Configure Signup Pages

Signup pages allow external users, such as grant applicants or reviewers, to self-register in SmartSimple without an administrator manually creating their records. Configuration options include user signup pages, organization signup pages, and combined pages that create both an organization and its users in a single registration. Organization lookup pages let new users register under an existing organization, and external verification services confirm an organization's identity against a third-party database, such as the IRS, before registration completes. Additional settings control duplicate record checks, privacy policy attachment, activation email templates, and multilingual support. For definitions of each signup page field, see Signup Page Settings Reference.

Who: Global administrators

When to Use Signup Pages

Use signup pages when:

• External users need to self-register to access your system, for example grant applicants or reviewers.
• You serve multiple types of users or organizations that require different registration configurations.
• You want to reduce administrative workload by enabling self-registration rather than manually creating user records.
• Researchers or staff at established institutions need to register under an existing organization.
• You require organization verification through a third-party database before registration is complete.

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Prerequisites for Signup Pages

The following configuration must be in place before creating a signup page:

• Organization Hierarchy Placement: Each signup page is associated with a parent organization. When a new user or organization registers through the page, the system places the new record under that parent. The parent organization is typically a dedicated external organization, such as Web Registrants. Set this up in the organizational hierarchy before creating the signup page.
• User Roles: Roles group similar users together and control what users can view and do in the system. When a user signup page is created, one or more roles are assigned to each new user automatically. Common roles include Applicant and Reviewer. Confirm that the roles to be assigned exist before creating the signup page.
• Organization Categories: Categories group similar organizations together and control visibility and functionality. When an organization signup page is created, one or more categories are assigned to new organizations automatically. Common categories include Grant Seeking Organization and External Reviewers. Confirm that the required categories exist before creating the signup page.
• User and Organization Statuses: Statuses indicate where a record is in its lifecycle. A newly registered user might receive a Newly Registered status, transition to Active after vetting, and move to Inactive when no longer engaged. Confirm that the required statuses exist before creating the signup page.

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Set Up a User Signup Page

A user signup page adds individual user records to the system and optionally grants them login access.

To set up a user signup page:

1. Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings, and click the Users tab.
2. Locate the General Settings section and click Signup Pages.
3. Click the New Signup Page [+] button.
4. Enter a name for the signup page. This name distinguishes it from other pages and is not visible to registrants.
5. Click the Lookup [binoculars] icon and select the appropriate Associated Organization. New users are created under this organization, typically an external organization.
6. Enter a Description. This description is not visible to registrants but helps identify the page when linking it to an organization signup page configuration.
7. Locate the Access Type and click User Access to grant new users login capabilities.
8. Locate Roles to Add and select the relevant roles to assign to new users.
9. Enter the Signup Page Content and Confirmation Page Content as needed. Include a contact phone number or email address for registrants who need assistance. In the confirmation page content, consider a message such as: Check your email and spam folder for instructions on how to access the system.
10. Locate the Input Form section and select the relevant Available Fields from the list by dragging them to the Selected Fields list. These fields appear on the signup page.
    • Reorder fields within the Selected Fields list using drag and drop.
    • When including address fields, place the Country field above the State or Province dropdown to enable state and province filtering based on the selected country.
11. Click Save.

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Set Up an Organization Signup Page

An organization signup page creates organization records in the system. Before creating this page, confirm that the required organization categories exist.

To set up an organization signup page:

1. Click the System Administration gear in the upper navigation bar, select Global Settings, and click the Organizations tab.
2. Locate the General Settings section and click Signup Pages.
3. Click the New Signup Page [+] button.
4. Enter a name for the signup page.
5. Click the Lookup [binoculars] icon and select the appropriate Associated Organization. New organizations are created under this organization, typically an external organization.
6. Enter a Description. This description is not visible to registrants. Include the purpose of the page and any notes for other administrators.
7. Locate Categories and select the relevant Categories to assign to new organizations.
8. Enter the Signup Page Content and the Confirmation Page Content as needed. For example, indicate who registrants should contact for assistance.
   • If a user signup page is linked to this organization signup page, the user signup page confirmation content is used and the organization confirmation content is ignored.
9. Locate the Input Form section and select the relevant Available Fields from the list by dragging them to the Selected Fields list. These fields appear on the signup page.
   • When including address fields, place the Country field above the State or Province dropdown to enable state and province filtering.
10. Click Save.

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Set Up a Combined User and Organization Signup Page

A combined signup page creates an organization and one or more users in a single registration. Complete the user signup page and organization signup page steps above before continuing.

1. Create a user signup page as described above.
2. Create an organization signup page as described above.
3. Open the organization signup page. Locate the User Signup field, and select either Single User or Multiple Users.
   • If you select Single User:
     1. Click the User Signup Page drop-down menu and select the relevant user signup page to link user and organization signup pages.
   • If you select Multiple Users, the Multiple User Signup section appears.
     1. Click the Add Signup Page button to add user signup page sections.
     2. For each section, enter a minimum and maximum user count and enter section and user titles.
4. (Optional) Toggle Enable Same Address Button on to pre-populate the user's address fields with the organization's address.
5. Click Save.

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Set Up an Organization Lookup Signup Page

An organization lookup signup page allows new users to register under an existing organization by searching for and selecting it from a filtered list. Complete the user signup page and organization signup page steps above before continuing.

1. Set up a user signup page as described above.
2. Set up an organization signup page as described above.
3. On the organization signup page, link the user signup page as described in the combined signup page steps above.
4. Locate the Input Form section. In the Selected Fields section, select only the Name field.
5. Locate the Verification Settings section. Select Internal Organization Lookup from the Verification Service drop-down menu.
6. Select the Lookup Category and Lookup Status to control which organizations appear in search results. For example, limit results to organizations with a category of Non-profit and a status of Active.
7. Locate the Signup Page Content section. Enter the Instructions Content field with guidance for registrants. For example: Begin typing the name of your organization and select it from the list. Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required. For assistance, contact [email address].
8. Click Save.

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Configure an External Verification Service on a Signup Page

External verification services allow registrants to search for and select their organization from a third-party database. The selected organization's information automatically populates the registration form. The steps below use the IRS verification service as an example. The process is similar for other verification services.

Before starting, create a custom field to store the Employer Identification Number (EIN) if one does not already exist. The EIN is a nine-digit federal tax identification number assigned by the IRS to business entities in the United States. Other verification services may require a different identification number.

1. If no EIN custom field exists, create a Text Box - Text Single Line custom field in the organization custom fields and assign the appropriate permissions.
2. Set up a user signup page as described above.
3. Set up an organization signup page as described above.
4. On the organization signup page, link the user signup page as described in the combined signup page steps above.
5. Locate the Input Form section, and select the EIN custom field from the list by dragging it to the Selected Fields list.
6. Locate the Verification Settings section. Select United States Internal Revenue Agency (IRS) from the Verification Service drop-down menu.
7. Click Sample Instructions for both the Search Instructions and Result Instructions fields to populate the default text. Update the content as needed.
8. Locate Additional Automatic Field Population, and click the Add Mapping Field [+] button to add a row.
9. From the Mapping Field column drop-down menu, select Registration Number (EIN).
10. In the Custom Field column, begin typing the name of the EIN custom field and select it from the list.
11. Click Save.

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Attach a Privacy Policy to a Signup Page

A privacy policy attached to a signup page requires registrants to accept the policy before completing registration.

Once a privacy policy has been created and activated, attach it to a user signup page:

1. Open the user signup page.
2. Locate the Signup Options section, and click the Attach Policies field and select the relevant policy.
3. Click Save.

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Customize the New User Email Template

Users granted login access receive an activation email with a link to set their password. A default activation email template is configured globally and applies to all new users. A signup-page-specific template overrides the global template for users who register through that page only.

1. Locate the global template.
2. Click Sample Template and update the content as needed.
3. Click Save.

The activation link variable is:

https://@url@@activationlink@

To create a signup-page-specific template that overrides the global template:

1. Open the signup page.
2. Click the Templates tab.
3. Click Sample Template and update the content as needed.
4. Complete the remaining fields on the tab.
5. Click Save.

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Configure Duplicate Check Settings

By default, the system uses email addresses to identify duplicate users and name to identify duplicate organizations. The duplicate check prevents registrants from creating a second record with the same identifying information.

To configure duplicate check settings:

1. Open the signup page.
2. In the Signup Options section, locate the Duplicate Check Field setting.
   • To check against a single field, select the relevant field from the drop-down menu.
   • To require multiple fields to match before flagging a duplicate (AND logic), select multiple fields to the same Duplicate Check Field input.
3. Click the Add Duplicate Check Condition [+] button to flag a duplicate when any one field matches (OR logic).
4. Update the Duplicate Restriction Message field to display a custom message when a duplicate is detected. The default message is: A user/organization matching the information you entered already exists. Please contact your system administrator.
5. Click Save.

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Add Multilingual Support to a Signup Page

After creating a signup page, add translations for each language the signup page will support. Users can switch languages on the signup page using the language drop-down menu located in the upper-right corner of the header.

To add a translation to a signup page:

1. Open the signup page and click the Signup Page Translation Settings button in the action bar.
2. Select the relevant language.
3. Enter the translations in the appropriate fields.
4. Click Save.

To direct users to the signup page in a specific language, append the following parameter to the signup page URL:

&tid=[language ID]

For example, the following parameter opens the page in Spanish:

&tid=14

Translations for custom and standard field captions are managed on the individual field records. For large numbers of custom field translation updates, the user custom field import feature can be used.

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Test a Signup Page

Signup pages must be activated before they can be previewed or tested.

1. Open the signup page settings and locate the Activation and Security section.
2. Toggle Activate Page on.
3. Click Save.
4. In the Activation and Security section, copy the URL from the Standard field.
5. Open a new incognito or private browser tab.
6. Paste the URL in the address bar and press Enter.
7. Complete the registration form and submit. A confirmation message appears after a successful submission.
8. To verify the submission, navigate to Organization Hierarchy and click the External tab to view the newly created organization or user.

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