> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.webexp.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.webexp.dev/exp98-shopify-theme/exp98/sections-and-features/enter-gate.md).

# Enter Gate

A Windows log-on screen shown once per visit, before the store.

A screen in front of the store. The default is a **Windows 98 log-on**: the boot screen types itself out, then a "Welcome to \[your store]" log-on window appears over your wallpaper with the desktop still empty. The shopper presses **Enter**, the start-up sound plays, the log-on window fades away and the icons and taskbar fade in. Music doesn't start until they've pressed Enter.

It's **off** by default, because it puts a click between a visitor and your products. Worth it for a launch or a drop; a cost the rest of the time.

It's the **Enter gate** section in the theme editor's sidebar. Selecting it plays the gate so you can see it. It never appears by itself while you're editing.

## Settings

| Setting                        | Default        |                                                                      |
| ------------------------------ | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Show the enter gate**        | off            |                                                                      |
| **Style**                      | Windows log-on | Or BIOS boot screen only, or Logo splash                             |
| **Show the boot screen first** | on             | Windows log-on only. Turn it off to go straight to the log-on window |
| **How often**                  | Once per visit | Or every page load, which gates someone who's already browsing       |

## The boot screen

It types itself out behind a block cursor, in under two seconds with the default text. Runs of spaces land at once so the columns line up, dotted leaders tick out, there's a short pause before each result, and a memory figure like `65536K` counts up from zero. **Any key or tap skips it.** On the Windows log-on style the boot text fades out and the log-on window fades in, and there's no button on the boot screen. On BIOS boot screen only, it waits for a key (or its Enter button) and then plays the CRT switch-on.

To go straight to the log-on window, untick **Show the boot screen first**.

| Setting       | Default                                                                    |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Monitor**   | Grey, what a real start-up screen looked like. Or Amber, or Green phosphor |
| **Boot text** | The EXP-98 BIOS text                                                       |

Boot text is one line per row, and blank rows stay blank. Write your own: your store as a machine booting up. Three placeholders fill themselves in: `[shop]` is your store name, `[SHOP]` the same in capitals with dashes for spaces (so *Primary Master ... MY-STORE* reads like a drive label), and `[year]` the current year. The default text uses all three, so a fresh install already boots with the store's own name on it.

## The log-on window

The keys, a message, a User name box and a Password box, and your button. The boxes are only for the look: when the window appears they type themselves in, the user name first and then the password's dots, with a blinking caret. Shoppers never type anything. The button, the **Enter** key and the window's **X** all log on.

| Setting                                   | Default |                                            |
| ----------------------------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Show the user name and password boxes** | on      | Off leaves just the message and the button |
| **User name shown**                       | Guest   |                                            |

## Background

By default the log-on window sits on the store's wallpaper and the logo splash on black. Tick **Use its own background** to put them on a different image or video instead, with an optional colour wash (**Overlay colour** and **Overlay opacity**). Set an image along with a video: phones that ask for less motion show the image. The boot screen always stays black.

## Content

| Setting          | Default         |                                                                                                             |
| ---------------- | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Logo**         | none            | On the log-on style it sits above the log-on window                                                         |
| **Logo width**   | 200px           | 20 to 480                                                                                                   |
| **Heading**      | your store name | The log-on window says "Welcome to" this. The boot screen shows it above the prompt                         |
| **Message**      |                 | Log-on window and logo splash. Left empty, the log-on window says "Press Enter to log on to \[your store]." |
| **Button label** | Enter           |                                                                                                             |