<aside> 🧑🏻‍🏫 This page is designed to guide students who are using DocumentCloud in the classroom.

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<aside> 📚 See our other Guides and Manuals: Get the Most Out of MuckRock and DocumentCloud for more tips and tricks on getting the most out of MuckRock tools. And if this was helpful to you, consider making a donation to support our work!

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We’re using MuckRock’s DocumentCloud this semester. You have to be part of a verified newsroom to upload to DocumentCloud, so it is important to follow these directions carefully!

Everyone in the class will be receiving an invitation to our class “Organization” on MuckRock. You will need to create a MuckRock account and accept this invitation before you can complete your assignments.

You will not need to apply for verification in order to use DocumentCloud this semester. If you find yourself at a form that is asking you to “request verification” that likely means that you skipped a step and did not actually join the class “Organization”on MuckRock.

Step-By-Step

Find your invitation

The email will come from “[email protected]” with a subject line like “Invitation to Join The Testing Times” (except “The Testing Times” should be the name of the organization you’re collaborating with).

When you click the link in that invitation, you will be prompted to create a new account, or log in if you already have one.

This screenshot shows an invitation to a MuckRock organization called “David McKie’s Research Methods” — your invitation will name a different MuckRock organization (unless you’re enrolled in Prof McKie’s class.)

Create your account and log in

• If you don’t have an account you will need to create one, but your invitation should be right there once you do. Use the “Sign Up” button to create your account.
• If you have an account, but are not logged in, you’ll be prompted to log in and you should see a prompt inviting you to follow through on the invitation.

When you click through from the invite in your inbox, you’ll see the invitation above on MuckRock. Your instructor will be able to tell you what the name of the organization is — it won’t be “The Testing Times.”

Accept the Invitation

After you create your account or log in, you should see a green alert window, inviting you to view your invitation. If you dismiss green alert, you may need to look back at your email to find the link that will let you accept the invitation.

This screenshot shows an un-handled invitation to join an organization called “Democracy Day 2022” — if you create an account and log in, but don’t click the link that was in the email from MuckRock, you’ll still see the invitation in a green box when you’re logged in to accounts.muckrock.com.

If you are not seeing that green alert, or you think you already dismissed it by accident, you can still join. Go back to your email, find that invitation, and try the “click here to accept…” link again.

If you’re already logged in…

If you are already logged in, the “click here to accept” link will take you straight to a page where you will have the option to accept or reject the invitation.

Stuck?

If you get stuck, you can reach out to your instructor for help, or contact [email protected]. To ensure that the MuckRock team has enough information to help you, make sure you are thorough in explaining what is happening. Include the URL you were visiting, what you expected to see, and what you actually saw.

It often helps to see a screenshot as well.

Especially when you’re on deadline, the more information you give the MuckRock support team, the faster they can get you sorted out.