Lack of interest [Suggestion] Returning users to last viewed page after registration

[Safin]

If you are a guest and you land on a forum thread that you want to comment on, right now there is absolutely no way for a guest to comment (assuming you don't have guest posting permission).

He will necessarily have to register, verify his email id and then he will be redirected to the forum main page by which time he loses track of what thread he was originally going to post under unless he hits the back button or knows the url.

To make this system more intuitive, it would be nice if suggestion #1 or #2 could be implemented below.

1. When a guest goes to the sign up page from an existing thread location (or it can be frankly any location on the forum), store the location in session and when he completes the sign up process, redirect him to that page. This way the user keeps track of what page he originally came to see in the first place and does not get confused.
2. Ideally, it would be best if a guest could be allowed to actually comment on the thread but instead of posting it, the thread takes him to the sign up page on the next step and only after completion of the sign up formalities, is his post made visible. There can be a time limit set at the backend which acts as a threshold time for which a post will be saved before its lost (to prevent cluttering up the DB with posts from users who never completed the sign up.)
   
   

If not #2, i hope something can be done about #1 above

 

[welshstew]

ooohhhh, I like option 2

 

[Enigma]

For option #2, you wouldn't have to actually save it to the database as a reply. You could propogate the POST data for the thread reply through the registration process and submit the post after completing the registration. All transparently for the user, of course.

 

[vord]

That's a clever thought - in my niche people aren't very good at forums and option 2 might just have them register.

Would need to make it clear that the funny box at the bottom is for replying to posts.

 

[Safin]

For option #2, you wouldn't have to actually save it to the database as a reply. You could propogate the POST data for the thread reply through the registration process and submit the post after completing the registration. All transparently for the user, of course.

Actually no. I have thought about it before as i wanted to code this myself for one of my sites. The post propagation and even the last url seen will be lost if you have set up email verification. (Ok you can pass the thread url or id in the activation mail but thats just about it)

 

[Enigma]

Actually no. I have thought about it before as i wanted to code this myself for one of my sites. The post propagation and even the last url seen will be lost if you have set up email verification. (Ok you can pass the thread url or id in the activation mail but thats just about it)

Just save the post after registration and if email verification is enabled, set the post as moderated.

 

[Safin]

Again, that will just mean the post is saved in DB against a "Users awaiting activation" member who might never activate his account. Technically, if he does not come back, you have no need for that post.

eg on my forums, the users awaiting activation stands at around 15-20% of the userbase. With this feature enabled, there is a high liklihood many users would actually go on to type replies but never really complete the final step. You still end up with a lot of moderated posts in the DB which you have to later delete manually.

 

[Cezz]

Again, that will just mean the post is saved in DB against a "Users awaiting activation" member who might never activate his account. Technically, if he does not come back, you have no need for that post.

eg on my forums, the users awaiting activation stands at around 15-20% of the userbase. With this feature enabled, there is a high liklihood many users would actually go on to type replies but never really complete the final step. You still end up with a lot of moderated posts in the DB which you have to later delete manually.

But on the same side, if it just moderates the post and it isn't spam or a load of rubbish you could approve the post and have it show even if the user never activates it is still content on your site... If they do then register it is still there for them.