Why redirect to a protected page after purchasing a subscription plan?

Jeff I really don't understand why you should redirect someone to a protected page before the user even has received the activation email.

Which one? If plan is RDS then payment confirmation page is open for public.

Jeff Especially not after submitting a form. This is very bad practice in terms of usability and IMHO totally unnessecary. I do understand however that in order for a plan to be activated one has to go to the subscription history page to complete the process.

Activation does not require subscription history. Subscrptiption history is the page user is redirected to if there is no other page to redirect.

We redirect to protected content because this conten knows what is next. If there is no access then user will be redirected again.

But I can see that message would be inapropriate in this case.

Any way I need to see exact user flow to understand how peocess can be optimized. What is restricted, what he trys to click, where he goes then and so on.

Jeff The solution

Is not so simple. there so much more involved.

1) If you do not allow email activation, user will be autologged in automaticaly so on return he will see the content. 2) Apart from history page there are many other scenarios of redirection. For example user tyr to access protected content and redirected to list of plans. After purchase we want user to end up on that particular page he was trying to access.

But I agree that what we have now may be improved even more. Let's discuss it deeper.

Sergey Which one? If plan is RDS then payment confirmation page is open for public.

RDS. Confirmation page is indeed open for public, redirect page isn't.

Sergey Activation does not require subscription history. Subscrptiption history is the page user is redirected to if there is no other page to redirect.

Then the custom redirect page doesn't work for me. At least not when a user enters a coupon code.

Sergey We redirect to protected content because this conten knows what is next. If there is no access then user will be redirected again.

Why not replace the redirect with a page with a message and a button?

You have succesfully purchased a <plan name> subscription. 
<button>Continue</button>

Sergey Any way I need to see exact user flow to understand how peocess can be optimized. What is restricted, what he trys to click, where he goes then and so on.

You mean like this?

If you have set the system to send an email verification after registration (like I did), it gets really messy because Emerald tries to log you in.

IMHO I can't find any reason why you should allow users to register without confirmation.

Jeff RDS. Confirmation page is indeed open for public, redirect page isn't.

That is why there is automatic login.

Jeff Then the custom redirect page doesn't work for me. At least not when a user enters a coupon code.

Might be the true. I fixed it recently and perhaps not yet released updates. I also added another parameter custom redirect URL for failed transactions. Because current custm URL only works on success purchase.

Jeff Why not replace the redirect with a page with a message and a button?

This is good idea. My new parameter will let you do that. You can create that page and land users there.

Jeff You mean like this?

This is good. Too good actualy :)

Jeff If you have set the system to send an email verification after registration (like I did), it gets really messy because Emerald tries to log you in.

I changed that. Now Emerald only try to login if activation is turned off.

Jeff IMHO I can't find any reason why you should allow users to register without confirmation.

I can see it.

You have to answer question why confirmation exists? User do not need it. You need to make sure you have valid email, right? FOr what? Probably for monetization. But if user pays right away, you do not care if email is right. Payment is a confirmation of good intents.

The main reason for that is that many users actualy wanted it. They do not care if user enter correct email or not as long as they pay. The only concern for them to make this process most simple one. And no-confiramtion mod allows do it in Emarald with 3 clicks.

• 1 User try to access restricted page and then he redirected to list of the plans
• 2 User select plan and goes to confirmation page
• 3 User enters email and click checkout button and is redirected to payment gateway.

That is it. Upon return from gateway user will end up on the page he was trying to access on step 1 because he is already logged in. Immediately see what he wanted.

There are only to reasons email is enterd wrong.

1. Unintentional - in this case user will ask for assistance later and you will update his email and password. Of course it is more work. But you simply take confirmation burden on yourself. You can give this burden to customers and let them confirm their emails too but that complicate things for end users.
2. Intentional - first I cannot picture a real world scenario where user would like to enter wrong email right before maiking payment. Second even if he did, I do not care because I got my sale.

Sergey You have to answer question why confirmation exists? User do not need it. You need to make sure you have valid email, right? FOr what? Probably for monetization. But if user pays right away, you do not care if email is right. Payment is a confirmation of good intents.

Well, if it was up to me I would allow people to purchase a subscription without registration or being logged in. I would let visitors even pay anonymously if they wish to.... But this is (to my understanding) currently impossible.

So why confirm after registration?

Because Cobalt & Emerald leaves the user registration part to Joomla, registration confirmation is globally set, not just for Emerald or Cobalt. So even if I wouldn't care if someones email address is fake or incorrect during subscription payment, I do care for this information to be real and correct during registration.

I don't want users impersonating real people or creating multiple bogus accounts just to able to troll and/or post offending content without any accountability. Without confirmation I could easily create an account with the email address of someone I don't like just to spam that person with mail.

IMHO In the real world people aren't really charmed by the idea that someone else has posted or contributed something with their name and email without their knowledge or consent.

Jeff Well, if it was up to me I would allow people to purchase a subscription without registration or being logged in. I would let visitors even pay anonymously if they wish to.... But this is (to my understanding) currently impossible.

Кшпреб but only because emerald will not know who paid what and who can see what. If you would sell tangible goods that would be possible.

Jeff Because Cobalt & Emerald leaves the user registration part to Joomla, registration confirmation is globally set, not just for Emerald or Cobalt. So even if I wouldn't care if someones email address is fake or incorrect during subscription payment, I do care for this information to be real and correct during registration.

This is the matter of the attitude. On this site I do not have email confirmation and I had no issues so far. So if it is important for you, you go this way if not you can do different.

Jeff I don't want users impersonating real people or creating multiple bogus accounts just to able to troll and/or post offending content without any accountability.

Even if every new account means another 20$ - 100$ in your pocket?

Jeff IMHO In the real world people aren't really charmed by the idea that someone else has posted or contributed something with their name and email without their knowledge or consent.

I might sound selfish. But if registration means money, I do not care if someone registered with fake email or not. If I get complain I ban an account without refund. So you think twice before register under fake account, but if you did, I am happy too. Because I earn.

This is not expression of my attitude. It is just what majority of our customers wants. That is why no confirmation mode exists in Emerald and in Joomla itself. You cannot ignore that.

But again it is a matter of personal preferences. I personaly believe that no confirmation method have rights to exist.

Sergey Might be the true. I fixed it recently and perhaps not yet released updates. I also added another parameter custom redirect URL for failed transactions. Because current custm URL only works on success purchase.

Great!

Sergey This is good idea. My new parameter will let you do that. You can create that page and land users there.

+1

Sergey I changed that. Now Emerald only try to login if activation is turned off.

+1

Sergey This is the matter of the attitude. On this site I do not have email confirmation and I had no issues so far. So if it is important for you, you go this way if not you can do different.> Sergey

Agree. If something works for you, it works for you.

Sergey Even if every new account means another 20$ - 100$ in your pocket?> Sergey

My website(s) are crowd sourced and registration is free. I will cater thousands of users and they only pay if they want to extend expired articles. Business owners are also allowed to register and they can show their logo in their articles or in the business directory by paid subscription. I provide free high quality service/information to the public. Any visitor (not only authors) can prolong an article for just a small fee. I am counting on big numbers of visitors and users. So the more viewers, the more exposure, the more money it generates for all parties. This is a win-win situation for everyone :-)

So it all depends on the purpose of your website and probably also on your view of life:

Sergey This is not expression of my attitude. It is just what majority of our customers wants. That is why no confirmation mode exists in Emerald and in Joomla itself. You cannot ignore that.

But again it is a matter of personal preferences. I personaly believe that no confirmation method have rights to exist.

If your customers really have expressed their needs, then you should really listen ;-)

Let's conclude that it is great to have the two options available. IMHO The right to exist and the right to choose are two different things altogether and they can coexist without any conflict. :-)

Thank you for solving & sharing your thoughts on this, Sergey

Jeff My website(s) are crowd sourced and registration is free. I will cater thousands of users and they only pay if they want to extend expired articles. Business owners are also allowed to register and they can show their logo in their articles or in the business directory by paid subscription.

Then I guess user self activation is right for you :)