How Login Works

When you log in you enter your username and password (known as your credentials) which are sent to the web server. If they are correct then the web server sends back a 'cookie' which is a tiny piece of information that identifies you as you move through the web site. The cookie contains no personally identifiable information, just your username and the fact that you have logged in. Cookies have an expiry date/time after which your browser will delete them. If you access the site after your cookie has expired, or you have logged out (which deletes the cookie), then you will be prompted to log in again.

Each time you visit a page on the site, your browser sends the cookie to the web server which recognises it as meaning you are logged in, and then along with the requested page receives a replacement cookie with a new expirty date/time.

Login Problems

If you have difficulty logging in, then there are only a few possibilities for what may be wrong, they are:

• You have typed your username incorrectly.
• You have typed your password incorrectly.
• Something is going wrong with your login cookie.

The first two problems are easy to fix, simply use the correct username and password. If you have forgotten them then please see the Recovering Your Credentials section below.

Problems with the login cookie can be slightly more tricky to correct. The most common cookie problems are:

• the date and/or time on your computer are incorrect, causing your browser to think a cookie is expired as soon as it is received.
• your browser is configured to ignore cookies from this, or possibly all, websites.
• you have some third-party privacy/security software installed that is blocking cookies from this, or possibly all, websites.

You can check whether your computer is having problems with the cookie, along with some hints on how to correct it by clicking here.

Recovering Your Credentials

To recover your login credentials you must have access to email send to the email address that you have registered on your account. If you remember your username but not your password, please enter your username in the box on the left and click submit. Otherwise, enter your email address in the box on the right and click submit. This email address must be the one you have registered on your account.

Please note that your will not be notified if the username or email address you entered are incorrect.

Once you have submitted the releveant information, please check your email.