Choosing a security setting for your sign up is kind of like being a bouncer for an elite party, minus the muscles and tattoos. We're fans of making it easy for everyone who's invited to have access, so the default setting for any sign up is to have participants provide their name and email when signing up without creating an account. By entering this information, users can receive reminders and even edit their items.
Don't worry. Making it easy to sign up, doesn't mean just anyone can come to the party. The only way for a person to search for a sign up on our site is by clicking on the magnifying glass icon accessible from the upper right-hand side of the homepage. From there, the email address of the sign up creator can be entered to view active sign ups on that account. Key word searches by school name or organization are not allowed, which makes it difficult for a random person to get to a sign up.
If you still think you need to beef up the security, we have a few enhanced security options available in the Settings tab of the sign up creation process.
From the Created sign ups area of your account, select the pencil icon to the right of the sign up. Go to the Settings tab. Under Preferences, click the Restrictions tab. Click the plus sign next to Enhanced Security. You will then have the following options:
Require Accounts
If this setting is selected, users will have to create a SignUpGenius account (email & password) in order to sign up. Having an account does benefit the user by making it easier if they ever need to modify their item or sign up multiple times, but users can still receive reminders and perform the tasks they need without an account. If you do NOT check this setting, users can still create accounts if they want to.
Require an Access Code
This setting ensures that your sign up is only visible when entering a specific access code. While this provides great security for your sign up, keep in mind this option can make it slightly more challenging for your users to respond. If you send invitations through our system, the access code will be sent automatically. However, if you send invites from your own email, you will need to make sure that your users know the access code.
Reject Sign Ups Outside Group
Check this box if you want to limit sign ups to only people who have emails listed in your group. It's a good way to prevent people from outside your group from signing up. That said, keep in mind that users have to sign up with the exact email you list in your group. If users have multiple email addresses and try to sign up with a different email address than the one you have in your group, they will be rejected and often confused. It is also not possible to use a group email alias with this setting because there is no way to know which emails are part of the group email. This setting is typically best when used with a small group where you need to restrict access from anyone outside the group.
