One of the great things about your Novi AMS website is that users can apply for new memberships and create accounts for existing memberships using the self-service registration features on your website. Your association staff does not have to be involved any more than you want to be.
There are a few different ways your visitors can set up their accounts, and there are some subtle differences in the way signups work for company memberships vs individual memberships. We'll take a look at those two different membership types below, but keep in mind that your organization could have both scenarios in play at the same time.
Sections in this article:
Other Information You Should Know (including Duplicate Detection, Member Compass, and Locked Fields)
If you haven't done so already, be sure to set the fields that will show on the frontend signup form (i.e. your membership application).
General Process for New Member Signup on the Frontend
At the core of the process, both company and individual members sign up for new memberships in a similar way.
Step 1: Navigate to the Join Page
Apply by clicking the Join link (in the upper right of your website) > Then select View Membership Information.
The direct link to this page is https://www.yourdomain.com/membership-information
Step 2: Select a Member Type
On the Membership Information page, the user will be presented with a list of member types that are set up to allow frontend registration.
Step 3: Enter Personal Information + Company Info (if applicable)
After selecting a member type, the application will be displayed where the user will fill in all the information you've designated as Key Information:
For new company members, the user signing the company up will be asked for information about themselves as well as information about their company.
For new individual members, your user will be asked for information about themselves as well as optionally providing information about their company or choosing a company that already exists in your member database.
Step 4: Checkout
Once they fill out all of the fields and click the Save & Continue button, the system will apply any applicable dues rules (based on the member type they selected in Step 2). A summary of the charge(s) will be displayed on the Checkout page, and they will be presented with billing options (Invoice and/or Credit Card only, depending on the settings for the member type).
Credit Card Failure Limit: To help prevent scammers from attempting to use the signup form for credit card scamming, the system has a failure limit in place.
If a new member signing up has more than 5 credit card failures, the system will lock them out. They will see a message that lets them know there were too many failed attempts and to come back in 24 hours and try again.
This means they will be blocked from adding new credit cards or processing payments, and these same protections apply to the “add payment” screen in the Member Compass.
Step 5: Confirm Email Address
After submitting the online membership application, the new user will be asked to confirm their email address in order to activate their account (i.e. login).
Step 6: Member Compass
Once they've entered the confirmation code, they will be taken to their Member Compass. They will see a success message in a green box which will be located at the top of the page, as pictured below.
Success Message & Membership Status:
At this point, the success message they see and their level of access to members-only content depends on whether or not approval is required.
Approval Required: If you have the setting turned on to require approval prior to a new member receiving benefits:
The success message will say: Your new membership checkout was successfully completed, and your membership is now awaiting approval. Thank you!
The member's status will be Pending.
The member will not be able to access members-only pages or receive member pricing for events/products until their signup is approved by an admin. Approval can be handled on the backend in the Recent Signups List or directly on the member's record.
Approval Not Required: If approval is turned off for the member type they selected:
The success message will say: Your new membership checkout was successfully completed. Thank you!
The member's status will be Current.
The member will automatically be approved and start receiving member benefits immediately. They will be listed in the Recent Signups List with a "Clear" action - this is mainly as an FYI for you, so you can review the new member record and complete any follow-up tasks (if applicable).
If the new signup is for a company, the user will automatically be assigned as the Primary Contact and have access to the company's profile in their Member Compass.
Transaction Sent via Email:
As soon as the new member completes Step 4 above they will receive an email with their Invoice or Sales Receipt attached. They can also view and print transactions in their Member Compass once they get to Step 6.
Items of note:
If the new member is a company, the email will be sent to the Primary Contact (i.e. the person submitting the membership application).
The verbiage in this email is set up in QuickBooks Online.
Additional Information For Company Memberships
If you have member types that are set up for company membership, users can apply for new membership for their company. If the company is already in your database, a user can sign up for an account under the company.
Once they complete the steps above, both a company member record and a person member record will be created in your member database and be visible in Recent Signups.
They will have access to their Member Compass once they've confirmed their email address, and the new person member will be set up with management access for the new company.
A Note on Company Members with Seat-Based Dues
If you have any member types with seat-based dues, the frontend experience is slightly different once they get to the checkout cart. Be sure to check out this related help article: Company Membership with Seat-Based Dues: Member Experience on the Frontend
Individual Memberships
If you have member types set up for individual dues-paying members, your users will have the option of applying for a new membership (either with or without a parent company).
Once they complete the steps above, a new individual record will be created in your member database and be visible in Recent Signups. The new member will have access to their Member Compass once they've confirmed their email address.
If the new member entered company information and did not choose an existing company, a new company record will also be created and visible in Recent Signups.
If the new member chose an existing company, then an email will also be sent to individuals with management access on the company's record to inform them of the new individual joining under their company. Learn more about this notification email.
Other Information You Should Know
Duplicate Detection
When logging in to your site for the first time, users may not know that they already have a record in your system and will attempt to create a new record. Luckily, Novi's duplicate detection can save you from having multiple records for one person. Once they attempt to create a new record, Novi will let them know.
Member Compass Overview
Once the member is logged in, they will land on their Member Compass, which is their online profile and guide to their membership information within your association. All logged-in users will be able to see their dashboard with their membership status, transactions billed to themselves, their event history, their order history, and their own personal profile information. Depending on the member's level of access, they may also have access to the company's profile, staff list, and transactions for related contacts.
Locked Down Fields
These fields are locked down on the frontend of your website and require the member to contact association staff to make edits.
First Name
Last Name
Company Name
Parent Member
For individual profiles, this is a setting on your site, so it's up to you if members can edit this field or not. Learn more about this setting.
For company profiles, they will need to contact you to update their parent company.
If any custom fields have the setting checked for Users Cannot Change on Frontend After Initial Value, then those fields will be displayed in the Member Compass but the member will need to contact association staff to make edits (once an initial value has been added).
Related Articles
Creating User Accounts (Note: This will provide information on how account creation is different from new membership sign-up.)