibited.
