Volunteer Registration - "Become a Member"
Before a volunteer can start signing up for opportunities - they will need to either login to their account, or click "Become a Member" to create an account on your site.
Note: The navigation on your site may be different, and can be customized however you like. In this example we have both a 'About Membership" page with content you may want a volunteer to read before registering, and then the Sign Up / Registration page itself.
About Membership sample page

Clicking on "Become a Member" in the horizontal navigation for volunteers takes you first to the "About Membership" page.
This page is fully editable in HandsOn Connect's static page (WYSIWYG) editor. This is where you can explain basic information on what volunteering for your organization is about.
At the end of this content, you may want to post a link or instruct the reader to click on the "Sign Up/ Registration" item in the left navigation. This will take them to the sign up page.
Sign Up / Registration Page
The System form for sign up / registration can be customized to suit your registration needs for volunteers. You can edit the introductory text on the page, and choose which fields to make available for registration (and whether they are required or not). Additionally, if you have the "Advanced Registration System" add-on, you can add additional pages, forms, and waivers to the registration process. Here's a look at a basic registration page:

1. Customizable intro text. You can optionally enable registration through Facebook and/or Linked in.
2. Name and birthdate are required. (Note: Birthdate is used so that the system knows the exact age of a volunteer, so that age restrictions for signing up for opportunities are enforced.). By request, birthdate can be replaced with other age-related options - but if the system does not know the exact date of birth, then age-restrictions for signing up for opportunities cannot be used successfully.)
3. You can display and/or require a variety of addresses and phone number fields, and decide which are required.
4. The email address becomes your user login and is required. The email address and password is how the volunteer will log into the site in the future. (Note: The password by default, is any six characters. If you wish to add additional security requirements for password complexity this can be requested by opening a support ticket. See this article for details on enhanced password security.
5. Demographic and volunteer options, and volunteer availability grid are optional during registration. Click on the + symbol to open up these options. (or choose not to display them when you configure the page..
6. The terms and conditions page linked here can be customized to include local terms and conditions.
7. Clicking submit completes the registration process, and sends a confirmation email to the volunteer. In this case, because the ARS is enabled for this registration page - the Next button takes you to the next page(s) of the custom registration process that you configure. At the end of the registration process, a "Success" page is shown, which can be customized to delivering messaging about what the Volunteer can do now that they are registered!
The Registration process can be significantly customized by adding the Advanced Registration System (ARS) add-on. Contact support if you wish to add the ARS to your registration system.
Regarding the communication preferences check-box: can I pull a report that will show me new contacts who have chosen in this field to receive communications?