Revision [6335]
This is an old revision of RegisterAction made by JavaWoman on 2005-02-25 23:00:09.
Register Action
See also:
- Documentation: RegisterActionInfo
- Test: RegisterActionTest
- Related: Nils' UserRegistration.
I've started working on a new version of an action for user registration. The motivation behind this is to replace the current usersetting action with three distinct actions:
- register action - handling operations related to user registration and first login;
- login action - handling operations related to login/logout and password retrieval of registered users;
- usersettings action - handling user preferences (See UserSettingsPanel for more info).
[2005-02-25] action uploaded on this site as a beta feature: RegisterActionTest (you'll need to logout to test it)
The action
Current version: 0.2Done:
- Added labels and semantic markup for registration table as per JavaWoman's and IanAndolina's suggestion;
- Removed useless hidden fields (inherited from usersettings);
- Expanded elseif validations to allow further actions;
- Added redirect to WelcomeUser for first login (in the future redirect page will be configurable - see RedirectOnLogin);
- Added done/failed icons (using menulets currently installed as beta features on this server);
To do:
- CSS to style form;
- (optionally) drop WikiName restriction on usernames;
- use core functions to validate fields;
- use central error handler for printing error messages;
- decide best strategy to link hardcoded login/logout page;
- define welcome page where new users must be redirected;
- (optionally) add option for email-confirmation of registered users.
The code
Save the following as ./actions/register.php and use it as {{register}}.
- <?php
- /**
- * Display a form for user registration.
- *
- * This action allows new users to register an account, if user registration is enabled.
- * All the required fields are validated before the new user is created.
- *
- * @package Actions
- * @name Register
- *
- * @author {@link http://wikka.jsnx.com/DarTar Dario Taraborelli}
- * @version 0.2
- * @since Wikka 1.1.X.X
- * @output form for user registration
- *
- * @todo
- * - CSS to style form;
- * - (optionally) drop WikiName restriction on usernames;
- * - use core functions to validate fields;
- * - use central error handler for printing error messages;
- * - decide best strategy to link hardcoded login/logout page;
- * - (optionally) add option for email-confirmation of registered users.
- */
- print $this->Format('===== Registration page =====');
- if ($this->GetConfigValue("allow_new_users") == "0") {
- // user registration is disabled
- print $this->Format('//User registration is disabled on this wiki//');
- } else {
- if ($user = $this->GetUser()){
- // user is logged in
- // is this the first time the user is logged in?
- if ($_GET['reg'] == 'ok') {
- // first login welcome stuff
- // print $this->Format('--- **Registration successful!** --- --- You are currently logged in as '.$this->GetUserName());
- // ...or forward
- $this->Redirect($this->href('','WelcomeUser'));
- } else {
- // print user information
- print $this->Format('--- You are currently logged in as '.$this->GetUserName());
- }
- } else {
- // user is not logged in
- print "<script type=\"text/javascript\"><!-- \nfunction hov(loc,cls){ \n if(loc.className) loc.className=cls;\n}\n //-->\n</script>\n";
- // is user trying to register?
- if ($_POST) {
- // get POST values
- if ($_POST['password']) $password = $_POST['password'];
- if ($_POST['confpassword']) $confpassword = $_POST['confpassword'];
- // validate fields
- // note: all these validation checks should use core functions to preserve consistency
- // todo: add icons on non-valid fields
- if ($this->LoadUser($name)) {
- $error = 'Sorry, this username already exists. Please choose a different name.';
- $validname = $this->Action('failed');
- } elseif ($this->ExistsPage($name)) {
- $error = 'Sorry, this username is reserved for a page. Please choose a different name.';
- $validname = $this->Action('failed');
- } elseif (!$this->IsWikiName($name)) {
- $error = 'Please fill in a valid username (formatted as a ##""WikiName""##).';
- $validname = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'Please specify an email address.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'That does not quite look like an email address.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'Please choose your password.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('done');
- $validpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'Sorry, password too short.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('done');
- $validpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'Sorry, spaces are not allowed in passwords.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('done');
- $validpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- $error = 'You need to confirm your password.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('done');
- $validpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- $validconfpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- } elseif ($confpassword != $password) {
- $error = 'Sorry, passwords do not match.';
- $validname = $this->Action('done');
- $validemail = $this->Action('done');
- $validpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- $validconfpassword = $this->Action('failed');
- } else {
- // all required fields are valid and non-empty
- // create user
- $this->Query("insert into ".$this->config["table_prefix"]."users set ".
- "signuptime = now(), ".
- // log in
- $this->SetUser($this->LoadUser($name));
- // forward
- $this->Redirect($this->href('','','reg=ok'));
- }
- }
- $intro = $this->Format(' --- If you are a **new user** you can register an account using this form (if you already have an account, please go to the [[UserSettings login page]]). --- --- To register, the following fields are required:
- ~-your **username** (it must be formatted like a ##""WikiName""##, for example: ##""JuliusCaesar""##);
- ~-a **valid email address** (this will only be used to retrieve your password in case you lose it);
- ~-a **valid password** (min. 5 characters, no space allowed).
- --- ---');
- // build registration form
- $form = $this->FormOpen();
- $form .= ' <table summary="Form to provide registration data: username, email and password">';
- $form .= ' <caption>Registration form</caption>';
- $form .= ' <tbody>';
- $form .= '<tr><td colspan="3" align="center"><span class="error">'.$this->Format($error).'</span></td></tr>';
- }
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="name">Your username:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input name="name" id="name" size="40" value="'.$name.'" title="Choose a valid username (formatted as a WikiName)" /></td>';
- $form .= ' <td>'.$validname.'</td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="email">Your email address:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input name="email" id="email" size="40" value="'.$email.'" title="Fill in a valid email address"/></td>';
- $form .= ' <td align="left">'.$validemail.'</td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="password">Your password:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="password" name="password" id="password" size="40" title="Choose a valid password (min. 5 chars, no space)" /></td>';
- $form .= ' <td align="left">'.$validpassword.'</td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="confpassword">Confirm password:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="password" name="confpassword" id="confpassword" size="40" title="Type again your password for confirmation" /></td>';
- $form .= ' <td align="left">'.$validconfpassword.'</td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <td></td>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="submit" value="Register" size="40" title="Register" /></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' </tbody>';
- $form .= ' </table>';
- $form .= $this->FormClose();
- // output intro and form
- print $intro.$form;
- }
- }
- ?>
Implemented modifications
- Try to use SemanticMarkup if this is going to be rewritten anyway, instead of:
-
$form .= '<tr>';
$form .= ' <td align="right">Confirm password:</td>';
$form .= ' <td><input type="password" name="confpassword" size="40" title="Type again your password for confirmation" /></td>';
$form .= '</tr>';
- use:
-
$form .= '<label>Confirm password:<input type="password" name="confpassword" size="40" title="Type again your password for confirmation" /></label>';
- It is more elegant, semantically clean and frees some bytes to run free in forests! --IanAndolina
- While I agree that label should always be used for form control prompts, I don't agree with dropping the table. A form as a series of label-data constructs (i.e., name-value pairs) is semantically also a data table, especially since a form can be used not only to enter data but also to (re)view and modify it.
- But when a table is a data table, it should be marked up as a data table, with proper header cells related to the data cells, a caption, and a summary.
- The hidden "register" field is also superfluous, since the submit button can take care of that.
- We'd end up with something like this (this serves just as an example, not meant as the "final" code):
-
- // build registration form
- $form = $this->FormOpen();
- $form .= ' <table summary="form to provide registration data: username, email and password">';
- $form .= ' <caption>Registration form</caption>';
- $form .= ' <tbody>';
- $form .= '<tr><td></td><td><span class="error">'.$this->Format($error).'</span></td></tr>';
- }
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="name">Your username:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input name="name" id="name" size="40" value="'.$name.'" title="Choose a valid username (formatted as a WikiName)" /></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="email">Your email address:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input name="email" id="email" size="40" value="'.$email.'" title="Fill in a valid email address"/></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="password">Your password:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="password" name="password" id="password" size="40" title="Choose a valid password (min. 5 chars, no space)" /></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <th align="right" scope="row"><label for="confpassword">Confirm password:</label></th>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="password" name="confpassword" id="confpassword" size="40" title="Type again your password for confirmation" /></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' <tr>';
- $form .= ' <td></td>';
- $form .= ' <td><input type="submit" value="Register" size="40" title="Register" /></td>';
- $form .= ' </tr>';
- $form .= ' </tbody>';
- $form .= ' </table>';
- $form .= $this->FormClose();
- Note that I've also removed the if clauses for $name and $email - the fields should simply be initialized and can then directly be used in the form (moving towards a templating mindset :)).
- Preferably the align="right" on the header cells (and maybe other styling) should be taken care of by some special "form table" rules in the stylesheet (contextual rules will be all that's necessary, no need for extra classes or id - and this will enhance a consistent layout of forms). Both right-aligning labels and a consistent layout for all forms will be helpful for usability.
- I think you are (respectfully) wrong. That you may intepret a submit button as "data" is stretching the very notion of data in my opinion! ;) In this particular case the table is not providing any semantic information that could not be more elegantly be provided by removing the redundant table tags. It is being used as a presentational aid and that is wrong: "Tables should not be used purely as a means to layout document content" (W3 HTML 4 documentation). To provide semantic "sections" within forms, there is <fieldset/> expressedly for that purpose, along with <legend/> for titling. --IanAndolina
- Using a data table to structure data (inside or outside of a form) is not using it as a representational aid, but using it exactly for what data table markup is intended for. Marking up form content (a form with more than a single field at least) this way is also helpful for people using screen readers, precisely because it is a data table (and not a layout table): they can choose to browse the content in table mode (representing the data structure, to get an overview of the content) as well as in form mode (to enter or modify the data). I know there are such things as field sets, etc. - but they can't do what the data table is doing here: presenting the data structure. Arranging a data structure in rows and columns (and more complicated variants of that) is precisely what data tables are for - and precisely for that reason the markup I've used is not a that of a layout table (which uses nothing but table, tr and td elements) but that of a data table (with a summary, a caption, and table header cells (th) associated with their corresponding data cells (td) - none of which are even allowed in a layout table). If you would merely present these data, you would use a data table. Making those same data editable by means of a form does not suddenly rob it of its data structure: so the data table markup is equally applicably to data that is merely presented and to data that is editable: it is the same data structure after all, with an extra facility (editablility) added to it!
I know there are "schools" trying to get rid of all tables - but that is (respectfully) the wrong approach. Data tables provide a rich markup to present data structures which is not preempted by using a form but can work in conjunction with it. The result provides both visually explicit structure (for those who can see it) as well as a markup structure for those who use assistive technology and like to explore the data structure before (possibly) entering or modifying data. It gives people using assistive technology a choice (corresponding to "scanning" the rows and columns of a form by those who can see) that would simply be missing if data table markup weren't used. While this isn't required by accessibility standards, it definitely isn't wrong either; in fact it's appreciated by most, and it doesn't get in the way for those who want to use only "form mode".
When you say that a submit button is not data, you are right, of course. :) A refinement of my code (I did say it was not in a final form...) would be to take the submit button outside of the form, leaving the data table to only structure the data in the form (and not the form itself).
If you browse this site, you'll see I always advocate not using tables for layout (that's why the still somewhat experimental new WikkaBetaFeatures category action is no longer using a table!) but vice versa I also advocate using data table markup - instead of layout table markup - when presenting an actual data structure (see JwCalendar, for instance).
The markup presented here conforms not only to the XHTML (1.0, and even 1.1) standard, but to WCAG as well. You may not like it - but it's not wrong. --JavaWoman
- Thanks for your feedback, guys! I'll patch the action with your suggestions asap. I was thinking that maybe we might want to add more options related to user registration in wikka.config.php.
- E.g.:
-
"allow_new_users" => "0",
-
"allow_new_users" => "1",
-
"allow_new_users" => "2",
- I'd also like to have Nils' opinion about this, since he had been working on an improved action for user registration with a confirmation code.
- -- DarTar
- After ActiveDirectory, were we have "user_identification" => "wikka/activedirectory", i thought about a slightly different structure, which would allow to usse another programm for registration:
-
"user_registration" => "wikka/(other program)/off"
- and
"registration_requirements"
=> "none[this is the normal registration], "no double account" [only one account per e-mail], "registercode" [which requieres another entry].
- --NilsLindenberg (nice work, btw :)
Much better... a few more comments:
- The variables are still not being initialized. If a user does not provide a value when submitting the form, the variable won't be set - and then you're trying to use the unset variable(s) as parameters to functions and values for form fields. Try not excluding E_NOTICE in php's error reporting and submit an empty form - and see what you get...
- Humm, ok, I'll try to fix this;
- What's the mysterious JavaScript for? Do we even need it?
- No idea, inherited from usersettings: I left it because I didn't know what it was needed for, I guess we can drop it...
- I don't think the submit button can do anything with a size attribute (missed that the first time)
- Oops, another thing inherited from usersettings - will fix it.
CategoryDevelopment