Macworld Registration Frequently Asked Questions
Notes: This FAQ is about Macworld site registration and changes. Please check through it for answers to your questions. If you have a question not covered here, please send an e-mail message to Macworld.com Customer Service at sitehelp@macworld.com
Forums Help: For questions about forums, user reviews, posting and so forth.
Macworld magazine subscriptions are a separate matter. If you have questions about your Macworld magazine subscription, or if you want to check or change your subscription, please consult magazine Subscription Services page.
How do I complete the Macworld registration form?
- How do I begin?
- What is a User Name?
- How do I choose my password?
- How do I complete the rest of the form?
- What happens when I click Submit?
- Why did I get an "E-mail already in use" message?
- Why did I get a "User name already in use" message?
- Why was I returned to the form after clicking Submit?
- How do I log in?
- What if I get an "Invalid E-mail Address or Password" message?
- What if I forget my password?
- How do I change my password?
- How do I change my e-mail address?
- How do I make other changes to My Profile?
- Why did I receive an "E-mail already in use" error?
- How do I use the My Newsletters tab?
- What are Member Benefits?
How do I complete the registration form?
Click the "Sign Up" link at the top of Macworld.com pages. A blank registration form will be displayed to you. Fields marked with asterisks (*) are required information. They must be completed in order to register. (We hope you'll choose to complete the optional fields, too!)
Your User Name is the way you'll be identified on any forum posts, user reviews or article comments you make. Since this will show on all your posts, choose a name which conceals or reveals your identity as much you feel comfortable doing. Each User Name is unique in the Macworld community, so if you choose a User Name which another Macworld member already has, when you click Submit you'll be returned to the form with a message in red letters which says "User name already in use." Try entering a different User Name for yourself in that field. Note: Your User Name cannot be changed. You can change your e-mail address, password and other profile information. For security reasons, though, and to maintain the continuity of your identify for all posts you make, your User Name remains constant.
Your password must be composed of at least six characters which can be only letters/numbers. (No symbols or other characters are permitted.) Your password is case sensitive, so if you decide to capitalize any letters, you must always capitalize them when you log in. Enter exactly the same password again in the Confirm password field.
Country: Select your country of residence from the pulldown menu.
ZIP: If you're a U.S. resident, enter your five-digit ZIP Code. If you aren't a U.S. resident, simply enter the word none. (We welcome our international Macworld members. Since we're located in San Francisco, the great majority of our audience is in the U.S.; that's the reason the ZIP field is provided in that way.)
How do I complete the rest of the form?
We do hope you'll choose to complete the optional fields on the form:
First Name and Last Name are self-explanatory.
Company: Please enter the name of your company in this field. If this field doesn't apply to you, please leave it blank.
Address: If you're registering your work address, leave the Work radio button checked. If you're using some other address, click beside Home to select that radio button.
Street: Your street address can be entered in the first field, leaving the second field blank; or, if you're entering a company address, you can enter your company name in the first field and the street address in the second.
City: The city in which the street address is located.
State: If the address you entered isn't the U.S., leave this selection as N/A. If it's in the U.S., please select the appropriate state.
Job Function: Please select from the pulldown menu the function which best matches yours. If your job function doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Job Function" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Title: Please select from the pulldown menu the title which best matches yours. If your title doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Title" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Industry: Please select from the pulldown menu the industry which best matches yours. If your industry doesn't match any on the list, please select "Other." If "Industry" doesn't apply to you, please select "Other."
Company Size: Please select from the pulldown menu the company size which best matches yours. If "Company Size" doesn't apply to you, please select "Less than 50."
Note that we provide links to both our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy pages just above the Submit button.
What happens when I click Submit?
When you have finished the registration form, click the Submit link at the bottom. When the required fields are completed correctly, a confirmation page will be displayed to you. Note that your registration isn't yet activated, though.
The confirmation page includes a newsletters subscription form. No subscription is required; we simply offer that to you as an opportunity to select some of Macworld's fine newsletters. We hope you'll choose to do so.
Very soon after you click the Submit link we'll send a verification message to your e-mail address. When you receive it, just click the link in that message to activate your registration. Clicking the link will take you directly to the Macworld.com log-in page.
If you use filtering measures, or your ISP does, you may need to "whitelist" our mail server address to insure that you receive your verification message. The address to whitelist is macworld@lm.macworld.com.
Note: The verification link can be used only once. To sign in on later visits to Macworld.com, click the Log In link at the top of a Macworld.com page.
What if I have a problem submitting the form?
Why did I get an "E-mail already in use" message?
If you already have a Macworld newsletters subscription under the same address you're using to register, after you complete and submit the registration form, you'll be returned to the form with a message in red letters: "E-mail already in use." To continue, just click the "Click to update your account" link to tell our system you do want to register also under that address.
If you have already registered on Macworld.com using the same e-mail address, you'll be returned to the form with only the "E-mail already in use" message and no update link. In that case, since you're already registered, just return to the home page and click the Log In link. If you're trying to change something on your registration, please see How do I change my registration?
Why did I get a "User name already in use" message?
Each User Name is unique in the Macworld community, so if you choose a User Name which another Macworld member already has, when you click Submit you'll be returned to the form with a message in red letters which says "User name already in use." Try entering a different User Name for yourself in that field and click Submit again.
Why was I returned to the form after clicking Submit?
If you clicked the Submit button and were returned to the form but no error message was displayed, that probably means one of the required fields was left blank. The field you need to complete will be marked with a red asterisk (*). Complete that field and click Submit again.
What about logging in?
The first time you log in will be when you click the link in your e-mail verification message. Clicking that link takes you directly to the log-in form. Remember, that link can be used only that one time.
After that first time, log in by clicking the Log In link at the top of a Macworld.com page. When you click that link, the log-in form will be displayed to you. Enter your e-mail address in the E-mail address field. (This must be the exact e-mail address you used when you registered.) Enter your password in the Password field. (You must enter it exactly as you did when you registered, including capitalizing any letters.) Click the Log In button. When you log in successfully you'll be returned to the Macworld.com page you were visiting. Your e-mail address will be displayed to you to show you're logged in, and the Log In link will be changed to My Account.
What if I get an "Invalid E-mail Address or Password" message?
The most likely reason is that either your e-mail address or password was entered incorrectly. Enter them again exactly as you did on your registration form and then click the Log In button.
If the error message is displayed again, check to be sure you're using exactly the same e-mail address you used when registering. If you are, then it's possible you have forgotten the exact form of your password. See "What if I forget my password?" below.
If you're signing in for the first time, there are a couple of other possibilities you may wish to check: JavaScript is used extensively on Macworld.com, including for the log-in process. If you have JavaScript disabled in your browser settings, it's necessary to change the setting to enable JavaScript. Also, cookies are essential to the sign-in process. If you have cookies blocked, it's necessary to allow the placement of cookies in order to sign in.
What if I forget my password?
Just click the Log In link. Then on the log-in form click the "Forgot your password? link. On the password form enter the exact e-mail address you used to register. Then enter the password you want to use, and enter that password again in the Confirm field. (Be sure to keep a record of the password exactly as you set it.) A verification message will be sent to your e-mail address. When you receive that message, click the link in it to activate your new password.
How do I change my registration information?
Click the Log In link. Then on the log-in form click the "Forgot your password?" link. On the form which is displayed, enter the exact e-mail address you used to register. Then enter a new password, and the same new password in the Confirm field. A verification message will be sent to your e-mail address. When you receive that message, click the link in it to activate your new password.
How do I change my e-mail address?
Click the Log In link at the top of a Macworld.com pages and log in. Then click the My Account link at the top of the page. The My Profile page will be displayed to you. Change your e-mail address by clearing the E-mail address field and entering your new e-mail address. Then click Submit.
After you change your e-mail address, that change must be verified. We'll send a message to your new e-mail address. When you receive it, click the link in the message to activate your address change.
If you use filtering measures, or your ISP does, you may need to "whitelist" our verification mail server address to insure that you receive your verification message at your new address. The address to whitelist is macworld@lm.macworld.com.
Newsletters subscriptions: If you have a Macworld newsletters subscription under the same address, changing the e-mail address on your registration will automatically change the e-mail address on the newsletters subscription when you verify the change.
How do I make other changes to My Profile?
You can change the other items on your profile simply by making the changes and clicking Submit. No verification of those other changes is required. Remember: Your User Name cannot be changed. Your User Name is the name which is displayed on any forum entries, users reviews or other posts you make in the Macworld community.
Why did I receive an "E-mail already in use" error?
If you already have a Macworld newsletters subscription under the new address to which you're changing your registration, after you submit the change, you'll be returned to the My Profile page with a message in red letters: "E-mail already in use." To continue, just click the "Click to update your account" link to tell our system you do want to register also under that address.
If you have already registered on Macworld.com using the same e-mail address, you'll be returned to the form with only the "E-mail already in use" message and no update link. In that case, since you're already registered under that address, no change is necessary.
How do I use the My Newsletters tab?
If you have a Macworld newsletters subscription under the same e-mail address you used for registration, you can make changes to that subscription by clicking the My Newsletters tab. On that page you can add or remove newsletters from your subscription, and change your subscription format from HTML to text or vice versa. (Again, if you change the address on your registration, the address on this newsletters subscription will also be changed when you verify.)
The usual means of changing a newsletters subscription can also be used. That link, which we include at the bottom of every Macworld newsletter, is http://www.macworld.com/newsletters/changesubs
The center tab on the My Accounts page will take you to your Member Benefits--Check this page from time to time to review special offers and other benefits available to you as a Macworld Registered Member.
