> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instantcampaign.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Getting started
> The sign-up wizard and the Getting started checklist that takes a new workspace from sign-up to its first sent campaign.
A new workspace goes through two things: a short **sign-up wizard** that collects the basics, then the **Getting started** checklist that walks you to your first sent campaign. Every step on the checklist is checked against your workspace automatically. Nothing is ticked by hand, so the list always shows what your workspace can actually do.
## The sign-up wizard
After you create your account, the wizard asks for the steps below. If you signed up with email and password, **Plan** comes first. If you signed up with Google, **Sender Info** comes first and **Plan** follows it.
| Step | What you enter |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sender Info** | Company / organization, the **Sender Email** ("the from address for your campaigns"), and a postal address. Only the company name is needed to continue. You need the address for email compliance (GDPR / CAN-SPAM), so add it here or later under **Settings → Sender Information**. |
| **Plan** | Only shown to the workspace owner when the workspace isn't already paying and isn't on an Enterprise plan. Pick **Continue with Free** or a paid plan. If you chose a plan on the pricing page, it's pre-selected. |
| **Branding** | Logo URL, brand colors, fonts and social links. Use **Quick-fill from your website** and **Scan** to fill these in from your site. |
| **Customize** | Your experience level: **Beginner** or **Advanced**. |
| **Finish** | **Show me the way** opens the Getting started checklist. **Skip to dashboard** and **Browse templates** are also available. |
If you pick a paid plan, you pay through Paddle's checkout and then come back to the wizard. The plan can take a minute to activate after payment. See [Billing and plans](/guides/sending-and-workspace/billing-and-plans).
## The Getting started checklist
Open it from **Getting started** in the sidebar (under **Dashboard**) or from the setup card on the dashboard. The page is titled **Send your first campaign**. Each step says why it matters, shows its current state (for example `example.com — waiting for DNS records`), and has one button that takes you to the right place.
| Step | Importance | Done when |
| ------------------------------------- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Confirm who your emails come from** | Required | A sender address exists **and** the workspace has a street, city and country. If only the email address is set, the step shows as in progress. Edit both under **Settings → Sender Information**. |
| **Authenticate your sending domain** | Recommended | At least one domain under **Domain Authentication** is verified. |
| **Add your logo and brand colours** | Optional | A logo is set, or the primary color has been changed from the default. |
| **Add your first contacts** | Required | The workspace has at least one contact. **Import contacts** opens the import dialog on the page. |
| **Create your first campaign** | Required | A campaign exists that didn't fail to generate. |
| **Send yourself a test** | Recommended | Someone in the workspace has sent a test email. **Open the campaign** opens the campaign's first email in the builder. |
| **Send your first campaign** | Required | A campaign send exists that isn't cancelled or failed. A send scheduled for later counts. |
| **Invite a teammate** | Optional | The workspace has more than one member. A pending invite shows as in progress. |
The progress counter (`{done} of {total} steps done`) counts only required and recommended steps. Optional steps never count.
### Warnings you might see
* **Personal mailbox sender:** if your sender address is on gmail.com, outlook.com, yahoo.com, icloud.com, proton.me or a similar free provider, the sender step warns you. Mailbox providers often reject marketing mail from those domains, so use an address on a domain you own.
* **Unaligned sending:** if you've verified a domain but your sender address is on a *different* domain, the domain step warns that mail still goes out unaligned. Change the sender address or verify its domain.
## Who sees the checklist
* **Owners and administrators** see the checklist in the sidebar and on the dashboard, and can act on every step.
* **Other roles** can open the page and see the steps as read-only, with a note to ask an owner or admin.
## Hiding the checklist
Click **Hide guide** to remove the checklist from the sidebar and dashboard for **everyone** in the workspace. The page stays reachable, and **Show in sidebar** brings it back.
Once every **required** step is done, the checklist is complete and retires for good. It won't come back even if you later delete your contacts or campaigns, and the page sends you to the dashboard.
## Troubleshooting
Status is re-checked whenever you come back to the tab. Refresh the page. For the domain step, the domain must actually be verified, not just added. See [Sender identity and domain authentication](/guides/sending-and-workspace/sender-and-domains).
Sender profiles can only use a domain your workspace has verified, either under **Domain Authentication** or at a connected email provider. Verify the domain first.
Either someone hid it (open `/getting-started` and click **Show in sidebar**), or every required step is done and the checklist has retired.