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Advice on choosing a user name and password

You need to have a unique user name (sometimes called a user id) to participate in Migration Watch. The Migration Watch computer will suggest a user name to you, made up of your first two initials and your surname sometimes followed by a number. We recommend that you accept this. However, you can replace this default name with a name of your own choice provided that it is not already in use. We recommend that user names be made up of letters and numbers only and that they should start with a letter. The absolute maximum length is 32 characters but user names will normally be much shorter than this.

Passwords should be a minimum of 6 characters long and should normally contain a mixture of letters and numbers. Passwords are case sensitive so unusual capitalisation will help to make them secure. You can also include characters other than letters and numbers. A good password should be meaningful to you alone. Care should be taken to avoid obvious passwords that could easily be guessed such as your name, bird names (English or Latin) or your car registration number. A good way to make up an easily memorable password is to use the first letters of a phrase that is known to you alone.

You will be able to obtain an automatic password reminder by email (sent to your registered email address only) if you forget your password. If you forget your user name please e-mail web.support@bto.org for advice. Please do not register a second time just because you have forgotten your user name.