Staying signed in: idle sign-out and one sign-in at a time
The portal signs you out after 5 minutes with nothing happening on the screen, after a 60-second warning. You can be signed in on one device at a time. Learn what each message means and what to do.
What you will learn
- Know what counts as activity
- Use the Are you still there? warning to stay signed in
- Understand the message on the sign-in page after you were signed out
- Know what to do when a sign-in is refused because you are signed in somewhere else
These rules keep the Council's records safe if someone walks away from a computer or a password gets into the wrong hands. Every sign-in is recorded with the device, the IP address (the computer's network address) and the town or city it came from.
Step by step
- Work as normal. A click, a key press, scrolling or touching the screen counts as activity.
- Work in another tab of the same browser counts too, so your other portal tabs stay signed in.
- Only moving the mouse, or reading without touching anything, does not count.
- After 4 minutes with nothing happening, a box called Are you still there? appears. It says you will be signed out in 60 seconds, and counts down.
- Press Stay signed in to carry on where you were.
- Press Sign out now if you have finished.
- If nobody presses anything, you are signed out at 5 minutes. The sign-in page shows a yellow note: You were signed out after 5 minutes without activity. Sign in again.
- Sign in again. The portal takes you back to the page you were on.
- Anything you had typed but not saved is lost, so save drafts as you go.
One sign-in at a time
You can be signed in on only one computer, phone or browser at a time. If you try to sign in somewhere else while your first sign-in is still in use, the sign-in is refused with a message such as: You're already signed in on Chrome on Windows in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana, signed in at 10:02 on 26 Oct. Sign out there first, or wait 5 minutes after it was last used.
What to do:
- Go back to the other device and press your name at the top right, then Sign out. You can then sign in on the new device straight away.
- Or wait 5 minutes after you last used the other device. A sign-in nobody uses ends by itself.
- If you can't reach the other device, ask a system administrator to sign you out there.
- If it wasn't you on that device, change your password at once (this signs out every other device) and tell a system administrator.
Signing in again in the same browser is fine: the new sign-in takes over. The older window then says You signed in again in this browser. Use that window.
Other messages on the sign-in page
- The Council signed you out. Sign in again.: an administrator ended your sign-in, for example to let you sign in on another computer.
- Your password was changed. Sign in again.: your password was changed or reset, so every sign-in ended. Use the new password.
- Your session has ended, sign in again: the sign-in ended for another reason. Just sign in again.
What you will see
- The Are you still there? box with a countdown and two buttons, Sign out now and Stay signed in.
- A yellow note above the sign-in form saying why you were signed out. It shows once.
- A red message when a sign-in is refused because your account is in use on another device.
Check yourself
Pick an answer for each question, then press Check my answers. Nothing is saved or sent.