Getting started

Question 1

What is BJJ Square and what is it for?

Accepted Answer

BJJ Square is a site for people who train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling. You open it on your phone or on your computer. It is not a course and it is not a chat. It is for these things: Finding gyms on the map, in Italy and around the world. Having your own profile with name, photo, belt and degrees. Logging the sessions you train (it is called a check-in) and earning points and badges. Seeing open mats, competitions and seminars on the Events page. Looking for partners to train with. If you run a gym: managing its public page, schedule and instructors. BJJ Square works inside your browser, like a normal website. There is nothing to download from the stores. See the gym map How it works

Question 2

Do I have to pay for anything?

Accepted Answer

No. Today you pay nothing on BJJ Square. All of this is free: Searching for gyms and looking at them. Creating your account and your profile. Doing check-ins at training. Points, badges and the BJJ Square Card. Seeing and posting events. Posting and reading listings to find training partners. Managing your gym's page. There is no page anywhere on the site where you type in a credit card. If someone asks you to pay for BJJ Square, it is not BJJ Square: write to us at info@bjjsquare.com.

Question 3

Do I really have to create an account? What can I do without one?

Accepted Answer

No, it is not compulsory. You can look around without an account. To actually do things you need one. Without an account you can: See the map and the gym pages. See the events: open mats, competitions, seminars. Read the listings of people looking for training partners. See other athletes' public profiles. With an account you can also: Do check-ins at training and earn points and badges. Have your own profile with photo, belt and degrees. Create your BJJ Square Card. Propose a gym that is missing from the map. Post a listing to find training partners. Propose an event. Manage your gym's page. You also need an account to propose a new gym. If you open that page without being logged in, the site sends you to the “Log in” screen without telling you why. Create your account

Question 4

How do I create an account?

Accepted Answer

You need three things: your name, your email and a password you choose yourself. It takes a minute.

Open the Create account page. On a computer the red “Sign up” button is at the top right. On a phone it is in the same place, at the top right.
In the “Full name” field write your first name and surname, like “John Doe”.
In the “Email” field write your email. Read it back letter by letter before you go on.
In the “Password” field write a password of at least 6 characters. Underneath it says “At least 6 characters”.
Tick the little box next to the line “By signing up you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.”. Without the tick the button stays off and will not press.
If a spam-check box appears, wait for it to turn green on its own.
Press the red “Create account” button. For a few seconds it says “Signing up…”.
A screen appears with a drawing of an envelope and the title “Check your email”.
Open your email inbox and click the confirmation link you find in the message.

Note: You are not asked to repeat the password. You are not asked for your phone, your gym or your belt: you add those later, inside your profile.

Careful: Click the confirmation link on the same device and in the same browser where you filled in the sign-up. If you signed up on the computer, do not open the email on your phone: the link does not work.

Note: Until you click the confirmation link you cannot get in. The site answers with the same short message every time: “Invalid login credentials”.

Question 5

The confirmation email never arrives. What do I do?

Accepted Answer

The message usually arrives within a minute. If you cannot see it, check in this order. Wait 5 minutes without doing anything else. Open the Spam (or “Junk”) folder in your mailbox. If you use Gmail, look at the Promotions and Updates tabs at the top too. In your mailbox, search for the words BJJ Square with the magnifying glass. Check that you wrote your email correctly when you signed up. One wrong dot or letter and the message goes to somebody else's address. If you find nothing, you can send yourself a new email. The button is there. If you are still on the “Check your email” screen, press the red link “Resend the confirmation email”. It sits under the box that talks about the device. If you already closed that page, open Log in and try to get in with your email and your password. Under the “Log in” button the question “Haven't confirmed your email yet?” appears. Under it there is the red link “Resend the confirmation email”: press it. The line “Done. If the address is right, a new email arrives within a minute. Check spam and promotions too.” appears. Go back to your mailbox and look again, spam included. The resend never tells you whether the address really exists: the “Done” line always appears, even if the email you typed is wrong. Only if you tried the resend two or three times and still nothing arrives, write to info@bjjsquare.com. Put your name and the email you signed up with: without those two things we cannot find you. If you realise you mistyped your email, do not wait: that message will never arrive. Read the entry below.

Question 6

I clicked the confirmation link and nothing happened

Accepted Answer

Almost always there is one single reason: you opened the link somewhere other than where you signed up. The confirmation link works only on the same device and in the same browser where you filled in the sign-up. If you signed up on the computer and open the email on your phone, the link does nothing. It works the other way round too. Go back to the device where you signed up: the same phone or the same computer. Open the browser you used there: Safari, Chrome or whichever it was. Open your email from inside that browser, by going to your mail provider's site. Click the confirmation link from there. The link works once only and expires after a while. If you had already clicked it before, or too much time has passed, it does not work any more: you need a new email. When the link does not work, the site takes you back to the “Log in” page and a red box appears at the top: “That confirmation link didn't work”. From there you send yourself the new email. In the “Email” field type the address you signed up with. Look under the “Log in” button: there is the red link “Resend the confirmation email”. Press it. For a moment it says “Sending…”. The red box is replaced by the line “Done. If the address is right, a new email arrives within a minute. Check spam and promotions too.” Open the new email on the device and in the browser where you signed up, and click that link. If you asked for the resend two or three times, opened the link from the right device and it still will not let you in, write to info@bjjsquare.com with your name and your email. We confirm the account for you.

Question 7

I mistyped my email when I signed up

Accepted Answer

The account email cannot be changed by you. On the profile page the “Email” field is switched off and you cannot type in it. If you got it wrong, that account will never be activated: the confirmation message went to an address that is not yours. If you are still on the “Check your email” screen, press “Start the sign-up again”, under the question “Wrong address?”. The form comes back, with the wrong email still in the “Email” field: correct it there. If you already closed that page, go to Create account and sign up again, this time with the right email. Before you press “Create account”, read the email back letter by letter. Open your mailbox and click the confirmation link. Write to info@bjjsquare.com and ask us to delete the account created with the wrong address. Give both addresses: the wrong one and the right one. Do not try to log in with the wrong address: it will never work, because that account stays unconfirmed. The “Resend the confirmation email” button is no help here: it sends the message to the same wrong address again. Until you tell us, the wrong account just sits there. It bothers nobody, but it is better to remove it.

Question 8

How do I log in?

Accepted Answer

Open the Log in page. On a computer the “Log in” button is at the top right. On a phone tap the button with the three lines ☰ at the top right first: “Log in” is at the bottom of the menu that opens. In the “Email” field write the email you signed up with. In the “Password” field write your password. If a spam-check box appears, wait for it to turn green. Press the red “Log in” button. For a few seconds it says “Logging in…”. If it worked, the page changes on its own and takes you to the gym map, or back to the page you came from. From that moment, at the top right, instead of “Log in” you see your photo (or your initials on a red background). On a phone a bar also appears at the bottom of the screen with “Map”, “Sessions”, “Badges” and “Profile”. If you see that bar, you are in. If a red line of text appears under the fields, like “Invalid login credentials”, the login did not work. Read the entry below: it explains the three possible causes.

Question 9

It says “Invalid login credentials”. What does that mean?

Accepted Answer

It is the standard message the site gives back. It means your login details are not valid. It does not explain anything else. Here is the point: the exact same message appears for three different reasons. The email you wrote is wrong, or you never created an account with that email. The password is wrong. The account exists, but you have not clicked the confirmation link that arrived by email yet. Read back the email you wrote, letter by letter. Check there is no space at the start or at the end. Type the password again by hand. Watch out for capitals and for your phone's autocorrect, which sometimes changes the first letter. Look in your mailbox for the BJJ Square confirmation message and click the link, even if it is days old. If that link no longer works, you land back on the “Log in” page with a red box. Under the “Log in” button the link “Resend the confirmation email” appears: press it and a new message arrives. If it still will not let you in, use “Forgot your password?” on the login page. Many of the site's error messages are short and technical, and they come up in English whatever language you chose. It is a known fault and we are fixing it. It does not mean your account is broken.

Question 10

I forgot my password

Accepted Answer

There is no need to create a new account. We send you a link by email to choose a new one. Open the Log in page. Under the “Log in” button tap the words “Forgot your password?”. The “Reset your password” page opens. In the “Email” field write your account email. Press the red “Send reset link” button. The words “Check your email” appear, and under them a reminder about the spam folder. Open your mailbox and click the link you find in the message. The “Set a new password” page opens. In the “New password” field write the new password, at least 6 characters. In the “Confirm password” field write the same password again. Press “Save password”. The words “Password updated” appear. Tap “Back to login” and log in with the new password. The “Check your email” screen appears always, even if that email has no account on BJJ Square. It is not proof that the account exists. We do it on purpose, so we do not tell strangers who is signed up and who is not. The reset link works once only and expires after a short time. If “Invalid or expired link” appears, tap “Request a new link” and start over. If nothing arrives: spam folder, “Promotions” and “Updates” tabs on Gmail, and check that you wrote the right email. If you are still stuck, write to info@bjjsquare.com.

Question 11

How do I change my password?

Accepted Answer

This is what to do when you are already logged in and want to change your password. If you cannot remember it, use “Forgot your password?” instead. Tap your photo (or your initials) at the top right. In the menu that opens tap “Change password”. In the “New password” field write the new password, at least 6 characters. In the “Confirm password” field write the same password again. Press the red “Update password” button. A green box appears saying “✓ Password updated”, and under it the link “Back to profile →”. You are not asked for the password you use now. Anyone who picks up your phone or your computer while you are still logged in can change it in ten seconds. Do not stay logged in on devices that are not yours. If “Passwords don't match.” appears, the two fields are not the same: write both of them again. If “Password must be at least 6 characters.” appears, the password is too short. You can also get there from Settings, the “Security” section, the “Change password” item. Go to Change password

Question 12

How long do I stay logged in? Do I have to log in every time?

Accepted Answer

No, you do not have to log in every time. Once you are in you stay in, even if you close the site and open it again the next day. The login counts on that device and in that browser. Your phone and your computer are two separate logins. If you clear your history and browsing data, you are logged out and have to log in again. If you browse in private or incognito mode, you are logged out as soon as you close the window. If you change phone, on the new phone you have to log in again. To log out on purpose: Tap your photo (or your initials) at the top right. Scroll the menu right to the bottom. Tap “Log out”, written in red. You go back to the site's home page and “Log in” and “Sign up” come back at the top right. Today there is no screen that shows which devices you are logged in on, and you cannot log them out from a distance. If you stayed logged in on somebody else's computer, the only way is to go back there and press “Log out”.

Question 13

How do I change the language of the site?

Accepted Answer

BJJ Square is in 6 languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German. You can change it whenever you want. On a computer: Look at the top right, next to the “Log in” button or your photo. There is a small button with a language icon and two letters, for example “EN”. Tap it: a list opens with Italiano, English, Español, Português, Français, Deutsch. Tap the language you want. There is a tick next to the one that is active. The page reloads on its own in the language you chose. On a phone: Tap the button with the three lines ☰ at the top right. Scroll the menu right to the bottom. Under the menu items there is a row of short codes: IT, EN, ES, PT, FR, DE. Tap the code of the language you want. The menu closes and the page changes language. Your choice stays saved on that device. It counts on your profile pages too, where the address does not change. The Privacy, Terms and Cookie pages exist in English and Italian only. If you choose Spanish, Portuguese, French or German, those three pages stay in English. Some error messages come up in English in every language, for example “Invalid login credentials”. It is a known fault, being fixed.

Question 14

How do I put BJJ Square on my phone like an app? (iPhone)

Accepted Answer

On iPhone this only works with Safari. In Chrome or any other browser the “Add to Home Screen” item simply is not there. If you use Chrome, close it and open Safari. Open Safari (the icon with the light blue compass). In the address bar type bjjsquare.com and go. Wait for the page to load completely. Tap the Share button: it is the square with the arrow pointing up, at the bottom of the screen, in the middle. In the list that opens, scroll down. Tap “Add to Home Screen”. A screen appears with the name “BJJ Square”. You can shorten it if you want. At the top right tap “Add”. Close Safari: on your phone's home screen you find the new red BJJ Square icon. If you cannot see the Share button, tap the address bar at the bottom of the screen once: the buttons come back. Opened this way, BJJ Square fills the whole screen and does not show the address bar. It always stays upright: it does not turn if you rotate the phone. It is not a real downloaded app. You always need an internet connection to use it.

Question 15

How do I put BJJ Square on my phone like an app? (Android)

Accepted Answer

On Android you do this with Chrome, the browser with the coloured circle. Open Chrome. In the address bar type bjjsquare.com and go. Wait for the page to load completely. Tap the three dots ⋮ button at the top right. In the list look for “Install app” (on some phones it is called “Add to Home screen”). Tap it. A small window appears: tap “Install” (or “Add”). The red BJJ Square icon appears among your apps. Sometimes Chrome offers a prompt at the bottom of the screen by itself, saying to add BJJ Square to your Home screen. You can use that one too. If the “Install app” item is not there: check you really are in Chrome and not in another browser, and check you have not already installed it before. It is not a real app downloaded from the Play Store. You always need an internet connection to use it.

Question 16

Do I have to download anything from the App Store or the Play Store?

Accepted Answer

No. BJJ Square is not on the App Store or on the Play Store. If you look for it there you will not find it, and it is not your mistake. BJJ Square works inside your browser. You have two ways to use it: Open bjjsquare.com in your browser, like any other site. Add it to your phone's home screen, so you have the icon next to your other apps. Added to the home screen, it takes up hardly any space: it is not a heavy app to download. If you find an app in the stores that says it is BJJ Square, it is not ours. Do not install it, and write to us at info@bjjsquare.com.

Question 17

Does the app work without a connection? Will I get notifications on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Both answers are no. It is fair to know now, so you do not wait for nothing. Without a connection it does not work. Even if you added the icon to your phone, BJJ Square always needs the internet. At the gym with no signal and no wifi you cannot do the check-in and you cannot see the pages. No notifications arrive on your phone. No alerts popping up on the screen, no sound, no dot on the icon. Not by email either: in Settings the “Email notifications” item is marked “soon” and today it sends nothing. Notifications do exist, but they live inside the site. To see them: Tap your photo (or your initials) at the top right. Tap the “Notifications” item. If you have unread ones, there is a red number next to it. The list opens. If it is empty you see “No notifications”. When you have finished you can tap “Mark all as read”. Since nobody warns you, check that page now and then. That is where invites to co-manage a gym, the confirmation of your verified belt and your gym's announcements arrive. Open your notifications

Question 18

I have just created my account: what do I do now?

Accepted Answer

Five things, in this order. It takes ten minutes and your profile is sorted. Put up your photo. Go to Profile. At the top there is a red square with your initial: tap it and pick a photo from your phone. JPG, PNG or WebP are fine, up to 5 MB. Once it is uploaded, the photo takes the place of the red square. Choose your username. On the same page, in the “Username” field write the name you want people to see, for example “john_bjj”. You can only use lowercase letters, numbers and the underscore: other characters do not get typed at all. Set your gym. Go to Tatami and scroll down to “Home academy”. Write the name of your gym and tap it in the list that appears underneath. Declare your belt. Still on the Tatami page, at the top under the words “Change belt”, tap the colour of your belt. Then, under “Stripes”, tap how many stripes you have. Do your first check-in. Go to My sessions. If your gym has a class today, tap the red “I'm here” button next to the time. The green word “Checked in” appears, with the points you earned. Every time you change something in your profile you have to press “Save changes”, the button at the bottom of the page. When it has saved, the green words “✓ Saved” appear. If you leave the page without saving, you lose what you wrote. If there is no class on the schedule today, at the bottom of the box you find “Free training” with the “Free check-in” button. It works the same way. A check-in can never be deleted, by anybody and in no way at all. Do not press those buttons just to try: it stays on your record for good, with the points and the badges. If you have not chosen your gym yet, the “My sessions” page shows you the “Set your home gym” box with the “Find your gym” button. Do step 3 first. If you leave the username empty, the site makes one up starting from your email. It is the address of your public profile: better to choose it yourself. When you have finished, add your coach too. Still on the Tatami page, under “Current coach”, search for them and tap them: if they are on BJJ Square they get a request to confirm. Then on the Promotions tab you can write down who gave you your belts.

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