Managing your account

Logging in

Some of the content of MyCA is available to anyone - as indicated by the small words Public access in the top right of the item. This includes such things as book reviews and classified ads. But much of the material is available to Members only and if you try to access it without logging in you won't be able to see it.

You log in by entering your user name and password in the boxes in the top left corner and clicking on the Log in button below. Do remember that your password must be entered exactly without any extra characters and in the same case as it was entered. You are advised to copy and paste the password first time from your email. The user name doesn't have to be so exact, but do remember the space in the middle. If all goes well you will be logged in, and the user name and password boxes will be replaced by your name.

It is important that you have "cookies enabled" in your browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) as this is the only way we can identify you during the time you are logged in. If you are cautious about this, most browsers will allow you to specify the addresses (e.g. myca.org.uk) for which cookies will be enabled or kept for a longer period.

The cookies will stay around for around 3 days and you won't need to log in again during that period even though you may have disconnected from the internet or restarted your computer. If you are using an internet cafe or someone else's computer, it is therefore important that you log out at the end of the session or anyone using the computer will be able to use your identity.

When you are using your own computer, you can click on remember my password so that you don't need to enter it every time you are asked.

Changing your name or password

To change your password, log in and click on the My Account link in the left hand column. When this shows your account, click on the Edit tab at the top (tabs are the words in small boxes along the top of the editing area, designed to look like card indexes) and scroll down till you see two boxes for the password. Fill in your new password in each box - for security only asterisks will be shown . You can also change your user name at the same time. Your identity in the system (a unique number which appears in the address line of this page) will not change.

When you've made all the changes on this page, don't forget to scroll to the bottom and click on Save. Otherwise the system won't remember the changes you've made.

What happens when you forget your password? (Don't worry, we all do it!) In this case, go to the main MyCA page (log out if necessary) and click on the Request new password link on the left hand side. As long as you can remember your email address, then a new opportunity to log in will be sent to the address you've registered, as mentioned on a previous page. Then follow the steps above to change your password to the one you want. If you have changed your email address and can't receive messages on the old one, you need to contact the office and ask them to help- remember to include your old address!

When you have hit edit you will see a number of other options below the main tabs. These allow you to change your other personal details. At the moment we are just finalising the online membership database and items that are copied from that will not be changed in the database. However we are hoping that shortly this will allow you to make changes to our records without having to call on the long-suffering staff at the CA.

Contacting and being contacted by other members

To send an email to another MyCA member, look down the left hand column and under Search, find and click on MyCA Members. Type in one part of their name - first name or surname - and then click on Submit. You will get a list of all members who have joined MyCA who match the name. Click on the appropriate one and you will go to their details page. Towards the top of this you will see a button marked Contact. Click on this, and if they have enabled notifications, you will be able to send them a message at their most recently recorded email address. You won't see their address until they reply.

Have you enabled notifications? It's at the bottom of your account page when you have clicked on the Edit tab. Please make sure it's been selected or other members can't contact you. Note that it is never available to non-members.