In SeroBooks, every new member of staff signs in with a login made of two parts: their name and your company's staff login handle, joined by @ — for example sarah@maplefoods. You only ever type the name part when you add the user; SeroBooks adds the @handle for you.
The handle belongs to your company. It means two companies can each have a sarah, because sarah@maplefoods and sarah@northwind are different logins, and it means your staff do not need an email address to sign in.
How a staff login is built
| Part | Example | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Name | sarah | Typed in the Username box when you add the user. |
| @ | @ | Added automatically. |
| Handle | maplefoods | Your company's staff login handle, set once for the whole company. |
Logins are not case-sensitive: Sarah@MapleFoods and sarah@maplefoods are the same login.
Choosing the company's handle
A company gets its handle in one of two ways:
- When you add your first user. If your company has no handle yet, the Add User form shows a Business login handle box, filled in with a suggestion made from your company name. The helper text reads Set once for this business. Everyone you add signs in as name@handle.
- In the Back Office. The Business Settings page of the web Back Office has a Staff login handle box. If you leave it blank there, you are offered a suggestion when you add your first user.
Checking a handle as you type
As you type in the Business login handle box, SeroBooks asks the server whether the handle is free:
| What you see under the box | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Checking… | The server is being asked. |
| ✔ @maplefoods is available | Nobody else has it. You can use it. |
| ✔ @maplefoods is this business's handle | It is already yours. |
| Available: followed by buttons such as @mfl, @maple, @maplefoods2 | What you typed cannot be used; click a button to use one of the free suggestions instead. |
Suggestions are made from your company name: the name run together (Maple Foods Ltd. gives maplefoods), its initials with a trailing Ltd or Inc (mfl), the first word of the name (maple), then numbered versions (maplefoods2). Words such as Ltd, Inc, The and province abbreviations are left out. A suggestion is free at the moment it is offered; if another company claims it first, the save tells you.
Handle rules
| Rule | Message if broken |
|---|---|
| 3 to 20 letters and numbers, starting with a letter. No dots, spaces, dashes or other characters. | 3 to 20 letters and numbers, starting with a letter |
| Not a reserved word: admin, administrator, root, system, support, help, info, test, demo, null, none, api, www, mail, sero, seropos, serobooks, maya, owner, staff, user, users, manager, cashier. | "admin" is reserved — choose another |
| Not held by another company. | "maplefoods" is already used by another business. Choose another business handle. or @maplefoods is taken. |
If two companies ask for the same handle at the same moment, the second one is told "maplefoods" was just taken by another business. Choose another business handle.
The handle locks once someone uses it
A handle can be changed until a login uses it — that is, until the first user is added under it. From then on it is part of that person's login, so it can no longer change. (Users who have since been made inactive still count.) The Back Office shows the box as read-only with Staff sign in as name@maplefoods. It can't change now that staff sign in with it. Trying to change it anyway gives Staff here already sign in as name@maplefoods, so the business handle can no longer change.
Before anyone uses it, the Back Office reads New staff sign in as name@maplefoods. You can change it until someone signs in with it.
Adding a user with a staff login
- Open Company ▸ Set Up Users and Roles… and click Add User.
- Type the First name.
- In Username, type just the name — for example
sarah. The box shows@maplefoodsafter it, and the line under the form reads They'll sign in as sarah@maplefoods. - If the form shows Business login handle, choose the company's handle (see above).
- Complete the rest of the form and click Add.
- The User added card shows the full login, for example
sarah@maplefoods. Click Copy login details and give it to the person.
The full field list is in Set Up Users and Roles.
Username rules
| Rule | Message if broken |
|---|---|
| Not empty. | Enter a username |
| No @ — it is added for you. | Leave out the @ — it is added for you |
| No spaces. | Usernames cannot contain spaces |
| 2 to 30 characters: letters, numbers, dots, dashes or underscores, starting with a letter or number. | Use 2 to 30 letters, numbers, dots, dashes or underscores |
| Not already used. | "sarah@maplefoods" is already taken. Choose a different username. |
Email is optional for staff logins, because nobody signs in with it.
Signing in with a staff login
On the SeroBooks sign-in screen, the username box reads Username (name@business) or email.
- Type the full login, for example
sarah@maplefoods. - Type the password.
- Sign in.
After someone has signed in with a name@handle login on a computer, the sign-in screen on that computer remembers the handle. The next time, the box reads Your name and shows an @maplefoods chip at its right-hand end (Signing in as name@maplefoods). Type just the name and the chip supplies the rest.
- To sign in with a different login — an email, the owner's own login, or another company's staff login — click the × on the chip (Sign in without @maplefoods) and type the full login.
- The chip also stands aside by itself when you type an @ of your own.
- After a sign-in with an email or a plain login, the chip is no longer offered on that computer.
SeroBooks never tries a name with and without the handle behind your back. What is shown in the box is exactly what is signed in.
Existing logins are never changed
Logins created before your company had a handle keep working exactly as they are. Editing such a user shows the whole login in a Login username box and keeps it as a plain login. A name@handle login, when edited, shows only the name part, and stays under the same handle.
Passwords for staff logins
The password rule follows the role, not the login style:
- Admin and Manager: at least 8 characters, upper and lower case, a number and a symbol, and not a password from a known data leak.
- Every other role: at least 8 characters with letters and numbers.
Tips
- Pick a short, recognisable handle. Staff type it every time they sign in on a new computer.
- Choose the handle carefully before adding the first user. It locks as soon as one login uses it.
- Use first names or initials for the name part —
sarah,sk,sarah.k— and keep the same pattern for everyone.
Common problems
"Username or email is required" on the sign-in screen. The username box is empty. If the chip is showing, type just the name.
A staff member cannot sign in. Check they are typing the whole login, including @handle, or that the chip on their computer shows the right handle. If the chip shows another company's handle, click its × and type the full login. Also check the user is Active in Users & Roles.
I want to change the handle but the box is read-only. A login already uses it, so it can no longer change.
The name I want is taken. Another login already has it — possibly a user you made inactive. Add a letter, number or initial (sarah2, sarah.k).
The owner's login has no @handle. The owner's login was created at sign-up and is never renamed. Only users added after the company has a handle get name@handle logins.