Self-Registration Setup Tutorial

The first tutorial is intended for the board administrator who is setting up user self-registration for the first time on a Discus Pro 4.0 (or higher) board. This tutorial will guide the reader through the various configuration options that are available. Once the board has been configured as desired, it will continue to function without the need for additional configuration.

The second tutorial is intended for ordinary moderators (or the board administrator) and will explore setting up self-registration for individual groups through the User Manager interface.

Overview of Self-Registration

Discus Pro 4.0 has the ability to allow users to register for their own accounts through the User Interface. As the board administrator, it is your responsibility to specify the following main properties of registration:

• Enabled: You need to turn on the self-registration feature before it can be used. To avoid surprises, Discus Pro comes with the self-registration feature off by default.

• Groups: You need to select which group or groups will accept new user registrations. You can select as many or as few groups as you wish, although it is recommended in most cases that all users be stored in a single group.

• Method: You can choose from among the available methods of self-registration.

  1. Automatic with e-mail verification: When a user registers, an "activation key" is sent to the e-mail address they used to register. When they enter this "activation key" into the system, their account is fully enabled. This is the most commonly used method of registration on public boards where the administrator and moderators do not want to undertake rigorous applicant screening but they do want to ensure that a valid e-mail address is provided.

  2. Automatic without e-mail verification (instant): When a user registers, their account is active immediately, without the need to activate their account or have a moderator review their application.

  3. Place applications in user queue: When a user registers, their account "application" is placed in a queue, where it can be reviewed by moderators or the board administrator. Should the moderator wish to accept the application, the account is then activated automatically. Rejected applications are deleted (without granting an account).

Setting Up Self-Registration (Administrator)

These steps will allow you, as the board administrator, to turn on user self-registration board-wide, using the most typical configuration. Later on, you can return to the indicated areas to configure additional options to customize the self-registration procedure for your own board.

1. Log in to your Discus Pro 4.0 (or higher) discussion board as the board administrator (typically "admin").

2. From the administration main menu, choose Options Manager under the "Board Controls" section. If you are in "Basic View," click the "To Advanced View..." button to enter advanced view.

3. Click the "Profiles" tab from the top menu bar in the Options Manager.

4. Scroll down to the "User Self-Registration" section.

5. Check the box next to "User self-registration is enabled." This box must be checked to enable user self-registration anywhere on the board.

6. Check the box next to Confirm username/password and application status by e-mail.

7. Check the box next to Require a "real" e-mail address to be entered upon registration.

8. Uncheck all of the other boxes within the "User Self-Registration" section.

9. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and save your options by clicking on the "Save Options" button.

Setting Up Self-Registration (Moderators)

Once self-registration has been enabled board-wide, as the board administrator or a moderator you have the ability to configure self-registration for individual groups. Each of your groups of users has its own self-registration setting, making it possible to configure one group to accept self-registrations but not another, or to have different groups deal with self-registrations in different ways.

Discus Pro gives tremendous flexibility to your account setup. The following steps take you through a sample setup of a group, which will allow anyone at all to register for an account, but it will verify that a valid e-mail address has been given by requiring that they "activate" their account before using it.

Setup: The Board Administrator should use Group Manager to create a group called "test" and assign moderator editing privileges to this group. (Other group names can be used but this document will assume the group is named "test.")

1. Log in to your Discus Pro 4.0 (or higher) discussion board as the board administrator or as an ordinary moderator who has privileges to edit the "test" group.

2. From the administration main menu, choose User Manager from the Moderator Tools section.

3. In the right frame, click on the group named "Test."

4. Click the "Self-Registration" tab from the top menu bar in the User Manager.

5. Under "Configuration" check the radio button next to Automatic with e-mail verification (this implements the aforementioned setting, where all registrations are allowed, but e-mail addresses are verified).

6. Under "User Interface Display" enter text in the boxes for "Group Name:" and "Description:" if desired. You can use Discus formatting tags if you wish. This controls how the group name will appear in the User Interface; if you enter nothing at all, the User Interface will just say "Test" when prompting the user for a group.

7. Check the box next to Checked by default. This will make sure that this group is checked by default when the user is given a list of group(s) to join.

8. Click the Save Settings button to apply your changes to this group's self-registration settings.

9. Click the "Return to Board" link from the administration main menu to return to the board. Click the "Register" link which should now appear somewhere in the user interface (depending on the skin used on your board, you may need to click the "Edit Profile" link to reveal a registration button). Observe on the registration screen that the "Test" group is presented with the text you specified, and that it is checked by default. If desired, you can sign up for an account to verify the correct operation of the remainder of your settings.