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Signing in
Your account and your workspace
An account is you — your email address and password. A workspace is an organisation using Crosdesk. The two are separate: the same account can belong to several workspaces, and your role and departments are set per workspace, not on the account.
If you work with two organisations that both use Crosdesk, you sign in once and switch between them from the workspace switcher at the top of the sidebar.
Two workspaces side by side
Each browser tab is in one workspace, and the workspace is part of its address — /w/acme/tasks/12 is task 12 in Acme. Two tabs can be in two different workspaces at the same time, signed in once:
- Ctrl-click (⌘-click on a Mac), or middle-click, a workspace in the switcher to open it in a new tab, beside the one you are in.
- A plain click moves the tab you are in. It does not move any other tab: a form left open in an Acme tab still saves to Acme.
- A link you paste or bookmark carries its workspace, so it opens there for anyone who is a member. If they are not, they see This workspace is not available to you — they stay signed in.
- An older link without
/w/…in it opens in the workspace you last switched to.
Your role can differ from one workspace to the next, so the menus in two tabs can differ too.
Signing in
Go to your Crosdesk address and enter your email and password. You stay signed in on that browser until you sign out or the session expires.
With Google, GitHub or your organisation's sign-in
If your installation offers them, buttons above the form say Continue with Google, Continue with GitHub, or your organisation's own sign-in. Pressing one takes you to that provider and back, signed in — the same session a password gives you.
The first time, Crosdesk has to know which Crosdesk account the outside one belongs to:
- If the provider vouches for an address that has an account, they are connected on the spot. Google vouches for Gmail addresses and your organisation's Google Workspace addresses; GitHub for the addresses it has verified on your account.
- Otherwise you are told the account is not connected yet. Sign in with your password or an emailed code once, then Connect it from your profile (below). This is deliberate: an address the provider has not checked could be anybody's, and connecting on it would let them into yours.
After that, the outside account alone signs you in — even if its address later changes.
Signing in this way never creates an account or adds you to a workspace. An invitation still decides where you belong.
Being invited
Usually you do not create your own account. An administrator invites you, and you receive a link that lets you set a password. The link is single-use and expires — if it has, ask for another; nothing is lost by re-sending it.
Where the installation offers Google, GitHub or an organisation sign-in, the invitation page offers it too: Continue with … instead of a code and a password. It works when the provider vouches for the address the invitation was sent to, and lands you in the workspace signed in. An account made this way has no password, and does not need one. If you want one as well, Set a password on your profile emails you a link.
Until you set a password your account exists but cannot sign in, which is why a new user shows Never under Last sign-in on the Users page.
Creating a workspace
Some installations let anybody make a workspace of their own. When yours does, the sign-in page says New here? Create a workspace; when it does not, the instance operator has left sign-up off and invitations are the only way in.
- Enter your work email and Email me a code — or choose Continue with … for Google, GitHub or your organisation's sign-in, which proves the address instead of a code. Nothing is created yet.
- Enter the six-digit code, valid for five minutes, and choose a password — at least ten characters. It is what you sign in with from then on.
- The welcome form opens in three steps, and stays open for five minutes — the time left is at the top. If it runs out, verify your address again; nothing was created. Back keeps what you have typed.
- Name your workspace. Its address (
/w/acme-transport) is made from the name as you type, and a tick says it is free; you can change it, but not after the workspace exists. - Set it up. The time zone starts as your computer's. Name the first department — Engineering to begin with, its code (
ENG) made from the name. You can add others afterwards under Admin → Departments. - About you. Your name, phone, role, company name and company size — all optional.
- Create workspace signs you in to it as its administrator.
One workspace per person. An address that already owns a workspace is told so once it is verified, and should sign in instead. Being invited into other workspaces does not count — someone who belongs to several but owns none can still create one. If you already have an account, the workspace is added to it, and your name and phone stay as they are on your profile.
Your password. A new account signs in with the password chosen beside the code. An account that already has a password keeps it — the welcome form says so — and the one you typed is not used; an account that had none, such as an invitation never finished, takes it. A workspace made through Google, GitHub or your organisation's sign-in sets no password: sign in the same way again, or set one from your profile.
Forgotten password
Forgot password on the sign-in screen sends a reset link to your address. For your own safety the screen says the same thing whether or not the address is known to Crosdesk — so a stranger cannot use it to discover who has an account.
Your profile
Your name, designation and password are under your own name at the bottom of the sidebar. Your departments and role are not — those are an administrator's to set, because they decide what you can see.
Sign-in methods on the same page lists the Google, GitHub or organisation accounts connected to yours, with Connect for the ones that are not. Disconnecting is always allowed — you can still sign in with your password or an emailed code.
Signing out
From the same menu. Signing out ends the session on that browser only.
Account emails use Crosdesk branding, with a prominent code or action button. If your email reader does not show the button, copy the link printed below it into your browser. A plain-text version includes the same code or link and expiry information. Never share sign-in codes.