[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #43037: Login error message "Invalid username. Lost your password?" is confusing

[WordPress Trac]

#43037: Login error message "Invalid username. Lost your password?" is confusing
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
 Reporter:  afercia                              |       Owner:
                                                 |  SergeyBiryukov
     Type:  defect (bug)                         |      Status:  reviewing
 Priority:  normal                               |   Milestone:  5.3
Component:  Login and Registration               |     Version:  2.8
 Severity:  normal                               |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-screenshots has-patch has-copy-  |     Focuses:  ui,
  review                                         |  accessibility
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Comment (by afercia):

 Worth noting the original issue on this ticket is mainly about the invalid
 ''username / email'' message and secondly about the reset password link.

 The point is: when users enter a wrong username the error message is:

 {{{
 ERROR: Invalid username. Lost your password?
 }}}

 When they enter a wrong email it's:

 {{{
 ERROR: Invalid email address. Lost your password?
 }}}


 In both cases, the error mentions the **username** or the **email** while
 the only option provided by the user interface is a "Lost your
 **password**?" link:
 - the link `Lost your password?` seems unrelated to errors about username
 / email
 - nothing informs users that, if they entered a wrong username, they can
 try with their email or vice-versa
 - nothing explains users that the reset email they will receive contains
 also the username
 - nothing informs users that usernames can't be changed anyways (emails
 can be changed)

 Overall, the wording of the username/email error message and the wording
 of the `Lost your password?` link don't fully describe what the next steps
 for users are.

 This issue was discussed a bit more in depth during yesterday's extra
 accessibility bug-scrub focused on the WordPress 5.3 release. The general
 feedback was that some better wording could greatly help. For example:
 changing the lost password link a more generic sentence. Here's a couple
 options:
 - Retrieve your login data
 - Get help with login

 However, I'd tend to think this issue deserves some more thinking. Let's
 go through the possible scenarios:

 **case 1**
 - enter a wrong username
 - I get the message `ERROR: Invalid username. Lost your password?`
 - nothing informs me I can use my email to log in
 - click on `Lost your password?` because it's the only option
 - I'm asked for my email (which I can actually use to log in)
 - I get an email which contains my username and a link to reset the
 password
 - click the link
 - enter new password etc.
 - result: I was able to retrieve my username, though the process didn't
 inform me properly and forced me to change my password

 **case 2**
 - enter a wrong email
 - I get the message `ERROR: Invalid email address. Lost your password?`
 - nothing informs me I can use my username to log in
 - click on `Lost your password?` because it's the only option
 - I'm asked for... my email but I can't remember my email: dead end

 **case 3**
 - enter a wrong password
 - OK this works :)

 **case 4**
 - enter both a wrong username/email and a wrong password
 - note: the user interface displays only the Invalid username message
 first
 - a mix of the above cases

 Basically, cases 1 and 2 could be improved.

 Seems to me there's no point in displaying the reset password link when
 the username or email are wrong. While it is true that the reset email
 contains the username, there's really no "retrieve username" or "retrieve
 email" option. To get the reset email, users have to remember at least
 their email **which can already be used to log in**.  This case would need
 to be better explained.

 Pretending I'm not missing anything, I'd like to propose to remove the
 reset password link from the username and email error messages:
 {{{
 ERROR: Invalid username. You can try with your email.
 ERROR: Invalid email address. You can try with your username.
 }}}

 The wrong password message can stay as is:

 {{{
 ERROR: The password you entered for the username {your-username} is
 incorrect. Lost your password?
 }}}

 Any feedback very welcome.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/43037#comment:26>
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