Setting Up Users with their First Workspace

Before You Begin

Before setting up your first workspace, make sure the following requirements are met:

• You are signed in as a Organization Admin.

• Any users you plan to add have valid email addresses and can receive invitation emails.

• Organization Admins are automatically included in all workspaces and do not need to be added manually.

How to Create a Workspace

Only Organization Admins can create new workspaces.

To create a workspace:

1. Go to the Workspaces tab.
2. Click Create Workspace.
3. Enter a Workspace Name.
   • Optionally enter a Client Identifier and Matter Identifier.
4. Click Create to finalize.

Note: Workspace names must be unique and cannot exceed 512 characters.

After the workspace is created, Blackout opens the workspace document list.

How To Invite Users

After creating a workspace, the next step is inviting users to your organization. Only Organization Admins can invite users to Blackout.

To invite a user:

1. Click Manage Organization.
2. Select Invite User.
3. Enter the email address of the user you want to invite.
4. Click Invite User to send the invitation.

How to Add Users to the Workspace

After users are invited to the organization, they must be added to a workspace to view documents or apply redactions. Workspace Admins and Organization Admins can add or remove users from a workspace. Organization Admins are automatically included in all workspaces and do not need to be added manually.

To add a user to a workspace:

1. Click the Workspace tab.
2. Choose the Workspace you wish to add the user to. 
3. Click the Administration tab.
4. Select Add User.
5. Enter the email address of the user you want to add.
6.  Click Add to grant workspace access.

Note: Users must be active members of the organization before they can be added to a workspace. Organization Admins are already included automatically and cannot be added manually.

How to Accept the Invitation and Set Up an Account

When a user is invited, they receive an email containing a welcome message and a secure link to set up their Blackout account. By default, invited users are assigned the Contributor role. Roles can be updated at any time under Organization Settings. 

Note: If the invited user already has a Blackout account in another organization, they are added to the organization immediately and do not need to complete account setup again.

After clicking the link in the invitation email, the user will be prompted to complete account setup by:

1. Entering their First Name and Last Name.

2. Creating and confirming a Password.

   Password Requirements
   Minimum length of 8 characters. Characters cannot be repetitive or sequential Cannot contain your name, email, company  name, provider, the word Blackout, or any other variations. Cannot be a previously used password Cannot be a password that has been  compromised in a data breach*
   * Blackout uses a service called Clerk that contracts a 3rd party service to verify if a  prospective password has been previously compromised in a online breach.

3. Submit the form to activate their account.

Once account setup is complete, the user’s account becomes active.

• If the user belongs to one organization, they are taken directly into that organization.
• If the user belongs to multiple organizations, they are prompted to select which organization to open.

For future access, users can navigate directly to their organization-specific Blackout URL and log in.

How to Log in as a New User to Blackout

After navigating to the Blackout URL for your organization, you will be prompted to log in. There are several paths a user can take to log in.

Sign in with a password

1. Enter your email address.

2. Enter your password.

3. Click Continue.

Sign in with an Emailed Code

1. Enter your email address.

2. Click Use another method.

3. Select Email a code to your email address.

4. Check your email for the verification code.

5. Enter the provided code into the fields on the screen.

   

6. Click Continue to sign in.

Resetting your Password

1. Enter your email address.

2. Click Forgot Password.

3. Select Reset Your Password.

4. Check your email for the password reset code.

5. Enter the code into the fields provided.

6. Enter and confirm your new password.

7. Click Reset Password to complete the process.

   You will receive a confirmation email once your password has been successfully updated.