[ic] Is Auto-creation of User Accounts Necessary?

[Dan Bergan]

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 12:55 PM, Thomas J.M. Burton
<tom at globalfocusdm.com>wrote:

> On 1/3/2011 9:45 AM, Paul Jordan wrote:
>
>> > My question is, would an IC catalog set up using the old foundation demo
>> > (from version 5.4.2 or earlier) require auto-creation of accounts for
>> > all orders, or is that something that I could remove from the
>> > transaction process without causing problems?
>> >
>> > I realize that IC catalog setups can vary greatly, so I'd also like to
>> > know if there is anything in Interchange's core that depends upon each
>> > transaction having an associated user account.
>> >
>> > I'm currently running version 5.4.2 (yes, we'll be upgrading soon!).
>>
>>
>> Switching from allowing auto creates to only user created accounts is as
>> easy as requiring login at check out.
>> ...
>>
>> Note that *standard/foundation* needs to create a userdb record at
>> checkout if the user is not logged in. If you are requiring login from now
>> on, you no longer need auto-creates - BUT - I would not go ripping out
>> auto-create code out of the transaction process. Just requiring login is
>> enough to skip all that code and keep everything upgrade friendly.
>>
>>
> Thanks for the reply, Paul. That information helped to confirm that I'm
> understanding the account system correctly. The catch here is that my client
> doesn't want to require login at check out, but have it as an option for
> those with an account and leave a "quick checkout" option for those who
> don't and don't want one.
>
> My reasoning behind wanting to remove the auto-create from the transaction
> process is to keep a cleaner userdb, considering a couple of possible
> scenarios:
>
> - If user with an account for some reason places an order without logging
> in, there will then be two (or more) accounts in the system with their
> e-mail address.
>
> - If a customer uses the "quick checkout" (no login) option on their first
> visit then decides to make another purchase and create an account at a later
> date, there will be multiple accounts belonging to their e-mail address.
>
> This would create a need to be monitoring accounts and merging them so that
> customers can access order histories from one account. Additionally, if a
> customer creating either of the situations described above forgets their
> password and uses the "forgot password" lookup, they'll have multiple
> accounts which creates a confusing situation for the customer and doesn't
> provide for a user-friendly experience.
>
> I'm curious to know more about why standard/foundation requires an
> auto-create if a user isn't logged in at checkout and what the specific
> ramifications of removing that would be.
>
>
Here's an old thread about this:

http://www.icdevgroup.org/pipermail/interchange-users/2004-July/040053.html

<http://www.icdevgroup.org/pipermail/interchange-users/2004-July/040053.html>
Dan
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