steemit
phone number held even when unconfirmed
Many users may have tried to signup weeks/months ago but had no success in confirming their phone. If no account has been created with the associated number, the system should release the latter so they can try to signup again.
A friend of mine has a similar problem. This clearly needs addressing. I added a few more informations here
- https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@krischik/phone-number-and-email-contest-and-recovery
- https://github.com/steemit/condenser/issues/2603
Based on a discussion in a different faucet issue, under the current system - the phone number only becomes “in use” after verifying SMS. After SMS is verified, it is either accepted or rejected. In both of those cases, it would not be correct to release the phone number.
The only issue I am aware of is if it is accepted, but the user never activates the account. That is a fairly limited corner case though, and if they still have the approval email - we should be able to help them from steem chat #help.
@TimCliff
Based on a discussion in a different faucet issue
A link would be nice so I can see what was discussed.
The only issue I am aware of is if it is accepted, but the user never activates the account.
I have and still am guiding two users though the registration process and in both cases there have been problems which dragged the registration out over several days. And at each step.
With the other user I helped along the registration user run out of bandwidth and that needed a few days to fix right in the middle of registration.
So this might happen more often then you think and users without a guide will abandon Steemit altogether. Remember the old rule: For everyone complaining you have 10 who don't complain and move on. With the registration process of a website this might be worse.
we should be able to help them from steem chat #help.
But there is no (highly visible) link to chat on the registration page:
If you run into problems new users won't know where to go. You can't expect a new users to know about the FAQ and scroll down about 25% of that very long page to find the link to the chat.
they can still use any of the alternate signup methods listed in the steemit.com FAQ.
But the other registrars aren't free. Ok for me if I wanted a 2nd account. But new users who want to try Steemit won'd spend 5 steem on a new account.
And last not least: It won't solve the problem that phone numbers might change hand and not a live long property.
Hi @krischik
A link would be nice so I can see what was discussed.
https://github.com/steemit/faucet/issues/214
I have and still am guiding two users though the registration process and in both cases there have been problems which dragged the registration out over several days. And at each step.
The verification step (after everything is entered) can take a week or so. Beyond that, there shouldn't be excessive delays. If there are specific issues you are running into that are not already documented in issues, please create an issue with steps to reproduce.
With the other user I helped along the registration user run out of bandwidth and that needed a few days to fix right in the middle of registration.
Bandwidth is outside the scope of the faucet and is working as designed. More details on this are in the steemit.com FAQ.
So this might happen more often then you think and users without a guide will abandon Steemit altogether. Remember the old rule: For everyone complaining you have 10 who don't complain and move on. With the registration process of a website this might be worse.
Improving the signup system is a high priority for the dev team.
But there is no (highly visible) link to chat on the registration page
Most users should not need help with the signup process. It is relatively straightforward, and 95% of users make it through with no issues. The steemit.chat help is an option if users get stuck, but it is not an official support channel.
If you run into problems new users won't know where to go. You can't expect a new users to know about the FAQ and scroll down about 25% of that very long page to find the link to the chat.
There is a pull request to improve that: https://github.com/steemit/faucet/pull/236
But the other registrars aren't free. Ok for me if I wanted a 2nd account. But new users who want to try Steemit won'd spend 5 steem on a new account. And last not least: It won't solve the problem that phone numbers might change hand and not a live long property.
Right now the solution for someone who just bought a new phone number and the phone's previous owner used it to register for an account is for them to use one of the third party (paid) services or have a friend create their account using SteemConnect.
Same here. I don't have a steem account. However, it "https://signup.steemit.com/" says my phone number has been used. Strange.
@TimCliff In fact, I cannot remember. There is no way to find my account back using my phone number. Wait, then why Steemit is collecting phone numbers if we cannot reset our accounts?
Phone numbers are used to prevent users from signing up for multiple ‘paid for’ (free) accounts.
Please message me in steem.chat. GitHub is really not the appropriate place to discuss issues with specific accounts. (I respond to messages there within 24 hours.)
I am having this issue, i signed up and was unable to confirm my account in time.. now my number cannot be used with a creation of a new account.
There should be a way to reset that at least or to automatically release the phone number if uncomfirmed.
