Changing the Register page permalink structure break activations mails

[Venutius]

I thought I raise this here as although it's technically a configuration error and shouldn't be done, the change seems to permanently affect WordPress and I think warrants some discussion.

On the forum we had the following error report - ​https://buddypress.org/support/topic/cannot-activate-user/#post-271938

Basically the user wanted to change the registration page url structure and did this by modifying the permalink structure via the edit page.

This broke the activation email send process in that activation emails were no longer sent.

On my test server the behaviour noted was that the registration page redirected to the last site page viewed, not the activation confirmation page.

However, when I created a new page and assigned registration to it via settings, whilst after registration the Register page correctly redirected to the activation sent page, the email never arrived. Manually sending an activation email via the Users page also failed.

So it seems, changing the permalink structure of the registration page will permanently break a site. I've done the usual checks, reinstalled WP and BP, checked my db - all looks fine.

I'm not sure whether to call this a bug since it was an odd method of reconfiguring the register url structure, but basically it was accessible and it seems to have permanently broke a live site so I think it should in the least needs to be highlighted to the user base in some way that it's problematic.

[DJPaul]

Does this break the bp_is_register_page() function, or something else?

[DJPaul]

@Venutius We need more details here.

[Venutius]

This was based on an error reported in the forum, a user had edited the permalink of the register page, simply adding an additional letter and found themselves with a broken registration process in that activation emails were no longer being sent.

I recreated these steps on a test system and also noted the activation emails were not being sent. Changing the permalink back to it's original value did not recover the situation, neither did deleting and adding a new register page.

[Venutius]

Here is an example: ​https://buddypress.org/support/topic/users-cant-register-and-they-dont-show-up/

[TBirdie88]

@DJPaul, @Venutius is correct. I'm having huge issues with trying to fix the site. It's been broken for months. I'm afraid to reinstall BuddyPress as I have active users. Any help would be very much appreciated. Users are getting frustrated, and not able to register.

If I can help in any way, I'm happy to. My site is ​http://starwarscards.net.

Thanks so much everyone.
T

[r-a-y]

If someone can provide us with a list of reproduceable steps to duplicate the problem on a fresh install of BuddyPress, then we can look into the bug much faster.

Otherwise, we'll have to attempt to replicate the problem based on anecdotal evidence, which is always harder.

If it is easier, a screencast or video would work as well.

[Venutius]

Steps to reproduce:

1. Edit the register page, change the permalink structure of the register page without changing it's title. Attempt to register.

2. Change the permalink name back, registration should fail to produce an activation email.

[r-a-y]

@Venutius - Thanks for the steps, but I cannot duplicate the problem.

• In step 1, I change the registration page slug to signup. I go to example.com/signup and register a new account. I get the activation email.
• In step 2, I change the registration page slug back to register. I go to example.com/register to register a new account. I get the activation email.

What am I missing here?

[Venutius]

@r-a-y

If I remember correctly, when I did it, I kept the url the same - register.php, my permalink structure was site/postname. Could that be why it failed for me, I definitely got it to fail.

[Venutius]

@r-a-y My setup at the time was a single site and a shared host if that helps.

@TBirdie88 could you share details of your setup?

[r-a-y]

I know it's a hassle, but can you start from a fresh BuddyPress (and WordPress) install and note down exactly the steps you did to duplicate the problem?

For example:

• Go to "Settings > Permalinks" and select "Post name" or whatever you did.
• Go to "Pages" and click on the "Register" page. Next, change the post slug to new-register and click on "Save".
• Log out and go to example.com/new-register and attempt to create a new user.
• etc.

Every little bit helps.

[TBirdie88]

I changed ​http://starwarscards.net/register to ​http://starwarscards.net/registerSWC ...and I changed the title to registerSWC. (That may be why @r-a-y isn't able to duplicate the issue...?)

Please try this and let me know.

Thanks :)

[TBirdie88]

My set up was shared hosting, but prior to the issue, we migrated to VPS. That didn't affect anything. Single site.

My permalink structure has been Post name from the beginning.

[TBirdie88]

I'm willing to let a dev in to look around the site as long as I don't have any settings changed on me. (I've had bad experiences with other devs, so I'm leery)

[r-a-y]

@TBirdie88 - Can we continue debugging for your issue on your forum thread?
​https://buddypress.org/support/topic/users-cant-register-and-they-dont-show-up/#post-274267

From re-reading that forum thread, I'm not convinced your issue is the same as Venutius's. Please follow the advice in that post.

[r-a-y]

Going to close this one as I believe the reported issue is not reproduceable.

If you are still experiencing this problem, please either reply in the forum thread or reopen with clear instructions to replicate the problem.

Thanks!