Signing in without SSO (external login)
Not part of your organization's SSO? Use the external login page, and see what admins need to set up for it to work.
What is external login?
Most organizations using QBank let their employees sign in with single sign-on (SSO) through their own identity provider, such as Microsoft Entra ID. People who are not part of that setup can't use SSO. This includes agencies, freelancers, retailers, partners and consultants. They sign in through the external login page instead, with a username and password stored in QBank.
The external login page is always available alongside SSO. Both methods work in parallel on the same QBank instance or media portal.
Who should use the external login page?
Use external login if your organization's QBank admin has created a QBank account for you with a password, and you don't have an account with the organization's identity provider. If you're an employee who normally signs in with SSO, keep using SSO. The external page only works for accounts that have a QBank password.
How to find your external login URL
Add /external to the address you normally use:
- For QBank (the DAM):
yourcompany.qbank.se/external - For a media portal:
your-portal-address/external, for examplemedia.yourcompany.com/external
If you're unsure which one you need, ask the admin who invited you. Editors and admins who upload and manage files usually use QBank. People who only browse and download usually use the media portal.
How to sign in without SSO
- Set your password first. When your account is created, you receive a welcome email with a link to set your password. Use that link once, only to set the password.
- Go to the external login URL, not the link in the welcome email. The welcome link can send you to your organization's SSO login instead of the external login page.
- Enter your username and password. Your username is usually your email address.
- Bookmark the external login URL so you can find it next time.
Don't use buttons like "Sign in with Microsoft" or "Sign in with Google" on the regular login page. Those send you to the organization's SSO, which won't recognize your account.
For admins: setting up an external user
Most external login problems come from how the account is set up. When you add an external user, check the following:
- Password. The user needs a QBank password, set either by the user through the welcome email or by you. An account without a password can't sign in through the external page.
- User type. Choose Backend if the user should work in QBank itself, or Frontend if they should only reach the media portal.
- At least one group. A user with no groups can sign in but won't have access to anything. QBank support can't assign groups for you; this is done by your admin.
- Roles on those groups. Some groups carry roles that restrict access, such as a role that blocks QBank login. If a user can reach the portal but not QBank, check their groups' roles.
- End date. If the account has an end date, the user can no longer sign in once it has passed. This is especially common for agencies and time-limited partners.
- The right URL. Send the user the exact external login URL (with /external) together with their invitation. Don't rely on the link in the welcome email.
Can external login be switched off? No. The external login page can't be disabled on an SSO-enabled instance. You control who can use it through which users have QBank passwords, and through their user type and roles.
Troubleshooting
| What happens | Most likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You're sent to your organization's SSO / Microsoft login | You used the normal URL or the link in the welcome email | Go to the URL ending in /external |
| "Invalid credentials" even though the password is correct | You're signing in to QBank when your account is for the media portal, or the other way around | Ask your admin which URL applies to you |
| You sign in but see nothing, or get "no permission" | Your account has no groups | Ask your admin to add you to a group |
| It worked before but has stopped working | Your account's end date has passed | Ask your admin to extend the end date |
| You can use the media portal but not QBank | Your user type is Frontend, or a group role blocks QBank login | Ask your admin to check user type and roles |
| You never got a password, or can't set one | The account was created without a password or the email didn't arrive | Ask your admin to set a password or resend the invitation |
If none of this helps, contact QBank support with the URL you're using, your username, a screenshot of the error, and roughly when it happened.
Summary
Employees sign in with SSO. Everyone else signs in with a QBank username and password at the organization's URL followed by /external. When external login fails, the cause is almost always the account setup (password, groups, end date, user type or roles) or the wrong URL. The login page itself is rarely the problem.