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Possible Duplicate:
Expressing that new password is optional

I have built a simple user management system on my webserver. There is a list of users, each of which is either "Administrator" or "Operator". Only administrators can change user details. Below is a screenshot of the "Edit user" modal, based on Bootstrap.

Each of the username, password and rights can be modified. I have opted to leave the "New username" and "New password" fields empty, to mean "Leave unchanged". (I do not want to populate the "New password" field with the actual old password!) As for the "New rights" choice, I have prepopulated it with the old rights.

The "New username" input field is focused when the modal is shown.

I hope the old username is visible enough in the modal title? Have my choices been wise? How would you tweak this modal to make it more usable and clear?

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EDIT (using Peter's suggestions)

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2nd EDIT (see live example here)

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marked as duplicate by Mervin, JonW♦ Jan 13 at 9:39

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1 Answer

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I would change "New username" to "Username" and prepopulate with the existing username. Have 3 password fields: existing, new and confirm new. Making a change requires the existing password to be entered regardless. Replace the "close" button with a "cancel" link - it's not the main call to action, and "close" does not make clear if the changes are saved or discarded. Also (sorry for going into so much detail!) remove the username from the title to avoid duplication, remove new from new rights, and have as a radio button - a bit more room to add new options if needed later on. Finally, I'm guessing you already have a double check on "remove"?

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The more detail the better. Thanks a lot. What about the input field placeholders? I'll work on a new version and I'll be back with a new screenshot. :) – randomblue Jan 12 at 13:36
New screenshot added. I'm not sure about the radio button. It's actually already a "Bootstrap radio button" (see here). – randomblue Jan 12 at 13:45
Cool. I'd probably avoid having a separate password titl - with so few fields its not really needed. Maybe leave out the copy in the password fields - not really adding anything at the moment. You might consider only displaying the "confirm" field if the user types something in the "new" field – Peter Jan 12 at 14:26
There is a bit of a problem by removing the original username in the modal title. Indeed, if the username gets edited then the "Remove" button becomes a bit ambiguous... – randomblue Jan 12 at 21:45

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