Make WordPress Core

Opened 8 years ago

Last modified 4 years ago

#35736 accepted defect (bug)

Replace 'Lost Password' phrase with 'Reset Password'

Reported by: ramiy's profile ramiy Owned by: chriscct7's profile chriscct7
Milestone: Priority: normal
Severity: normal Version:
Component: Login and Registration Keywords: has-patch
Focuses: ui-copy Cc:

Description

This is a simple terminology change with a huge impact on the end user.

Since v4.3, WordPress is no longer sends passwords via email. WordPress sends only password reset links. WordPress also notifies by e-mail when a password is changed.

Across WordPress core, the old "Lost my password?" phrase already replaced with the new "Reset Password" / "Password Reset" phrases. But in some places we still use the old "Lost my password?" phrase.

This ticket aim is to replace the remaining strings in the login page, and in email notifications.

Login Page

In the reset screen, the page title is "Password Reset".

But in the "Login page", the 3 action links under the form - Login / Register / Lost your password?

We should replace the old Lost your password? phrase with the new "Reset Password" action.

Mail notifications

When WordPress notifies by e-mail that the password is changed, we use the "Password Lost and Changed for user..." phrase.

Why not simplify this? "Password Changed for user..."

Attachments (5)

35736.patch (3.7 KB) - added by ramiy 8 years ago.
35736.2.patch (3.7 KB) - added by adamsilverstein 8 years ago.
35736.3.patch (2.4 KB) - added by ramiy 8 years ago.
35736.4.patch (1.4 KB) - added by ramiy 8 years ago.
35736.png (47.9 KB) - added by ramiy 8 years ago.

Download all attachments as: .zip

Change History (28)

@ramiy
8 years ago

#1 @ramiy
8 years ago

  • Keywords has-patch added

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by ramiy. View the logs.


8 years ago

#3 @chriscct7
8 years ago

  • Owner set to chriscct7
  • Status changed from new to reviewing

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core-i18n by ramiy. View the logs.


8 years ago

#5 follow-up: @SergeyBiryukov
8 years ago

  • Milestone changed from Awaiting Review to 4.5

Across WordPress core, the old "Lost my password?" phrase already replaced with the new "Reset Password" / "Password Reset" phrases.

Do you have an example?

I'm fine with the changes in wp-includes/pluggable.php and the first two changes in wp-login.php, but I'm not sure we should change the "Lost your password?" string. Why is it "old"? Maybe it's just me, but it seems more familiar and user-friendly.

#6 in reply to: ↑ 5 @ramiy
8 years ago

Replying to SergeyBiryukov:

I'm fine with the changes in wp-includes/pluggable.php and the first two changes in wp-login.php

You can commit only those changes. You don't have to accept all my changes.

#7 @ramiy
8 years ago

In me opinion, the 3 action links under the Login form, the Login / Register / Lost your password? links, should not contain any question. We are not asking the user what he is looking for or what he want to do, we are telling him what he can do. In this case he can Login / Register / Reset Password.

#8 @GaryJ
8 years ago

I agree with the Reset Password change.

As well as being an action, not a question, it then also catches those who think they have a password, but it turns out not to work for some reason (i.e. copied down wrong) or otherwise want to reset it (perhaps their account was considered to be hacked and they want a new password). They wouldn't consider their password lost, but they do need to reset it.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chriscct7. View the logs.


8 years ago

#10 @nir_r
8 years ago

+1 for replacing the "Lost password ?" phrase with "Reset password". I had several cases where customers got confused and thought that the password should have been sent to them, and they did not realize that they need to reset the password in the website.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chriscct7. View the logs.


8 years ago

#12 @chriscct7
8 years ago

  • Milestone changed from 4.5 to Future Release
  • Status changed from reviewing to accepted

Going to punt this so it can be re-examined in 4.6.

#13 @adamsilverstein
8 years ago

35736.2.patch is a refresh against trunk and also includes some coding standards cleanup for modified lines (whitespace).

I full support these language changes; thanks @ramiy for your consistent push to improve WordPress core 'microcopy' - those little phrases scattered all over the interface have a big impact on users.

I agree the phrasing should be consistent as an action, so 'Reset Password' makes more sense that 'Lost your password?'; my main concern is that there are likely many tutorials/instructions online telling users to click the 'Lost your password' link; if this patch is committed, it would be good to attempt to correct at least the top listings on how to reset your wp password with the new language.

#14 follow-up: @ocean90
8 years ago

I'm -1 on changing "Lost Password" to "Reset Password". Only the changes to wp-includes/pluggable.php make sense to me.

A short list with strings used by other services:

  • Twitter: Forgot password?
  • Facebook: Forgot account?
  • GitHub: Forgot password?
  • Slack: I forgot my password
  • Netflix: Forgot your email or password?

#15 @adamsilverstein
8 years ago

Good point @ocean90 - although I agree the language is cleaner this way, it clearly goes against the norm and thus what users would expect. Therefore its likely to cause more user confusion.

@ramiy
8 years ago

@ramiy
8 years ago

#16 @ramiy
8 years ago

Ok, let's split the patch into two parts:

Seems like we all agree about the first part - I guess we can commit this.
As for the Lost your password, we should have more discussion.

#17 @SergeyBiryukov
8 years ago

In 37704:

Text Changes: Simplify two strings in wp_password_change_notification().

Add translator comments.

Props ramiy.
See #35736.

#18 @ramiy
8 years ago

@SergeyBiryukov, thanks for commiting. You should also commit the text changes on login_header() on the 3rd patch. Those are Reset Password pages. The title should reflect that.

#19 in reply to: ↑ 14 ; follow-up: @swissspidy
8 years ago

Replying to ocean90:

I'm -1 on changing "Lost Password" to "Reset Password". Only the changes to wp-includes/pluggable.php make sense to me.

A short list with strings used by other services:

  • Twitter: Forgot password?
  • Facebook: Forgot account?
  • GitHub: Forgot password?
  • Slack: I forgot my password
  • Netflix: Forgot your email or password?

So "Forgot password?" is more common than "Lost Password" or "Reset password"… Why don't we settle for this?

#20 in reply to: ↑ 19 ; follow-up: @ramiy
8 years ago

Replying to swissspidy:

So "Forgot password?" is more common than "Lost Password" or "Reset password"… Why don't we settle for this?

We don't settle. We need to do what is right for WordPress, not what done by others.

As I mentioned above, the 3 action links under the login form should not contain any question. We are not asking the user what he is looking for, we are telling him what he can do.

The questions "Lost my password?" and "Forgot password?" belong to an older era when you could manually change passwords. Now, you can't do this by yourself, the system is resetting your password. The semantics should be updated accordingly.

#21 in reply to: ↑ 20 ; follow-up: @adamsilverstein
8 years ago

Replying to ramiy:

Replying to swissspidy:

So "Forgot password?" is more common than "Lost Password" or "Reset password"… Why don't we settle for this?

We don't settle. We need to do what is right for WordPress, not what done by others.

I agree... except, we should do whats right not for WordPress, but for WordPress users. The question remains what is best for users here, what is likely to create the least confusion? Some careful user testing might help with the decision. Links to previous changes of this string you mentioned and the tickets discussing those changes might also reinforce your argument.

I support doing the right thing in spite of all the other services: as long as its evident users can still readily find the reset link they need when they can't log in.

#22 in reply to: ↑ 21 @ramiy
8 years ago

Replying to adamsilverstein:

Some careful user testing might help with the decision. Links to previous changes of this string you mentioned and the tickets discussing those changes might also reinforce your argument.

How do we do user testing?

@ramiy
8 years ago

#23 @garrett-eclipse
4 years ago

  • Component changed from Text Changes to Login and Registration
  • Focuses ui-copy added
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