One of Mozilla’s goals is to deepen relationships with our users and better connect them with our products. For support this means integrating Firefox Accounts (FxA) as the authentication layer on support.mozilla.org

What does this mean?

Currently support.mozilla.org is using its own auth/login system where users are logging in using their username and password. We will replace this auth system with Firefox Accounts and both users and contributors will be asked to connect their existing profiles to FxA.

This will not just help align support.mozilla.org with other Mozilla products but also be a vehicle for users to discover FxA and its many benefits.

In order to achieve this we are looking at the following milestones (the dates are tentative):

Transition period (May-June)

We will start with a transition period where users can log in using both their old username/password as well as Firefox Accounts. During this period new users registering to the site will only be able to create an account through Firefox Accounts. Existing users will get a recommendation to connect their Firefox Account through their existing profile but they will still be able to use their old username/password auth method if they wish. Our intention is to have banners across the site that will let users know about the change and how to switch to Firefox Accounts. We will also send email communications to active users (logged in at least once in the last 3 years).

Switching to Firefox Accounts will also bring a small change to our AAQ (Ask a Question) flow. Currently when users go through the Ask a Question flow they are prompted to login/create an account in the middle of the flow (which is a bit of a frustrating experience). As we’re switching to Firefox Accounts and that login experience will no longer work, we will be moving the login/sign up step at the beginning of the flow – meaning users will have to log in first before they can go through the AAQ. During the transition period non-authenticated users will not be able to use the AAQ flow. This will get back to normal during the Soft Launch period.

Soft Launch (end of June)

After the transition period we will enter a so-called “Soft Launch” period where we integrate the full new log in/sign up experiences and do the fine tuning. By this time the AAQ flow should have been updated and non-authenticated users can use it again. We will also send more emails to active users who haven’t done the switch yet and continue having banners on the site to inform people of the change.

Full Launch (July-August)

If the testing periods above go well, we should be ready to do the full switch in July or August. This means that no old SUMO logins will be accepted and all users will be asked to switch over to Firefox Accounts. We will also do a final round of communications.

Please note: As we’re only changing the authentication mechanism we don’t expect there to be any changes to your existing profile, username and contribution history. If you do encounter an issue please reach out to Madalina or Tasos (or file a bug through Bugzilla).

We’re excited about this change, but are also aware that we might encounter a few bumps on the way. Thank you for your support in making this happen.

If you want to help out, as always you can follow our progress on Github and/or join our weekly calls.

SUMO staff team