Activation email sent but account not activated

Support
1

Title: Activation email sent but account not activated / activation link confusion

Hi,
I’m running a self-hosted Discourse (Docker). SMTP test emails are sending successfully (verified via Gmail), but newly registered users do not receive or cannot complete account activation properly.

What I’ve checked / done:

  • SMTP configured and test email delivered successfully

  • login_required = false

  • must_approve_users = false

  • Manual activation via Admin → Users works

  • Restarted with ./launcher restart app (multiple times)

Issue:

  • After registration, users land on /u/account-created

  • Activation email is inconsistent or activation link behavior is unclear

  • Unsure where to control activation link / redirect behavior

Questions:

  1. Where exactly does Discourse handle the activation link and redirect after clicking it?

  2. Is there a recommended way to test activation flow without restarting the container?

  3. Any common causes when SMTP test works but user activation emails fail or don’t complete activation?

Thanks in advance.

2

Hmm… what SMTP provider are you using?

3

Thanks Nate

I’m using local SMTP (Postfix) on the server — not a third-party provider yet. Testing activation emails now.

Thanks. The domain is forum.168my.my — feel free to do a test registration to check whether the activation email is received on your side.

Thanks