Public registration

Enabling public registration will place a Join Now button in the navigation bar, allowing visitors to quickly and easily request membership to your digital workplace. Administrators can configure the options related to membership approval, and create a custom welcome message for new members.

Digital workplaces that are part of a networked enterprise have their public registration option (enabled/disabled) controlled by the enterprise administrator. You will need to contact your enterprise administrator if you would like to modify this option.

Sections in this article: 

• Use cases
• Features and functionality
• How to set up public registration
• How to manage membership requests
• Frequently asked questions

Use cases

Digital workplaces are typically used as intranet solutions for a company or organization. However, you can also use Igloo:

• As an extranet, which can be done by configuring options related to membership and registration
• As a portal for collaboration from multiple sources
• As as a customer knowledge base including forums where you could require potential members to join the workplace to contribute content.

Features and functionality

Once public registration is enabled, administrators can use the features available to further configure the process of how people register to join the workplace:

• The URL of the page that the Join Now button redirects users to visit
• Manual approval by workplace administrators or automatic membership approval
• Custom welcome message and Reply-To email address

Workflow of public registration

When enabled, public registration follows this process: 

1. A new person joins: A new person navigates to the digital workplace and selects the Join Now button. They complete the Join Now form and are prompted to activate their account via email. 
2. Account activation: In their email, they open the activation link to activate their account in the digital workplace. This confirms that they have access to the email address. 
3. If auto-approval is enabled:
   1. 1. They will automatically be logged in to the digital workplace. They will be in the Members system group and have access to any areas with at least Read access for the Members system group.
      2. A New Member Joined notification is generated for workplace administrators or any members with a Manage Registration role.
4. Or, if auto-approval is disabled:
   1. 1. They are informed that they will be notified once membership is approved.
      2. An approval request will be generated on the Public Registration page and a Join Request notification will be sent to workplace administrators or any members with a Manage Registration role.
      3. Any workplace administrator or member with a Manage Registration role can approve their membership request and add the member to any additional groups in addition to the Members system group. If approved, a default or custom welcome message is sent to the new member's email. No message will be sent if they are not approved. 

How to set up public registration

1. Select  Control Panel.
2. Under Settings, select Public/Private Access.
3. In the Public Registration & Search Access section, select Open to enable public registration.
4. In the Control Panel under Membership, select Public Registration.
5. Beside Public Registration is currently Disabled, select Enable.
6. (Optional) Under Go to this URL when the Join Now button is clicked, enter a URL for the Join Now page to use and select Save.
7. (Optional) Select Auto-Approve to set up public registration to skip the membership approval process.
8. (Optional) Select Update Your Custom Message to add a custom message. Otherwise, it will send a default message to people who register. 
   
   1. In the new browser window, customize the message in the WYSIWYG editor.
   2. (Optional) In Custom Reply-To, add an email address to be displayed as the Reply-To address in the welcome message. 
   3. Select Save and close the browser window. 

How to manage membership requests

Any workplace administrator or member with the Manage Registration role can approve or deny a membership request to the digital workplace from the Public Registration page: 

1. Select  Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel under Membership, select Public Registration.
3. In the Pending Approval section, select Approve or Deny beside the email address. If approved, the new member will receive a welcome message. If denied, no message will be sent. 
4. When prompted, select Ok.

Additionally, membership can be approved or denied from the Join Request email notifications. 

Frequently asked questions

Why aren’t people getting their activation emails?

Upon registration, an email containing a link is sent to the person requesting membership to activate their account. This helps confirm the person is a real account holder. Often, incomplete registrations occur due to accounts not being activated. Below are some common reasons why users don’t receive their activation emails:

• No access to email: The person didn't use a real email address and doesn't have access to activation email. 
• Spam filters: Occasionally, spam filters will redirect emails into a spam or junk email folder. Ensure that the person has checked those folders.
• Typos: Ensure the email address is entered correctly.
• Delivery problems: Occasionally, a person’s email provider will have trouble accepting email. Ensure that the user is receiving emails in general and their inbox is not full.