How to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication by Email
Before you start
This guide takes about 5 minutes and adds a second layer of security to your website login. Once it is set up, after entering your password you will also be sent a 6-digit code by email, so nobody can get into your site with your password alone.
You will need:
- Your website login details
- Access to the email inbox linked to your account (keep it open in another tab, as you will need it in Step 5)
In every screenshot below, the red arrow shows exactly where to click.
Step 1: Go to Users, then Manage
- Log in to your website's admin area.
- In the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, find Users and click on it to open its menu.
- Then click Manage.
Step 2: Open your Administrator account
- You will now see a list of all the user accounts on your website.
- Find your Administrator account in the Name column and click on the blue underlined name.
- Tip: click the name itself, not the "+ Add Note" button underneath it.
Step 3: Click the Multi-factor Authentication tab
- You are now on your account page. Along the top there is a row of tabs.
- Click the last one, Multi-factor Authentication.
Step 4: Click "Add a new Code by Email"
- You will see a message saying Multi-factor Authentication is not enabled. That is normal, it means it has not been set up yet.
- Scroll down to the section called Code by Email (it has a small envelope icon).
- Click the blue + Add a new Code by Email button.
- As soon as you click it, the website sends a code to your email address.
Step 5: Find the code in your email
- Open your email inbox (leave the website open in its own tab).
- You should have a new email from your website with a subject line ending in "authentication code is" followed by 6 digits.
- The 6-digit number is your code. It appears both in the subject line and in the body of the email.
- Can't see it? Wait a minute, then check your spam or junk folder.
Step 6: Enter the code
- Go back to the website tab.
- Click into the Authentication Code box and type in the 6 digits from your email.
- Type only the numbers, with no spaces or dashes. Leave the Title box as "Code by Email".
Step 7: Click Save & Close
- Scroll back up to the top of the page and click the Save & Close button (the one with the tick).
Step 8: Check for the gold star
- You will be taken back to the Multi-factor Authentication page. Scroll down to Code by Email.
- You should now see a gold star next to "Code by Email" with today's date beside "Added".
- The gold star means it worked: two-factor authentication is now switched on. From your next login, you will be asked for a code from your email after entering your password.
If something goes wrong
- No email arrived: wait 1 to 2 minutes and check your spam or junk folder.
- The code was not accepted: check you typed all 6 digits with no spaces. If you received more than one email, use the newest one.
- No gold star in Step 8: the code was not saved. Repeat from Step 4 to get a fresh code.
- Still stuck: contact us and we will set it up with you.
Logging in from now on
- Every time you log in to your website from now on, enter your username and password as normal.
- The website will then send a 6-digit verification code to your email address.
- Open that email and type the code into the box on the login screen to finish logging in.
- You won't be able to log in without the code, so make sure you can always get to your email inbox.