Admin path: Account settings (usually /admin/account). You can also open Appearance from the top bar and adjust the look quickly.
This chapter is about preferences and security tied to your sign-in. It is not the site-wide brand or the public theme.
| Kind | Who it affects | Typical entry |
|---|---|---|
| Personal preferences | Only you (they follow you across sites) | /admin/account, and Appearance in the top bar |
| Site defaults | Members who have not customized yet, the sign-in page, invitation emails, and similar | Site → Basics (owners) |
| Public theme and brand | Visitors | Site style and Basics (see the related chapters) |
Anyone signed in to the admin (owner, editor, or viewer) can manage their own account settings.
Display name and author details
In Account settings you can keep these (all optional):
- Display name and avatar (the menu in the admin header prefers these)
- Bio and profile URL (mainly so a news article can fill the author fields in one step)
A few details:
- While editing news, choose Fill from my author profile. A new article with an empty author name is filled in automatically as well.
- What gets copied is stored on that article. Later changes to your name or avatar on the account page do not rewrite articles that are already published.
- The avatar is stored in the media library of the site you are managing now (the account-avatar folder). If that site is later deleted, the image may break. Do not rely on images from a deleted site.
- The system does not use your email as the public author name.
Your admin language and appearance
Account settings shows the interface language and appearance that are in effect for you.
- Choose Customize appearance (or Appearance in the top bar).
- Then choose:
- Interface language (for example Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, or Japanese)
- Light or dark, accent color, and sidebar layout
- Saving applies at once. The other sites you manage use the same personal preferences.
- To go back to “follow the site default,” use Reset to site default in the appearance panel (the button label on screen is the one that counts). This restores only language and appearance. It does not clear your display name, avatar, bio, or profile URL.
A few details:
- Your personal settings do not change the admin other members see, and they do not change what public visitors see.
- The sign-in page, forgot-password page, and the two-factor step still use that site’s default language and appearance. You are not fully signed in yet, so personal preferences do not apply.
Site defaults (owners only)
Owners can set these under Site → Basics (/admin/settings):
- Default admin language
- Default admin appearance
They are the starting point for new members who have not customized anything, and for the sign-in pages. Once someone saves personal preferences in Account settings, those preferences win.
Change your password
In the “Sign-in & security” section of Account settings:
- Enter a new password and confirm it (at least 8 characters).
- After you submit, success or failure shows as a toast.
If you forgot the password and cannot sign in, use “Forgot password?” on the sign-in page. Do not use this page.
Two-factor sign-in (optional)
An admin account can turn on two-factor sign-in with an authenticator app (TOTP, the usual authenticator apps).
| State | What sign-in does |
|---|---|
| Off | Email and password are enough to enter the admin. Ordinary members are not forced to turn it on |
| On | After the password is correct, you still enter the 6-digit code from the app |
How to turn it on
- In Account settings, choose Enable two-factor authentication.
- Scan the QR code on screen with your authenticator app.
- Enter the 6-digit code the app shows, and confirm.
After it is on, keep the authenticator device safe. Before you change phones, turn it off here, or confirm you can move the account.
How to turn it off
- In Account settings, choose Disable two-factor authentication. The button stays visible. You do not have to check the current status first.
- Enter the current 6-digit code from the app.
- The system confirms it is you, then turns two-factor sign-in off.
A wrong code does not turn it off. Enter it again and try once more.
How this differs from a required check for platform admins
TimTech platform admins may have a required two-factor rule of their own. That is separate from the optional setting for site members. Owners, editors, and viewers follow the account page described above.
If you have not turned two-factor sign-in on, and sign-in still asks for a code, contact TimTech support and include the account email.
Checklist
- [ ] Display name and avatar are set if you need them, and the top menu shows them
- [ ] News authors can use “Fill from my author profile,” and older articles keep their author card after you change the account
- [ ] Interface language and light or dark match how you like to work, and they follow you to another site
- [ ] After you reset appearance, the display name and avatar are still there
- [ ] The password is updated if you needed to
- [ ] If two-factor sign-in is on: sign out and back in, and confirm the code step appears
- [ ] After you turn two-factor sign-in off: the next sign-in does not ask for a code
Related
- Sign-in and roles
- Switch sites and move around the admin
- Set the site name and inbox (the site’s default admin language and appearance)
- Adjust the public look (the public theme, not your personal admin appearance)
- Languages, in brief (languages for public content)
- When permission is missing