phpMyAdmin Life Saver: Change/Reset Password and Admin Name

24 10 2007

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There are moments in life that you might say "OOH SH$T! What was the password", I lost my WordPress admin name, I don’t remember it, I didn’t get the email with my password, etc. Well nothing to despair, the solution takes less than two minutes. To proceed you need to log in into your website control panel that most likely is provided by your web host, and most like you have phpMyAdmin too. In fact we need phpMyAdmin to put our hands into WordPress database and do modifications in there, but remember it is not a playground, a mistake and you can say bye bye to your blog. Just don’t wonder what the "drop" link might do, simply follow these few steps and you should bet alright. Just to be on the safe side, ALWAYS backup your database, if you have no clue how to do that just read my other tutorial.

Warning, messing around with you WP database could cause loss of data and other problems

Please follow the tutorial, if you have any problem don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I wont be held responsible for you mistakes

A short description of the video: I assumed you got into phpMyAdmin , we need to look for the table that contains the users info and edit the user name and its password, as you can see there are other values we can edit as well such as email address ect. I wont cover every value displayed and what they refer to, we just focus on the user name and password however some of these values as you see are self explanatory.

So we decided to change admin to something else and since we are there we change the password too.
Talking about passwords, WordPress requires MD5 algorithm encryption for stored passwords, you will notice that I select the function MD5 from a dropdown list, that will process the password we enter by using client-side MD5 encryption, so don’t panic when you see as user password something like this 0f63b2c0873e8cvd29ba465328721a18n9.

After the modifications have been saved you should be able to log in back into your WordPress, if you have any problem either contact me or make a stop at wordpress.org support forum

Thanks for watching and good blogging.

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Date : 24 October 2007
Categories : Tutorials, Wordpress

94 responses to “phpMyAdmin Life Saver: Change/Reset Password and Admin Name”

1 06 2008: mike (21:34:29) :

thanks a million, instructions were really simple and easy to follow. thanks

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onklip Reply:
June 10th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Awesome. Thanks a lot mate!

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4 06 2008: Sugardaddy (06:47:18) :

RESPECT bro!
You made my day

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15 06 2008: J. Maideen (18:31:05) :

Hi

Thank for your video – very helpful for me!

Thanks.

J.

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2 08 2008: Dorothee (20:51:56) :

It is exactly what I was looking for. i would be glad if u visit my Artikelverzeichnis. but u need understood german

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3 08 2008: Chris (19:02:57) :

Great video, good job

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16 08 2008: RandyBrown (22:24:36) :

Nice Site. I am new here but will be visiting more often as you have done a good job.

Thanks

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17 08 2008: Jeremiah (07:12:30) :

Thanks, that was easy.

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18 08 2008: everything and nothing at all (05:46:33) :

[...] tried this and this. Neither have worked. When I try the first way and hit “submit”, I get a blank page. [...]
29 08 2008: Fred (02:27:05) :

I have WordPress hosted on godaddy.

I someone lost my username and password.

Will the procedure you’re suggesting work for me, also?

Thanks!
Fred

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Francesco Reply:
August 29th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Honestly I have no idea how Godaddy website hosting is managed, if Wordpress is installed by you or by a third part script like Fantastico.

My guess is that if you can put your hands on PhpMyadmin and follow my video you can expect to change your WP password with no problem.

I would contact Godaddy support and ask if you have access to PhpMyadmin so you can edit the DB.

Always keep a back up copy of you website/database/everything and make sure you know how to restore it!

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10 09 2008: Matt Serwin (21:14:08) :

You always have to write down your login and password for every site you own in a big notebook because that is the only thing I trust.

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12 09 2008: Water4Gas (21:49:08) :

Matt, what is somebody finds your notebook with all your passwords and logins? That’s why all my sites have different passwords. It is not so easy to remember all of them but I feel myself secured =))

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28 09 2008: carlson (16:46:57) :

Some stories about pc accessories http://tipsdevice.com

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2 10 2008: Video Blogging Tips (23:10:34) :

I use Blogger. But that is great info for people who use WP.

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5 10 2008: webmaster (19:45:22) :

Thank you for the nice post. I liked also your theme colours.

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12 10 2008: You Tube Video Clips (01:20:45) :

Graet Post! nice & helpfull
thanks

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15 10 2008: Resetting Your Password if i forgot the password wordpress | Guide for Blogs and Wordpress (10:19:21) :

[...] Password Admin Reset (video) [...]
15 10 2008: Andrew (13:10:20) :

You little beauty..

I’ve been stuck for days trying to sort this out and the prospest of having to set up a whole new website was the only answer left to me.

Thanks a million, video simple and easy to follow. If i could pay you i would.

Thanks again……

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20 10 2008: Edgar (08:51:49) :

Interesting information.
I took it!
Thank you very much!

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22 10 2008: Tamil (23:48:11) :

Thank you very very much, I have no idea what went wrong with my password. I even went directly into mysql with no luck. This happened once before and I needed to reinstal wordpress.

Cheers fo this you saved my life or atleast a half day of wasted time.

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23 10 2008: Gus (06:56:11) :

Awesome. Thanks a lot mate!

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24 10 2008: Sam (19:09:55) :

Thank you for the great video, this will save me a lot of time when I lose my admin name again

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25 10 2008: IT Training Scotland (15:38:06) :

Ah you have saved me some considerable stress with this information.

Thanks very much!

Scott

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4 11 2008: Thomas (06:39:52) :

Messing around with the database is a very risky proposition. Then again if you can’t access the blog what does it matter? For those newbs out there who want something other than ‘Admin’ for a login, ask your host to install wordpress for you. This is at least how I changed my login name.

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6 11 2008: Valeria (05:54:46) :

There is no magic skill.

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13 11 2008: Yu (20:01:14) :

This sounds like music in my ears I´m not the only one who has sometimes problem to keep his passwords etc. in mind (sometimes I asked myself: silly or old?). Well I solved this problem with an old fashion method – to expand my brain I use a small book, “my second clever brain”where I write all my passwords. Guess I´m dead when I forget where this book is!

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14 11 2008: Goldi (11:09:13) :

Thank you for this information and the video is also a big help but I stick to my eToken from ealaddin. Have to bite my ass if I spend money on this eToken and then I don´t use it

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20 11 2008: Tutorials (00:24:12) :

Whoa, that’s a neat trick ! I didn’t know that there is an MD5 function in the phpMyAdmin itself. Thanks

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20 11 2008: butter (08:40:04) :

thanxs for the video.. great trick

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21 11 2008: Ralf (23:23:40) :

This was very useful, because I have to change my hoster and I must Backup and restore my databases of my blog. This is very difficult, because there are different passwords. Thanks for this information.
Greeting from germany !

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27 11 2008: Biggs (10:16:49) :

This means it is over with everytime a new installation of Wordpress?! The tutorial is also easy to follow. This will save a lot of time – thanks for posting.

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2 12 2008: Tera (00:05:36) :

I was about to freak out… until I found your instructions!!! Thank you sooooo much!

Tera

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11 12 2008: Craig Edmonds (22:07:05) :

I had no idea that you could edit MD5 formatted fields in phpmyadmin.

Thats a really good tip!

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14 12 2008: androidgus (18:25:28) :

It is useful information for me. I seek advice for this question and find it on this blog. Thanks to you, author!

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23 12 2008: Carlotte (21:16:54) :

To bad that I read this blog now and not earlier! Your blog would have been very useful to me. I reinstalled all! Well I think with this information I am next time better prepared. Thank you for sharing it.

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10 01 2009: Dave (19:25:19) :

Thanks for this usefull information. I hope to read more in future.

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21 01 2009: Aaron (22:26:32) :

Thanks so much for making this. Very well done video!

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30 01 2009: webmaster (00:01:48) :

thanks very very much….

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6 02 2009: Carrie (09:03:31) :

Great ! I will add this to my bookmarks. TY

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25 02 2009: Anuya (08:52:37) :

How can I decrypt a password form mysql database of my wordpress blog?When I go to my phpmyadmin(mysql manager) I see a table called wp_users in which passwords of all users are stored but they are encrypted(Example: 3khj4k2lk32lkdddlkfk4kl43ljkfkdl but thats npt the real password). So dus anyone know how to decrypt it?by Anuya

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25 02 2009: Assurance maison (17:57:13) :

Thanks, I had the problem and you fixed it! How can I thank you?

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27 02 2009: Mike (06:57:34) :

@ Assurance Maison,

The best way to thank is to Bookmark the website.

Thanks a ton mate for posting this great stuff.

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1 03 2009: unique (02:44:07) :

Bookmarked! I’ll be back, great job.

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2 03 2009: Jeremy Louis (00:18:19) :

Hey, I’ve been visiting the site for a while but never dropped a line. Keep up the good work!

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16 03 2009: pokerstratege (13:10:59) :

I love to play poker and always like these helpfull tips.

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20 03 2009: Esther (06:00:57) :

Generally I do not comment on blogs, but I want to say that your article really forced me to do so! really nice article.

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20 03 2009: E Robinson (07:53:18) :

Keep writing ,outstanding work!

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28 03 2009: Beauty_wild (11:26:50) :

Beautiful!

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29 03 2009: Rakeback (01:57:19) :

I see that I´m not the only one who has problem to remember my passwords. Is it age? As I have 100’s of passwords (I never use twice the same for security reasons), I have a book where I write all my passwords. If I ever lose this book, I might as well kill myself. Anyway thank you for the tip, it could be useful one day.

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30 03 2009: bp (23:08:59) :

I’m running phpMyAdmin – 2.11.9.4 and WordPress 2.7.1.

When I go to change the admin name, this is all I see on ALL of my user databases: http://i40.tinypic.com/4j3yh2.jpg

Any idea how to change the default name? If you could shoot me an email, I’d appreciate it!

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James Reply:
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Make sure you click on the little browse icon and not on the wp_users link, try it and see the difference.

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23 04 2009: Mark (16:17:38) :

Very helpful for me as a WP user. Thanks!

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30 04 2009: vasyusha (12:56:54) :

Thank you author

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11 05 2009: Federal Loan (15:24:19) :

I have been searching for information regarding the same for a long time. I was stuck with this as I’m a newbie. I was just trying to get information online and came by your site. Thanks for your post. It was really helpful

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15 05 2009: julio Strzelecki (23:07:03) :

Hey, I own a similar blog as yours, and have a question. How do you control spam?

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16 05 2009: Alan (02:41:29) :

Worked like a charm. Thanks for saving me from any more frustration.

Much appreciated!

Alan

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25 05 2009: therapist (08:41:25) :

This is nice tip.

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11 06 2009: Muzik Dinle (01:01:55) :

Thank you author

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11 06 2009: osi (03:42:33) :

Thanks, that was easy.

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11 06 2009: Bilinen Ansiklopedi (13:01:34) :

Messing around with the database is a very risky proposition. Then again if you can’t access the blog what does it matter? For those newbs out there who want something other than ‘Admin’ for a login, ask your host to install wordpress for you. This is at least how I changed my login name.

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ohnoooooo Reply:
June 11th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
In fact he clearly states the danger of manipulating the database, and btw, most newbs use admin as login name and that’s just a scream to “hack me please cause my password is a very easy one too that could be brute forced is 2 minutes”

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11 06 2009: Heb (15:18:38) :

Hi,

I tried this with my other blog and I get an ‘incorrect password’ message. Then I tried to update the username AND password and I got ‘Invalid Username’. I’m pretty good at this sort of technical stuff. Your video demo made it even easier to follow the instructions, which I did, step by step! I can’t figure out WTF I’m doing wrong! It’s making me nuts!

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Zzp payroll Reply:
February 10th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Warning, messing with your WP database really can cause loss of data and other serious problems.

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11 06 2009: Acar Project Interactive Technologies (16:16:56) :

Good article. Thanks

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11 06 2009: Müzik Dinle (19:21:13) :

Thanks for the information.

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13 06 2009: Video (00:56:01) :

Thanks a lot

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13 06 2009: Health Service (10:51:58) :

I tried this with my other blog and I get an ‘incorrect password’ message. Then I tried to update the username AND password and I got ‘Invalid Username’. I’m pretty good at this sort of technical stuff. Your video demo made it even easier to follow the instructions, which I did, step by step! I can’t figure out WTF I’m doing wrong! It’s making me nuts!

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13 06 2009: ahmet maranki (19:42:26) :

good

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15 06 2009: Bilgi Sahası (11:19:54) :

thnx very good info

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15 06 2009: muffin9129 (19:41:28) :

You are a life saver, you gave me everything I needed from A-Z, I was a about to give up. I could have saved myself so much time by doing this sooner. Thanks I will surely pass your site along to a few friends of mine.

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8 07 2009: Movie Club (16:32:31) :

I have had to do something like this when I set my WP blog URL and addresses incorrectly and could not login. Messing with your database is, as you said, a risky endeavor, but these steps should prove very helpful to those who find themselves in a bind!

-Jay

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31 07 2009: Link Degisimi (23:16:34) :

Thank for your video – very helpful for me!

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5 08 2009: Resetting Your Password In Wordpress —www.bizichics.com (22:28:11) :

[...] Password Admin Reset (video) [...]
7 08 2009: Tammy (02:05:54) :

Thanks so much! I put in an update on Wordpress and it changed my name and password! Your video helped me correct it quickly. Thanks again.

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10 09 2009: al (10:49:15) :

very helpful. thank you!

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16 09 2009: Relapse Prevention (22:01:21) :

Thanks for this- I am going to be doing this ASAP for an old blog that I am shut out of.

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JohnV Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Me too, I dont want to live through the same problem, I havent faced it yet, so I am happy that I can prevent it!

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17 09 2009: Mariok (11:45:19) :

Hi,

first of all thanks a lot for your video. It was reaaally intructive but unfortunately I could not get in my blog… Everytime tells me that I do not have permission to get in!

I have checked the password in the database and everytim is different. I mean somehow the system does not keet the password I write.

Could you give me a help¿

Thanks

Regards

M

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18 09 2009: caillou (13:44:29) :

Thanks for this- I am going to be doing this ASAP for an old blog that I am shut out of.

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19 10 2009: Dentists Palm Beach (06:53:43) :

Well thanks for the tip. Its very useful. I wont cover every value displayed and what they refer to, we just focus on the user name and password however some of these values as you see are self explanatory.

Reply
22 10 2009: Klassresa (12:42:07) :

I tried this with my other blog and I get an ‘incorrect password’ message. Then I tried to update the username AND password and I got ‘Invalid Username’. I’m pretty good at this sort of technical stuff. Your video demo made it even easier to follow the instructions, which I did, step by step! I can’t figure out WTF I’m doing wrong! It’s making me nuts!

Reply
24 10 2009: unlock iphone (07:46:45) :

The article is very helpful. I was in serious problem because i had lost all my data on previous backup, this article came in a lot. Thanks alot wish me luck.

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13 11 2009: staryorkie (15:05:51) :

Good one tips of the php-admin to change the password.i always work on server side so its very useful for me.

thanks

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13 11 2009: David (17:30:30) :

Some long time ago I had the same problem, one day I just lost it, the password of course Its a terrible feeling, you just lost your blog or website this isnt good, fortunately I had the backup and I am more careful after this happend, I always backup everything and that should be done, believe me

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21 11 2009: Восстановление логина и пароля в WordPress : Webbaem.ru (21:42:04) :

[...] Posted by admin on Суббота, Ноябрь 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment phpMyAdmin Life Saver: Change/Reset Password and Admin Name [...]
7 12 2009: Jump manual (17:34:44) :

Duude! I was just searching for something like that. I had to create a new site just because I couldn´t find an old password ffs. Thanks, you just got me back like 6 months of work!

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6 01 2010: adamusxyz (21:31:05) :

This is a very good stuff man. But you can be more specific next time. See ya !

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7 01 2010: sdallen (20:33:02) :

Thanks for this tutorial. Any reasons why this won’t work? I’m working through a local host and so I am logging into wordpress from the back-end. I can still see my wordpress site, but can’t make any changes – if anyone could offer some help I’d greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

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10 01 2010: Available Domain (00:42:19) :

Wow, this was an usefull article indeed. I’ve been stuck due to my memory because I forgoten my WP pasword. Now i can reset it easy. Thanks a lot for this information

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6 02 2010: Farmville Cheats (21:00:36) :

Thanks for the great tutorial!
Really simple steps, the outcome is perfect!
Thanks again!

- Farmville Cheats

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18 02 2010: Isparta (14:04:46) :

fine thanks voor you nice text

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27 02 2010: Zevkli (20:24:33) :

Great Thank you for the nice post. I liked also your theme colours…

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4 03 2010: Blog Comment Demon (15:08:08) :

This is great. Been very useful especially if you are managing lot of accounts. this is like lastpass, I’ll try this.

Reply

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