Re: Lost multi-user sign-in capability

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

I am sorry that you had to go through this unpleasant experience and I apologize for the inconvenience that you are facing with this issue.

I would like to inform you that due to possibility of security threat, the feature to provide a list of user names on login page has been withdrawn by Yahoo!. If you experience any difficulty while using the same option in Google Chrome browser, I would suggest you to, please, try these steps on Firefox browser mentioned below as an alternative.

1. In Firefox window, click on Tools menu and select “Options”
2. Click on Privacy tab
3. Select the option “Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar.”
4. Uncheck the option “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox”
5. Click on Security tab and select the option “Remember Passwords for the sites”
6. Click on Ok button.

7. Now open the web mail link you want to access (eg. att.yahoo.com) and sign in. After the sign in click on the “Remember” button which would appear on the top right side of the window. Repeat the sign in for all the accounts and it would be saved in the browser.

After performing all the steps mentioned above, if the issue persists, it is recommended that please contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, or WI' area, you may click on the following link to connect to a chat agent:

https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnai re_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

airchair · ‎05-25-2010

Penny

Secruity threat is a lame excuse.... You have taken away the ablility for me to be a parent and monitor my kids email with the removal of the mulit user email.

I have been paying for these email accounts becauce of the features available, now the features I was paying for are being removed.

who ever came up with this mirgration plan of worldnet.att.net accounts to yahoo should be FIRED. there is so many things wrong .

I AM SO MAD!!!

pronet · ‎10-31-2008

Penny, Been there, done that, and I am not willing to pay support for something AT&T has taken away from me I shall call 1-800-288-2020 is number I was signed up.

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello airchair,

I'm sorry that you lost access to this feature by upgrading to our new Home Page. While our new Powered by Yahoo! email platform replicates the majority of the most commonly used features of our old platform, there are unfortunately some features that do not exist on the new platform. Although upgrading to the new Home Page provides benefits like unlimited email storage space, we understand that you've lost this feature that you found useful and we apologize for the inconvenience. Because some users found this feature valuable, we are currently discussing the possibility of making this functionality available at a later date.

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

Gadget_1 · ‎02-02-2010

Penny wrote:
Hello airchair,

I'm sorry that you lost access to this feature by upgrading to our new Home Page. While our new Powered by Yahoo! email platform replicates the majority of the most commonly used features of our old platform, there are unfortunately some features that do not exist on the new platform. Although upgrading to the new Home Page provides benefits like unlimited email storage space, we understand that you've lost this feature that you found useful and we apologize for the inconvenience. Because some users found this feature valuable, we are currently discussing the possibility of making this functionality available at a later date.

Rather than, or in addition to, making the multi-user sign-in capability available on the Powered by Yahoo email platform, I'd like to have the "Mailbox Manager" feature (from the Worldnet/NAP platform).

As I have pointed out several times on this forum, the "Check Mail" (Shift + m) button DOES NOT WORK for non-ATT accounts (not even for xxxxx@att.net accounts previously on Worldnet and now on NAP). The box that says "There are no emails in your Inbox folder." remains, even when the account DOES have emails. If you have set up "foreign" email accounts using Options, More Options..., Accounts, these accounts will appear on the Check Mail drop-down list. One should at least get an error message, or some indication that the PBY system is not capable of checking email for such accounts.

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

Well Hooray!

Now they decide to listen- some time in the future? That's just wrong. Blaming the loss of a feature to a security problem is just that- a problem! This feature was in use on all of my computers for years. It never caused a security issue, and quite seriously, I know it never would have.

The PRIMARY account holder (in many instances) used the feature to see where/what children were doing on the computer. The feature allowed a responsible parent access to and the ability to change settings for SUB-ACCOUNTS. These are functions of responsible parents.

The PRIMARY account holder is the person who allows SUB-ACCOUNTS to be used in the first place, and therefore should be allowed access to their content and use.

I'm STILL looking for a provider that will allow me, the PRIMARY account holder, a drop-down access to other accounts that either I, or another family member, have created.

Why would a company as big as AT&T merge with Yahoo, and an even better question, is why would a company as big as AT&T think that users would quietly sit idley by and not complain about the loss of a feature that was in such wide spread use? And speaking of big- haven't we all heard the "too big to fail" analogy just recently?

Once again- has anybody tried "Thunderbird" by Mozilla?

Gadget_1 · ‎02-02-2010

trainnut:

I've been using Thunderbird for years (never used Outlook). It works fine for me. Try it!

--Gadget

airchair · ‎05-25-2010

Trainnut,

I am in complete agreement with you on this multi- user email capability. That is why I have used it for many years. To monitor the email's my kids accounts are recieving. As a Worldnet customer since 1994 I am so MAD at this conversion to yahoo, Who ever approved this conversion plan should be fired!!!!! What is the Security issue when all the sub accounts are mine and I created them ! Are they trying to protect me from myself!!

AND why the Heck should I have to see advertisements in an emai service that I am PAYING FOR!!!

echiosso · ‎05-26-2010

I will try very hard to exercise "admirable restraint" on the loss of a valued option and just focus on the issues:

1. The ATT system is not dealing with this issue very effectively. I have been bounced from chat to phone support with little help in addressing this issue. (2 hrs of my time today.) Most of the transitions have been poorly made and had no semblance of continuity --- no case number, wrong department. This forum is the only spot where the issue is being dealt with. Although I am a Mac User with Safari as my primary browser and I know this compliances the issue, I think the system needs more efficiency in addressing the issue.

2. I don't recall receiving a clear email that the service was not available but I may have missed it or the email may have been about enhancements.

Now for the issue.

1. I don't see how this option was a security breach since it only allowed the selection or auto fill of an email address. You had to manually type in your password.

2. Your work around for Firefox actually creates the security breach since it autofills the password. So it is not a viable option.

Some work arounds:

1. I'm wondering if you are trying to encourage the use of "alias Accounts" rather than sub accounts. If this is true, then make it easy for someone to transition a sub account into an alias that shows up in one account. This is a quick way to check email and control it. It is what we do with Mobile Me.

2. Another work around is to use a Mail account like Mac Mail where all accounts appear at one. This bypasses all of the Yahoo info.

Please explain specifically how the option was a possible security breach and why you can't just autofill the email addresses and not the passwords.

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

PERFECT!!!

This is the solution that I have been asking for since day one, but had a hard time expressing, as I am not as computer literate as other users are.

If AT&T / Yahoo would have EXPLAINED what the security issue was, rather than just saying that it was, it would have probably been enough for most people from the get-go. But, having chosen to only state that it had been, without an explanation, drove people who had used the function (myself and others) to demand more information as to WHY.

Another excellent point is the auto-fill feature that ONLY completes the email address. This is what I tried (not well) to explain in my previous posts. My personal position is this: The accounts are STILL PASSWORD PROTECTED, and the email ID's are NOT what need to be protected, as they were all set up by the primary account holder in the first place, and email addresses can be found all over the Internet.

OK, you did good in speaking my mind for me, and I appreciate the help in stating my complaints.

Come on everybody- get on board and make your comments heard. It's the ONLY way Yahoo will ever budge on this simple issue.

UNITED WE STAND - DIVIDED WE BEG...

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

Hello Gadget,

Thanks for the rely about Thunderbird. I figured that it must be a good product since it was from the Mozilla family. I have been using Firefox for years (after Internet Explorer slowed down so much and had SO many OTHER problems) with no problems at all.

Does Thunderbird allow the auto-fill of sub-accounts, while still requiring passwords to gain access to the accounts by the primary account holder?

If it does, my loyalty to AT&T will be very short lived indeed.

Thanks,

Trainnut

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello echiosso,

I am sorry that you had to go through this unpleasant experience and I apologize for the inconvenience that you are facing with this issue.

I would like to Inform you that, due to possibility of security threat, the feature to provide a list of user names on login page has been withdrawn by Yahoo!. I would suggest you to, please, try these steps on Firefox browser mentioned below as an alternative.

1. In Firefox window, click on Tools menu and select “Options”
2. Click on Privacy tab
3. Select the option “Remember what I enter in forms and the search bar.”
4. Uncheck the option “Always clear my private data when I close Firefox”
5. Click on Security tab and select the option “Remember Passwords for the sites”
6. Click on Ok button.

Now open the web mail link you want to access (eg. att.yahoo.com) and sign in. After the sign in click on the “Remember” button which would appear on the top right side of the window. Repeat the sign in for all the accounts and it would be saved in the browser.

After perform all the steps mentioned above, if the issue persists. It is recommended that please contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, or WI' area, you may click on the following link to connect to a chat agent:

https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnai re_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

echiosso · ‎05-26-2010

Thank you for the reply. But I have one question before I try Firefox even though I prefer Safari:

In using your method, does it fill in my Password as well as the email address?

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello echiosso,

I would like to inform you that, you can change these settings on Safari browser to autofill your username and password.I would suggest you to, please, try these steps on Safari browser mentioned below as an alternative.

1. Double click the Safari application located /Applications.

2. Select Preferences from the Safari menu next to the Apple, the general menu will populate allowing you to set up download locations and change homepage information.

3. Click on the Auto fill tab.

4. Check the "User name and password" check box under Auto fill tab.

Now open the web mail link you want to access (eg. att.yahoo.com) and sign in. After the sign in click on the “Remember” button which would appear on the top right side of the window. Repeat the sign in for all the accounts and it would be saved in the browser.

In order to find more information about the same, please click on the link mentioned below:

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB400759

After perform all the steps mentioned above, if the issue persists. It is recommended that please contact AT&T Technical voice help desk 1-877-722-3755 and ask for Mac department (open 24/7). They will help you accordingly.

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

echiosso · ‎05-26-2010

Dear Penny,

Thank you for the information on Safari, but you still did not answer my question:

In following the procedure for FireFox (and for Safari), will it autofill both the email account and the password?

I only want the autofill to fill in the email account. I like the security of filling in my own password like I had before the "so called" enhancement was put in.

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello echiosso,

In order to resolve this issue, I would suggest you to uncheck the box Remember password box, when sign in on the yahoo page.

This would just auto fill the email id and you would have to type the password whenever you wish to sign in.

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

Can the "auto-fill" information given for Safari work on Thunderbird and/or Chrome?

That is, just for the email ID's, but NOT the passwords?

Thanks

dan4120 · ‎05-29-2010

Taking away this feature is absurd. I don't buy in to "security" being the reason. It's another way to decrease the useage. To require one to key in the entire email ID each time one wants to sign in between sub accounts will surely lead to reduced activity between subaccounts. That was their intent. To say they will consider bringing it back in the future is just a ploy to make our complaints go away for now. Take the number of keystrokes required to sign in each time and extrapolate that by the number of users in the world and the number of times they change between subaccounts and you have a lot of time wasted signing in. What's the security issue when one primarily does this from home?

I've been with ATT for over 10 years with few complaints. On this one I have to say "shame on you ATT" and your "notification of this subject" was non existent if there was even one.

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello ,

Yes, the auto fill option work in Chrome and Firefox browser as well.

You may also save the password in chrome and firefox, through the steps mentioned below.

To save the password in the Fire fox, try the steps mentioned below:

On Firefox click on Tools > Options.
In Privacy tab, under 'Firefox will' drop down box select 'Use custom settings for history'.
Make sure, 'Accept cookies from sites' and 'Accept third-party cookies' check box should be checked and under 'Keep Untill' drop down box 'they expire' should be selected.
Under Security tab in the Password column 'Remember Password for sites' should be checked.
Click OK.

You should be able to save User ID and password in the Fire fox.

To check the same option in Google Chrome, follow the steps mentioned below.

Click on Tools icon, available on the top right corner.
Click on Options.
On 'Personal Stuff' tab, under the Password column, select 'Offer to save password'.
Click on 'OK'.

If you experience any difficulty while trying the steps mentioned above, it is recommended that contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, or WI' area, you may click on the following link to connect to a chat agent:

https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnai re_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello dan4120,

I can only imagine how frustrated you must be with us at this point, I appreciate the admirable restraint you exercised in your message. My sincere apologies for the time you have spent dealing with this issue.

I can provide another alternative to add your sub AT&T email accounts in the primary AT&T email account, so that all the email will get delivered from your sub AT&T email account to your primary AT&T email account's inbox, you'll also have choice to send the emails from any email account after signing in with the primary AT&T email account.

You can set up your AT&T Mail to retrieve messages from most external email accounts (AT&T sub accounts) to which you have POP access. An account with POP access is one that you can access with an email client like Outlook, Eudora or Netscape Mail.

Follow the instructions below to add an external email account. AT&T Mail can store up to three different accounts at one time.

Click the "Mail Options" link on the top right-hand side of the screen, and then choose "Check Other (POP) Mail" located under the Mail Management column on the Mail Options screen.
Click the "Add Mail Server" button.
Enter the external email account's mail server name, your user name, and password for that external mail account and the port number for the mail server.

Note: While adding AT&T sub email accounts use the pop server address as pop.att.yahoo.com

- Your user name for your external mail account is the first part of your external mail address (before the '@' sign).
- Your password is whatever you use to access your external mail account and not necessarily your Yahoo! password

4. Use the "Leave Mail on POP Server" option to specify whether messages retrieved to your AT&T account will also remain in your external mail account or whether they will be deleted from your external mail server.

5. Use the "Retrieve new messages only" option to specify whether AT&T Mail retrieves only the new messages in your external mail account or all messages.

6. Use the "Download to Folder" option to specify a location where the retrieved messages will automatically be placed in your AT&T Mail account. By default, your Inbox is selected. Choose any of your other folders by selecting one from the pull-down list.

7. If you use filters, place a check in the "Use Filters" checkbox to run all messages retrieved from your external mail account through your AT&T Mail filters. Any messages that are not filtered will be placed in the folder you choose next to "Download to Folder."

8. The color you choose next to the Indicator option will be used to mark all messages retrieved from your external mail account. This will help you distinguish the messages retrieved from your external mail account from the ones sent directly to your AT&T Mail account. If you retrieve messages from more than one external mail account, you can select a different color for each of them.

9. Click "Save" to save your new settings. This will return your browser to the main external mail page.

To retrieve your messages from an external mail account, just click the appropriate server name on the left-hand navigation bar. Messages from the selected server will be retrieved to your AT&T Mail account. You can get to this button easily by clicking the "Check external mail" link at the top and bottom of your Inbox and other folders. AT&T Mail will retrieve messages from your external (POP) mail accounts only when you request it.

However, you always have choice to use Firefox and save your email addresses in your web browser.

While trying the steps mentioned above, if you experience any difficulty, it is recommended that you contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, & WI' area, You may click on the following link to connect to a chat agent:

https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnai re_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

Hello penny,

Somewhere along the line, my original complaint has been misconstrued, misunderstood, ignored, or forgotten.

All I wanted was the original, multi-user, ID auto-fill, sign-in capability returned.

I didn't want a "patch" that filled in both the ID and password, which I see as a security issue.

Nor did I want all of the sub-account emails delivered to the primary account.

Having email delivered (and sent) from accounts OTHER than the Primary account was the whole idea for having several Sub-accounts. If I had wanted all email to be directed to my Primary account, why would I need sub-accounts?

Come on people, it would take less time and effort to restore the original function than trying to make users accept a substitute that does not do what we want.

Statements that include phrases like "pop-servers" and using new addresses is beyond the realm of possibilities for many of us who just want an easy to use email system- you know- the way it USED TO BE!

I'm STILL waiting for the original function to be restored, BUT, I am getting tired of being told that the original option was deemed a security risk, while one of the suggested "patches" that fills in both ID and Password is not.

Just work to get our functions back before we all go somewhere else for service...

nhuber · ‎06-06-2010

Penny

I did as you suggested and set up one of my subaccounts and it now does appear in the checkmail drop down. I created a folder to dump within my primary into which to dump the mail from the subaccount. However, when I check mail on the subaccount I get a popup error box stating "unknown error".

Nancy

Penny_1 · ‎08-17-2009

Hello nhuber,

Thank you for trying the suggestion. Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience that you are experiencing.

After adding your sub AT&T email account in primary email account if you are getting any 'unknown error', then this issue required advanced troubleshooting steps.

Hence, I would suggest you to contact AT&T level 2 support at 1-877-722-3755 and troubleshoot according to their recommendation.

When you call in to speak to an agent, ask to be transferred to our second level of support.

Remember to always mark items that you find useful as "Accepted Solutions”, you can even mark multiple
posts in a single thread. This will help other users find this information too!!

Stephen_1 · ‎06-15-2010

Makes me want to drop AT&T for sure. Multiple sign in with the drop down menu sure made it a lot easier. Still paying $26.95/month for DSL here whule watching the latest TV adds saying I can get it for $19.95 a month in a package makes me sick. I have "A PACKAGE".

We'd even be interested in Uverse but it's still not available in our area. Figures.

At least bring back the multiple sign in thing. How could it affaect security. Typical. Pay the same...get less and less.

I Love this country

pwcmec1 · ‎06-22-2010

I too am a long time sbcglobal (att).net user. One of my favorite features on the old ATT Yahoo Browser (no longer supported by ATT) was the ability to list all my sub-accounts in a sign on screen where all I had to do is highlight the account I wanted, hit enter and enter the password. On a new computer I am not using the old browser and ATT's dropping of that feature in their sign-in page is really bothering me since it makes no sense. I hope the tech team is correct that they are re-evaluating that move and will restore that feature in the near future. The security excuse makes no sense because passwords would still have to be entered. BRING BACK THE MULTIUSER SIGN IN CAPABILITY!!!

Filthy-Rich · ‎09-28-2006

Fascinating that AT&T now claims a "security issue" in denying the sub-account pick-list/pull-down log-in for their email users when they spent $millions in lobbying to get retroactive ex post facto liability against lawsuits for their illegal activites of allowing the NSA access their systems (and therefore their customers' records, emails, phone calls, et. al.) without a court's warrant.

See Broadband Reports "AT&T, Verizon Get Immunity For Illegal Wiretaps"

http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/91805

I hope AT&T can restore this functionality to the log-in screen soon and stop the charade of using the "protecting their customers' privacy" canard as their sole excuse for removing this functionality in the first place.

trainnut · ‎05-01-2010

I'm sorry to see more and more people that are unhappy with the loss of the multi-user sign-in option.

However, I'm sorry but glad! You see, if ENOUGH OF US are unhappy about this loss, THEN, AND ONLY THEN, will anybody listen and do something about it.

If you are missing the OPTION (we didn't HAVE to use it) KEEP LETTING THEM KNOW!!!

If enough people complain (and CONTINUE complaining), they might catch-on and actually do something about the complaint.

Keep in mind the following: UNITED WE WIN- DIVIDED WE BEG!

trainnut

misq2kir · ‎07-03-2010

I (actually my husband) also has a problem with the loss of this drop-down. He only uses one of the accounts on this computer but he is mentally disabled and trying to remember the full email address to get onto the computer is really hard for him. When this disappeared from the computer he called me in a panic at work wanting to know what the email address was because he has always used the drop down. He does remember the password and can enter that much. I agree with the other posters on this site that I do not know why this was deemed a security risk. You STILL have to enter the password even with the drop down. Why would seeing the email address in a drop down be a security risk? If you didn't have the password you can't do anything with a drop down email address. Please AT&T bring this option back. As many other posters have said, if a user doesn't want to use it they don't have to but some of us NEED this function for various reasons.

dalorv · ‎06-09-2010

So why the *bleep* don't they put it back. If they don't,I will be looking for a new ISP. [Edit per Community Guidelines]

nt4usb · ‎11-04-2009

Bla, BLA, bla bla bla... When will everyone figure it out? at&t don't care about what customers want, or like, or need.

The workaround I found is use Firefox.

Clear all the prior logins/passwords for at&t, yahoo, etc.

(There's a hack to nsLoginManager.js to allow Firefox to remember all logins and passwords. google it since this board sucks for posting links. I don't recall if it's required to remember passwords on at&t/yohoo mail, but it's fun to have anyway)

Bookmark the yahoo.com email login page.

As you log in to each account, firefox will add and remember logins and passwords to the login/pw field.

When you return to the yahoo.com email login page next time, double click in the login box and all your logins will pop up, Click the one you want, pw is filled in and you're good to go.

Done there? Log out, click the yahoo.com email link again and repeat as required.

The trip back to the bookmark is not required if all you have is at&t email accounts.

I have both at&t accounts (login@blabla.bla) and yahoo accounts (login is name only) and at&t hijacks the browser so I can't go straight to yahoo email.

Oh, and I forgot one thing. Soon as you're done reading mail, logout and leave the at&t/yahoo site. Even if you want to continue reading yahoo's site. Leave it, go to yahoo.com and read it there. No reason to give at&t any more hits than we have to ,to read mail.