Sign in to your website to edit its pages, news, events and other content.

Open the Sign-In Page

Type your website’s address in your browser and add /user at the end, for example https://www.yourwebsite.gov/user. Bookmark the page so it’s easy to find next time.

Sign In

1. In Log in by username/email address, enter your username or the email address on your account.
2. In Password, enter your password. Select the eye icon at the end of the box to see what you typed.
3. Tick I’m not a robot. The Log in button stays grey until you do. If Google asks you to pick pictures, follow its steps.
4. Select Log in.

After You Sign In

You land on your account page. The toolbar at the top of every page leads to your tools: Content to add and edit pages, and the other menus your role allows. On any admin page, select Back to site to return to the website.

Sign Out

On any admin page, point to your name at the top right and choose Log out. Sign out when you finish, especially on a shared computer.

If You Can’t Sign In

• “Unrecognized username or password.” Check the spelling and that Caps Lock is off, then try again. The I’m not a robot box clears after each try, so tick it again. To set a new password, select Forgot your password? (see Change Your Password).
• “There have been more than 5 failed login attempts for this account. It is temporarily blocked.” After five wrong passwords, the account is locked for up to six hours. To get in straight away, request a new password: signing in with the emailed link unlocks the account.
• “The user has not been activated yet or is blocked.” Your account has been switched off. Ask your site administrator to make it Active again.

Two-factor authentication (TFA) adds a second step to signing in: after your password, you enter a 6-digit code from an app on your phone. Even if someone learns your password, they can’t sign in without your phone. It’s optional, and you set it up yourself.

Before You Start

Install an authenticator app on your phone, such as Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator, Twilio Authy or FreeOTP. All are free from your phone’s app store. The setup page also lists them.

Set Up the App

1. On any admin page, point to your name at the top right and choose View profile, then select the TFA tab.
2. Under TFA application, select Set up application.
3. Enter your current password and select Confirm.
4. In the authenticator app, add an account and scan the QR code. If you can’t scan it, type the setup code shown above the QR code into the app instead.
5. The app now shows a 6-digit code for your website that changes every 30 seconds. Enter the current code in Application verification code.
6. Select Verify and save. “TFA setup complete” appears, and the TFA tab shows Status: TFA enabled.

Make Recovery Codes

Recovery codes let you sign in when you don’t have your phone. Make them right after setting up the app.

1. On the TFA tab, under Recovery Codes, select Generate codes.
2. Enter your current password and select Confirm.
3. Copy or print the 10 codes and keep them somewhere safe, away from your phone, such as a password manager.
4. Select Save codes to account. The codes don’t work until you do.

Each code works once. To see your codes again, select Show codes on the TFA tab. To replace them all with new ones, select Reset codes.

Sign In With a Code

1. Sign in with your username and password as usual (see Signing In).
2. On the Two-Factor Authentication page, open the authenticator app and enter the current 6-digit code.
3. Select Verify.

You’re asked for a code every time you sign in, including after resetting your password.

Sign In Without Your Phone

On the Two-Factor Authentication page, select TFA Recovery Code, enter one of your recovery codes (for example 123 456 789) and select Verify. That code can’t be used again.

New Phone?

Sign in with a code from your old phone or a recovery code, open the TFA tab and select Reset application. Enter your current password, then scan the new QR code with the app on your new phone and enter its code, as under Set Up the App. Codes from the old phone stop working.

Tips

• If a code is refused, wait for the next one and enter it quickly. Codes depend on the time, so check that your phone’s clock is set automatically.
• You can’t switch two-factor authentication off yourself. If you’ve lost your phone and your recovery codes, contact VC3 support to reset it.

You can change your password at any time while you’re signed in. If you’ve forgotten it, you can set a new one from the sign-in page.

Change Your Password While Signed In

1. On any admin page, point to your name at the top right and choose Edit profile.
2. In Current password, enter the password you use now.
3. In Password, type the new password. A bar shows how strong it is, and tips appear until it’s strong.
4. Type the new password again in Confirm password. “Passwords match: yes” appears below it.
5. Select Save at the bottom of the page. “The changes have been saved” appears at the top.

Don’t select Cancel account next to Save: it closes your account.

You also need your current password to change your Email address on this form.

Choose a Strong Password

Make it at least 12 characters long, with uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation. A few unrelated words joined with dashes are easy to remember and hard to guess. Don’t reuse a password from another account.

Forgot Your Password?

1. Open the sign-in page (your website’s address with /user at the end) and select the Reset your password tab. After a wrong password, the Forgot your password? link under the username box takes you there too.
2. Enter your username or email address.
3. Tick I’m not a robot and select Submit.

A message confirms that an email is on its way if the account exists.

Use the Link in the Email

1. Open the email, titled “Replacement login information”, and select the link in it.
2. On the Reset password page, select Log in.
3. Type a new password in Password and again in Confirm password. You don’t need the old password here.
4. Select Save at the bottom of the page.

The link works only once, and it expires after one day. If it has expired or was already used, request a new one from the Reset your password tab.

Tips

• No email after a few minutes? Check your spam or junk folder. Still nothing? Ask your site administrator to check the email address on your account.
• If your account is locked after too many wrong passwords, signing in with the emailed link unlocks it.

Site Administrators only. Adding and managing accounts needs the Site Administrator role. If People isn’t in your toolbar, ask a Site Administrator at your organization or contact VC3 support.

Roles

A role decides what someone can do. Give each person only what they need. Someone can hold more than one role.

• Publisher: adds, edits and publishes content, edits menus and schedules content.
• Contributor: adds and edits drafts, but can’t publish them. A Publisher reviews and publishes their work.
• Site Administrator: manages accounts only. It doesn’t include editing content, so give Publisher as well to someone who also edits the site.

Find People

Select People in the toolbar. The list shows each account’s username, status, roles, how long they’ve been a member and when they last signed in. To find someone, type part of their name or email in Name or email contains, or choose a Status or Role, then select Filter.

Add a User

1. On the People page, select Add user.
2. Enter their Email address. Use their work email: it’s where their sign-in and password emails go. Each account needs its own address.
3. Enter a Username, for example their first initial and last name. Spaces, periods, hyphens, apostrophes, underscores and @ are allowed. They can sign in with the username or the email address.
4. Type a temporary Password and again in Confirm password.
5. Leave Status on Active.
6. Under Assignable roles, tick their role or roles.
7. Turn on Notify user of new account. They get an email with a one-time link to sign in and set their own password, so you don’t need to send the temporary one.
8. Select Create new account.

The one-time link in the welcome email expires after one day. If the person misses it, they can set a password from the Reset your password tab on the sign-in page (see Change Your Password).

Change Someone’s Account

On the People page, select Edit in the person’s row. You can change their email address, username, password, status and roles. Select Save at the bottom of the form.

• Change a role: tick or clear the boxes under Assignable roles.
• Set a new password for them: type it in Password and Confirm password. It’s usually better to have them use Reset your password instead, so only they know it.
• Stop someone signing in: set Status to Blocked. Their account and everything they wrote stay as they are, and you can set them back to Active later.

Remove an Account

When someone leaves, block the account (above), or cancel it: select Edit in their row, then Cancel account at the bottom of the form. Choose a Cancellation method and select Confirm.

• Disable the account and keep its content: the same as blocking. This is the safest choice.
• Disable the account and unpublish its content: also takes everything they created off the website.
• Delete the account and make its content belong to the Anonymous user: removes the account but keeps their pages. This can’t be undone.
• Delete the account and its content: removes the account and every page they created. This can’t be undone.

Leave Require email confirmation off, unless the person should confirm the cancellation by email first.

Tips

• Give everyone their own account. Don’t share one sign-in between people.
• Review the People list from time to time, and block accounts that are no longer needed.
• If someone can’t find the welcome email, check the email address on their account, then have them check their spam folder.