Discussion

Ask HN: How to you prefer to log in to websites?

For a web based hobby project I want to allow users to log in and save data in their own accounts. I want to make this as simple as possible (both in terms of development and user experience) but I don't want to force users to use (for example) Facebook connect.

Here are a few pros and cons I've considered:

* Email+password. Pro: does not require users to have an account elsewhere. Cons: requires users to create yet another account; also requires me to write a lot of boilerplate code ('confirm password' functionality, 'forgot my password', etc.).

* Login with Facebook/Twitter. Con: forces visitors to have one of those accounts. Pros: most people have one of those; it allows login/signup with just a few clicks.

* OpenID. Pro: most people have this. Con: I'm not sure if the average internet user knows what it is (i.e. requires explaining that a Gmail-address is also an OpenID).

* Mozilla's BrowserID. Pro: seems easy to implement and easy to use. Con: I doubt that this is widely known and used.

What are your opinions as users? How do you prefer to log in? Any feedback is highly appreciated!

6 points mathijs 14 years ago 11 comments

Discussion

Live from the official Hacker News API

A modern reader for Hacker News · SvelteKit + Skeleton