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How to join the Directory

Click "Register"

Entries in the Freelance Directory are free to paid-up freelance members of the NUJ. If Head Office records do not show you as a freelance, you need to contact the Membership department to ensure that your Directory entry is activated: see the London Freelance Branch Frequently Asked Questions for advice on doing this.

The form must be completed before you can go back and make changes. Fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory, but there are comparatively few of them. Once your entry has been confirmed and accepted it will be easy to modify it: click "Manage my account" in the menu on the left and enter your username and password to access your entry and change it.

To help users select the right freelance, you are asked to supply up to six skill areas and up to ten subject specialisms. You may supply the names of up to five clients. This is not mandatory. If supplied, the names will appear on your entry.

The Directory works best if you restrict yourself to fewer skills and to the subjects you actually specialise in. If you contribute regularly to Flight International, put "Aviation". If you merely fancy a trip to Baikonur, blag it first, some other way, then add "Aviation".

Email and passwords

Your username for changing your entry is the email address you supply when you register.

This must be an email account that you check frequently. It is the route by which potential clients will most probably contact you.

Sharing an email address with a friend may be cosy, but the software here insists that you have your own.

To make sure that the Directory does not become a source of spam grief, potential clients and other Directory members send you messages by clicking on a button and filling in a form. Their message goes to the email address you gave when you registered - and you can also view it by logging in and then clicking the "My messages" link that appears in the menu at the left.

You need to choose a password so that you, and only you, can read these messages online and update your entry in the Directory later.

A good way to choose a password that is fairly secure and easy to remember is to pick two unrelated words and join them with a punctuation mark: for example Brass$Bears (do not use this). Your password must be at least six characters long.

Passwords are case-sensitive so, for instance, Brass$Bears is not the same as brass$bears.

When you have finished entering your registration details, the system sends an email to the address you gave. Follow the instructions to confirm that you want an entry, then complete the rest of it.

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