User self-registration settings

Introduction 

To be able to access the platform, users need to be registered so that they have an account. 
You can configure how registration takes place in your platform under Navigation menu > Configuration (spanner icon) > Platform setup and tools > Advanced settings, in the Self registration tab. 

At the top of this page, the Registration type area lets you choose the registration methods you want to allow. 

• Only by administrator: If you select this option, users cannot self register at all. User accounts can only be created by a Superadmin, or by a Power User with the necessary user-creation permissions. See the article Creating and managing users.
  → When you set Only by administrator, the only other option you need to configure in the Self-registration tab is Registrations, lost passwords and background jobs email sender. The other options do not apply to users created by an administrator.
• Free or moderated self-registration: These options allow users to create an account on their own. In the case of free self-registration, once users complete the process they can directly access the platform. In the case of moderated self-registration, their request will need to be approved by an administrator. 

When you set one of these self-registration options, it is still also possible for users to be created by administrators as well. The rest of this article covers how to configure free self-registration or moderated self-registration with the options on this page. 

Please note that the Registration type set here applies to creating an account with platform credentials, and will not affect accounts created through SSO provisioning. 

Self registration flow

If one of the self-registration options is enabled, when users access the platform URL they will see a Register button which they can use to create an account. They will also see a Register link in the sign-in page.

On clicking this button they will have to complete a registration form. If quick registration is enabled, this will require only filling in an email address. Otherwise they will also have to provide some more information, and set a password (if the advanced setting Users>Automatically calculate password is not enabled). See the chapter quick registration for details about the forms.

From here, the next steps depend on whether you configured Free self-registration or Moderated self-registration.

Free self-registration

After completing the registration form:

If  the confirmation link email option is disabled, upon completing the registration form the user is directly logged in to the platform, without having to click any link.  

• If a password was set in the registration form, they can log in using that password
• Otherwise, they are sent an email providing a temporary password 

If the confirmation link email option is enabled,  the user is sent an email containing a link. If no password was set in the self-registration form, this email also contains a temporary password.

and the user is informed that they will need to click on the link.
 
(The user is placed in pending users, with opt-in=no, until they click on the link).

As soon as the user clicks the link, they are able to sign in to the platform. They can do this using the password they set in the registration form, or the temporary password received by email.

Moderated self-registration

After completing the registration form, the user is informed that their request will need to be approved by an administrator. 

No built-in email is sent out when the administrator approves the request, so it is strongly recommended to configure the User has been created (confirmed registration) notification to let users know that their registration request has been approved.

If  the confirmation link email option is disabled, upon completing the registration form the user is placed in pending users with opt-in=yes to await approval.

→ Only if no password was set in the registration form, the user is sent an email with a temporary password.

When the administrator approves the user, the user can log in to the platform. You should configure a notification to let them know when this happens.

If  the confirmation link email option is enabled, the user is sent an email asking them to click on a link. If no password was set in the self-registration form, this email will also include a temporary password.

Before clicking the link the user is in pending users with opt-in = no. After clicking the link the user will still be in pending users, only now with opt-in set to yes:

Please note that after clicking the link the user will already see the “registration completed” message, however they must still be approved before they can sign in.

→ Once the admin approves the user in pending users, the user can sign in to the platform.  You should configure a notification to let them know when this happens. 

Note also that the admin can approve the user even if they have not clicked on the link (opt-in = no).

Pending users

→ Power User with Users/View and Users waiting for subscription confirmation permission can access this page and perform the actions in it

The Pending users page lists the users whose account-creation process is not yet complete. It includes:

• Free self-registration users who still need to click on the confirmation link.
• Moderated self-registration users who still need to be approved by an administrator.

To access it select Navigation menu > People (people icon) > Users and click the clock icon (pending users) on the top right corner.

To approve or reject pending users:

1. Click the ellipsis icon at the end of the user’s row and select Approve or Reject.
   → The user will be removed from the pending list. If approved, the user will appear in the user management list, and be able to log in to the platform.

You can perform the same action (approve or reject) on multiple requests at the same time by selecting the checkboxes next to the usernames, then clicking Choose action at the bottom right corner of the page and selecting Approve or Reject.

Note that the OPT-IN column will show:

• No if the user was sent a confirmation email but has not yet clicked on the link
• Yes if the user has clicked on the link in the confirmation email
• Yes if the user was not sent a confirmation email (no requirement to click on a link)

You can approve a user even if they haven’t clicked on the link  (Opt-in = No). Approving a user will trigger the User has been created (confirmed registration)  notification, if configured, irrespective of their opt-in status.

→ Administrators can also approve pending registration requests via the Task List widget. 

After a user is approved, in User management their Email validation status will be verified if the user clicked on a confirmation link. Otherwise it will be Unverified.  

Self-registration options

This chapter contains a reference to the different options available for self-registration, and how they affect the self registration flow. The settings covered here are Quick registration, Confirmation link email, Expiration limit for confirmation link, Email sender, Options for first and last name, Registration code usage, Restrict domains.

Quick registration

This setting determines what type of form users have to fill in after they click the Register button to create an account. 

With quick registration enabled, the self-registration form will require just an email address, irrespective of the settings configured in Options (for require first and last name) and in Registration code usage.

→ If you choose quick registration, users will not set a password in the registration form. They will receive an email containing a temporary password generated by the platform. See the chapter Confirmation email at self-registration. 

With quick registration disabled, the registration form will require more information:  username and email address, setting of a password*, language, first and last name (required if set in Options), a branch (according to the settings in Registration code usage) and any additional fields for the selected branch. 

*If the advanced setting Users > Automatically calculate password is enabled, the form will NOT include the fields for setting a password. Instead the user will receive a temporary password by email, as in the case of quick registration. 

Confirmation email at self-registration

This option sets whether users who self-register will receive  an email containing a confirmation link that they must click to complete the registration process.

Confirmation email enabled

If you enable the confirmation email, users who self-register will receive an email containing the link they have to click. The validity of the link is determined by the value you set in Limit, in hours, for expiration of the subscription request. 

In the case of a quick registration, or full registration without password fields, this email will also contain a temporary password

These emails are sent out for both moderated and free self-registrations. The difference is that:

• For free self-registration, after clicking the link the user can directly access the platform
• For moderated self-registration, after clicking the link the user still needs to be approved by an administrator before accessing the platform. See the chapter Pending users.

Confirmation email disabled

If you disable the confirmation email, users who self-register will not need to click a link to complete their registration process. However, if no password was set in the self-registration form, they will still receive an email containing a temporary password:

Temporary password emails   (sent only when no password set in  registration form, when confirmation link email not sent)
Free self-registration	Moderated self-registration

→ Notice that, with the confirmation link email disabled, for those who set a password in the full registration form, no email at all will be sent out.

Please note: The confirmation link and temporary password emails described here are built-in, they do not depend on the configuration of any notifications. Their texts can be customized using the Localization tool (register module).   

• These emails are sent from the address configured in the Registrations, lost passwords and background jobs email sender field. Make sure that address is correctly configured to ensure reliable delivery of the emails.

The purpose of these built-in emails is to handle the account creation process (sending a link to click and/or a temporary password). 

In most cases you will also want to configure a welcome notification email, for example to inform users that their registration has been approved, or to confirm that the account has been successfully created. See the chapter Notifications for self-registration. 

Limit, in hours, for expiration of the subscription request

This setting applies only if you enabled Send confirmation email at self registration. It sets for how long the confirmation link in the email will remain valid. 

Registrations, lost passwords and background jobs email sender

This is the email address that will be used to send the confirmation link and temporary password emails that are used for managing self-registrations. 

• It is also used for allowing users to reset their passwords and for sending scheduled custom reports. So you must always configure this email sender even if you are not using self-registration.
• To ensure the emails are correctly delivered, the email sender address and its domain (the part after the @) must be configured in the platform as described in the article Configuring email domains.  Otherwise, the email may end up in the recipient’s spam folder. 

Options (first name and last name required)

This setting controls whether the first name and last name fields in the self-registration form are required, or optional.

• This setting does not apply if you select the quick registration option. It also does not apply to users created by an administrator.
• However, this setting does apply to user accounts created through SSO provisioning.

Registration code usage

Define if you would like to use registration codes. Registration codes can be used when you've set up an organization chart. When this feature is enabled, users will be asked to manually enter a branch code or to select a branch name from a dropdown list (please note that only branches with a branch code will be listed in the branch names dropdown list), when they self-register into the platform so that they will be directly assigned to the selected branch.

If you flag the option to ask for a combination of a branch code and a course code, you need to define the course code in the course Properties menu - Enrollment Options tab - Enrollment Code section. Please note that this option is available only when the Enrollment codes app is active in your platform. By flagging this option, when a user enters the combined codes, he or she will then be directly registered into the sub-branch and enrolled into the course or learning plans associated with the course code.

If you've set up the option to allow free self-registration for a specific domain using the Extended Enterprise app, the user will automatically be placed in that domain's specific branch (or sub-branch) in the organizational chart. When configuring the Registration Code Usage section for a specific domain, if you've flagged the option to Ask for a branch name chosen by the user from a list in a dropdown menu, users will only be able to see branch names associated with the domain’s branches in the dropdown list when registering on the login page of that specific sub-domain. Remember that only the names of branches with a branch code assigned will be visible in the dropdown list.

The Registration Code Usage options are not taken into consideration if you activate the quick registration. Users will not be required to select a branch code upon self-registering, and they will be automatically assigned to the root branch. Superadmins (or Power Users with granted permissions) will have to manually assign users to the branch of belonging after their registration.

• If you want to add specific information for the users that are going to self-register, you can edit the text Begin your new learning experience by simply filling out this form. in your platform's Localization Tool. By doing so, you might add a default mandatory branch code, to be inserted in the specific field during the registration, in order to assign a specific branch to the users upon creation. In this way, all the new users will be created inside that branch and, later on, it will be easier to re-assign them to the desired branch. It is also possible to add other contact information, according to your needs.

Restrict domains

You can restrict the user self-registration in the platform to some specific email domains. The subscriptions of the users registering themselves using an email with a different domain will be automatically rejected. Define the domains that are allowed to freely self-register by inserting your list in the Restrict Domains section.

If a user tries to register in the platform using a domain that you haven't entered in the list, the system will automatically display an error message.

Notifications for self-registration

During self-registration, some built-in emails may be sent out as determined by the Confirmation email at self-registration settings and by the type of self-registration. However the purpose of these is to provide confirmation links to click and/or temporary passwords where needed. In most cases you will also need to configure notifications pertaining to self-registration.

User has been created (confirmed registration)

For all types of self-registration it is strongly recommended to configure the User has been created (confirmed registration) notification. This is sent out:

• For free self-registration, as soon as the user clicks the confirmation link (if required), otherwise as soon as the user completes the registration form.
  → it is also sent out if a user does not click the confirmation link but is anyhow approved in pending users
• For moderated self-registration, as soon as the request is approved in the pending users list.

It can be useful to add the [user_password] shortcode to this notification. This will provide users a link that they can click to reset/update their password. They may need to do this, for example, if they forgot the password they set when they self registered, or if they want to change the temporary password received by email. 

User waiting to be approved in platform

In addition, when using moderated self-registration:

• It is recommended that the User waiting to be approved in platform subscription notification is configured to alert the administrator about the registration requests that need to be approved in pending users.

SSO provisioning and registration settings

Most of the settings in the advanced settings > self-registration page apply only to the creation of accounts using the platform’s own Register form, and will not affect accounts created through SSO provisioning/procurement. 

For example, if you set Registration type = Only by administrator but have SSO provisioning set up to allow account creation, a user may still be able to self-register via their SSO provider, bypassing the platform’s registration form.

However, the First name and last name required option does apply also to SSO provisioning.  If first name and last name are required for account creation, you will need to provision those fields in the SSO configuration. For more information see the article General guidance for SSO configuration > User provisioning.