Getting started

Quick start

This page takes you from nothing to talking with friends in a voice channel. It takes about five minutes, and every step links to a page with the full details.

1. Create your account#

Go to sunflare.me/signup and fill in four things:

Username
3 to 20 characters: letters, numbers, and underscores only. This is how people find and @mention you. You can change it later (see Username and display name).
Email
Used for your verification code and security codes. It is never shown to other people.
Password
At least 8 characters. Use one you don't use anywhere else.
Birthday
You must be at least 13. Accounts aged 13 to 17 get safer defaults automatically (see Teen accounts).
Example

Username night_owl_42 works. night owl (a space) and no (too short) don't. Usernames aren't case-sensitive: Night_Owl_42 and night_owl_42 are the same name.

2. Verify your email#

Sunflare sends a short code to your email. Until you enter it, a banner at the top of the app says Verify your email to secure your account, with Verify and Resend code buttons. The code is valid for 24 hours, and you can ask for a new one every 30 seconds.

3. Take the tour (or skip it)#

The first time you open the app, a short guided tour highlights the real parts of the screen: the server rail on the far left, the channel list, the message box, your mute button, Direct Messages, and Settings. You can skip it at any point, and it only runs once per account.

4. Join a server#

A server is a community with its own channels and members. There are three ways in:

  1. With an invite link from a friend. Open the link, or click + at the bottom of the server rail, choose Join a Server, and paste the link or just its code.
  2. From Discover. Click the compass at the bottom of the rail to browse public servers anyone can join.
  3. By making your own. Click +, then Create a Server, and give it a name. You start with a #general text channel and a general voice channel.
Example

Invites look like hk7tm2qa or invite.sunflare.me/hk7tm2qa. Both work in the Join a Server box.

More in Servers and Invites and joining.

5. Say hello#

Click a text channel (the ones with a speech bubble icon), type in the box at the bottom, and press Enter. To mention someone, type @ and their username, for example @night_owl_42. They get notified and the mention is highlighted for them.

Everything else about messages (replies, reactions, files, GIFs, editing) is in Messages.

6. Get in a voice call#

  1. Pick your microphone first. Open Settings (the gear next to your name at the bottom left), then Voice & Video, and choose your microphone and speakers. Click Test Microphone and say something: the meter should move.
  2. Click a voice channel (the ones with a headphones icon). You're connected right away. Your name appears under the channel, and the call opens above the chat.
  3. Talk. Whoever is speaking gets a green ring. Use the microphone button to mute yourself and the headphones button to deafen (hear nothing).
  4. Leave with the red Disconnect button in the call, or the red button in the Voice Connected panel at the bottom of the channel list.

Full details, including camera, screen share, and push to talk: Voice and video.

7. Add your friends#

Click the speech bubble at the top of the server rail to open Direct Messages, then search for a friend or type their username to start a conversation. To add someone as a friend, right-click their name anywhere (a message, the member list, a voice channel) and choose Add Friend. From a DM you can start a voice or video call without any server at all. See Direct messages and friends.

8. Make it yours#