1 - What are cookies and why do I need them enabled?

ProZ.com uses cookies to store authentication information for extended periods of time. This allows you to log in once and stay logged in until you choose to log out. To enable cookies in your browser, follow these instructions:

Internet Explorer 6.x
1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
2. Click on the "Privacy" tab and press "Advanced..."
3. Check "Override automatic cookie handling"
4. Accept both cookie options and check "Always allow session cookies"
5. Click "OK"

Internet Explorer 4.x and 5.x
1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu on your browser
2. Click on the "Security" tab
3. Highlight the "Internet" icon and click "Custom Level"
4. Select "Enable" on all radio buttons under "Cookies"
5. Click "OK"

Netscape 6.x
1. Select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu on your browser
2. Click on the "Privacy & Security" Option
2. Click on the "Cookies" Option
3. Choose "Enable All Cookies"
4. Click "OK"

Netscape 4.x
1. Select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu on your browser
2. Click on the "Advanced" Option
3. Choose "Accept All Cookies" under "Cookies"
4. Click "OK"

2 - I receive an "Incorrect password" error message when trying to login. What should I do?

If you receive an "Incorrect password" error message when trying to log into your ProZ.com account, make sure that you are entering the password you selected when creating your account (or your new password if it was changed at some point in the past) and that the caps lock function in your keyboard is not activated.

Also, make sure you have spelled your password correctly and that it does not contain non-ASCII characters.

In case of failure, use the password recovery system to request a new password.

3 - What do I do if I forgot my password?

Because passwords are stored encrypted in the database, it is not possible to retrieve your existing password. However, you can change your password to a new value.

A single page is provided to handle all login related problems. The only information you need to know is your username or the email address you used when registering with ProZ.com. Please see the new password request page.

Enter your username and your desired new password. Then click "submit". A confirmation email will be sent to the email address associated with your profile; click the link in the email to activate your new password.

4 - What do I do if I do not receive a confirmation email message after changing my password?

If you changed your password and you did not receive a confirmation email message in the inbox of the email address associated with your profile, check your spam folder.

If your spam folder does not contain the confirmation email message, then please submit a support request.

5 - I received a password change confirmation email message but I don't want to change my password. What should I do?

There is nothing to worry about, your password will not be changed unless you visit the confirmation link in the email message.

It was probably an accident. Someone with a similar name might have entered your username by mistake when attempting to reset the password for a forgotten account. Unless you receive a few such emails to the point of becoming a nuisance, there is no cause for concern.

If you receive this message more than once in a short period of time, please submit a support request and staff will investigate further.

6 - What do I do if I forgot my username AND password?

Start at the new password request page, and then click "I don't know my username". You will be asked to enter one of the email addresses associated with your profile instead.

7 - What if I forgot my password and my email address has changed?

Start by requesting a new password as described in "What do I do if I forgot my password?" After your new password request has been submitted, click "I no longer have access to this email account". You will be asked to verify your identity by answering the "secret question" you configured in your profile.

If you have not configured a secret question and answer in your profile, you forgot your password, and your email address has changed, then please submit a support request and we will try to verify that you own the account some other way.

8 - I am unable to sign in, and my username or password contains non-ASCII characters

Because ProZ.com's login forms now expect usernames and passwords to be entered in Unicode, if your username or password was previously entered using non-Unicode characters, you may be unable to sign in.

If you know the encoding in which your username and password are stored, visit the non-Unicode login page, set your browser to use the correct encoding, and sign in. (See this FAQ to learn how to set the character encoding in your browser.)

If you do not know the original encoding of your username and password, or if you still have trouble signing in, you can change your username and password to use Unicode characters by following the instructions on this page.

9 - How can I change my username?

To change your username/login name, go to your profile updater and enter a new username in the "ProZ.com username" field. Then, just click on the "Save and update profile" button at the bottom of the 'ProZ.com account' page.

Just remember that the maximum number of characters allowed for a username is 15 and that you can use letters, digits, underscores, hyphens, or spaces. Also, have in mind that this new username is the name you will have to use to login to your account in the future but that your password will be the same.

10 - How can I change my contact information? (Name/Email/Location.)

To change your contact information, go to your profile updater and click on the 'contact' tab on the left. You will see the following boxes:

Name
Email
Location
Etc.

You can edit your information from there (make sure you click on the "Save and update profile" button at the bottom of the page).

Important: Remember that if you are Identity Verified (VID) and you want to change the name in your profile partially or completely, you need to contact ProZ.com staff first. Otherwise, you will lose the ID verification mark.

11 - What limits are there on what my username may contain?

Usernames must contain only ASCII letters, digits, underscores, hyphens, or spaces.

12 - How can I log out?

You can log out at any time by clicking "Logout" in your user info box (at the upper right of every page).