--- title: Getting Started description: Create your Upclient account, set up your workspace and portal, and join a team you've been invited to. icon: flag --- Everything in Upclient happens inside a workspace: your team, your clients, your projects, and your client portal. This page walks you through creating an account and setting up your first workspace. ## How to create an account 1. Open the sign-up page and enter your **Name**, **Email**, and a **Password**. The rules under the password field tick off as you type; click the eye button to show what you typed. 2. Click **Create account**. 3. Check your email for a verification code and enter it to verify your address. Once your email is verified, you're signed in and setup starts. If you signed up from a team invitation, you go to the invitation instead. See [How to join a workspace](#how-to-join-a-workspace). ## How to set up your workspace Setup has two steps. The line at the top shows **Step 1 of 2** or **Step 2 of 2**. Upclient remembers how far you got, so if you close the tab, sign out or continue on another device, you pick up on the same step. ### Step 1: Your business 1. Enter your **Business name**. 2. Check the line under it: **Clients sign in at** shows the address of your client portal, made from your business name. Click **Change** to edit it. Upclient checks the address as you type and suggests up to three free ones when it's taken. If the address made from your name is already taken and you haven't edited it, Upclient picks a free one for you. 3. Under **What kind of work do you do?**, choose the option closest to yours. This picks the project template, forms and contracts Upclient sets up for you, plus a sample client. See [Starters](#starters). 4. Click **Build my portal**. Upclient creates your workspace and sets everything up, which takes a few seconds. While you type, the preview next to the form shows how your client portal will look, with the tasks your sample client will have waiting. On a phone the preview sits under the form. If you'd rather set everything up yourself, click **Start empty** instead. You get an empty workspace and go straight to **Projects**. Your workspace uses your browser's time zone; you can change it later in [Workspace Settings](/docs/workspace). ### Step 2: Your portal This step shows your real client portal, exactly as your sample client sees it on its **Home** page, with a contract to sign, a questionnaire and a file request waiting. The sample client is marked as sample data, so Upclient never emails it, even though its address looks real. Under **Make it yours** (optional) you can: - **Upload logo:** if you haven't chosen a brand colour yet, Upclient also picks one from your logo. - **Brand colour:** click a colour, or the last swatch to choose any colour. Changes save straight away and the portal preview reloads to show them. When you're ready, choose one of: - **Invite your first client:** creates a project for one of your own clients and gives them portal access. See [How to invite your first client](#how-to-invite-your-first-client). - **Explore the sample first:** finishes setup and takes you to **Projects**, where the sample client's project is waiting. - **Open the full preview:** opens the read-only portal in a new tab, so you can click around as the sample client. **Back** returns to step 1, where you can still change your business name and portal address. The kind of work can't be changed once your portal is built; add templates for other kinds of work from the library instead. Every new workspace starts with a 14-day free trial. See [Billing](/docs/workspace/billing). ## How to invite your first client You can open **Invite your first client** from the last setup step or from the **Getting started** checklist on **Projects**. 1. Enter the **Client name** and **Email**, and optionally the **Company**. 2. Under **Start from**, choose a project template, or **Blank project**. The line under it shows how many stages, tasks, forms, contracts and file requests the template has. Your starter's main template is chosen for you. 3. Click **Create project and send invite**. Your client gets one email with a sign-in link to your portal. Click **Create without sending** to set up the project and portal access without emailing anyone; you can send the invite later from the project's **Members** tab. Upclient names the project after the template and the company (or the client, when there is no company), for example "Brand identity onboarding for Tidewater Kitchens", and opens it. If the email belongs to someone already in your clients, Upclient adds the project to that client instead of creating a second one. You can't use the sample client's email address here. ## Starters Each starter adds one onboarding template (its main template), the forms and contracts that go with it, and a sample client. The forms and contracts are the same ones you find in the library, so a contract shared by several starters, such as the mutual NDA, is the same contract whichever starter you pick. | Starter | Main template | Forms | Contracts | Sample client | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Branding & design** | Brand identity onboarding | Brand Identity Questionnaire, Change Request, Project Feedback and Testimonial | Creative Services Agreement, Project Change Order, Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual) | David Chen of Meridian Hotels, Brand identity refresh | | **Web design** | Website project onboarding | Website Discovery Questionnaire, Website Content Collection, Account Access Checklist | Website Development Agreement, Website Care Plan Agreement, Project Change Order | Laura Brennan of Cedar Grove Physical Therapy, New website and online booking | | **Marketing** | Marketing retainer onboarding | Marketing Onboarding Questionnaire, Ad and Analytics Access Checklist, Monthly Marketing Check-in | Marketing Retainer Agreement, Statement of Work, Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual) | Marcus Webb of Fieldstone Coffee Roasters, Growth marketing retainer | | **Bookkeeping & accounting** | Bookkeeping client onboarding | Bookkeeping Client Questionnaire, Monthly Bookkeeping Check-in, Tax Preparation Intake, Tax Document Checklist | Bookkeeping Services Agreement, Tax Preparation Engagement Letter, Consulting Services Agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual), Data Processing Addendum | Karen Mitchell of Parkside Dental, Bookkeeping onboarding | | **Consulting** | Consulting engagement onboarding | Goals and Background Questionnaire, Stakeholder List, Engagement Feedback | Consulting Services Agreement, Statement of Work, Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual) | Elaine Porter of Halverson Logistics, Warehouse operations review | | **Something else** | Client onboarding | Client Onboarding Questionnaire, Document and File Request, Project Feedback and Testimonial | General Service Agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreement (Mutual) | Hannah Moreau of Sable Creek Winery, Tasting room redesign | Every main template has four stages or fewer, a mix of client tasks and behind-the-scenes tasks for your team, workflows that are switched on, and portal pages: a **Welcome** page that greets the client by name and an FAQ or a booking page. The sample client's contract already has its blanks filled with example fees so you can see a finished contract; the copy in your Contracts list still has the blanks for you to fill in. ## What to do next After setup you land on **Projects**. Until you have an active project of your own (the sample project doesn't count), it shows a **Getting started** checklist. Each item ticks itself off when it's done, and **Dismiss** hides the list for good: 1. **Brand your portal:** add your logo or brand colour, in setup or in [Workspace Settings](/docs/workspace). 2. **Preview your portal:** look at the portal as the sample client. Seeing it in the last setup step counts. 3. **Invite your first client:** opens [Invite your first client](#how-to-invite-your-first-client). 4. **Fill in your contract details:** replace the blanks, such as your fees and governing law, in the contract your main template uses. See [Contracts](/docs/contracts). 5. **Invite a teammate:** see [Team](/docs/workspace/team). You don't have to build project templates, forms, or contracts from scratch. On the **Templates**, **Forms**, and **Contracts** pages, click **Browse library** to preview ready-made ones and click **Use this** to add one to your workspace. Library forms and contracts are ready to use when added, so you can attach them to tasks straight away, or pick them from the library right inside a task. See [Project Templates](/docs/project-templates#how-to-start-from-the-library), [Forms](/docs/forms#how-to-start-from-the-library), and [Contracts](/docs/contracts#how-to-start-from-the-library). Only the sample client (its company, its contact and its project) is sample data. The templates, forms and contracts a starter adds are your own from the start, so you can edit them and keep them. When you no longer need the sample client, click **Remove sample client** in the note on the Projects or Clients page, or in [Workspace Settings](/docs/workspace#how-to-remove-the-sample-client). Projects you created from the starter's templates are not affected. ## How to join a workspace When a teammate invites you, you receive an email with an invitation link. 1. Open the link. If you don't have an account yet, create one with the email address the invitation was sent to and verify it with the emailed code. 2. Sign in with the invited email address if you aren't already. 3. Click **Accept invitation**, or **Decline** if you don't want to join. Invitations expire after 14 days. If yours has expired, ask the person who invited you to send it again. ## How to reset your password 1. On the sign-in page, click **Forgot password?**. 2. Enter your email and click **Send reset link**. 3. Open the link in the email and choose a new password.