Login Page Designer
The login page is the first thing every client sees, so it should look like your firm — not like software. The Login Designer at Settings → Login Design is a live editor: the left side shows the page, the right side holds the controls, and every change previews as you make it and saves as you go.
Opening the Designer
Settings → Login Design (/settings/login-design/). Access follows the cove_appearance_manage capability, so it's configurable per role in User Management → Permissions rather than being locked to administrators.
What You Can Design
- Layout — form on the left or right, and how wide it sits
- Logo — which logo (light or dark), where it sits, and its size
- The side panel — a background color or image, an overlay tint, a graphic or video, and the title and description text on it
- Form heading — the greeting above the form (default "Welcome Back!")
- Two custom links — covered below
- Custom CSS — an escape hatch for anything the controls don't reach
Which login methods appear — password, magic link, registration, forgot password — is not a design decision, so it lives in Settings → Authentication instead, alongside bot protection.
Panel Photos
The Panel Feed settings in the Login Designer choose where the side panel's background picture comes from:
| Option | What it shows | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| ClientCove photo library (default) | Six Unsplash photos picked for your type of business, crossfading every 6 seconds | None |
| Static image | The Panel Background image you uploaded, or the panel color if there isn't one | Upload an image |
| Picsum | One random photo that changes daily | None |
| Unsplash with my own key | A random photo matching your keywords | A free Unsplash Access Key |
| Custom slideshow | Your own images on a 6-second loop | Upload at least 3 images |
New portals start on the photo library. A brand-new portal gets it as soon as setup begins, so even your first sign-in shows the rotating photos. Portals that were already set up keep whatever they had: running the setup wizard again never changes the panel, and neither does an update. A choice you save here is never overwritten.
Choosing the photos. With the photo library selected, the optional Search terms box swaps the business-type photos for your own subjects. Use commas between terms, for example architecture, coffee, workspace. Leave it blank to go back to photos for your business type.
Photographer credit. Each library photo carries a small "Photo by … on Unsplash" line in the corner of the panel, as Unsplash asks. It changes with the photo. On phones the credit is hidden, because the panel there is a short strip above the form and the line would cover your logo.
The photo library is served through your ClientCove license. If the portal has no license key, or the photo service can't be reached, the panel quietly falls back to the Static image option until the photos are available again, so the login page never shows a blank panel.
The overlay tint applies on top of every option, which helps keep white panel text readable over busy photos.
The Two Custom Links
Two link slots, each with its own spot on the page:
- Top Link — above the form heading. The natural home for "← Back to our website", so a client who landed on the login page by accident has a way back to your marketing site.
- Bottom Link — under the form. The "Don't have an account? Sign up here" spot.
Both take a fully custom label. A slot renders nothing until it has both a label and a destination — a half-configured slot never puts a dead link on your login page, and a fresh install shows neither until you set them up.
Where the Bottom Link Goes
The bottom link's destination is a choice:
- The registration page — resolves through the same registration-page setting the built-in "Create Account" line uses, so the two always agree, and the link keeps tracking that setting if you later move registration to a different page. The URL field disappears; there's nothing to type.
- A custom URL — anywhere. A paid signup flow, a sales page, a Calendly link. Where signing up happens is a business decision, and the designer doesn't assume it's the built-in registration.
The top link is always a custom URL — "back to our website" has no built-in destination to offer.
Link Icons
Each slot can carry an icon, placed before or after the label — the natural pairings being an arrow ahead of "Back to our website" and a person-plus after "Sign up here". The picker offers arrows, chevrons, external-link, house, person-plus, envelope, telephone, globe, credit card, cart, and star; the position control appears once an icon is chosen.
Icons take the link's color automatically — including a color you pick below — and preview live. The list is fixed on purpose: only icons from the picker ever render. If you just want a simple arrow character, typing ← or → directly into the label also works; the icon control exists for a true icon glyph with proper spacing.
If registration display is enabled in Settings → Authentication, the built-in "Don't have an account? Create Account" line renders too — and with a custom bottom link configured you'll have both, which reads doubled. Pick one: either the built-in line or your custom link.
Link Styles and Colors
Each slot renders as a text link or a button, and buttons come in solid or outline:
| Setting | What the color paints |
|---|---|
| Text link | The text itself |
| Solid button | The fill — text flips black or white automatically so it stays readable on any color |
| Outline button | The border and the text, on a transparent fill |
Leave the color empty and the slot uses your theme's default link and button styling. The picker is the same color control used elsewhere in the designer, and everything previews live.
Custom CSS
The Custom CSS box injects styles into the login page only. Use it for the last mile — the controls cover layout, branding and the links, and CSS covers whatever's left. Styles here are yours to maintain across theme updates.