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Why should I create an account?
Creating an account with the ALA allows you to:
- Download occurrence records, species checklists and field guides
- Use the Spatial Portal for analysis
- Upload species checklists to the List tool
- Receive the ALA newsletter
- Receive email alerts when new records are added.
You don't need an ALA account to record sightings – observations recorded in iNaturalist will flow into the ALA.
Logging in with Australian Access Federation (AAF)
If your organisation or institution supports Australian Access Federation (AAF) logins, you can use AAF to log into the ALA. From the Login page, click the Sign In With AAF button, select your institution and continue to log in. If you’ve previously created an ALA account with the same email address, you can log into that account using either the username and password or AAF.
If you already have an ALA account and would like to switch to using AAF, you can change your accounts email address to match your institution's email address (see managing your account). You'll still be able to log in with your email address and password if you like.
Logging in with your Facebook, Google or Twitter account
You can log into the ALA with your Facebook, Google or Twitter account. From the Login page, click on the Sign in with Facebook, Google or Twitter button and sign into that service.
If you already have an ALA account and would like to link it to your social media account, you can also change your accounts email address (see managing your account) to match your social account's email address. You'll still be able to log in with your email address and password if you like.
Creating an account
If you’d prefer to create a new account to use just on ALA, you can do that too:
Enter your name, your email address (this will become your login name), a password for your account, your organisation (optional) and location (optional).
Tick the "I'm not a robot" box and click Create account.
Once you create your account, you will need to check your email for an activation email. Click the link in the email to complete the registration process. Sometimes the activation email might be caught in your junk mail folder, so make sure to check there too. If you don't receive or can't find your activation email, contact us to manually activate your account.
Once your registration is complete, you can then log in to the ALA by selecting Log in at the top right of the ALA home page.
Managing your account
To manage the settings for your account:
- From the ALA homepage, click the Login button in the top right.
- Log in as normal, and then click the Profile button next to the Sign Out button in the top right.
From the My profile page you can:
- Update your profile – 'Update my details'
- View your sightings, view all your Spatial Portal functions, view your DigiVol tasks, view your uploaded species lists and view your annotated records
- Manage your alerts: this function allows you to subscribe to email alerts (e.g. ALA blog, new records) and set the frequency of alerts
- Reset your password
Updating your profile
Do you want to change the email address associated with your ALA account, your name or any other information?
To update your details:
- Click the Update my details link under your name.
- Change your email address as required and click the Update account button below.
- If you’ve changed your email address Log out and Log in again using the new email address to confirm the change.
Note: If you've manually created an account, and currently log in with an email address and a password, you can still switch to logging in using AAF, Google, Facebook or Twitter. Just change your email address to be the same as it is in your institution or social media account and log in that way. You'll still have the option of logging in with your email address and existing password if you like.
If you've unintentionally created more than one account, get in touch with our support team and we'll be able to assist.
Managing your alerts
To manage your email alerts:
- Select view profile after logging into your account
- Click Manage your alerts
- First select the frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) you would like to receive ALA alert emails
- Turn ON the alerts you would like to receive.
You can arrange to have email alerts sent to your email address. Alerts can be sent when new information is added to the ALA, including:
- new images
- new species lists
- new data sets
- new occurrence data sets
- new spatial layers
- new citizen science records with/without images
- annotations on any record
- new records are added
Alerts can also be turned on for:
- ALA Blog
- Data resource pages e.g. for alerts on new records or annotations from data providers.
- Species pages e.g. alerts on new records or annotations on specific species.
- Region pages e.g. for alerts on new records or annotations in specific states and territories.
- Any occurrence search for alerts on new records or annotations
FAQs
Having trouble with your account?
My username/password isn’t working
Remember your username is the same as the email address you used to register your account.
If your password isn’t working, you can reset it using this link, Reset your password.
If you type your password incorrectly multiple times, you may see a message: "You've entered the wrong password for the user too many times. You've been throttled." This lock-out is only for a short period - you should be able to try logging in again after a minute or two.
I did not receive an account activation email
Sometimes our activation emails get caught in spam filters/junk mail folders. Check these folders in your email and if you still can’t find the activation email, contact our Support Team and ask them to manually activate your account.
Contact ALA support by email: support@ala.org.au