Registration and approvals

How people become members sets the tone for everything after. ForumSpark gives you a dial, from wide open to invitation-vibes, and this guide covers every notch of it.

The two switches

Both live in Configuration, then Settings on the Members & Access tab:

• Registrations enabled is the front door itself. Off means nobody new joins, useful for archived communities or during a spam storm.

• Require admin approval puts a waiting room behind the door: people register normally, but can't participate until you approve them.

Living with approvals on

Pending members show up flagged in Community, then Member Search, and approving is one click. The waiting room works best when it's short; a registration approved within a day feels exclusive, one approved after a week feels forgotten. If you run approvals, make checking them part of your routine.

What happens automatically

Before a registration ever reaches you, ForumSpark screens it platform-wide: known spammer databases, disposable email addresses, and ban rules that operate across all boards. The spam that plagues self-hosted forums mostly never arrives here, which means approval mode is a choice about community feel, not a necessity for survival.