ProZ.com frequently asked questions

1 - What are cookies and why do I need them enabled?

ProZ.com uses cookies to store authentication information for extended periods of time. This allows you to log in once and stay logged in until you choose to log out.

1.1 - What information does ProZ.com collect and share about me?

When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information in your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience.

Third party services may need to access this information —for example, Google can use it to offer you accurate ads, or Facebook and LinkedIn may need it when you want to share something from ProZ.com onto their websites.

Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. If you disable both Targeting cookies and Social sharing cookies, no information will be shared with third party services like Twitter, Facebook, etc.

You can check and edit your cookie settings here.

2 - I receive an Incorrect password error message when trying to login. What should I do?

If you receive an Incorrect password error message when trying to log into your ProZ.com account, make sure that you are entering the password you selected when creating your account (or your new password if it was changed at some point in the past) and that the caps lock function in your keyboard is not activated. Also, make sure you have spelled your password correctly and that it does not contain non-ASCII characters.

In case of failure, use the password recovery system to request a new password.

3 - My IP seems to have been reported as malicious. What should I do?

If you receive a Your IP has been reported as malicious message when trying to login to the site, this may mean that your IP was marked as malicious by StopForumSpam.com.

You can check if your IP was marked as malicious here. If you confirm your IP has been marked as malicious by StopForumSpam.com then you can appeal for removal of your IP address from their ban list here.

If your IP has not been marked as malicious by StopForumSpam.com, then please submit a support request so that staff can look into this further.

4 - What do I do if I forgot my password?

Because passwords are stored encrypted in the database, it is not possible to retrieve your existing password. However, you can change your password to a new value.

A single page is provided to handle all login related problems. The only information you need to know is the email address you used when registering with ProZ.com. Please see the new password request page.

Enter the email address you used to register with the site. Then click "Send me reset instructions". A confirmation email will be sent to the email address associated with your profile; click the link in the email to activate your new password.

5 - What do I do if I do not receive a confirmation email message after changing my password?

If you changed your password and you did not receive a confirmation email message in the inbox of the email address associated with your profile, check your spam folder.

If your spam folder does not contain the confirmation email message, then please submit a support request.

6 - I received a password change confirmation email message but I don't want to change my password. What should I do?

There is nothing to worry about, your password will not be changed unless you visit the confirmation link in the email message.

It was probably an accident. Unless you receive a few such emails to the point of becoming annoying or suspicious, there is no cause for concern.

If you receive this message more than once in a short period of time, please submit a support request and staff will investigate further.

7 - What if I forgot my password and my email address has changed?

If your email address has changed, please submit a support request specifying the email address you originally used to register with the site, as well as your username.

8 - I am unable to sign in, and my username or password contains non-ASCII characters

Because ProZ.com's login forms now expect usernames and passwords to be entered in Unicode, if your username or password was previously entered using non-Unicode characters, you may be unable to sign in.

If you know the encoding in which your username and password are stored, visit the non-Unicode login page, set your browser to use the correct encoding, and sign in. (See this FAQ to learn how to set the character encoding in your browser.)

If you do not know the original encoding of your username and password, or if you still have trouble signing in, you can change your username and password to use Unicode characters by following the instructions on this page.

9 - How can I change my username?

To change your username/login name, go to your Profile updater and enter a new username in the ProZ.com username field. Then, just click on the Save and update profile button at the bottom of the page.

Just remember that the maximum number of characters allowed for a username is 15 and that you can use letters, digits, underscores, hyphens, or spaces. Also, have in mind that this new username is the name you will have to use to login to your account in the future but that your password will be the same.

10 - How can I change my password?

If you know your current password, you can set a new password by logging in to your account and going to your Account settings. If you don't remember your old password, see What do I do if I forgot my password?

11 - How can I change my contact information?

To change your contact information, go to your Profile updater and click on the Contact tab on the left. You can edit your information from there (make sure you click on the Save and update profile button at the bottom of the page).

To change your name, head to the Account tab instead. Remember that if you are Identity Verified (VID) and you want to change the name in your profile partially or completely, you need to contact ProZ.com staff first. Otherwise, you will lose the ID verification mark.

12 - What limits are there on what my username may contain?

Usernames must contain only ASCII letters, digits, underscores, hyphens, or spaces. A username cannot be longer than 15 characters long.

13 - How can I log out?

You can log out at any time by clicking the Logout button at the upper right of every page.

14 - Why does Internet Explorer say There is a problem with this website's security certificate?

If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or earlier, or if you use Internet Explorer under Windows XP (or Windows 7 with certain configuration settings), you may see the message There is a problem with this website's security certificate when viewing secured (SSL) pages on ProZ.com servers.

This happens because those versions of Internet Explorer don't understand the technology ProZ.com uses to serve secure SSL web pages. (ProZ.com switched to this technology, called SNI, in November 2014, to increase security for ProZ.com-hosted web applications).

You can resolve this issue by taking one of the following actions:

• If you use Internet Explorer version 6 or earlier, upgrade to a more recent version.
  
• If you use Windows 7 and see this warning in Internet Explorer, you may need to enable the TLS protocol. Go to Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced, and under Security, tick the checkbox for each of the options labeled Use TLS {version}.
  
• If you use Windows XP or earlier, no version of Internet Explorer supports this secure site technology. You can use a different browser such as Chrome or Firefox to view the secure pages without warnings.