Go to the Signup box from the top page (home page) of the site or from the "Create Account" tab in the main menu on any page.

Add initial details to create your account:

1. Username and valid email address
2. Password of your choice (twice, to confirm you wrote what you intended to write) 
3. Self description (Short is good, and meaningful is necessary. This will be checked by moderator eventually)

When these details are saved,  an automatic system message will appear on the screen

“You're almost done - we have just sent you an activation email!
Please check your email for instructions on validating your account. 
(Please check your Trash or Spam folders if it appears our message has not been sent)”

The "Continue" button at the bottom of this page can be ignored. It simply takes you back to the home page of the site, for further browsing. 

Check your email account for an activation message from the Research Cooperative.

If the weather is good, it will land in your main inbox, not in the spam or trash folder!

The message subject line will be:   researchcooperative.org account validation

The automatic  system message will be: 

“Thank you for signing up for a researchcooperative.org account!  

You are one step away from joining our community - simply click  on the following link to activate your account:

https://researchcooperative.org/user/activate/long-code-number-goes-here

If you have any questions, or any issues validating your   account, please contact us at any time.   We look forward to seeing you online! “

Click on the activation link

After you press the activation link, the account is activated and you are automatically logged in to your account.

However, before you can go to your account settings, or use the network as member, we need you to check our Terms of Service. The first page shown has the following message at top:

“You must accept the following "Terms of Service" to continue”

Please read the Terms, click on agreement box if you agree, then press the Continue button or logout.

If you continue, you will see your Profile Page (public view) and can go from there to the private Account Settings page to add details to your public profile (highly recommended).  

Currently, you can log in three times without completing any profile details, but after that, you will be directed to your profile page when trying to log in.

This gives you time to explore the network before deciding what kind of details to add to your public profile page.

Your account settings can always be found under your username in the main menu, after logging in.