Account & billing · 3 min read
Creating an account and signing in: email, Google, or Microsoft
The two ways to create an account, how the Google and Microsoft buttons match you to your account, and the optional extra code on social sign-ins.
Two ways to create an account
An account is free and needs no card. The classic way: name, email, and a password of at least 8 characters on the sign-up page. The faster way: press Continue with Google or Continue with Microsoft, and your account is created from the email on that provider account. Either way you agree to the Terms of Service, and Corlova is currently available in the United States only.
Passwords are salted and hashed, never stored as readable text.
How Google and Microsoft sign-in works
The buttons appear on both the sign-up and log-in pages. The provider handles the actual login, and Corlova matches the sign-in to an account by email address: if a Corlova account already exists for that address, the button signs you into it; if not, one is created.
One catch on the Google side: the Google account's email must be verified with Google first. An unverified address is refused, and the page suggests email + password instead.
Social accounts start with no password
If you signed up with Google or Microsoft, your account has no Corlova password at first. The provider sign-in is your key, and that is fine. If you also want the classic email + password login, open Profile, then Settings, then Account details: a create-a-password card sets your first one, and the social sign-in keeps working alongside it. Some organizations run SSO-only sign-in and disable this, and the card explains it if yours does.
One knock-on effect: while there is no password, your email address cannot be changed on Corlova, because it comes from the provider. Create a password first, then change the email, and know that the social sign-in matches accounts by email, so after a change it stops working for the old address.
The optional extra code on social sign-ins
By default, signing in with Google or Microsoft skips Corlova's email code, because the provider already verified you. If you want the code required there too, open Profile, then Security, and tick 'Also require my code when I sign in with Google or Microsoft'. Two-factor authentication must be enabled first for the toggle to have any effect.
With it on, a social sign-in pauses at one extra screen: a 6-digit code is emailed to you, and entering it completes the sign-in.