Registration : add option Authorize with administrator approval

Wlork

Hello,

Following our discussion, I decided to make a proposal.

I'd like to give administrators the option of validating or rejecting new entries.

In Permissions > Register

We have two choices : Allow and disallow. I'd like to add an option : Authorize with administrator approval.

Thank you in advance. For me, it's an additional safety measure.

Justoverclock

why you simply do not put users into a group with limited permissions at registration? and then with auto-moderator you can add some automation to move those users into a new group after certain threshold...

Wlork

Justoverclock

Because I think it's a bit too laborious.

With this group solution.... Instead of one door, we add two or three doors.... With this option in proposal, things can be simpler.

To be clear, this is an additional option. It's not intended to replace anything 🙂

Anomalum

Wlork I'm imagining you're meaning something similar to how XF has an option that allows us to set all new registrants account confirmation to require admin/mod approval. Is this what you mean?

If it is, it certainly does work exactly as intended on XF, although (one potential perspective is that) it also has an unavoidable side effect of inhibiting new registrants from being able to actually do anything while they have to wait around for an admin/or mod to take notice of their awaiting approval request.
Of course this wouldn't be an issue if there's always an active admin or moderator on duty 24/7, yet if not, it could become quite annoying for genuine registrants who may be limited on time or perhaps impatient.

I have to admit that I think @Justoverclock's suggestion seems like a better way to manage new registrants. Ie: creating a new members user group with limited permissions.
One advantage of this is that it would allow an opportunity for admins/mods to assess each new registrant based on their initial posting activity rather than simply guessing based on the very minimal info (such as the username, email, ip, etc) which is basically the case with XF's account approval concept.

Wlork

Anomalum I'm imagining you're meaning something similar to how XF has an option that allows us to set all new registrants account confirmation to require admin/mod approval. Is this what you mean?

Yes, exactly !

Anomalum Of course this wouldn't be an issue if there's always an active admin or moderator on duty 24/7, yet if not, it could become quite annoying for genuine registrants who may be limited on time or perhaps impatient.

Yes.

And again, it would be an additional option. For those who don't want to control, the “Allow” option will always be there 🙂

endlessedits

In my limited experience they post as soon as they register. (It must be part of the same script. And it's always immediately obvious that it's off-topic.

Justoverclock

Wlork ok, but you need to motivate well the proposal, if there's already an option to do that, why we need another one? 🙂

if you just say "its another option" i think no one would watch at this proposal concretely. this is my opinion btw.

Wlork

Justoverclock ok, but you need to motivate well the proposal, if there's already an option to do that, why we need another one? 🙂

Primarly, as I was saying, this is less complicated than user groups and changing permissions one by one. Secondly, it's possible, and even more effective, to detect a toxic (or not) user on registration instead of waiting for that user to post one or several message or discussion.

What more can I say ? It's an option that's present in many other forums 🙂

clarkwinkelmann Something else that might be necessary is a notification to the user when their account has been activated, and probably also some messages in the forum UI saying your account is under review, and perhaps also a message saying the account has been rejected so people don't wonder forever why nobody is handling their request or flood the host through other contact methods asking for an update.

Yes 🙂

I think we could do an e-mail.

An email that confirms registration but that the account is under review. And another mail giving the positive (activated) or negative (rejected) answer.

We could also put a small message at the top of the forum to indicate that the account is under review.

clarkwinkelmann

I guess the main component missing from Flarum would be a list/queue of users that need to be processed by a moderator.

If using group permissions to achieve this, the FoF User Directory page could be used with the group filter to show only users without group, so moderators can apply one of either allowed or denied.

Something else that might be necessary is a notification to the user when their account has been activated, and probably also some messages in the forum UI saying your account is under review, and perhaps also a message saying the account has been rejected so people don't wonder forever why nobody is handling their request or flood the host through other contact methods asking for an update.

Anomalum

Wlork Secondly, it's possible, and even more effective, to detect a toxic (or not) user on registration instead of waiting for that user to post one or several message or discussion.

I'm genuinely curious about this.
If you wouldn't mind, could you possibly help me understand your perspective?

Wlork

Anomalum

We can detect thanks to IP address, e-mail address, username and other information. Of course, as with everything, there's no 100% guarantee, but at least there's a door as soon as you register.

With the current system, the door is wide open. And with this group solution, we add one or two doors. What's the point ?

Moreover, putting a message or discussion under review can confuse the member:

Why let me into the forum and block my messages ?

At least with registration under review, thanks to the e-mail, the member can understand that we're being vigilant.

Anomalum

Wlork Thanks for clarifying this.