# Log-in problems

> From FilmScorecard Help: https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/log-in-problems

Every message the log-in and sign-up screens can show, what it means, and what
to do about it.

## "This address is not on the beta list yet."

Sign-up is in a private beta, so this one is new and it is the message people
meet most often. In full:

> This address is not on the beta list yet. **Request beta access**, or log in
> instead if you already have an account.

It appears on the sign-up screen (`/signup`) and the host sign-up screen
(`/host/signup`), in amber, when you choose the button. Nothing is sent: no
code email goes out, and you stay on the screen.

**It never appears on the log-in screen.** Logging in is unchanged by the beta.

Two things this message is not:

- **It is not about your account.** Everybody the beta turns away gets these
  exact words — somebody who has never used FilmScorecard and somebody who has
  had an account for months alike. **It cannot tell you which of the two you
  are, and it is not trying to.** FilmScorecard never reveals which addresses
  are registered, and this sentence is no exception.
- **It is not a typo check.** The address you typed may be perfectly valid and
  simply not approved.

What to do, in order:

1. **Try logging in instead**, at `/login`, with the same address. If you have
   an account — because a festival invited you, because your beta request was
   approved, or because you made one earlier — a code arrives and you are in.
   You were on the wrong screen, not blocked. **Sending in a submission does
   not give you an account**, so a filmmaker who never made one gets no code.
2. **Check which address was approved.** Your account is created on one exact
   address. Register on a work address and try the sign-up screen on a personal
   one and this is the message you get. The approval email names the address to
   use, and your account is already waiting on it, so **log in** with that
   address rather than signing up.
3. **Register**, if neither of those is it. **Request beta access** in the
   message is a link to the registration form for the card you chose:
   **Festival Host** opens the Festivals page's form, **Judge** the Judges
   page's and **Creator** the Creators page's. On the host sign-up screen it
   always opens the Festivals page's form. See
   [Requesting beta access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/requesting-beta-access.md).

**If you were invited by a festival, you should never see this.** An invitation
link takes you to a version of the sign-up screen that does not consult the
beta list at all. If you are meeting the refusal while holding an invitation,
you have probably arrived at sign-up some other way — go back to the email and
use its link.

**If you came from a festival's public page, you should not see it either.**
Its **Apply to judge** button leads, through the log-in screen's **Create an
account**, to a judge sign-up the beta does not apply to. Meeting the refusal
there means that door had closed by the time you pressed **Create account**:
the judge call closed, the festival switched its page off, or its organization
was suspended. Go back to the festival's page — if it no longer has a Judging
tab, the call is over. See
[Applying to judge from the page](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/public-festival-page.md#applying-to-judge-from-the-page).

**Nor if you came from Save to your account.** That button, on your own
submission page or scorecard, leads through the log-in screen's **Create an
account** to a filmmaker sign-up the beta does not apply to. Meeting the
refusal there means one of two things: you finished in a different browser
from the one where you typed the access code, or a new code was sent after
you typed yours. Go back to the page, type the newest code, press **Save to
your account** again, and finish in that same browser. See
[A submission's access code goes around it too](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creating-an-account.md#a-submissions-access-code-goes-around-it-too).

## "You need to agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue."

The other sign-up refusal, and the simpler one. Both sign-up screens, in every
version, carry a box above the button reading **I agree to the Terms of Use
and Privacy Policy**, and this sentence appears under it, in amber, when you
press the button with the box unticked.

Nothing is sent and nothing is checked: no code email, no **Check your email**
screen, and the beta list has not been consulted yet, so ticking the box may
still lead you to the refusal above. Everything you typed is still on the
screen. Tick the box and press the button again.

The two names in the box are links, and each opens in a new tab, so reading
the documents does not cost you the form. See
[The Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/terms-and-privacy.md).

**It never appears on the log-in screen or the code screen**, because neither
creates an account. The registration forms on the Festivals, Judges and
Creators pages have the same box and the same sentence, in red rather than
amber; see
[Requesting beta access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/requesting-beta-access.md#messages-the-forms-can-show).

## Why the code screen appears even when the address is wrong

This is the one that catches people out on the log-in screen.

When you type an address on the log-in screen and choose **Log in**, you
always land on the **Check your email** screen — whether or not that address
has a FilmScorecard account. FilmScorecard deliberately never reveals which
addresses are registered, so an unknown address looks exactly like a known one
at that step.

The consequence: **if the address has no account, no email arrives, and the
attempt only fails when you enter a code.** You get "That code didn't work or
has expired. Check it or resend." That message is telling you the truth — the
code is not valid — but the underlying reason may simply be that there was
never an account on that address.

What to do, in order:

1. **Check the address on the screen.** The **Check your email** screen prints
   the exact address the code went to. Typos are the most common cause.
2. **Try the other address.** Use the address your account was made on: the one
   your invitation arrived at, the one you registered for the beta with, or the
   one you typed when you created it. Work and personal addresses are the usual
   mix-up. **A festival entering your film does not make an account**, so the
   address on your submission only works here if you made an account on it
   yourself.
3. **If you registered for the private beta, use the address you registered.**
   Approval creates your account on that exact address and on no other, and the
   approval email names it. You do not need to have received that email first:
   once your request has been approved, asking for a code on the address makes
   the account on the spot if it does not exist yet, and the approval email
   arrives alongside the code. If you have not registered at all, that is the
   step to do first: [Requesting beta access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/requesting-beta-access.md).

Choose **Change email** on the code screen to go back and try a different
address.

## The email has not arrived

- Give it a minute. The **Resend code** link unlocks after the countdown
  reaches zero.
- Check your spam or junk folder for the subject *Your login code*.
- Check the address printed on the screen, then use **Change email** if it is
  wrong.
- If several code emails have arrived, use the newest one.
- If nothing arrives at all and you are sure of the address, read
  [Why the code screen appears even when the address is wrong](#why-the-code-screen-appears-even-when-the-address-is-wrong)
  above.
- **After Keep it on a scorecard**, the code went to the address the festival
  has on your submission, shown partly hidden, and there is no **Change
  email**. If you no longer read that address, use **Save to your account**
  instead, which lets you use an address of your own — see
  [A submission's access code goes around it too](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creating-an-account.md#a-submissions-access-code-goes-around-it-too).

**Waiting on the email that says your beta account is ready?** That one is not
a login code. A person approves each request by hand, and until they have,
nothing you do hurries it. Once they have, the message goes out within a day on
its own — or the moment you first ask for a login code on that address,
whichever comes first. So there is no need to wait for it: try the log-in
screen. If you have been approved, the code and the "account is ready" email
arrive together; if you have not, the **Check your email** screen appears and
nothing follows, exactly as for any unknown address. Nothing is sent when a
request is declined. When the address you registered already had an account,
a judge or creator approval sends nothing, because that account already
works — and a festival host approval sends "You're approved to set up your
festival" instead. See
[Requesting beta access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/requesting-beta-access.md#the-emails).

**Told you were approved, tried to log in, and still nothing after a minute?**
Wait for the countdown and choose **Resend code** once. In the rare case that
your account was being created on our side at the very moment you asked, the
first try comes back empty and the second one works. If that brings nothing
either, use the **Contact** link at the foot of the screen and say that you
were approved: the approval may need to be redone on our side, and that is
quick.

## Message by message

| Message | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **This address is not on the beta list yet. Request beta access, or log in instead if you already have an account.** | The address you tried to sign up with has no approved beta request. It says nothing about whether that address has an account. | See [the section above](#this-address-is-not-on-the-beta-list-yet). Nothing was sent and nothing changed. |
| **You need to agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue.** | The agreement box on the sign-up screen is not ticked. | Tick it and press the button again. Nothing was sent. See [the section above](#you-need-to-agree-to-the-terms-of-use-and-privacy-policy-to-continue). |
| **That code didn't work or has expired. Check it or resend.** | The six digits were not accepted. The code may be mistyped, more than 10 minutes old, from an older email, incomplete, or the address may have no account at all. After **Keep it**, it also means the festival has sent a new access code since you typed yours on the scorecard. | Retype the code from the newest email, making sure all six boxes are filled. If the code is more than 10 minutes old, wait for the countdown and choose **Resend code**. If it still fails, check the address — see the section on the code screen above. After **Keep it**, go back to the scorecard, type its newest access code and press **Keep it** again. |
| **Too many codes requested. Wait a minute, then use Resend code.** | Codes can only be sent to an address once a minute, and that limit was reached. | Stop resubmitting. Wait for the countdown on the code screen to reach zero, then use **Resend code** once. The code you already received still works until it expires. |
| **We could not send that code. Check your connection and try again.** | The request to send a code did not go through. | Check your internet connection and choose **Log in** again. If it keeps happening, it is on our side — use the **Contact** link at the foot of the screen. |
| **Check the highlighted field and try again.** | Something in the form was empty or not valid when it reached us. | Look at the fields marked in amber, correct them, and submit again. |
| **We could not save that. Try again.** | Your role choice on the **One question left** screen did not save. | Choose your role again and select **Finish and continue**. If you are sent back to the log-in screen instead, you were logged out — log in and you will be asked again. |
| **Enter your email address.** / **Enter a valid email address.** | The email field is empty, or the address is not a complete address. | Type the full address, including the part after the `@`. |
| **Enter your first name.** / **Enter your last name.** | A required name field on the sign-up form is empty. | Both are required. The beta registration forms ask for the same two names and show the same two messages when one is empty. |
| **That first name is too long.** / **That last name is too long.** | A name field is over 80 characters. | Shorten it. You can use the name you are usually credited under. |
| **Pick one to finish.** / **Nothing is selected yet. Pick one to finish.** | No role has been chosen yet on the **One question left** screen. | Select **Judge**, **Festival Host** or **Creator**. The **Finish and continue** button stays greyed out until you do. |
| **Google sign-in didn't complete. Try again.** | A Google sign-in was started and did not finish. | **You should not meet this during the beta** — Google sign-in is not offered on any screen at the moment. Log in with an emailed code instead. |

All of these appear in amber with an exclamation mark. Amber, not red, on
purpose: every one of them is recoverable.

The beta registration forms on the Festivals, Judges and Creators pages have
messages of their own, in red, and they are listed in
[Requesting beta access](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/requesting-beta-access.md#messages-the-forms-can-show).

## There is no Continue with Google button

**Google sign-in is switched off for the private beta.** The log-in screen, both
sign-up screens and your account's security settings offer the emailed code and
nothing else. It comes back when the beta ends.

**If you used to sign in with Google, nothing has been taken away from you.**
Your Google connection is untouched — you simply cannot use it or see it while
the beta is on. Log in with a code sent to the same address and you land in the
same account, with everything in it.

## The code screen sent me back to the log-in screen

The **Check your email** screen only works right after you have asked for a
code. If you open it from a bookmark, from a browser tab that has been sitting
open for a long time, or after a very long gap, FilmScorecard sends you back to
the log-in screen.

Nothing is wrong. Enter your address and choose **Log in** to request a fresh
code.

## Resend code did not seem to do anything

The countdown restarts the moment you choose it, which replaces the link with
the waiting line — that is the confirmation that it worked. The new code takes
a few seconds to arrive. Use the newest email.

**Resend does everything Log in does**, including making a just-approved beta
account that did not exist when you first pressed **Log in** — see
[Asking for a new code](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/logging-in.md#asking-for-a-new-code).

**Resend after a refusal takes you back to the log-in screen instead.** That is
correct rather than broken: a refused sign-up never sent a code, so there is
nothing to resend.

## I keep being sent to a different page than I expected

- **Already logged in?** Opening the log-in or sign-up screens sends you
  straight to your own page. Use **Sign out** in the header first if you meant
  to switch accounts.
- **Logged out?** Opening a signed-in page sends you to the log-in screen.
- **Landed on the Set up your festival form?** That is the correct first screen
  for a new host account, including one created by a beta approval. Your
  organization and your festival are made together on it — see
  [Setting up your festival](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/setting-up-your-festival.md).
- **Landed on "Your account isn't approved to create an organization yet."?**
  That is the setup screen for an account whose address has not been approved
  as a festival host — approved as a judge or filmmaker instead, or not yet
  decided. **Request host access** on it asks for that approval. See
  [If your account is not approved yet](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/setting-up-your-festival.md#if-your-account-is-not-approved-yet).
- **Approved as a host, but logging in lands on your judging home or your
  projects?** An account first made as a judge or a filmmaker keeps going
  there. Open `/host/festival` yourself, or press **Set up your festival** in
  the approval email once you are signed in.
- **Landed on questions about what you review?** That is the correct first
  screen for a new judge account. See
  [Setting up your judge profile](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/setting-up-your-judge-profile.md).
- **Landed on a festival's application form after those questions?** That is
  where you were going: finishing the judge profile takes you back to the
  judge-portal page you first asked for — the open call whose **Apply to
  judge** you pressed, for example — rather than to your judging home.
- **Landed on Your projects, or on Add your first project?** That is the
  correct first screen for a filmmaker account. See
  [Your projects](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-projects.md).
- **Landed on "We set up *Title* from your entry"?** That is the first screen
  for an account with no project yet when a festival submission sent from its
  address is waiting, including after **Keep it** or **Save to your
  account**. Nothing is saved until you press **Open** *Title*. See
  [Your first project](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-first-project.md) and
  [Saving a submission to your account](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/saving-a-submission-to-your-account.md).
- **Back on the scorecard or submission page you started from?** That is where
  **Keep it** and **Save to your account** return you once your account has a
  project: the page is now yours, and asks for no access code.

## Still stuck

Use the **Contact** link at the foot of any log-in or sign-up screen. It opens
the contact form — see [Contacting us](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/contacting-us.md). (Older screens had
a **Trouble logging in** link here that opened an email; **Contact** has
replaced it.)

Choose **Something else** as the topic unless one of the others fits, and tell
us the email address you were trying, which screen you were on (log in, sign
up, or host sign up), and the exact message you saw. That is usually enough to
sort it in one reply, which arrives by email at the address you give on the
form.