Question

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Email verification is on its way to OpenStudy, What Does It Mean for You?

Answer 1

@farmdawgnation did me the honor of writing up some notes on this important feature, scheduled for release tomorrow. I made some minor changes, but the majority is all Farmdawg... ;)

Answer 2

Tomorrow, June 12, 2012, between 9 AM EDT and 11 AM EDT (1 PM and 3 PM UTC) we're going to be releasing a new feature on the site that will represent a significant change to the workflow for newer users. We're giving you guys a heads up about this because we do expect there to be questions about it, and we want to put this information in your hands early to prepare you in case your account is affected or you see new users asking questions about these changes.

So, what's this big change we're talking about, you ask? Well, starting tomorrow, we will be requiring that all users on the site verify their email address to use the site more than three times. Until verification, a yellow reminder bar will sit fixed to the top of your pages, giving you the option to resend the email if you need to. Users who do not verify after three uses of the site will be presented with a lockout screen when they attempt to log in or return to the site requesting them to verify their email to continue using OpenStudy.

Our hopes are that this will help address issues with our emails being sent to user's spam boxes. Since our goal is to cut down on how often we are perceived as spam, we will not be dispatching emails to everyone automatically to request verification. If you are locked out from the site you will be required to hit the "Re-send" email button on the lockout screen to get your verification email and regain access to your account.

To make this process go a little bit smoother, we will be streamlining this process by auto-verifying users with a SmartScore >= 35 who have logged in sometime in the last two weeks. Those users will bypass the verification process altogether, and will be allowed to continue using the site as normal. However, we still encourage you to check and ensure that your email is valid, as we may start locking users out in the future if emails we send them start bouncing back to us.

Please don't hesitate to reply here if you have any questions. More details about tomorrow's release will be available when the *illustrious development team posts the release notes.

Answer 3

*egomaniacal

Answer 4

So, if I have more that 35 on my Smartscore (and I do) I don't have to verify my account?

Answer 5

I'm having trouble with this sentence:
"Well, starting tomorrow, we will be requiring that all users on the site verify their email address to use the site more than three times."
What do you mean by the part "more than three times"?

Answer 6

So we will have to verify our email more than 3 times?

Answer 7

Well by we I mean the people who haven't logged on in the past two weeks.

Answer 8

Which actually excludes me lol

Answer 9

Lol I come on here almost everyday :P

Answer 10

ugh...i forgot the email addresses of my dupe accts o.O

Answer 11

Isn't making dupe accounts against the rules...?

Answer 12

I'm fine with e-mail verification.. but what about some of the 13-14 year olds who are allowed to use Open Study, but might not be allowed to have an e-mail account yet?

Answer 13

Good point!

Answer 14

Omg I love this idea. Props.

Answer 15

Hey everyone, hopefully I can address each of these questions.

In regards to @myininaya - we mean that you can log in and use OpenStudy up to three times before you are required to verify your email address. Though, as @farmdawgnation said, it's still a good idea to verify your email address even if you don't have to - as you and @LifeIsADangerousGame don't have to (because you're >35 SmartScore).

@princeofwetlot - Well, that's terribly unfortunate, and definitely not one of the outcomes we were hoping for with email verification. ;)

@rokotherodent - Hmm, that's an interesting point, though in a situation like that the parent *could* give an email address in order to verify the account - which we assume wouldn't be an issue if they are already giving their child permission to use OpenStudy, and they could just unsubscribe so they didn't receive any emails.

Keep the questions coming! And thank you everyone for participating!

Answer 16

so how do we verify if we have SS > 35

Answer 17

i mean do we get a pop-up too?

Answer 18

Oh, if i couldnt verify by tomorrow, my account would it be cancel or no?

Answer 19

As we mentioned previously, we don't force verification on our end. I simply meant that you may want to make sure that the email address you specified in your settings is accurate so you don't get locked out of the site when we start locking people out due to emails bouncing.

Answer 20

Or i can also do that later

Answer 21

Faman, your smart score is >= 35, so you won't be required to verify.

Answer 22

no its 62

Answer 23

62 >= 35

Answer 24

ok then i m good. thank you! :)

Answer 25

farm is one hell of a mathematician

Answer 26

It may be worth noting that most people would write >= as \(\ge\) - I'm just a programmer. ;)

Answer 27

He's been practicing

Answer 28

What can I say? I'm a talented bloke.

Answer 29

show off ;D

Answer 30

lol rebecca

Answer 31

so like i was asking do the people with ss > 35 get pop-ups too?

Answer 32

@princeofwetlot - No, you won't get a pop-up, we only ask that you make sure that your email is correct in your settings. However, your account will be unaffected (for now ;) ).

Answer 33

But don't worry. If your email is fake we'll *eventually* get you, my pretty. And your little dog too. Heh. Heh. Heh. ;)

Answer 34

lol

Answer 35

well all email addresses of my 20+ accounts are mine..that i can assure...i just dont access those email address very much..

and wait,,,does that mean we can put FAKE email addresses?? o.O all this time i was doing dupe accts with REAL email addresses?!!!

Answer 36

Pretty? pshh

Answer 37

@princeofwetlot *innocent whistle*

Answer 38

no wonder there were so many spammers

Answer 39

btw..will there be other releases tomorrow aside from this?

Answer 40

I wholeheartedly welcome this initiative :) However, If we made the account verification mandatory for our new users (before they can use openstudy the first time) it will substantially ameliorate the trolling issue. (users trying to evade suspension by creating dummy duplicate accounts via fake email address)

Answer 41

true true

Answer 42

@princeofwetlot Yes, we have a handful of bugfixes coming tomorrow as well. I've been a busy developer while @mattfeury has been on vacation. ;)

@FoolForMath We don't really see this primarily as an anti-troll initiative. Our goals, as they relate to email, are to make them better and to avoid them being shuffled into spam folders. Email verification achieves the second goal by making sure we're not sending email to someone who didn't ask for it. Although, this will severely limit what troll accounts can do unless they provide a legitimate email. Esp once the bounce back provision is in place.

Answer 43

Matt Feury has been slacking and leaving you to slave??? ;P Well, you are doing a great job ;D

Answer 44

Can you guys tell me that, when we gonna get Openstudy app for andriod tablet? :)

Answer 45

im a software engineer graduate of georgia tech maybe i can help!

Answer 46

Apps aren't on the schedule yet. We'll be sure to give you a heads up when they are.

Answer 47

YESSSsssss I love me some app.

Answer 48

there's one thing i dont get though (sorry) if fake emails would just bounce back...why does one need to verify?

Answer 49

He has a point

Answer 50

I'm locked out of my own email account. Now what do I do?

Answer 51

@lgbasallote: Why this is not a hypothetical question?

Answer 52

wow i haven't checked my openstudy email in like two months

Answer 53

So like after the third e-mail, how are we making them confirm it?

Answer 54

wow i havent seen satellite73 in OpenStudy Feedback in like two months :O

Answer 55

and @FoolForMath last i used "hypothetical question" spurred an argument that got me in trouble :S so im avoiding it now lol

Answer 56

Wisdom prevails.

Answer 57

lol, From @cshalvey's answer: "Our hopes are that this will help address issues with our emails being sent to user's spam boxes. Since our goal is to cut down on how often we are perceived as spam,..."

Does this answer your query?

Answer 58

My OpenStudy accound is linked to my Facebook account, I didn't register with an email, how am I going to do?

Answer 59

Can I make one complaint related to Email here?

Answer 60

no Parth

Answer 61

hahahhahha okay now you can. That was an epic comeback

Answer 62

i guess i'll just get it when it happens

Answer 63

Hey everyone! wow! so good to see u all together :) i feel so nice when i see my all Os friends together, cuz i love this OS family so much, together we r all another gr8 amazing family :)

Answer 64

Is this family anything like the mafia?

Answer 65

Yes, very much so.

Answer 66

im in yakuza sadly

Answer 67

With the bald guy leading us ;D

Answer 68

which is apparent frommy abald head and fluffy beard

Answer 69

from my bald head*

Answer 70

not you bald...well I guess you...but the purple version...

Answer 71

Is this supposed to be a chat box?

Answer 72

i am the leader of yakuza...my evil twin @cshalvey leads the mafia

Answer 73

All of you in OS and this site totally the best n rocks in everyone live:)

Answer 74

It is a blessing for people :)

Answer 75

And i m really lucky to have you and this site also very thankful for it :)

Answer 76

Lol, its a thank you message to u all n the OS too

Answer 77

Where's the answer to my question up there?

Answer 78

My OpenStudy accound is linked to my Facebook account, I didn't register with an email, how am I going to do?

Don't you log onto Facebook with your e-mail as a username type thing? (sort of like you can on here)

Answer 79

@rebeccaskell94 It checks the email account associated with your Facebook account, and then starts sending the emails.

Answer 80

That's what I figured and that wasn't my question that was Zepp's I just moved it closer to the bottom so someone else could answer if I didn't answer it accurately.

Answer 81

lol i expected a facebook user to answer that question haha

Answer 82

psh what ever do you mean?

Answer 83

Folks, do try and stay on topic. @lgbasallote , @ParthKohli , I'm looking at you.

@Hero Either change the email address you have on file with us or get access to your email restored somehow.

@rokotherodent A valid email is a requirement for an account on OpenStudy, whether it is a parents' email or your own.

Answer 84

Yeah I do use my Yahoo! mail to log in facebook, but facebook also gives me something@facebook.com

Answer 85

Hey Shadow, how do you know if it is valid though??

Answer 86

So I check my Yahoo! account?

Answer 87

i think you can check what email you registered with via the settings ->account settings?

Answer 88

Bye everyone, good to see you all! Carry on n Enjoy! tc :)

Answer 89

Oh, I see :D

Answer 90

you all have a wonderful days and night!

Answer 91

something@facebook.com is a proxy address, which means it's an address that will go through facebook but ultimately go to the email facebook has for you. It's so that you don't have to give us your actual email address.

Answer 92

@rebeccaskell94 We know it's not valid if you fail to verify it ;)

Answer 93

Oh, duh. My bad, sorry!

Answer 94

there was a quote by colm some time ago about "one can only use openstudy 3 times if the account is not yet verified" <---how do you measure this? unique days logged in?