This procedure assumes nothing other than that you have an internet browser such as Internet Explorer, Netscape 7.x, SeaMonkey, Firefox, Safari, et cetera, and know how to open it.

In this procedure, the word "click" always refers to a single click of the left mouse button. The word "link" always refers to one or more underlined, colored words which, when clicked on, will take you to a different page.

It is suggested that you print this procedure out for convenience.

1. Open your browser.

2. Point your browser to the LAFN homepage: http://www.lafn.org

3. You should see the following screen:

   

4. Click on the link at the left which says, "Current Users" (see green circle above).

5. You should see the following screen:

   

6. Click on the link to the right which says "User Services" (see green circle above).

7. You might see a screen which says approximately,
   "Unable to verify the identity of admin.lafn.org as a trusted site."
   and that a possible reason for this error is,
   "Your browser does not recognize the Certificate Authority that issued the site's certificate."

   If this happens, you need to install the LAFN Certificates manually. Detailed instructions may be found at:
   http://www.lafn.org/faq/certs/index.html.

   You will need to install at least the admin certificate before you can proceed with the rest of this procedure.

8. Because this is a secure link, you will be required to enter your LAFN User Name and Password.

   The term "User Name" is a frequent source of misunderstanding and confusion. LAFN refers to the "User Name" as your "userid"; these terms are synonymous. Your userid is the identifier to the left of the "@" symbol in your lafn email address.

   In the examples used below, "at127" is the "userid" or "User Name". LAFN references your account through this userid. The email address for this account would be "at127@lafn.org". (Please note that at127 is a test account; do not send any email to it as it will be ignored.)

9. Different browsers request your User Name and Password using slightly different dialog boxes. Here are a few examples:

   • 
     Internet Explorer - User Name and Password entry

   • 
     Firefox - User Name and Password entry

   • 
     SeaMonkey - User Name and Password entry

   • 
     Netscape 7.x - User Name and Password entry

10. Enter your userid in the field named "User Name" and enter your password in the field named "Password".

    (Your userid is always all lower-case. However, your password is case-sensitive. That is to say: "PassWord" is not the same as "password" or "PASSWORD". You must enter your password using exactly the same upper and lower case characters as you did when you established your password. If you forget your password, LAFN has no way to recover it for you. You will need to submit a trouble ticket to request assistance from an LAFN mentor who will then be able to reset your password to a new value. After this is done, it is strongly recommended that you change your password again to one that only you know.)

    If you want your browser to remember these values next time you visit this page, be sure to put a check in the checkbox under the password field.

11. Click the "OK" button of the Password dialog box to continue to User Services. You should see the following screen:

    

12. To view and/or change the information in your LAFN account, click on the link of item 1.2, the link named, "Update your LAFN User Record" (see green circle above).

13. You should now see the following screen (this image has been artificially expanded vertically to show all information in one "screen"):

    

14. Please review all of the information and correct any obsolete or incorrect entries in the fields indicated by the green circles above. To change information:
    • put your mouse arrow cursor in the text field of the information you wish to change.
    • click once to put an editing "I-bar" in the text field.
    • use the Backspace and/or Delete key(s) to erase text.
    • type in corrected information.
    • repeat for all required fields.

15. After making any required changes, click the "Submit" button to continue (see green circle above).

16. The changes will become effective at the next system update time; these are midnight, 5:00 a.m., noon, and 5:00 p.m.

this page updated December 12, 2007, 0035 pst