Creating an account on Champion This Project! is fairly self-explanatory, but there are a few things to watch for:

A) Display Name

While updating your ACCOUNT PROFILE, you will be asked for your DISPLAY NAME, which is the pseudonymous handle which the Site will publicly-display instead of your real name.

(For Patrons, using handles instead of real names is highly-recommended. Project Creators, on the other hand, are advised to use their recognizable pen names.)

B) Bio and Social Media Links

It is not necessary to fill out these fields. The BIO only appears on your private account Dashboard, while your SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS are displayed nowhere on the site.

C) Country

Your shipping address information can be mostly filled out with your browser’s autocomplete.

But autocomplete sometimes does not complete your COUNTRY, and the dropdown default is set to the first country in alphabetical order (Afghanistan).

Therefore, users should check that their country of residence is filled out correctly.

D) Checkbox for Project Creators

Users who wish to be Project Creators instead of Patrons must click a certain checkbox while updating their ACCOUNT user profile.

E) Page Refresh for Project Creators

After Project Creators have updated their ACCOUNT user profiles, they will be initially be presented with the Patron menu.

To view their Project Creator menu, they must refresh the page.

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Detailed Account Setup Instructions for Desktop Users

Patrons & Project Creators

1) Click the CREATE ACCOUNT button in the top menu. (Colored maroon below)

2) Fill in name, email, and password.

Patrons should fill in their real names for the purpose of shipping. (Please do not be concerned about this; you can set up a pseudonymous handle in Step #4.)

Passwords should be at least 12 characters long, containing both upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

When finished, click the navy COMPLETE REGISTRATION button.

3) A green alert will appear, reading, “YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CREATED.”

4) Click the ACCOUNT menu item.

Here, you may upload an avatar by clicking the navy SELECT IMAGE button. Avatars should be roughly 200 px X 200 px. (Avatars below 100 px X 100 px may suffer from low resolution.)

Fill out your DISPLAY NAME (your pseudonym for the Site). This is the name which will be publicly-displayed instead of your real name. Using your real name is not recommended for Patrons.

(Try to use a DISPLAY NAME pithier than, “My online name shown on this site”!)

5) Scroll down a little.

It is not necessary to write a BIO here (your bio will only be viewable by you and not be public).

Similarly, it is not necessary to fill in your TWITTER, FACEBOOK, or GOOGLE+ social media URLs. None of them can currently be displayed on the site.

Project Creators should fill out COMPANY LOCATION and WEBSITE if possible. Both will appear in the ABOUT THE AUTHOR section of Projects.

6) Scrolling down further, you may change your PASSWORD whenever you like.

7) Fill in your SHIPPING ADDRESS.

Note that autocomplete will fill out most of these fields, but sometimes fails to do so for your COUNTRY of residence (highlighted lime-green below).

So, please verify that your country of residence is correct.

8) Choose to be a Project Creator or a Patron.

To become a Project Creator on Champion This Project!, click the checkbox labeled, “CHECK TO ENABLE CREATOR FUNCTIONALITY” (highlighted lime-green below).

Patrons, however, should not tick this empty checkbox.

9) Click the navy UPDATE PROFILE button. A green alert will appear on the screen, reading , “PROFILE UPDATED!”

10) Click the BACKER PROFILE menu item.

Your DISPLAY NAME will be shown.

(Once you donate to campaigns on the Site, they will appear here as well.)

11) If you are a Patron, the Account Setup process is now complete.

Project Creators Only

12) After updating your profile in Step #9, you will see the same menu items as Patrons (ie: DASHBOARD, ACCOUNT, BACKER PROFILE).

But to view the Project Creator menu, click the Refresh icon (on Google Chrome, circled yellow below), or hit the F5 button on your keyboard.

13) Upon refreshing the page, your menu should contain three more menu items (CREATOR PROFILE, CREATOR ACCOUNT, CREATE PROJECT).

14) Clicking the CREATOR PROFILE menu item will display some information similar to the BACKER PROFILE. (The example below shows some Bio text that was entered in the Account screen. But remember, this Bio is private and only viewable by you.)

This screen will also show your crowdfunding projects, past & present, on Champion This Project!

15) Clicking the CREATOR ACCOUNT menu item will show your Project Creator connection to the Stripe payment processor.

To receive donations on the Site, you will need to click the light blue CONNECT WITH STRIPE button to set up a Stripe account.

16) Finally, click the CREATE PROJECT menu item to create a new crowdfunding project.

(The procedure for creating a project will be outlined in a future blog post.)