Onboarding

Create the first administrator, check your instance and add the first user.

Do this once, right after the installation. This page uses the default password login.

1. Open the launchpad

   Open /launchpad on your instance, for example http://localhost/launchpad. You see Create the first Admin account.

   The form is there only until the first administrator exists. After that, signed-out visitors are sent to the login page.

2. Create the administrator account

   Enter an email and a password, then click Register.

   

   The first administrator account

   If the password is refused, a message appears above the form and no account is created.

   

   A refused password

   Message	Meaning
   password is too short	Fewer than 8 characters.
   password is too long	More than 72 characters.
   password contains an invalid character	Allowed are letters a-z and A-Z, digits and @#$%^&*()-_=+[]{};:<>/?!£€.,. Spaces and accented or non-Latin letters are not.
   password contains part of email address	It contains the email or the part before @, or it is part of the email. For [e-mail], both admin-7Tq9-demo and example.com are refused.
   password is too similar to email address	It is close to the email, for example adm1n@example.c0m.

   Capital letters, digits and symbols are not required by default. To change the length limits, see Password restrictions.

3. Log in

   After Register you are on the login page. Enter the same email and password, then click Login.

   

   Log in with the new account

   You are back on the launchpad, now with Status Checks.

4. Check the instance

   websockets should show OK.

   To test email, enter your address under Send a test email, click Send, then check your inbox.

   

   Status checks and the test email

   Email Sent does not prove that a message left the server. Without email delivery, the page shows the same text and nothing arrives.

   Start Using your site name opens your projects. Go To Admin Panel opens the site tools, see Basic management.

5. Create the first user

   In the top menu, click Admin, then Manage Users.

   

   The Admin menu

   Click Create account.

   

   The user list

   Enter the user’s email. First name and Last name are optional. Tick Admin only for another administrator. Click Create.

   

   The Create account dialog

   The account appears in the list with the status Pending.

   

   A new account stays Pending until its first login

6. Give the user access

   With email delivery configured, the user receives an activation email with a Set password link. The link opens this page. The user enters a password and clicks Activate, and then lands on the projects page. The password rules above apply.

   

   What the user sees after opening the link

   Without email delivery, pass the link on yourself. In Manage Users, click the envelope icon on the user’s row, then Send activation email. The dialog says No email was sent and shows the link, which expires in 7 days. Click the copy icon and send the link to the user, who sets a password as above.

   

   The activation link to pass on

   You can also set a password yourself. In Manage Users, click the user’s name, then the pencil icon. Enter New password and click Save. Pass the password on to the user, who logs in at /login.

   

   Setting a password on the Account tab

7. Confirm it worked

   After the user’s first login, the status in Manage Users changes to Active.

   

   The user has logged in

Sign up does not create accounts by default: the page asks visitors to contact the address in OVERLEAF_ADMIN_EMAIL. To let people register themselves, see Public Access.