Summary:

Adding a member who doesn't have an email address

Member logging in with temporary email address

Placing an order for a member who has no/invalid email address

Communicating with members who don't have a valid email address

Members with an invalid email address

Changing the email address on their account

Merging WebCollect accounts

WebCollect uses the email address as the unique thing to identify a member.  We use this because names are not unique (how many John Smiths do you know?) and using a combination of name and address can be a bit messy.  For the majority of people this is fine, but some members, particularly children, may not have one (or you might not know what it is).  So we have got round the problem by giving temporary email addresses to members that don't have one.  The email address will look like this:

john.smith4@temp.webcollect.org.uk

The temporary email address is no good for contacting them (obviously!), but they can login to their account with it (provided you give them the password) and then change it to a real email address.

When does a member get a temporary email address?

If members create their own account, they must use a proper email address.  There are 3 ways a new member can be allocated a temporary email address:

• You import your members' data.  When you import, if you leave the email address column blank for a member, the system will give them a temporary one.
• You add a member via the administration panel.  When you add a new member, you don't have to type in an email address for them.  If you don't, the system will give them a temporary one.
• A member adds family/group members to his account.  When a member adds details of their group members, they do not have to provide an email address for each member.

Adding a member who doesn't have an email address

If you add a member with a temporary email address, you will need to give the member the details of how they can login to their account.  You can't email it to them (for obvious reasons!), so you will need to send/give it to them by another method.  You can obtain details of their email address and password by going to their member's account in the administration panel (Click on members top left or use the quicksearch).

Note:  You can only see their password if the member has never logged into their account.  Once they have logged in, I am afraid their password is off limits..

Member logging in with temporary email address

Members can log in with a temporary email address.  However, you will not be able to send them their password via the system.  You can access their password by going to their member page in the admin panel, and clicking on "Create temporary" or "Show temporary".  You will then need to provide that password to the member outside of the system.

Placing an order for a member who has no/invalid email address

Members can place orders (or you can place them on their behalf) without having a valid email address for the account.  However, they will not receive confirmation by email.

Communicating with members who don't have a valid email address

If you are sending a bulk email to all/a group of members, and some of those members don't have a valid email address:

• If they are in a group, the system will automatically send the email to the group admin(s) in the group with a valid email address instead.  So, for example, if you want to send an email to some of your junior members who don't have an email address, it will get sent to the parent's email address automatically.
• If they are not in a group, or there are no valid email addresses available to send it to, then it won't be sent to that member

Members with an invalid email address

When the system attempts to send an email to an email address and receives back a message from the member's mail server saying that the email address is invalid, then the email address is marked in WebCollect as invalid (and WebCollect will not attempt to send anything further to that email address).  We only do this for properly invalid email addresses - if there is a temporary problem (mailbox full, on holiday auto-reply), then the email address is still counted as being valid (even if that particular email never got there).

Note:  The system never sends to temporary WebCollect email addresses (as we know those won't get there..).

Changing the email address on their account

The member can change the email address on their account, by logging into their account and clicking on Edit Profile.  You can change their email address by going to their member's account in the administration panel (Click on members top left or use the quicksearch).  Then click on Edit under the member's details.

Merging WebCollect accounts

In an ideal world it wouldn't happen.  However, it is possible to end up with 2 duplicate accounts for the same member.  The most common reason this happens is when you import your member data and don't know the member's email address when you import.  Instead of signing in with the temporary WebCollect email address they have been allocated, they create a new account with their real email address.  Or perhaps they have multiple email addresses, and forget they already have an account...

Click here for details on how to merge the 2 WebCollect accounts.