# Creating your first project

Upon registration, FormShare will take you to the Dashboard. The dashboard is the place for exploring your active project and its form. However, at this point, you are directed to create your first project.

![](/files/3aTLwE90VYyYUSbLC1y9)

1. **Dashboard:** Click on this link to access the dashboard at any time.
2. **Projects:** Click on this link to access the current list of projects.
3. **Profile:** Click on your name to access your profile.
4. **Time zone:** Pull down this list to change the timezone of the current page.
5. **Language:** Pull down this list to change the language of the application.
6. **Sign out:** Click this link to exit FormShare.
7. **Create project:** Click on the "Create a new project" button to add a new project. The "Add new project" screen will appear.

![](/files/b53xwO0HnUJlZfuAMKA6)

To add a project you will need to provide the following information:

* Code: This is a short name to identify your project within FormShare. The name cannot have any special characters besides underscore (\_). This name must be unique across your account and **cannot be changed afterward**.
* Name: This is the full name of your project. It can contain spaces but must not exceed 120 characters.
* Color: In ODK Collect each project can have a color for easy identification.
* Icon: In ODK Collect each project can have **one** icon/emoji for easy identification.
* Time zone: This should be the time zone where submissions happen.
* Abstract: Type here any other information regarding your project
* Use a case/longitudinal workflow (optional): Check this option if the forms within this project and their submissions will be related to cases. You can read more about this in the section "[Longitudinal data collection](/data-management/longitudinal.md)"
* Requires authentication to accept data (optional): By default, data collectors require to enter their credentials to submit data. Uncheck this option to have public/crowdsourcing submissions.

Click on the "Add project button" to add the project. If there are problems with any of the fields, FormShare will tell you the problem and enable you to correct it. When the fields are filled in correctly, FormShare will create your project and take you to the "Project Details" page to upload your first form. Other information related to projects is covered in the "[Project](/fundamentals/projects.md)" section.


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