Your profile is the first thing another manager sees before they follow you, message you, offer you a player or challenge you to a friendly. This guide walks through the Profile tab of your account, one section at a time, and explains not just where to click but why each field is worth filling in.
What this guide covers
The Profile tab only. Your account also has Activities, Team, Security, Sessions and Settings tabs, and each of those has its own guide. Nothing you do here changes your PIN, your two-factor setup or your signed-in devices.
Before you start
None of this takes long, but having two things ready makes it a single pass instead of three:
Have these to hand
- A square photo of yourself, or of whatever you want representing you. Anything roughly square works best because it gets cropped to a circle.
- The username you want — permanently. You only get to set this once, and it can never be changed afterwards.
- Your correct timezone. This one quietly affects kick-off times and reminders, so it matters more than it looks.
Finding the Profile tab
Open your account area and choose Account from the sidebar. On desktop it sits in the left-hand rail; on mobile it is in the bottom tab bar. The page is then split into tabs across the top, and Profile is the second one.
One Save for the whole tab
You do not need to save after every section. Fill in as much as you want, then press Save Profile once at the end. There is also a Discard Changes button if you want to throw away your edits and start again.
Step 1 — Your profile photo
At the top of the Profile tab is your avatar with two buttons beside it. This image appears next to every post you write, every comment you leave, and in your club and follower lists, so it does more work than any other single field.
Upload your own photo
Press Upload Photo, pick an image, and it replaces your avatar straight away. A roughly square image gives the best result because the image is cropped to a circle — anything very wide or very tall will lose its edges. This option is completely free.
Or generate one with AI
Press Generate with AI if you would rather have something designed. You can optionally describe how you want it to look, and your club colours are used to keep it consistent with the rest of your identity.
- This costs LONIDA and is paid from your club wallet, not from a personal balance.
- Only the club owner, or a team member with the Admin or Finance role, is allowed to spend it.
- You are shown the cost before anything is charged, so you can back out.
If the AI button refuses
Two reasons account for almost every refusal. Either your club wallet does not hold enough LONIDA, or you are a team member without the Admin or Finance role. In the second case, ask your club owner to generate it, or upload a photo instead — the result on your profile is identical.
Step 2 — Basic Information
This is the section that defines who you are on the platform. Two fields here are required, and one of them — your username — is the single most consequential decision on this page, because it is permanent.
What each field does
- First NameRequiredYour real first name. Used where the platform addresses you directly, such as emails.
- Last NameRequiredYour surname. Paired with your first name as a fallback display name if you have no username yet.
- Other NameOptionalA middle or additional name. Entirely optional and never shown publicly on its own.
- Nick NameOptionalWhat people actually call you. A friendly extra, not a replacement for your username.
- UsernameRequiredYour public identity and your profile web address. Permanent — it can only be set once and can never be changed afterwards.
- Email AddressRequiredWhere every notification, verification code and alert is sent. Keep it one you actually read.
Your username is permanent — choose carefully
This is the one thing on your whole profile you cannot undo. The moment you save a username it is locked: the field becomes disabled, and the platform will refuse any attempt to change it, both in the form and on the server. Treat it like a tattoo, not a nickname.
Because you only get one attempt, it is worth knowing the rules before you type. A username must be 3 to 15 characters long and may contain only lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Anything else — spaces, dots, hyphens, capitals — is rejected. A small set of names is also reserved to protect the Lonida brand, so those will be refused even if nobody has taken them.
As you type, Lonida checks your choice against every other account in real time. A green border with a tick means it is yours to claim. A red border means somebody already has it, and saving will be refused until you change it — so there is no way to accidentally lose your other edits to a clash.
What to pick
Your username becomes your public address in the form /community/user/your-username. That is the link you will share, the name on every post you write, and how other managers will refer to you for as long as you play. Short, readable and football-appropriate beats clever and unspellable — and since you cannot change it later, pick the one you would still be happy shouting across a league table next season.
Step 3 — About Me
A short bio. This is the one field where you can actually sound like a person rather than a row in a table, and it is the difference between a profile people scroll past and one they engage with.
What actually works in a bio
- How you play. Formation, style, whether you are patient or direct. Other managers read this before offering a friendly.
- Roughly where you are and when you are usually online. It saves everyone a round of messages.
- Whether you welcome transfer talk and friendly requests. Saying so openly reliably gets you more of both.
Where this shows up
Your bio appears on your public profile page, which anybody can visit — including people who are not signed in to Lonida at all. Write it for a stranger, not for yourself.
Step 4 — Contact & Location
Where you are based and how to reach you. Most of this section is optional, but one field in it is quietly important.
The fields in this section
- Phone NumberOptionalPick your country code first, then the number. Optional, and not published on your profile.
- CountryOptionalChosen from a list. Shown on your public profile alongside your city.
- Street AddressOptionalOptional and never shown publicly. Safe to leave empty.
- CityOptionalAppears on your public profile. Helpful for finding managers near you.
- State / ProvinceOptionalOptional regional detail.
- Postal CodeOptionalOptional and never shown publicly.
- TimezoneOptionalThe single most useful field here. Drives kick-off times, reminders and the local clock shown on your public profile.
Set your timezone properly
Your timezone is not decoration. Match kick-off times, fixture reminders and the local clock other managers see on your profile all read from it. If it is wrong, you will be told a match starts at a time that is not the time it starts — which is a genuinely annoying way to miss a fixture.
Step 5 — Social Links
Seven networks are supported: X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram. Every one of them is optional.
Fill in only the accounts you genuinely use. Anything you leave blank is hidden on your public profile rather than shown as a broken or empty icon, so a profile with two links looks just as finished as one with seven.
Saving, and checking your work
Press Save Profile once. A confirmation appears when it has gone through. If a required field is empty, or your chosen username is taken, you will be told which one to fix rather than left guessing. If you would rather abandon your edits, Discard Changes puts everything back as it was.
Now go and look at your own public page at /community/user/your-username. This is precisely what other managers see, including visitors who are not signed in. It is the fastest way to spot a missing photo, an empty bio or a timezone you never set.
Your finished-profile checklist
- A photo that is recognisably yours, not the default initials.
- A username you are happy to keep forever, showing the green tick.
- First name, last name and a working email address.
- A bio that says how you play and when you are around.
- Country, city and — above all — the correct timezone.
- Links to the social accounts you actually use, and nothing more.
- Saved, and confirmed by looking at your own public profile.
Common questions
Can I change my username later?+
What are the rules for a username?+
Why does Save keep refusing?+
Is my address or phone number public?+
Why can I not use Generate with AI?+
Do I have to fill everything in?+
I am a team member in someone else's club. Is this different for me?+
A complete profile takes about five minutes and pays for itself the first time a stranger decides you look worth following.