# Understanding the new member process

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-the-new-member-process/69556
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [2017年九月7日 14:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-the-new-member-process/69556 "2017-09-07T14:25:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![outofthebox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/outofthebox/32/83708_2.png) [@outofthebox](https://meta.discourse.org/u/outofthebox)
#### Post date: [2017年九月7日 14:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-the-new-member-process/69556/1 "2017-09-07T14:25:54Z")

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Hi,

As I am trying to understand the Discourse platform, I am wondering how customizable the new member process is. For instance:

\*Can I require a new member to agree to [Community Guidelines](https://meta.discourse.org/guidelines) before completing the signup process?  
\*Can I require a new member to fill out, say, 10 fields before joining?  
\*Can I make forums public, read-only, when a visiting reader attempts to reply to a discussion, they are prompted to create an account; after they create the account, they are redirected back to the post they wanted to add a reply to?  
\*Can I customize the ‘help’ text that orients a new member to our site?

gratefully,  
Carson

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### Author: ![dax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/dax/32/244677_2.png) [@dax](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dax)
#### Post date: [2017年九月7日 14:43 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-the-new-member-process/69556/2 "2017-09-07T14:43:49Z")

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For all questions the answer is yes except for

> [@CarsonWeitnauer](#):
>
> \*Can I require a new member to fill out, say, 10 fields before joining?

Default is 3: [https://meta.discourse.org/t/maximum-number-of-custom-user-fields/28775](https://meta.discourse.org/t/maximum-number-of-custom-user-fields/28775)

> [@CarsonWeitnauer](#):
>
> \*Can I require a new member to agree to [Community Guidelines](https://meta.discourse.org/guidelines) before completing the signup process?

Do you really need it?

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/5/9/6/5967a5d4b10d362d1ef2d6c3016c11a6174e0d1a.png)

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### Author: ![jomaxro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jomaxro/32/126216_2.png) [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)
#### Post date: [2017年九月7日 17:12 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-the-new-member-process/69556/3 "2017-09-07T17:12:27Z")

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> [@CarsonWeitnauer](#):
>
> Can I make forums public, read-only, when a visiting reader attempts to reply to a discussion, they are prompted to create an account; after they create the account, they are redirected back to the post they wanted to add a reply to?

For reference, this is the _only_ way to do it. Users cannot interact with the site (other than reading) without an account.

> [@CarsonWeitnauer](#):
>
> Can I customize the ‘help’ text that orients a new member to our site?

Any text you see on Discourse can be customized. Visit `yoursite.com/admin/customize/site_texts` and search for the text you wish to change.