OpenFlights has been in bug fixing mode lately, but today we rolled out a small but handy feature: the ability to reset your own password if you’ve forgotten it.  We use the same mechanism as every other site out there, namely mailing you a link to check that it’s you, and then giving you a new random password once you click on the link.  While we were at it, we also nuked a pesky longstanding bug that had prevented some users from changing their password, so you’re not stuck with random gibberish afterwards.

Now, there’s one more change afoot for users who registered before January 9, 2009 and whose usernames contain uppercase letters: due to changes in our login system, you will be unable to login after Saturday, May 15th, and you will have to reset your passwords to get your access back.  To emphasize, this applies only to users who fulfill both conditions: if your username contains no uppercase latters or you signed up anytime after January 9, 2009, you don’t need to do anything at all.  If you want to check whether or not you are affected, browse here and find out:

http://openflights.org/help/resetpw-test

For affected users, the reset can be done at any time (before or after May 15th) and after you have changed the password, your account will be OK.  According to our count, there are 123 of you, and while we will try to reach 82 by e-mail, here’s hoping this catches some of the rest of you.  The remaining unlucky 41, being email-less, cannot use the reset functionality and will instead need to login and change their password under Settings.

And if you’re wondering why we don’t just change your passwords for you, the answer is simply that we can’t: passwords are always stored encrypted (one-way hash), which means that even we can’t read them.

Loquaciously passwordy,
-jani