Creating your account

One email box that works out whether you are new, the choice between a password and a Magic Code, and what to do when the verification email has not arrived.

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There is no separate sign-up page. One box asks for your email, and what happens next depends on whether we already know it.

That is why you will not find a "Register" link - typing your email into the sign-in box is signing up, if you are new.

Signing up with an email#

  1. Type your email and continue. The box completes common domains as you type - press Tab to accept the suggestion.

  2. Choose how you want to get in. Two options, and you can change your mind later:

    • A password - the usual thing.
    • A Magic Code - no password at all. Each time you sign in, we email you a six-digit code.

  3. Verify your email. We send a code to prove the address is yours. This is a one-off.

  4. You are in.

Signing up with Google, GitHub or LinkedIn#

The buttons below the email box create the account in one step - no password to choose and no email to verify, because the provider has already done that.

Use the same button next time. If you later want an email-and-password way in as well, add a password from your settings; the provider stays linked either way.

When the code has not arrived#

Almost always one of these:

  • It is in spam. The commonest answer by a distance.
  • You typed the address wrong. Go back and check it - a code sent to an address with a typo in it will never arrive.
  • You asked too many times. There is a limit on how many codes can be sent in an hour, and asking again does not speed anything up. Wait, then try once.

A code is only good for a few minutes and only once. Asking for a fresh one invalidates the previous one, so use the newest email in your inbox rather than the first.

Two things worth doing straight away#

  • Set up two-step verification. It is the single best protection on the account, and it takes a minute - see two-step verification.
  • Pick your username. It is the address of your public profile, and the good ones go - see your username.

If somebody invited you#

An invite link records who sent it, so they get credit when you join. Open the link before creating the account - it does not work retrospectively. See referrals.

Signing in

Getting back in afterwards.

Your first week

What to actually do now.

Your account

Everything else about it.

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