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[:FrontPage:Launchpad user guide] > [:YourAccount:Your account]

Overview

Before you start using Launchpad, you need to [:YourAccount/NewAccount:set up a Launchpad account]. With your new Launchpad account, you'll be able to:

• show other people what work you do in Launchpad and earn karma
• join thousands of teams working on free software
• file, comment on, triage and solve bugs
• host and monitor code in Bazaar branches or CVS and Subversion repostiories
• help translate software
• contribute ideas and specifications to free software projects, then track their progress
• ask for and offer help with free software
• build and host Ubuntu packages
• register your own project and make its binaries available for download.

Of course, you can pick and choose which parts of Launchpad interest you.

Managing your account

Here are some of the things you might want to do when you first join Launchpad:

• [:YourAccount/NewAccount:Create and personalise your account]

• [:YourAccount/Branding:Brand your account]

• [:YourAccount/ImportingYourPGPKey:Import an OpenPGP key]

• [:YourAccount/CreatingAnSSHKeyPair:Import your SSH keys]

• [:YourAccount/Karma:Learn about Launchpad karma]

Once you've been using Launchpad for a while, you may want to:

• [:YourAccount/Merging:Merge two accounts]

And we'd hate to see you leave but, if you need to, you can also [:YourAccount/ClosingYourAccount:close your account].

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