Public user login help

Misty Flowers

August 10, 2026 22:33

Public users will learn how to create and log in with a Public User account, Finalsite's term for a self-service account any website visitor can create, including how it differs from a Portal account and how to resolve a missing reset email.

Students, parents, and staff members with a school-issued account should see Portal user login help instead.
Website admins should see Admin user login help instead.

💡 Quick answers

What is a Public User account? A self-service account any website visitor can create. It isn't tied to a school or district role the way a Portal account is.
Where is a Public User account created? On the site's login page at yoursite.com/login, using a Create new account link, if the site has enabled it.
No Create new account link showing up? Public account creation may not be enabled on this site. Contact the school or district to confirm, especially if a Portal account was actually needed instead.
Reset email not arriving? See Resolve a missing reset email below.

Understand the Public User account

A Public User account is a self-service account for general website visitors. It's used to log in, subscribe to alerts, or join mailing lists, and isn't tied to a school or district role the way a Portal account is.

Public User accounts are stored in Constituent Manager under the Public User role, the same system that holds Portal and Admin accounts. The difference is how the account gets there: a Public User account is created directly by the visitor, while a Portal account is already set up by the school in advance.

For how Public compares to Portal and Admin accounts side by side, see Login help: choose a user type.

Create a Public User account

Go to the site's login page: add /login to the end of the site's address, for example www.yoursite.com/login.
Look for a Create new account link, or similar wording, on that page.
Click it and complete the required fields. A CAPTCHA challenge may appear first, to help prevent automated signups.
Submit the form to finish creating the account.

Whether this option appears depends on the site's configuration. If public account creation is disabled for a given site, this link won't appear, and the school or district will need to be contacted directly.

Log in with a Public User account

Return to yoursite.com/login and enter the username or email and password.

What appears on that screen depends on which login experience the site uses. See Connected SSO and Legacy login: Which experience does my site use? Knowing the technical difference isn't required; simply follow whichever set of options actually appears on screen.

Resolve a missing reset email

A missing reset email is one of the most common login issues, and it's almost always caused by the message being blocked or filtered somewhere between Finalsite and the inbox, not by anything wrong with the account. Before trying again:

Double-check the email address. It must exactly match the one used to create the account.
Check the spam or junk folder.
Confirm the correct website. The URL shown on the login screen should be the site's actual address, not a generic or test link.
Still nothing? The receiving email server may be blocking the message. Legacy login users can check out Forgot username or password in Legacy login experience for whitelisting steps that can help.