How to Set Up Email Notifications for Account Activation and Admin Review

Ultimate Member allows you to control how new user registrations are handled on your site. You can require users to activate their accounts via email or have their registrations reviewed and approved by an administrator before granting them access.

This guide explains how to properly configure these options and enable the related email notifications, ensuring both users and admins stay informed during the registration process.

Why You Need to Set This Up

By default, new user accounts can be created without restrictions. To improve site security, reduce spam registrations, and manage member access, it’s recommended to either:

Require users to activate their account via email, or
Have administrators manually review and approve new registrations.

This ensures that only legitimate and approved users can access your site's features.

Step 1: Set a Default Registration Role

Before configuring account activation settings, you must assign a default user role for new registrations. Ultimate Member applies activation and notification settings based on the user’s role. Without a default role, new registrations won’t have associated rules or email templates.

To assign a default role:

Go to WP Admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > General >Users.
In the Registration Default Role setting, select the role you want to assign to new users.
Click Save Changes.

This ensures every new registration is assigned a role, so the appropriate settings can be applied in the next step.

Step 2: Configure Registration Options

Each user role in Ultimate Member can have different registration requirements. These options control whether new users must confirm their account via email or whether an admin needs to manually approve them before access is granted.

To access these settings:

Go to WP Admin > Ultimate Member > User Roles.
Click Edit on the role you assigned in Step 1.
Scroll down to the Registration Options section. Two key registration options are available: Require Email Activation and Require Admin Review.

Option 1: Require Email Activation

This option requires users to verify their email address by clicking an activation link sent to their inbox before their account becomes active. It helps prevent spam registrations and ensures users can receive site notifications.

To enable:

In the Registration Status dropdown, select Require Email Activation.
Configure the following additional options:
- Action to be taken after registration
  Choose whether to redirect users to their profile, a custom URL, or display a message immediately after registration.
- Personalize the custom message
  (Optional) Enter a custom message for users after registration. If left blank, a default message will be used.
- Login user after validating the activation link?
  Automatically logs the user in after they click the email activation link.
- URL Redirect after Email Activation
  (Optional) Enter a URL to send users to a specific page after activating their account.
  
  Image-Registration options for the logic with the account activation by email.
After configuration, update the role to save changes.

Enabling the Activation Email Template

Go to WP Admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Email.
Locate the Account Activation Email template.
Click the Manage button to review or customize the email content.
Ensure this template is enabled; without this, users won’t receive the activation email required to complete their registration. Ensure to save changes after you have enabled the email notification.

After setting up these options, it’s recommended to test the registration process to ensure:

The user sees the correct landing page message after registering.
The user receives the activation email.
The administrator receives the new user registration notification email.
The activation link properly activates the user account.

Performing a test registration allows you to verify that your setup is working as expected before making the registration form live for your users.

What Happens When a User Registers

After a user submits the registration form on your site, the following actions take place:

The user is redirected to a landing page displaying a custom message. This message confirms that their registration was successful and provides instructions to check their email for an activation link.
An activation email is sent to the user’s registered email address. This email contains a unique activation link that the user must click to activate their account. Until the account is activated, the user won’t be able to log in.
The site administrator receives a notification email informing them that a new user has registered on the site. This email includes the details submitted during registration.
You can also check the user's status in wp-admin > Users. It will show that the user status is waiting email confirmation.

Option 2: Require Admin Review

This option allows administrators to manually review and approve new registrations before granting access. It’s useful for membership sites, communities, or networks where new members need to be screened.

To enable:

In the Registration Status dropdown, select Require Admin Review.
Configure the following additional options:
- Action to be taken after registration
  Decide whether to redirect users to a URL or show a custom message after submitting the registration form.
- Personalize the custom message
  (Optional) Customize the message shown to users while their account is pending approval.
Then, update the role after configuration to save changes.

Enabling the Admin Review Email Templates

To support this workflow, it’s important to enable and configure the email notifications that inform both the user and the site administrator about the registration and review process.

Why this is necessary:
Without enabling these email templates, users won’t know that their registration is awaiting approval, and administrators won’t be notified when a new account needs review. Activating these emails ensures a smooth communication process and keeps both parties updated.

To enable:

Go to WP Admin > Ultimate Member > Settings > Email.
Click on the Manage button to configure the email notification and enable it:
- Your account is pending review – Notifies users that their registration is awaiting admin approval.
- Account Needs Review Notification – Notifies site administrators when a new registration requires review.
Review and customize the email content if necessary to match your site’s tone and guidelines, then save changes.

Once enabled:

The user will receive an email notification confirming that their account is pending admin review.
The administrator will receive an email notification containing the registration details of the new user.

This ensures both users and admins stay informed, helping maintain a secure, well-managed user registration process.

Important:
After setting up the admin review workflow, it’s recommended to test the registration process to ensure:

The custom message appears correctly after registration.
The user receives the “pending review” email.
The admin receives the “account needs review” notification.
The pending account appears under Users > Pending Review in your dashboard.
The approval process works properly when using both the individual and bulk approval actions.

Testing helps verify that your registration flow is working as intended before making it available to actual users.

What Happens When a User Registers (Admin Review Enabled)

When a user submits the registration form with Require Admin Review enabled, the following sequence occurs:

The user is redirected to a landing page or sees a message on the registration page, depending on your configuration. This message should confirm that their registration was successful and is now awaiting approval from the site administrator.
An email notification is sent to the user (if the Your account is pending review email template is enabled). This email confirms that their account is under review and provides instructions or estimated review times if needed.
An email notification is sent to the site administrator (if the Account Needs Review Notification email template is enabled). This email contains the details submitted by the new user in the registration form and a link to the user profile.
The new user’s account appears in the admin dashboard under WP Admin > Users > Pending Review. From here:
- You can hover your cursor over the user and select Approve, or
- Use the Approve Membership bulk action above the Users table to approve multiple accounts at once.