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Re: Should login screens have email or email address?
Subject:Re: Should login screens have email or email address? From:Jim Barrow <vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:36:00 -0500 (CDT)
>>Richard Combs wrote:
>Raj Nair wrote:
>>On many login screens of websites and software I had found
>>the 'email' field, which asks you to enter your email address
>>to login.
>
>>I think the world email is incorrect. Instead, it should be
>>email address or email ID at least. I did discuss this with
>>my technical editor, but to no avail. 'This usage is common'
>>was the reply I got. Any comments?
>Yes, three:
>1) If you've seen it on "many login screens," then that confirms >that your editor is correct, doesn't it? And if it's common, then
>most >of us have seen it many times and understand it >immediately.
>2) Adding the word "address" neither hurts nor helps; adding "ID" >is a really bad idea because most of us have never encountered the >phrase "email ID" and may be a bit confused by it.
>3) If I were you, I wouldn't give my boss the idea that I have so >little to do that I can obsess over such a trivial matter. :-)
I've actually had a little fun with situations like these in the past. Whenever I need to include instructions/screenshots that need to include email addresses/login IDs etc., I change these so that my identifying information is not displayed. Instead, I use "dummy" IDs that reflect the company that I'm working for.
When I worked for the Mouse House I would use IDs such as these: MMouse -at- Disney -dot- com or Minnie123!, so long as the dummy IDs that I created used the correct naming convention.
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