Upgrade StorageError message 'bug' when FF master password not entered and sync is setup
Hi,
I have a Firefox master password set up (to encrypt my saved signons.*). So whenever I fire up FF and open Zotero, I have to enter my FF master password because Zotero wants to pull my sync login data from the FF signon database.
If I just open Zotero for a quick info and don't anticipate wanting to log into a website later on, or making big changes in Zotero that I would want to be synced right away, I often just hit "cancel/escape" when I'm prompted for my master password.
However, if I do this, Zotero throws the following error message at me:
"Zotero cannot access your login information, likely due to a corrupted Firefox login manager database. Close Firefox, back up and delete signons.* from your Firefox profile, and re-enter your Zotero login information in the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences."
This is very misleading. First, the most probable cause is that I simply refused to enter my master password. Second, Zotero shouldn't instruct users to delete their signons without telling them that then all their saved website logins will be gone! A little dialog box is not enough information to give users good guidance. I think it would be better to tell users simply: no sync will happen because no login info. And them give them a link to a page with detailed help.
A better alternative would be IMHO the following dialog box:
"Zotero cannot access your sync login information - synchronization will be disabled for this session. For help, click here (link to support page with details, see below)"
Then I would create a wiki support page that explains that Zotero uses the Firefox database, that you therefore have to enter your master password if one is set in FF.
In rare cases, the problem could arise because signons.sqlite is corrupt - explain that this means all login info will be gone, give instructions how to delete the corrupted files. (maybe recommend checking whether you can pull up the list of saved passwords in the FF preferences to check whether the file really IS corrupt before telling the user to axe their entire signon database...)
I have a Firefox master password set up (to encrypt my saved signons.*). So whenever I fire up FF and open Zotero, I have to enter my FF master password because Zotero wants to pull my sync login data from the FF signon database.
If I just open Zotero for a quick info and don't anticipate wanting to log into a website later on, or making big changes in Zotero that I would want to be synced right away, I often just hit "cancel/escape" when I'm prompted for my master password.
However, if I do this, Zotero throws the following error message at me:
"Zotero cannot access your login information, likely due to a corrupted Firefox login manager database. Close Firefox, back up and delete signons.* from your Firefox profile, and re-enter your Zotero login information in the Sync pane of the Zotero preferences."
This is very misleading. First, the most probable cause is that I simply refused to enter my master password. Second, Zotero shouldn't instruct users to delete their signons without telling them that then all their saved website logins will be gone! A little dialog box is not enough information to give users good guidance. I think it would be better to tell users simply: no sync will happen because no login info. And them give them a link to a page with detailed help.
A better alternative would be IMHO the following dialog box:
"Zotero cannot access your sync login information - synchronization will be disabled for this session. For help, click here (link to support page with details, see below)"
Then I would create a wiki support page that explains that Zotero uses the Firefox database, that you therefore have to enter your master password if one is set in FF.
In rare cases, the problem could arise because signons.sqlite is corrupt - explain that this means all login info will be gone, give instructions how to delete the corrupted files. (maybe recommend checking whether you can pull up the list of saved passwords in the FF preferences to check whether the file really IS corrupt before telling the user to axe their entire signon database...)
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dstillmanWell, since you're the first person to report this due to a master password, and we've had a half-dozen people report problems due to signons.sqlite corruption, I suspect yours is actually the rare case here. But it looks like we can get the total number of logins without triggering the master password prompt, which should be a way to test if the database is corrupt.