Registration Process Questions

[Gary Lewis]

I'm trying to create a registration process where to-be members actually see our guidelines before agreeing to them and then, once they've finished the registration process they can only post in our New Members Start Here folder.  But I've not figured out how to accomplish that.

On the guidelines, the process gives them a box they can tick to say they agree, but they don't have to see the guidelines unless they click the Terms Of Use link, as shown below.  Is there a way to have the guidelines pop up each time?

Second, the Login & Registration page, below, says new members will be put in the Members group.  Is there a way to put them in the New Members group that I created?  That would let us determine what they can do until they've been promoted to Member.

 

Thanks,

Gary

 

 

[Jim M]

18 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

On the guidelines, the process gives them a box they can tick to say they agree, but they don't have to see the guidelines unless they click the Terms Of Use link, as shown below.  Is there a way to have the guidelines pop up each time?

Any variation from what there is currently would require a customization. Will have to say it is a pretty common approach what is there to have your members click to view the terms as those terms may be pretty long.

20 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

Second, the Login & Registration page, below, says new members will be put in the Members group.  Is there a way to put them in the New Members group that I created?  That would let us determine what they can do until they've been promoted to Member.

You would want to place your new members in the "Members" group and rename that as you desire. Then you can utilize Group Promotions to move your members to a different group when a particular threshold is met, say they make 1 approved post. 

That way you can restrict your Members group (or whatever you end naming it) to the forum you wish them to only be able to view/post in and then they get more access or what-have-you with the next group they would get "Promoted" to.

You can read more here about group promotions:

 

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - Thanks!  That's pretty much what I'd come to, but let me restate it to make sure I understand:

1. Guidelines: There is no easy way to make them see the guidelines.  They do have to click the box that says they'll agree but, like most of us now, we know we are going to have to agree if we want in no matter what it is so we tick the box.
    
2. New Members: Rename the current "Members" group to something like "New Members" and set up rules to promote people to a new group, maybe "Regular Members" or some such.  I already have rules that promote from New Members to Members after one post, so if I were to edit those rules to go to Regular Members then we'd be set?  Then edit the viewing/posting permissions so New Members can only post in New Members Start Here.  Do I have that about right?

If I'm right about that we now need to rethink what we want people to do as they sign up.  But at least now I know what the possibilities are.  Thanks!

[Jim M]

22 hours ago, Gary Lewis said:

Guidelines: There is no easy way to make them see the guidelines. 

They would simply click the link to read the terms and guidelines 😉 . We have a complex set of terms for our purchases so we link again but here is a screenshot to illustrate they don't have to leave the page to read them:

 

22 hours ago, Gary Lewis said:

New Members: Rename the current "Members" group to something like "New Members" and set up rules to promote people to a new group, maybe "Regular Members" or some such.  I already have rules that promote from New Members to Members after one post, so if I were to edit those rules to go to Regular Members then we'd be set?  Then edit the viewing/posting permissions so New Members can only post in New Members Start Here.  Do I have that about right?

Yes, that is correct. 

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Jim.  I renamed Members to New Members and added a group called Regular Members.  Then set up the promotions from New Members to Regular Members as well as confining New Members to just one forum.  We've not finished testing but that appears to be working.

However, I also set up a Profile Completion step to show them the Guidelines and tell them they are only going to be able to post in that one forum, but then discovered that it is easy for them to "dismiss" that step.  Is there a way to force them to do that step?

[Jim M]

2 hours ago, Gary Lewis said:

However, I also set up a Profile Completion step to show them the Guidelines and tell them they are only going to be able to post in that one forum, but then discovered that it is easy for them to "dismiss" that step.  Is there a way to force them to do that step?

This is not a part of the default software to show them Guidelines here. Thus, there is not really something we can offer here.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, thanks, Jim.

I'm wondering if there might be a plug-in that does that, so will be looking.  If anyone knows please let me know.

[Nathan Explosion]

Think about this...you are already using profile completion so put a profile field in that requires the user to set something (select box with values of yes/no, maybe?) and that something can be a 'I have read the guidelines' (the description can take HTML so you can add a link to the guidelines in it.)

User then has to actively indicate of they have read them.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I'm a total newbie at this, Nathan.  But in looking at the profile completion page, below, I'm not seeing the option to select "a profile field in that requires the user to set something (select box with values of yes/no, maybe?)."

• In Basic Profile I see birthday or signature
• In Custom Message I have a message that says they won't be able to post anywhere but in New Members Start Here
• In Photos it wants a profile or cover photo
• In Profile Fields you have About Me.

I know I'm missing something, so please sort me out.  It feels like whatever it is I'm missing is the key.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, maybe this is what I was missing.  If I create a new profile completion step there is a button at the bottom of the page to make it a required step.  😃

So, if I create a new Custom Message step that has the the guidelines in it, which aren't all that long, I could have a select box that says "I have read and agree to operate in accordance with the guidelines".

Is that what you mean, Nathan?

[Gary]

In a nutshell, that's exactly what he means. It is a good workaround to get the same result. 😉

You could have a tick box to confirm they have read your guidelines, or you can have a yes/no radio button with a link to the guidelines in the description of that specific profile field.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Gary.  I worked on it a bit today but need to do more testing.  However I didn't figure out how to put a link nor html in the description.  If anyone has a suggestion I'm all eyes.

[Gary]

Have a look at the following page to give you the right syntax.

HTML Links Hyperlinks (w3schools.com)

[Gary Lewis]

Duh!  Ok, I see now - said the blind man.

Is there a way to see what it is going to look & work like w/o creating a bunch of new members?

[Gary]

Of course! Just make the changes, then go to your own profile on your community. Click your username at the top of your community -> Profile. Once on that page, go to Edit Profile and you should see it listed there.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Gary.  I see it listed there, but not as I expected.  Now I can at least play with it.  👍

[Gary]

You're welcome. It will work and look right after some fiddling around.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I'm back with more questions, which I've put in bold font. 

First, making it a requirement to agree to the Terms of Use in the Signup step is good, but the terms aren't shown on the popup so the people are agreeing to them blind.  Yes, there's a link to them, but it doesn't look like a link as it isn't blue nor underlined.  Yes, if you are on a computer and hover your curser over the link it does turn blue and becomes underlined, but it doesn't do that to someone on a mobile device since you don't have a cursor.  So is there a way to edit that page and put our guidelines on it?

And using Profile Completion doesn't work very well - unless I'm doing something wrong, which is highly likely.  The issue is that the user is given the options of skipping the step for now, skipping it, or clicking Next.  Is there a way to take the Skip For Now & Skip options off the Profile Completion?

Our needs are twofold:

1. Have the people read the guidelines because we need them to know what they are before they start typing.  We do not want to have to call them out when they don't adhere to them because they don't know what they are.
    
2. Give them some instructions before we turn them loose in the forum.  We have it set up so that a New Member can only Create A New Topic in our New Members Start Here forum.  Before they do that they cannot reply anywhere nor create a new topic anywhere else.  They must create a new topic in New Members Start Here or they can't do anything else.  But without instructions that pop up in front of them, not come up via a hidden link nor reside on a step that they think they can skip, they are going to be totally lost and very frustrated.

Is this possible?  Or are we tilting at windmills?  Thanks in advance for the help.

[Marc]

23 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

So is there a way to edit that page and put our guidelines on it?

You would require customisation in order to achieve this on your theme, or alternatively, you could translate it to say something else if you wanted to make it somewhat more obvious.

24 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

Is there a way to take the Skip For Now & Skip options off the Profile Completion?

Yes, you would need to set those profile steps as mandatory when you set them up. As they arent, they are optional and can be skipped

[Gary Lewis]

Marc - Thanks. But is there a theme that would be better?  I am totally new at this so don’t have a clue. And I assume “customization” requires money?

And I’ll figure out how to make the profile steps mandatory. But is there a way to create new fields and eliminate birthdays and signatures?

[Jim M]

12 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

And I assume “customization” requires money?

If you do not know how to make the customization which you want to have on your theme, you would need to hire a third party provider to do it.

 

13 minutes ago, Gary Lewis said:

But is there a way to create new fields and eliminate birthdays and signatures?

You would create the new profile fields in ACP -> Members -> Profiles. If you do not want them to fill out birthday or signature, you would simply remove that from the completion profile process.

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I’ll bet we can figure out how to customize the theme if that is possible. 👍

And I’ll explore editing the profiles. 

Thanks.

[Gary Lewis]

We are very close, but no cigar.  We have the actual registration process pretty well worked out, but are having trouble with the Group Promotions.

It is easy to get things set up for newbies, but the problem comes since we are having our existing forum converted to Invision and I don't want to subject the oldies to the create-a-signature and introduce-yourself process since they've already done that.

So I set up three group promotion rules:

1. New Member to Regular Member - Conversation Starter  Filter by badge Conversation Starter and promote New Member to Regular Member.  This is so when a New Member creates their introduction they'll get promoted and can then post elsewhere.

2. New Member to Regular Member - First Post  Filter by badge First Post and promote New Member to Regular Member.  This is so oldies, which should have plenty of posts an, therefore, have earned the First Post badge will be promoted.

3. New Member To Regular Member - Points  Ditto First Post, but this is so oldies with points get promoted.  Sort of a belt & braces approach.

But now New Members are getting promoted before they even post.  I know I'm missing something but would sure appreciate some suggestions. 

When do the Group Promotion Rules actually get run?  Is there an order in which they need to run?  Help!

[Jim M]

Think you’re over complicating the promotion rules. Why not just have 1 rule that when approved post count > 0 they get moved?

[Gary Lewis]

Does starting a topic create a post count?  From my, admittedly limited, experience it didn't seem to.  Creating and replying seem to be two different things.

We have newbies that can't do anything but create a new topic in our New Members Start Here folder.  And we have lots of oldies that have done it all.  Can one rule on having a post count of 1 or more suffice for both?