Norcloud is a multi-tenant Odoo hosting platform. You build a reusable Template once, then launch disposable Evaluation trials or permanent Host instances from it. This guide covers the four steps to go from a new account to a running Host: sign up, create and run a Template, launch an Evaluation from a short URL, and create and run a Host.

Glossary

1. Open the sign-up page and fill in Name, Email, Password, Mobile Number, and Company Name.
2. Country is auto-detected from your location (correct it if wrong); Currency fills in from Country automatically.
3. Submit — Norcloud creates your user account and a company record for you.
4. You're logged out and shown a "Check Your Email!" page. Open the verification email and click the link within 24 hours.
5. Log in. You now have full access to Norcloud.
6. Your wallet is credited with 20 GBP for your evaluation. Depending on what you do to evaluate Norcloud, 20 GBP can last a long time.

You can't log in until your email is verified. If the email doesn't arrive, use the resend-verification link on the login page.

1. Go to Templates → New.
2. Fill in: Name, Odoo Version, evaluation duration (how long Evaluations launched from this Template will last, default 3 hours), whether to include demo data, DB master password, Server Type(s), and which modules to install.
3. Click Create Template. Norcloud queues a background job that provisions the container and database — this can take a few minutes.
4. The first time you start it, the same Create Database wizard appears (Database Name, Admin Email, Admin Password, Phone, Language, Country).
5. Click Start Template. The first time, a Create Database wizard asks for Database Name, Admin Email, Admin Password, Phone Number, Language, and Country.
6. When the template is ready, the instance URL appears at the top of the form with the label: "Right-click here and open in private/incognito".

Your Template is now running. Use it to configure and test your setup, then launch Evaluations or Hosts from it (below).

A short URL (e.g. norcloud.uk/s/AbCd1234) lets anyone launch a trial of your Template instantly, with no Norcloud account or login.

1. On creating a template, a short URL is automatically created and is reachable through the "Short URLs" menu. This URL is an anonymous URL so, one you might use from your Odoo third party apps listing or your website.
2. Share the link. Anyone who opens it lands on a brief "Preparing your instance..." wait page.
3. Norcloud spins up a fresh Evaluation — a timed copy of the Template's database — and automatically redirects the browser into the running instance once it's ready.
4. The Evaluation runs for the duration set on the Template (default 3 hours). When time's up it's marked Expired and deleted automatically — nothing to clean up.

You can also skip the short URL and launch an Evaluation directly for yourself from the Template with the Launch Evaluation button. 

In addition to the anonymous URL, you can optionally create "targeted" URLs to send directly to your prospects and clients.

1. Hosts can be created from a running (or stopped) Template by clicking Launch Host. 
2. Norcloud creates a permanent copy of the Template's database, with no expiry, and queues the provisioning job.
3. Hosts can also  be created "New" in the same way as a Template.
4. The first time you start it, the same Create Database wizard appears (Database Name, Admin Email, Admin Password, Phone, Language, Country).
5. Once running, manage the Host like a Template — stop, restart, view logs, edit config — plus set a custom domain and choose managed vs. self-hosted.

Unlike an Evaluation, a Host never expires; it stays running until you stop or cancel it.

A lot more can be done with hosts, like adding a DNS URL and it's own SSL certificate.

There's lots more but this is enough to get you started on your Norcloud journey.