RoboForm: Road Rules for the Real World

RoboForm is a nifty program from Siber Systems that attaches itself to your browser and simplifies the login procedure that you encounter on various websites. If you have been using the Pro version of RoboForm, you can skip the Basics and wade right into the Road Rules.

If this is all new to you, you may want to check supported browsers before continuing. Once you have decided to try out RoboForm or the portable version, RoboForm2Go, read this entire document before using the software for the first time.

Since you only have to remember one password, there is no reason to make it easy for someone to guess. This is particularly important if you are using RoboForm2Go, the portable version of the software that you install on removable media, such as a USB key.

There are many ideas about what constitutes a strong password. I suggest you use at least two of the following three suggestions:

1. Password should be ten or more characters
2. Use Upper case, lower case, symbols and numerals
3. Avoid dictionary words, dates, names and sequences like QWERTY

Actually, I don't think it's a good idea to remember just the Master Password. Your most important websites need to accessible, even if your USB key goes up in flames. This topic is covered later under Use Meaningful Passwords.

RoboForm defines an Identity as the collection of personal data which you can use to fill out forms on websites. Contrast this with Profiles, which allow multiple users to have their own list of websites, passwords, safe notes and personal data.

Details about Identities, Profiles, Multiple Windows Users and Limited vs. Administrator Users are covered in the manual.

All of this is important enough that you'll want to peruse the information prior to installing RoboForm.

RoboForm will offer to save the activation data when you order the Pro Version. Make sure you do that. It will come in handy, later! I managed to wipe out my license.rfo file during a careless file synchronization. When RoboForm2Go unceremoniously informed me that my "free trial" had expired, all I had to do was click the Activate RoboForm2Go Pro button. When the web page loaded, the passcard was presented to me in the toolbar. I pressed Fill & Submit and the software was reactivated.

If you have been using your browser to remember passwords, RoboForm can import them into your profile. In addition, RoboForm can also import your bookmarks (favorites), creating a single passcard for each.

Unless you've done an outstanding job of organizing your bookmarks into useful categories, you should take some time to categorize them. At the very least, create three folders named ~A-H, ~I-P and ~Q-Z. Sort all of your bookmarks into these three folders.

If you skip this step and proceed to import dozens or hundreds of bookmarks into the main RoboForm folder, you'll be hampered by the Multi-Column display, which is an alphabetically sorted list of all passcards, fit into multiple columns and using multiple pages, if necessary. Repeatedly scanning this list throughout the day is tedious and diminishes the time-saving feature of RoboForm.

I recently learned a new trick that you can use instead of (or in addition to) agonizing over the folder structure). Simon Davis, marketing manager for Siber Systems, posted this great tip on his blog: Organizing RoboForm Passwords:

• [The RoboForm Search] feature allows users to type in the first few characters of their saved RoboForm password in their RoboForm toolbar searchbox. ... To enable it simply click on the RoboForm icon and go to Options -> Search -> Move [button] the "Search ‘phrase' in RoboForm Names" option straight to the top.

See Turbocharge Web Searches, below, for a screen shot that shows exactly what Simon is explaining.

After testing this tip, I prefer typing a website name to hunting through menus. I also found that this tip does not interfere with any of the other techniques explained later.

Note: Right-click the desired result if you wish to Login in New window.

If your browser offers to remember your password, you should disable it. Really, what's the point of spending $30.00 and then not putting RoboForm to work full time? Besides that, using Internet Explorer's Autocomplete or Firefox's Password manager requires you to periodically clean out obsolete data, which can only be done by digging through layers of dialog boxes. With RoboForm, you can browse the folders independently of the software and delete data willy-nilly.

Don't put all your trust into this wonderful program. While you certainly can use RoboForm's handy-dandy password generator, it is very important that you know how to log in manually to vital websites like PayPal, your bank and MySpace. Apart from that, what would you do if you left your portable key home?

The definition of meaningful passwords differs from person to person and will not be covered here, except to say that t8QwpQR7 is probably not a meaningful password!

If you've already imported dozens of bookmarks and passwords into a single folder, you need to come up with a way to categorize your data.

As mentioned above in the RoboForm Basics, you should at least create a system of folders that group your passcards alphabetically. The goal is to have no more 28 passcards in a folder.

Actually, I don't mind having a couple of columns, but I do not want to have more than one page of passcards to hunt through.

Broad categories work well until you reach the point where you are spending more time than needed to locate a passcard. The limits are up to you: how much effort is it to create and maintain the folders; how many columns of passcards are acceptable; and, how difficult will it be to synchronize both programs.

That last point is not minor. One you start moving passcards around, you may wind up with duplicate entries after synchronizing. This leads to more choices on the Matching Passcards button, which is to the right of the Logins button. To get around this, use the ideas in Fresh Copy, below.

If you've purchased both RoboForm and RoboForm2Go, you may decide that you would like both programs to have the same information. A file synchronization program should be able to handle that task.

What you need to watch out for is re-introducing obsolete data. This can happen when you delete a passcard (or other data) from RoboForm2Go without also deleting it from RoboForm. During the next synchronization, unless you remember to exclude that item, it will be copied right back on to your removable media.

While duplicate data is not a disaster, it can become confusing when there are multiple choices in the Matching Passcards button. It's not just a matter of excluding all unmatched files, which are referred to as orphans. The reason is that you may have added new data to RoboForm that hasn't been synchronized with RoboForm2Go or vice versa. In extreme cases, it may be simpler to do a bi-directional synchronization and then use the ideas in Fresh Copy, below.

If you've synchronized folders while RoboForm is running, you must refresh the information. Select RoboForm | Profiles | Refresh Folder.

If you are using both RoboForm and RoboForm2Go, you may have tried to keep both programs synchronized. Sometimes, it is simpler to make your changes in one program's folders, then delete the other program's corresponding folder(s) and copy the new changes to it. Make sure you're only deleting folders and not any of the .rfo files!

Please don't use RoboForm's Backup or Synch Data tools for this operation! Backup will erase the .rfo files, while Synch Data will undo all your hard work by merging the orphans and creating duplicates.

If you highlight a selection of text on a web page, then click inside the RoboForm Search box, the selection is copied to the search box and your list of search engines is displayed. Short, quick and handy!

You may want to tell RoboForm to show search results in a new window, otherwise, you may not find your way back to your original web page! This can be done via Options | Search or by clicking inside the search box, then clicking on the (Customize Search Box) option.

A more advanced technique involves adding custom searches. RoboForm calls these gadgets SearchCards. I won't repeat the excellent information that's in the Fantastic Manual but trust me, you'll want this. You'll be able to select an address on a web page, click inside the RoboForm Search box and select your predefined mapping website. RoboForm loads the website, fills in the address and clicks the website's Search button. Instant map!

RoboForm offers a nice collection of predefined SearchCards and you can submit yours as well. Adding one of the predefined SearchCards is as simple as clicking on a link. RoboForm asks you where to save it. After doing that, the SearchCard is available immediately!

Visit www.searchcardplace.com for more.

There are so many things that you can to with RoboForm. Although 98% of your interaction will be with passcards, it's nice to know what $30.00 gets you:

• Fill in online forms - but note the software makers' reservations about AutoFill, a feature from earlier versions
• Create an Address Book
• Store secret recipes (Safe Notes)
• Share login info via e-mail (when your cell phone fails, I guess)
• Use command-line arguments

When Firefox first came on the scene, I loved its password manager. Unfortunately, I still needed some way to remember user names and passwords when traveling or using public computers. Once I discovered RoboForm2Go, I knew I had solved my password management problems.

I recommend you download the free trial and test it.

You'll be glad you did.