User Sign Up and Approval Options

myTurn lets users create an account online. Your organization decides when users can purchase a membership and which checks they must complete before borrowing.

There are two main approval workflows:

• Option 1: Purchase a membership online, then verify identity online (in beta) or in person. Users arrive with their chosen membership. Staff use the identity verification status to identify an incomplete ID check.
• Option 2: Assign or sell a membership after staff approval. Users register as prospective members. Staff complete the approval steps and then provide the membership.

Both workflows use the same registration settings. You can also use User Warnings for additional instructions, such as an orientation requirement. A warning is a staff reminder; it does not record completion of an identity check.

Set up self-registration

Go to Settings > Customers > Registration and enable Allow self registration.

New accounts start with the free Contact membership/identifier (previously "request"). Access then depends on the registration settings and any membership the user purchases or receives.

Review these options:

• Require Email Domain During Self Registration: Restrict registration to specified email domains. Separate multiple domains with commas.
• Allow Check Out: Enable this if newly registered users should be eligible for checkout without first receiving another membership type. For example, your organization may lend only to trusted staff or partners, restrict sign-up to an approved group, or use Identity Verification as the required check before borrowing. Leave this off if assigning or selling a membership is your approval step. Other borrowing requirements still apply, including Identity Verification when required. Enabling checkout does not bypass those requirements.
• Allow Reservations: Enable this if prospective members may request items before receiving a membership.

Advanced Options: these options will typically only be used when you do not have a membership approval process or only offer pay as you go memberships. They are the same options you would set on other Membership Types.

Next, choose whether Identity Verification or staff assignment of a membership will be your main approval step.

Option 1: Use Identity Verification to approve borrowing

Use this workflow when you want to manage membership selection and identity checks separately. Users must meet the Identity Verification requirement before borrowing, subject to an explicit override by authorized staff.

Choose how users complete Identity Verification:

• In person: Staff check the user's ID and mark their identity as verified. Users can select or purchase an available membership online before the check.
• Online (beta testing): Users complete the ID check through your configured online verification provider. Users who require verification may need to complete it before purchasing a membership.

For example, a user can purchase an annual membership at home. At pickup, staff see that the user is not yet verified, check their ID, and record completion. The membership type stays the same throughout the process.

Identity Verification can replace a temporary membership type or a new-user warning whose only purpose is to remind staff to check ID.

Configure the workflow

1. Set up the memberships users can select or purchase online. See Membership / Subscription Sign-up & Pay Online.
2. Go to Settings > Customers > Identity Verification.
3. Enable Require identity verification before borrowing.
4. For in-person verification, set Online identity verification provider to None (admins check IDs in person). For online verification (beta testing), configure the available online provider instead. Save the settings.
5. Review the applicable types under Settings > Customers > Membership Types. For Require Identity Verification to Borrow, select Default to follow the organization setting, or Always require identity verification. A type set to Never require identity verification is exempt.

With no online identity provider configured, an incomplete ID check does not prevent users from purchasing an available membership. Other registration, membership, and payment requirements still apply.

Complete the first in-person check

1. Open the user's account details and find Identity Verification.
2. If the user is not verified, check their ID in person according to your policy.
3. Compare the ID with the account's name and address. Use Edit User to correct details if needed.
4. Select Manually Verify Identity, review the details, and confirm that you completed the check.
5. Continue with checkout once the user meets your other borrowing requirements.

myTurn records the verification status, date, and staff member who completed the check. Manual verification does not upload or store a copy of the ID.

You do not need to change the membership type after verification. If an existing warning only reminds staff to check ID, review or clear it after completing the check.

Understand the verification status

Not verified means the identity check is incomplete. It can help staff identify a new borrower who needs attention, but it does not prove that the user has never visited.

Enabling the requirement also affects existing members who have not been verified. Plan how staff will check those members.

Authorized staff can explicitly override the identity requirement during checkout. An override does not mark the user as verified. Use Manually Verify Identity after completing the check.

Verification satisfies the identity requirement only. It does not remove a suspension or replace an eligible membership, required agreements, or other borrowing requirements.

Option 2: Assign or sell a membership after staff approval

Use this workflow when staff should approve the user before providing a borrowing membership. Approval may include an ID check, paperwork, or an orientation.

Users who register without purchasing a membership and cannot borrow appear under Customers > Prospective Members.

After approval, select Membership to assign or sell the appropriate type.

Alternatively, select Start Cart and include the membership in the first checkout transaction.

Use warnings for additional approval steps

Membership types can set a User Warning on the first purchase. Configure it under Settings > Customers > Membership Types.

Staff see the warning during check-in and checkout. After completing the instructions, select Update Warning to revise or clear it.

Keep warnings for instructions that still need staff attention. For example, a verified user may still need an equipment orientation. Clearing a warning does not mark the user's identity as verified, and verifying identity does not clear a warning.

Address change history

myTurn saves changes to a user's address until the user is deleted. Address change history is not yet available in the admin dashboard. Until that view is available, contact myTurn Support to request the saved address changes for a user.