# Web Client
## User Registration
In order to gain access to the CoGDat Data Portal you will need to create an account. Navigate to the [CoGDat Data Portal registration site](https://data.cogdat.de/register).
Enter your full name and email address.
Please also select your affiliation from the list of organizations.
If your organization is not listed, you may add it by interacting with the `Create a new organization` slider
and entering the organization's name into the text box.
Click on `Register` to request an account.
Your request will be reviewed by the CoGDat Data Portal administrators and you will receive a registration confirmation email in due course.
The registration confirmation email contains a link to set a password. Please click on the link (or copy it into your browser's address line) and set and confirm your password. Please be aware that your password has to fulfill the following criteria:
* at least 12 characters
* at least one punctuation mark
* at least one digit
* at least one lower and one upper case character
You may then navigate back to the [login page](https://data.cogdat.de/login)
and log into the CoGDat Data Portal website using your email and password.
### Create New Organization
In case your organization is not yet listed in the drop down menu, you may create a new organization. If you are unsure whether your organization is eligible for submissions to the CoGDat portal, please do not hesitate to contact the support team at support@cogdat.de.
## Account Management
### Change Password
If you need to change your password, you can do so in the **Change Password** tab of the account settings ([here](https://data.cogdat.de/account) or click on the `account` link at the top of the page). Alternatively, it is possible to request a password recovery link on the [login page](https://data.cogdat.de/login). In any case, please remember that your new password has fulfull the following criteria:
* at least 12 characters
* at least one punctuation mark
* at least one digit
* at least one lower and one upper case character
### API keys
For the usage in the CLI or if you are using your own interface to call the CoGDat API, you can create API keys in the **Manage API Keys** tab of the `/account` view. You will have to specify a label as well as an expiration date for every API key. You can generate as many API keys as you need, but be aware, that the maximum lifetime for each key is 365 days, after which your API key will automatically expire.
You can also delete your API keys manually in the API key table.
## Submitting Data
### Metadata submission via Excel samplesheet
The metadata samplesheet has to be submitted as an Excel spreadsheet. You can find a list of the metadata fiel constraints [here](./about_datameta.html#field-constraints), or on the [submission page](https://data.cogdat.de/submit) (Click the blue question mark.)
### Uploading data files
Data files can be dragged & dropped onto the area labeled `Drag data files here` on the [submission page](https://data.cogdat.de/submit).
The upload order of metadata and data files is arbitrary.
### Dealing with verification errors
Both the metadata table and the file submissions table use icons to indicate the current status of a file or metadataset. Green circles indicate that a metadataset or file has passed validation and is ready to be committed. Yellow diamonds represent *blocking commits*. In this case, the validation procedure found an issue with a file or metadataset, which *blocks* it from being added to the database (*commit*). Yellow diamonds can be clicked in order to display more detailed information on the cause of the validation error.
These validation reports indicate what is wrong with your submission, the most common case being files missing or files uploaded that are not referenced in metadata.
To read more about field constraints that may prevent validation, please refer to the [corresponding section](about_datameta.html#field-constraints) of this manual.
### Finalizing the submission
All submitted files stay inside a staging area, until they are deleted or commited by the user. They will stay in the staging area even if you log out or close your browser. They will also be available from your account when you log in from another device.
After everything is ready to commit, you can do so by simply clicking the **Commit** button.
You can also commit individual metadatasets and files by selecting the corresponding rows in the metadata and files tables.
