This is the final Sneak Peek at Passwordstate Version 9. Our Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer has kindly requested all Click Studios employees to stop finding new functionality to incorporate into the release (but we can’t help it 😊). The last of the code is currently being run through Systems Testing and will soon progress to our internal UAT (User Acceptance Testing) Team.
So, on to this week’s blog and your final tease of the new features that form part of Passwordstate V9.
Automatically update passwords in Passwordstate when updated on a Website
Up until Version 9 of Passwordstate, when you needed to change a password for an existing password record linked to a Website login, you were required to change it on the Website, then login to Passwordstate and update the password for that record manually.
With Passwordstate 9 and using our Browser Extensions you can automatically update the password for that password record when you change it on the Website. Once you’ve changed the password on the Website the Browser Extension will automatically identify the record to be changed and prompt you with the following screen,
As indicated above, you have the option of selecting Later and manually updating as per version 8, or selecting Update to write the new password back to the password record in Passwordstate. The Password List is automatically selected as per the existing password record details. We’ve also enabled a visual indication of Ignored URLs by turning the Browser Extension icon blue when you browse to a website that has been previously recorded as ignored.
New Mobile App autofill of credentials for Smartphone Browsers
Our new Passwordstate Smartphone app is being released to coincide with Version 9. This is a true native app for Android and iOS devices and is offered alongside our existing Mobile Client. In addition to the offline mode allowing access to an encrypted cache of credentials the Passwordstate app is capable of autofilling your Website credentials – just like our Browser Extensions!
Folder Permission Model
The old Folder Permission Model has been enhanced and now incorporates additional permission settings as per the image below;
The Standard Permissions Model is the old Passwordstate permissions model. This in effect roles-up the permissions applied to Password Lists at the Folder Level. In the image above the Permissions applied to all the Password Lists within Business Systems are applied to the Business Systems Folder. This is a bottom-up approach to applying Permissions,
With the Advanced Permissions Model the Permissions are specified at a Parent Folder and are propagated down to all child folders and Password Lists. This is similar to the approach for applying NTFS Permissions on a Windows Folder Structure. The example below is for the Contoso Folder,
You’ll also note that the Folder’s with the Advanced Permission Model have the blue downward arrow shown next to the folder icon indicating they have the Advance Permission Model applied to them. If you see a red X next to a Password List, such as the Web Sites Password List (Passwords example above), it means that inheritance from above is being blocked.
Improved built-in Backup Feature
We’ve listened to feedback on how to improve our built-in Backup solution and have incorporated a number of new features under Administration->Backups and Upgrades. The image below outlines the new features,
The section Backups Settings has been renamed to Backup Schedule and Settings and now incorporates the following;
- You can specify different backup paths for Web Files and Database backups,
- There is now an option to backup your Split Secrets in a separate zip file. This is backed up to the same path as your Web Files backups.
- An option to password protect your backup files can now be enabled. Once enabled you’ll need to specify the password and record it somewhere safe for when you need to recover Passwordstate from a backup.
There is also a section called Backup File Naming Convention where you can specify the naming convention for each of the types of backups (Web Files, Database and Split Secrets). When backups are performed the naming conventions you have provided are appended with the Date and Time that the backup was performed. The format used for appending the Date and Time is the same as for Version 8, using the format of YYYYMMDDHHMMSS where YYYY is Year, MM is Month, DD is Day, HH is Hour, MM is Minute and SS is Seconds.
Tweaked UI
Lastly, with Passwordstate V9 we’ve tweaked the UI (User Interface) in a number of areas. The image below is a composite image showing a number of changes,
The first of these is represented by the numbered green dots 1, 2 & 3. In previous versions of Passwordstate, hovering over the Menu item caused that menu to pop out to the right. In V9 you can toggle the Menu item by clicking on the ^ to collapse the menu or V to expand it. When expanding the Menu item, it now appears below the Menu Heading. In the left-hand side of the image you can see Passwords (1) is expanded while Tools (2) and Preferences (3) are collapsed. In the right-hand side of the image Passwords (1) has been collapsed while Tools (2) and Preferences (3) are expanded.
The second of the tweaks relates to the new icons for folders and password lists as shown in the right-hand side of the image in the golden rectangle. These are brand new icons, have been optimized for performance when loading screens and are consistent with the icons used in the new Mobile App for iOS and Android.
We hope you like this final sneak peek and can’t wait to get your hands on V9 (just like us 😊).
All suggestions and feedback are welcome via support@clickstudios.com.au.