Mischief is discussing a problem where some users are not completing the two-step activation process after being sent a reminder email. They click on the link in the email but fail to click the activation button on the subsequent page. Mischief suggests simplifying the process to a one-click activation.
However, cpradio explains that the two-step process is crucial for preventing automated spam accounts. Mischief acknowledges this but is concerned about the number of users not completing the activation process.
codinghorror clarifies that the button has been updated to make it clearer, but spam prevention requires a browser action with a timer to ensure it’s a real human being activating the account. Mischief understands the need for spam prevention and suggests improving the click-through rate by changing the email wording or the wording on the page.
Later, Mischief reports an issue where a user gets a “You cannot activate yet” message when copying and pasting the link into their web browser. DeanMarkTaylor investigates and finds similar error messages in the code but not an exact match.
In the process of doing this I have just noticed that people are clicking on the link in the activation email (which takes them back to the activation page on Discourse), however from looking at my Mandrill click stats, it appears that many people don’t realise they have to click a second time on the activation page itself. Therefore a number of the accounts haven’t been activated.
Would it be possible to simplify this process to make it just a one click process (i.e. a click of the link in the email to activate their account)?
Well, it wasn’t restyled – the copy was explicitly changed to say “Click Here”.
The styling ‘error’ was that @watchmanmonitor’s monitor was displaying light grey as pure white
@Mischief not sure what to tell you, spam prevention requires a browser action with timer to make sure it’s a real human being activating that account. Sorry.
No problem - I can fully understand the need for the spam prevention techniques. We might though need to look at ways to increase the click through rate - maybe changes to either the email wording, or to the wording on the page to make it clearer that people need to take both actions.
Good idea, it might be helpful to follow up directly with a few of the users this happened to. Perhaps we can improve that page in other ways based on what you hear back from those users.
I had a quick look though the code, I couldn’t find an exact match that is output by Discourse. I might be missing something though.
However there are the following messages which seem pretty close:
not_activated: "You can't log in yet. We previously sent an activation email to you at <b>{{sentTo}}</b>. Please follow the instructions in that email to activate your account."
not_activated: "You can't log in yet. We sent an activation email to you. Please follow the instructions in the email to activate your account."
activate_email: "<p>You're almost done! We sent an activation mail to <b>%{email}</b>. Please follow the instructions in the email to activate your account.</p><p>If it doesn't arrive, check your spam folder, or try to log in again to send another activation mail.</p>"
