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Beta 4
I tried editing the templates in Beta 3 so the username question was asked before the demographics when a new user signs up. I couldn't get it to work, but heard you'd be able to set it up so the username came first in the next release. Does Beta 4 cater for this? I'd much prefer my users to choose their username first (to make sure it's available), before filling in personal details. A lot of users bail when filling out forms. At least if they know their username is available straight away, you can better prompt them to sign up so no one else takes it.

As for the templates - I must say I was disappointed. Spending so much time on the program you may see the visuals as an almost secondary concern, but I think this is the most important when selling a product. I think you'd sell a lot more if you hired an outside company to develop a slick set of templates.


Regards

Jason

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Re: Beta 4 In reply to
Hi,

I can see your point on the moving the username selection first but this is not currently possible. Having the demographics information first is a pretty common practice on the internet since it is the more important information for the site owner. It is however possible now to put all the join information on one template for the user to fill out and make a second error template with hidden fields for the demographic information and just the login and password fields for the user to choose a different username. If you need more information on how to do this let me know.

The template were done by an outside company and there is another set being done now.

Cheers,

Scott

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Re: Beta 4 In reply to
I would have thought the layout would be best modelled on the biggest and most established mail services. Every one I've tried has the "select username" question on the first page, either by itself or in combination with demographics. It never comes on the second page. If the big guys are doing it this way round I think that says something about the psychology of users signing up. At a guess I would assume signups increase because of this.

Yes, please send more details on combining the username with the first page. I think most other webmasters would prefer it this way round too. I'd like to see it added into the program as an option for when version 2 is released.

It would be nice to bundle a 'user agreement' and 'privacy policy' with the software for webmasters to adapt and integrate into their own mail service. This could be as simple as search and replacing to make them suitable for any site. Not everyone wants to spend hours editing together their own TOS from other sites like I did, but I think they're essential for anyone who's at all serious about running their own mail service. Sure, it's up to the webmaster to sort these things out if they're wanted, but they'd make great 'added extras'.


Regards

Jason

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Re: Beta 4 In reply to
Hi,

I'll change the simple templates to do what I mentioned earlier. That will be a better example then what I can post here since it involves a lot of changes to multiple files.

Cheers,

Scott

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Re: Beta 4 In reply to
Just a comment about the templates, I think the default on is awesome

The simple one is not as clean, the tables are not all aligned and stuff.

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Re: Beta 4 In reply to
Bline, were those templates something you were going to email to me? I've not received anything yet.


Regards

Jason

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Re: Username signup question on first page In reply to
Scott, can you please post those instructions on how to combine the demographics and username signup questions on the one page? I want the username question to be asked first, as I'm sure many other users would like also. EVERY major webmail service has it this way round and I'm surprised you didn't build this option in from the start.

It's not so bad if you're only charging a few hundred dollars for the software, but now you're charging $5000, this option should be mandatory.

The reason should be self-evident - more signups.


Regards

Jason

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Re: Username signup question on first page In reply to
It's like this on the simple templates. You can see it at:

http://freemail.gossamer-threads.com/join.cgi?t=simple

Cheers,

Alex

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Gossamer Threads Inc.
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Re: Username signup question on first page In reply to
If I use the Default templates, but use the pages from the Simple templates for the user signup process, ie to get the combined username/demographics page, do I just need to copy the following Simple template files into the Default template folder?

join.htm
join_login_include.htm
join_all_include.htm
header_noauth_include.htm
footer_noauth_include.htm

That seems to work, just wanted to check if there's anything else.


Regards

Jason