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= Account registration =

[wiki:"Find software to download" Software can be downloaded] from [wiki:"What is SourceForge.net?" SourceForge.net] without registering an account.  An account is needed in order to participate in discussion forums, submit bug reports, and join a project.  [wiki:"Register a user account"].

= Account security =

 * Accounts cannot be shared between users.  Please register your own.
 * We encourage you to select a strong password for your account. Strong passwords are not shared between sites.  Strong passwords contain both letters and numbers.
 * Please [https://sourceforge.net/account/change_pw.php change your password] on a regular basis.
 * !SourceForge.net is an [wiki:"OpenID"] relying party.  If you have an existing OpenID account, you may use it to access !SourceForge.net.
 * If you decide not to use your account in the future, please [wiki:"Removing a user account" remove it].

= Account recovery =

 * Newer accounts have a security question which we use for account recovery.  Account holders of older accounts should [https://sourceforge.net/account/change_secquest.php set a security question].
 * If you lose your password, you may [http://sourceforge.net/account/registration/recover.php recover your account].
 * If you have lost your password, email access, and security question, you will need to [wiki:"Contact us" contact us] for assistance.

= Account Merging =

We often get requests from users to merge two accounts. We do not have the ability to do this. What we provide is a "migration" to a new account.

To do this, follow these steps:

 1. Register a new user account using the name you prefer.
 1. For any project that your account is a member of, let the project admin know that you are changing your account name, and have them add your new account to the project team.
 1. If your old account is the admin of any projects, add your new account to those projects and give your new account admin status.
 1. Login as your new account; remove the project admin flag on your old account for any projects for which it was the project admin.
 1. Delete the old account from that project using the Project Admin / Members page for your project.
 1. Logout so you can login under your old account for the last time.  Use the following page to remove your old account:
    * https://sourceforge.net/account/remove

This process will not migrate an account subscription or any donations that have been made from the account being removed.

= Managing account features =

!SourceForge.net user accounts are provided a [wiki:"Register a user account#Accountfeatures" set of features] to help them participate in projects.  These features may be managed from the [https://sourceforge.net/account/ Account Maintenance] page and your [https://sourceforge.net/my/ My SF.net] page.  These features include [wiki:"Donations" our donation system], [wiki:"Sitewide newsletters" site newsletters], and the ability to participate in forums.

Users who [wiki:"Overview of Open Source software development" become project developers] are provided further advanced features, such as [wiki:"Hosted Apps"] and [wiki:"Shell service" shell service].  Some of these services require the use of [wiki:"SSH keys"].

All users are also provided a [wiki:"User mail aliases" mail alias] (!username@users.sourceforge.net) which they can use for sending and receiving mail.  Mail sent to the alias is passed through [wiki:"Spam and virus control" anti-spam and anti-virus checks], then passed to the private email address associated with your account.

== Email Address ==

Be sure to keep your email address current. If performing an email account recovery, the recovery email will be sent to email address associated with the account.

The email address associated with the account is used for newsletter updates, and site announcements. It is also used as the primary point of contact for SourceForge.net staff to get in touch with you regarding any concerns with your account or projects (i.e., we receive an [wiki:"Abandoned Project Takeovers" Abandoned Project Takeover] request for a project where you are an administrator). Keep your email address current so you don't miss any important notices.

== Avatars ==

!SourceForge uses [http://gravatar.com/ Gravatar] to provide its users with profile pictures, frequently known as Avatars.  Gravatar is a platform that allows its users to share a single profile picture across multiple sites, in the same way that OpenID shares log-in and account information across sites.

To set an avatar for your User Profile, go to [http://gravatar.com/ Gravatar] and configure an avatar to match the email address registered to your !SourceForge.net account.

= Getting help =

 * [wiki:"Support"]
 * [wiki:"Request an enhancement"]

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