Build your first profile

Last updated: May 3, 2026

After signing up, FacultyDex walks you through the profile compiler — a step-by-step flow designed to take a fresh account to a publishable site in roughly ten minutes. You can skip any step and come back to it from the dashboard later.

Step 1: Tell us about you

Enter your name, title, and institution. The display name you set here is what the published site shows; you can change it later under Profile → Edit profile.

Step 2: Upload your CV (optional)

Drop in a PDF resume or CV. We'll extract publications, awards, grants, education, and experience automatically using one of two parsers:

  • Free regex parser — a fast in-house parser that looks for common CV section headings. Works well on cleanly-formatted CVs.
  • AI parser (Pro) — uses Anthropic Claude to read the document contextually. Catches nuanced sections (service, fellowships, sub-grants) that the regex parser misses. Takes 10-60 seconds. Requires opting in the first time — see AI CV parsing & consent.

Whatever the parser finds, you'll get a chance to review every item before it's added to your profile.

Step 3: Search Semantic Scholar

Type your name and pick yourself from the list — we use Semantic Scholar's author search. Once linked, we pull in your full publication list with citation counts. Pro accounts also get automatic publication updates from this point forward (see Approving autofetch updates).

Step 4: Add a profile photo

Pick a square or near-square photo. We'll resize and crop it for use across your site. JPEG and PNG are both fine; anything over 2 MB will be downscaled.

Step 5: Pick a subdomain

Your published site lives at yourname.facultydex.org. Pick something short and memorable — your last name is usually the best choice. The subdomain has to be lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens; we'll check availability as you type.

Step 6: Publish (or save as draft)

Hit Publish to push your site live. If you'd rather keep iterating, click Save as draft — your data is stored either way, just not accessible to the public until you publish. See Publish your site for what happens when you go live.

More in Getting started

  • Sign up and sign inCreate your FacultyDex account with a magic link, Google, or Sign in with Apple.
  • Pick a theme and content focusThree independent choices shape your site: theme (visual chrome), content focus (which sections lead), and color scheme.
  • Publish your siteTurn your draft into a live academic website at name.facultydex.org.
Still stuck? Email us at dan@facultydex.org and we'll help.