[JDEV] RE: Web-based registration

[Mike Prince]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: jdev-admin at jabber.org [mailto:jdev-admin at jabber.org] On 
> Behalf Of David Waite
> Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 9:35 PM
> To: jdev at jabber.org
> Subject: Web-based registration [Was: [JDEV] Account 
> information storage, plaintext?]
> 
> 
> mblsha wrote:
> 
> >Web-based registration is too slow IMO. I tend to create 
> lots of JIDs 
> >for
> >testing purposes and having to fill the form on web and send 
> the confirmation 
> >email will drive me mad. So I would like to see creation of 
> web frontend to 
> >registration as SHOULD.
> >
> Actually I think both in-band and web registration would be MAY. The 
> real challenge is that there are now be many possible 
> registration settings:
> 
> - No registration allowed on server
> - In Band registration allowed
> - In Band registration allowed only for TLS-protected sessions
> - Web-based registration
> 
> How do we make getting a new Jabber account as intuitive as 
> possible for 
> a new user? How does a client author make a 'clean' registration 
> interface based on these choices? I have gotten a lot of 
> comments from 
> people who have given up on Jabber before even registering an 
> account, 
> because they searched and did not find a web registration 
> interface (I 
> then created accounts for most of them ;-)). Even just a simple, 
> prominent walkthrough on the left side of the www.jabber.org 
> page named 
> something like 'Get Started using Jabber Now!' might help 
> this problem.

I like this idea...  How about the baby step of a drop down box on
jabber.org that jumps to known Jabber servers with web registration
pages?  Additional kudos to painless clients such as Java or Flash which
require no (apparent) downloads.

So we give the experience:

1) User views jabber.org - "Hey, this is cool"
2) Clicks on 'Get Started' Button and selects a server
3) Fills out registration form (maybe even just a username and password
field)
4) Java IM client pops up and welcomes them

Thanks,

Mike



BTW, If confirmation (usually by way of email) is desired, simply add a
human challenge such as convoluted text to the web registration form.