Account and sign-in

What it is

The DUOSHAO account: sign-up with email and password or with a code from an email, sign-in and sign-out, access recovery by a code or a link from an email or by a link from an administrator, profile and personal settings: language and appearance. Sign-in and sign-up open without signing in. The profile and settings are in the profile menu (avatar at the bottom left; on a phone, in the bottom Menu).

How to use it

Sign-up

1. On the Sign in page, click Create an account.
2. Fill in First name, Last name (optional), Email, Password and Repeat password. The eye icon in the password field shows what you typed. No login is needed: the login name is made up from your email, and you can change it in Profile.
3. Tick I accept Terms of use and I consent to the processing of personal data under the Privacy policy. The documents open in a new tab, so the form is not lost.
4. Click Create. If email is set up on the server, Confirm your email opens: enter the code from the email, the account is created, and you are signed in. Without email you are signed in at once. If you came by an invitation to an organization, after Create (or Sign in, if you already have an account) the invitation page opens with the result: you are in the organization, or the reason it failed.

Sign-in and sign-out

1. On the Sign in page, enter Login or email and Password, and click Sign in. Letter case does not matter.
2. You return to the place you were sent to sign in from (for example, a spreadsheet). Otherwise you open Chats, in the space (personal account or organization) where you worked last time.
3. To sign out: profile menu → Log out. Without a password, use Sign in with an email code on the Sign in page or Sign up with an email code on the Account page. These are available if email is set up; see Sign in and sign up with an email code.

Session expired. After an hour without activity the sign-in ends; in any case it ends 30 days after you signed in. In a spreadsheet, Session expired appears with the Sign in and Back buttons. After you sign in, the spreadsheet opens at the same place. In other sections the sign-in form is shown at once.

Forgot password. Sign in → Forgot password? → login or email → Send code. An email with a code and a link is sent to the account’s email address (Emails). Enter the code at the Email code step, or open the link. Without email set up there is no Forgot password? link: write to support, and the administrator will issue a one-time link. Then:

1. The New password page opens, with the masked email address and the link’s expiry time.
2. Enter New password and Repeat password, and click Save password.
3. Password changed appears. All earlier sign-ins on all devices are closed. Click Sign in.

Profile. Profile menu → Profile: Name, Last name (optional) and Login name can be changed, Mail is read-only. Details are in Profile. If you are in an organization, the Space block is there too.

Appearance and language. Profile menu → Settings → Appearance:

• Language: English, 中文 or Русский. It changes at once. Details are in Interface languages.
• Theme (8 themes), Mode (System, Light, Dark), Accent (6 colours), Interface font, Density, Control size, Corner radius, Content width, Material, Messages, Conversation background, Animations → No animations.
• Spreadsheets → Turn website and email addresses into links when typing: on this device only.
• Fine tuning: sliders for text size, density, control size and corner radius.
• Reset to default appearance returns the look to the default; the language is not changed. Everything applies at once and is saved to your account, so it works on all your devices. At the bottom you see Saved · . Light and dark mode are switched in the settings, and by the profile menu item Dark mode (in dark mode it reads Light mode).

Documents. Terms of use and Privacy policy open without signing in.

Limits

• Login: 3 to 32 characters: Latin letters, digits, hyphen and underscore. Password: 8 to 128 characters. Name: 1 to 64 characters; last name: up to 64 (can be empty); email: up to 254.
• At sign-up the login is made from the email: the part before “@” and “+”, only Latin letters, digits, “_” and “-”, in lower case (Ivan.Petrov+work@… → ivanpetrov). If it is taken, a number is added: ivanpetrov2, ivanpetrov3… If it is shorter than 3 characters, user is put in front (yo@… → useryo). If it is longer than 32, it is cut and a number is added.
• Login and email are unique regardless of letter case. A deleted record does not free them up.
• After 5 wrong passwords in a row, sign-in is locked for 1 minute, then for 2, 4, 8 and 15 minutes. Each new error extends the lock.
• From one IP address: no more than 20 sign-in attempts per minute and 5 sign-ups per hour.
• You cannot change the email or password in settings (for the password, use Forgot password?). You cannot delete the account yourself; only the platform administrator can do it.
• The code from the email for Forgot password? is valid for 10 minutes, the link for 1 hour, and a link from an administrator for 1 day, 3 days or 1 week. Each works once; a new link cancels the earlier ones. No more than 3 such emails per hour. They do not help a closed account. Other limits of the email code are in the email code document.
• Interface languages are English, Chinese and Russian. The terms of use and the privacy policy are in Russian only.
• Appearance settings are saved no more than 60 times per minute.

If something goes wrong

What you see on the screen	Why	What to do
Invalid login or password	A mistake in the login, email or password	Check the keyboard layout and try again
Too many attempts, try again later	The account is locked after 5 wrong attempts in a row	Wait 1 to 15 minutes
Too many attempts. Wait N s and try again	Many attempts from your address	Wait the time shown
An administrator has disabled this account…	The account is closed or was deleted	Write to support
Email is already in use	An account with this email already exists	Sign in, or enter another email
Passwords do not match	The repeat differs from the password	Type the repeat again
No connection to the server	No internet, or the server is unavailable	Check your connection and try again
Sign-in through the external service is unavailable. Sign in with your login and password.	Sign-in through an external service did not start (this happens only on the demo stand)	Sign in with your login and password
Session expired	An hour without activity, or 30 days since sign-in	Sign in: you return to the same place
Link doesn’t work	The link is outdated, already used, or could not be checked	Ask for a new link
The link no longer works - ask for a new one	The link was used or has expired	Ask for a new link
Too often. Please wait and try again	Many attempts from your address within an hour	Wait, then try again
Could not save. Settings remain active on this device.	The server did not accept the save	Retry
Messages at the Email code step	A wrong or expired code, or too many emails	See Sign in and sign up with an email code