Frequently asked questions

Anyone with an interest in architecture is welcome — whether you're a licensed architect, a student, a recent graduate, an urban planner, an interior designer, or simply someone who loves the built environment. There are no credentials required to join.

Yes — completely free. There are no subscription tiers, no paywalled features, and no fees for posting jobs, projects, or office profiles. Every feature on the platform is available to all members.

After creating your account, we recommend: (1) completing your profile — add a photo, profession, nationality, and headline; (2) building your resume; (3) posting your first project or thought; (4) following a few architects whose work interests you. The platform's suggestions and feed improve the more you engage.

The platform interface is available in English and Arabic. User-generated content — posts, project descriptions, job listings — can be written in any language.

Not yet. Architectena is a responsive web application that works well on mobile browsers. A dedicated app is something we're considering for the future.

Go to your profile page and click Edit profile. You can update your name, profession, nationality, bio, social links, cover image, and avatar from there.

Yes. Go to Edit profile → Account settings to change your username. Note that your profile URL will change with it, so any existing links will need to be updated.

The availability badge signals to recruiters and offices whether you are open to new opportunities. Options include Open to work, Open to freelance, and Not available. It appears as a coloured ring on your avatar across the platform.

The Workspace is your personal dashboard — it consolidates your posts, projects, saved items, draft content, messages, and notifications in one place. Accessible from your profile sidebar.

Go to Settings → Account and scroll to the danger zone. Deactivation hides your profile without deleting data. Full deletion is permanent and removes all your content from the platform.

Visit any profile and click Follow. If the account is private, your request will be held until they approve it. To unfollow, return to the profile and click Following. The posts of people you follow appear in your Following feed on the home page.

Click Add post from the home page or the Posts section. Write your content, add a cover image and attachments if needed, choose a topic tag, then hit Publish. You can save a draft and return to it later.

You can share written posts (ideas, critiques, discoveries, questions), images, attachments (PDF, drawings, documents up to 25 MB per batch), and links. Posts can be public or private. Audio and video are not directly supported — use a link instead.

The home feed has three tabs: Following (posts from people you follow), For you (personalised recommendations based on your field, groups, and engagement), and Topics (posts filtered by your subscribed topic tags). Switch between them at any time.

Yes — click the bookmark icon on any post card or post detail page. Saved posts are accessible from Profile → Saved items or your Workspace.

Click the three-dot menu (⋯) on any post and select Report. Choose the reason that applies. Reports are reviewed by the moderation team. Reporting a post hides it from your feed immediately.

Go to Jobs → Add job. Fill in the title, description, location, salary range, and required field. You can link the listing to an office profile and set an expiry date. Job posts are free.

A Listing is a specific job vacancy with a title, salary, and role type. An Open Call is a standing invitation from an office — 'we're always looking for talented architects' — without a specific vacancy. Open Calls have no salary or level fields.

Each listing has an Apply now button that opens a structured application form (cover letter, portfolio link, availability). Some listings also offer Quick apply — a one-click application that sends your profile directly to the poster.

Set your filters in the Jobs search bar (field, country, salary, etc.) and click Save this search. Give the search a name and choose alert frequency — daily or weekly. You'll receive an email when new matching jobs are posted. Manage saved searches from the Saved button in the toolbar.

Yes — click the Map button in the Jobs toolbar. All geo-coded listings appear as pins on a world map, making it easy to spot opportunities in a specific city or region.

Go to Projects → Add project. Fill in the title, description, location, year, programme type, and team. Upload a cover image and inspiration photos. Save as draft or publish immediately.

Yes. Toggle Private when creating or editing a project. Private projects are only visible to you and any team members you add.

Images are automatically resized and converted to WebP on upload — no need to resize before uploading. Cover images are capped at 1920 × 600 px; inspiration images at 1920 × 1920 px. Maximum individual file size is 10 MB.

Yes — when creating a project, select the office from the Associated office field if you are a staff member of that office. The project will appear in the office's portfolio.

Go to Offices → Add office. Fill in the name, country, city, description, website, and founding year. Upload a logo and cover image. You'll become the office admin automatically.

From your office dashboard, go to Staff and invite members by username. Invited users receive a notification and can accept or decline. Staff members can post on the office's behalf, add projects, and manage the jobs board.

A verified badge indicates the office profile has been confirmed as representing a real, operating architecture firm. Verification is currently done manually — contact us via the Contact page if you'd like your office reviewed.

Yes. Click Follow on any office page. You'll be notified when the office posts new jobs, projects, or news.

Browse groups from the Groups section and click Join. Open groups admit you immediately. Private groups send a request to the admin who approves or declines.

Go to Groups → Create group. Set a name, description, cover image, and choose whether the group is public or private. As creator you become the group admin.

Admins can approve or reject membership requests, remove members, post announcements, edit the group description and cover, and delete the group. Regular members can post, comment, and react within the group.

Open the group page and click Leave group from the members panel or the group settings menu. If you are the only admin, you'll be prompted to assign a new admin before leaving.

Situ is Architectena's place-pinning feature. Think of it as a shared architectural atlas — members pin buildings, spaces, and sites they've visited or find significant, with notes, photos, and coordinates. Every pin appears on the world map at Situ → Map.

Go to Situ → Add pin. Enter the place name, location (city, country, coordinates), a description, category, and optional photo. Publish and your pin appears on the map instantly.

Yes — open any pin's detail page and use the comment field at the bottom. Comments appear in real time without a page reload.

The Situ map shows all published pins as interactive markers. Click a marker to see the place name and a link to its detail page. Use the search and filter controls to narrow down by category or country.

Your resume is automatically created when you sign up. Access it from Profile → Resume or the Workspace. Add sections for education, work experience, skills, languages, certifications, and links. Each section saves independently.

Yes — open your resume page and click Save to PDF. The browser renders the resume in a print-optimised layout. For best results use Chrome or Edge with 'Save as PDF' selected.

By default, your resume is visible to other logged-in members. You can restrict visibility to yourself only via Resume → Settings → Visibility.

Any professional certification — architectural licences (ARB, AIA, RIBA, etc.), software certificates, CPD courses, or workshop completions. You can upload a certificate image alongside each entry.

Profiles are visible to all logged-in members by default. You can make your account private from Settings → Privacy — this means only your followers can see your posts and full profile details.

Visit the user's profile, click the three-dot menu (⋯), and select Block. Blocked users cannot see your profile, follow you, or interact with your content. You can manage the block list in Settings → Privacy.

We collect the information you provide when signing up (name, email, profession) and the content you create (posts, projects, etc.). We do not sell your data to third parties. For full details, refer to our Privacy Policy.

Visit the user's profile and click the three-dot menu (⋯) → Report user. Describe the issue and submit. Reports are reviewed privately; the reported user is not notified of who reported them.