Firefox should remember passwords by default.  If you have turned off or disabled this feature though, it might not.  Every so often, I need to use the Firefox password manager to remember a password, and it seems that for the life of me I can not get it to do it.  What might be the problem? Check your exceptions!

I can tell you that from experience, this accidental movement can prevent your passwords from being saved by the browser.  Take these steps to see if this might be the reason why your password hasn’t been saving:

• From the menu toolbar, go to Tools and then Options…
• Next, select the Security Panel
• Just to double check, if it isn’t already marked – make sure you check Remember passwords for sites
• Now, to the right of where it says, "Remember passwords for sites", click on the button labeled, Exceptions…
• Check the list, and make sure the website you are trying to log into is not on that list. If it is, just select the entry for the website – and click remove.

Now, close out those option windows and give it another shot. Firefox should now let you remember the password for the website in question now, if you had an entry to delete or you did not have the "Remember passwords for sites" option checked.

Simplification for web site logins is desperately needed.  Once upon a time, people thought Open ID might be the solution, but it has fizzled out.  Where is the future?  The Firefox Account Manager.

The Account Manager is a prototype that really makes things easy when it comes to logging into your favorite web sites.  You can login and logout, right from the toolbar.

How Does Account Manager Work?

I will let the fine people at Mozilla Labs explain that one:

We are proposing a new standard that Websites can implement, and although it is still an early draft, we’d love for you to check it out. We are particularly interested in feedback from Web developers and site administrators.

If you’re interested in hacking on the add-on, you can check out the source here. The project wiki page also has additional information.

Right now, the prototype they have posted only works with Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Mozilla Addons, Mozilla Bugzilla, and Get Personas – but with time (they hope) every web site will support this new standard.  You can learn more about the Account Manager concept idea here:

• Account Manager Details at Mozilla Labs

Tell me what you think. Does this new concept excite you, or do you want to see it in action a ‘bit more before you make up your mind?

Do you use multiple computers and want to sync your saved passwords between them all? LastPass is an extension for Firefox that will allow you to do that easily within the browser.  LastPass hides all your individual passwords behind one master password.  When you type in that master password, then LastPass automatically logs you in to any web site you have set it up to remember. 

Along with the whole password syncing and simplification, you can also set LastPass up to store secure notes for you, or automatically fill in forms for you.  This might possibly be the best Firefox password related extension on the market today, plain and simple.

Here are a few more features of LastPass worth mentioning:

• Access and manage your data from multiple computers seamlessly
• Share logins with friends and let others share logins with you
• Use One Time Passwords, and a Screen Keyboard to help keep you safe while on the road.
• Supports IE as well, so if you switch browsers you’re always in sync, as well as when you switch computers
• Supports Opera, Google Chrome, Safari, iPhone, Opera Mini, via Bookmarklets
• Supports importing passwords from other password managers such as Roboform, Keepass, PasswordSafe, MyPasswordSafe, Sxipper, TurboPasswords, PassPack, Firefox and IE’s built in password manager

So, if you have been in search of a way to sync up your online passwords, and need a tool to help you do so, LastPass is definitely worth checking into. To learn more about the LastPass service, go check out LastPass.com and to pick up the add-on go visit the Firefox Add-ons web site.

Once you install it, a small “P” icon will show up in your browser’s status bar.  All you have to do is click on it, and a password will be generated using the settings you have put in.  By default, the password will be shown to you and copied to your clipboard.  To change the options, all you need to do is right-click on the icon and select options.  From there you have a number of specific settings you can change, such as what the first and last characters start with, the password length, if you want to display the password or not or if you wish to copy the password to the clipboard or not.

Why use a complicated password?  Well, if a password is too short or simple, it is vulnerable to attack.  The simpler the password is, the easier time somebody will have to figure it out.  On the flip side, the more complicated the password, the harder it will be to figure out.

All in all, the pwgen – Password Generator extension for Firefox is a perfect one for those of you who may have a hard time coming up with a random mix of letters and numbers to use for your next secure password.

Have you lost your master password?

If you want to add another layer of protection to your Firefox browser, you can turn on the master password option.  In short, this will allow you to secure your login information – especially if your PC is used by more than one person, so they can’t snoop through Firefox’s options and find your passwords.

Now if you find yourself not remembering your master password, there is an easy way to reset it.  There is a down side though, because resetting your master password will remove all of your saved user names and passwords. To start the process, copy and paste this location into your Firefox address bar:

chrome://pippki/content/resetpassword.xul

This is your “Reset Master Password” page.  For one more time, it warns you:

If you reset your master password, all your stored web and e-mail password, form data, personal certificates, and private keys will be forgotten. Are you sure you want to reset your master password?

Then you will be given the option to “Reset” or “Cancel”.  Hit the button labled “Reset” and your master password should be reset.

If your PC is used by more than one person though there is a security issue you may need to worry about when it comes to showing others your login information.

By default, if you go under Tools, then your Options and then the Security section, anybody could get in there and look at your user names and passwords – as long as they had access to your PC. To fix that you want to set a master password.

First go to Tools and then Options. From there your Firefox options window should pop up and you want to go to the Security tab. From there check the box that says “Use a master password”. Now another box should come up asking you for your master password – type it in twice, and make sure you remember it.

Now when you go to Tools, Options, Security and then under the Passwords section hit the “Show Passwords…” button it should ask you for your master password before showing all your saved password information.

Recover Passwords in Firefox Options

For the “long way around” fix – go to:

Tools > Options > Security

Once you find yourself there in that popup options box, go down to where it says “Show Passwords…”. Click that button and a new popup box should appear listing all your web sites and login names. To show your passwords click on the “Show Passwords” button and click “Yes” through the warning it tosses at you.

Quicker JavaScript Fix

For those needing a quicker fix – you can use the Firefox Asterisk Revealer. It uses a line of javascript copied and pasted into the address bar to take a shorter route at getting this job done.

Forgotten Password User Scripts

For the Greasemonkey fans – there are a few more options to try:

• Show Password onMouseOver
• Show Password onFocus
• Show Password ondblclick
• Unpassword

Show Passwords – Yes, an Extension Too!

Unhide Passwords – Sure there is a time and place for security – but if you really need to see what is behind the asterisks, this extension shows the contents of password fields in clear text (instead of the asterisks), to make that process a bit easier.  Have any other fixes?

This Firefox extension delivers when it comes to delivering you a password I’d never be able to guess. Now why should you use strong password? Well the obvious reason would be to make sure your content does not get stolen.

Here are some of the features of this extension:

• Automatically generates strong passwords.
• One master key produces different passwords at many sites.
• Quickly upgrade passwords by “bumping” the site tag.
• Upgrade a master key without updating all sites at once.
• Supports different length passwords.

For more information be sure to check out their official web site. We all want to be more safe, and a good password is an easy way to start.

Personal content filter based on user-defined preferences such as keywords, filtering sensitivity settings and URL exceptions. Password protected (default password is “foxfilter”).

Yet another interesting way of filtering content for your Firefox browser. The one feature I really like is the blocking by keyword. That is really neat, and have not seen it in too many other downloads like this.

+ Download and Install the FilterFox Extension for Firefox!