Guides
How to get from signup to actually using the platform—groups, discussions, contests, and a few things that trip people up.
First-Time Setup
From the home page, hit Signup (or “Join the Team”) and create an account with your email. You’ll get a confirmation link—click it or the account won’t be fully active. Then log in and set a username in your profile. You only get one username change, so pick something you’re okay keeping. After that you can hit the dashboard, skim the five topic categories (Tutorials & Guides, Project Showcase, Tools & Resources, Careers & Jobs, Events), and join groups that match what you care about. Typing Tests are open to everyone and a good way to get a feel for the contests and leaderboards.
- Sign up and confirm your email.
- Set your username in Profile (one-time change).
- Browse the dashboard and join at least one group.
- Optional: run a Typing Test and check the leaderboard.
How Groups Work
Groups are topic-based spaces—e.g. web pentesting, bug bounty, CTF, career advice. Each has an admin who can approve or reject join requests and moderate content. Visibility is set per group:
- Public — Anyone can see the group and join without approval. One click and you’re in.
- Restricted — The group shows up in browse, but you have to request access. The admin approves or denies; you’ll see the status in your dashboard.
- Premium — May require a one-time or recurring payment to join (e.g. paid study groups or training). Payment is handled via our checkout; we don’t take creds in chat or DMs.
Discussions, Replies, and Chat
The main feed is the dashboard. Discussions live under the five categories; you can react (Like, Helpful, Insightful, Thanks), follow topics or authors, and reply in threads. Some discussions have comments disabled by the author—that’s intentional. Chat is 1:1 DMs: search by username to start a thread. Messages are rate-limited (a few seconds between sends per user) to cut down on spam. Chat content is not stored long-term; we don’t keep a permanent log. Announcements are one-way messages from admins (e.g. policy updates or contest launches); you can’t reply to those.
Go to Dashboard →Contests and Achievements
Typing Tests (1-, 3-, 5-minute) are always available and free. Your best runs show up on the leaderboard; you can earn badges and level up. Hacker Cup and Beginner’s Code are coding contests—timed, type-your-own-solution (no paste). Some of those are gated behind premium or a premium group; the contest page will say. Leaderboards are under the Leaderboards link in the nav; you can filter by contest type and time window.
Typing Tests →Account and Safety
Use a strong password and don’t reuse it elsewhere. We never email you asking for your password. If you see something like that, it’s phishing. Don’t post API keys, tokens, or real PII in discussions or chat. For the full picture on rules and reporting, see the Code of Conduct and Security page.
Restricted Words and Filtering
We run a server-side filter on discussions, replies, and DMs. If your message contains a term we classify as offensive, sexually explicit, or promoting illegal activity, it gets rejected and won’t send. The list isn’t public so people don’t game it; the goal is to keep the place usable. Trying to bypass the filter (e.g. with spacing or substitutions) is against the Code of Conduct and Terms. If you think something was blocked by mistake, contact support with the context and we’ll take a look.