OpenMusic: user registration & profile information

User registration is one of the elements that greatly affect a web site's user base. Having a lengthy, indiscreet registration form thrown into our user's face right in front of the door foreshadows an even worst experience when registered. Social networks need to get indiscreet by asking all of these personal questions, but it is safer to do so when they have a firm hold on the user and that is when the user passes through registration(we've got his email!).

With that being said, user registration needs to be short and user-friendly while it collects all the crucial information we need. There are many scenarios we can go by, and many modules we can choose to make our job easier -> which is to collect the information we need: (the following lists will be updated as we go)

Modules

• nodeprofile:profiles are nodes so that we can use cck and views
• cck
• pageroute
• rolesignup: select a role upon registration ( we will be discussing about why that is necessary )

Registration scenarios

• The user selects a role (artist of fan or whatever- with the rolesignup.module) then goes through the standard Drupal registration, and then upon the first login he is forwarded to a pageroute to fill in his nodeprofile, compulsory to complete or not.
• Integrate nodeprofile with normal Drupal user registration so that the user creates his username and password and fills in his profile information at the same page.
• The user registers normally, logins and he is prompted to fill in his profile information with some form of an alert. This leads him to a pageroute, compulsory or not( as you may have guessed, I love pageroutes!)

User information gathered in nodeprofiles

• Nodeprofile common for artists/non-artists
• name and surname
• age
• birthday
• gender
• country
• hometown

• Nodeprofile only for artists.
  in essence this nodeprofile is mostly needed because it will be made into our artists' organic group, therefore filling it automagically creates the artists' organic group.
• instruments I play
• music education

Nodeprofile Content types:

• Userprofile:all users –artists/non-artists alike- have a userprofile nodeprofile. This node type contains cck fields and taxonomy associations that describe general profile information, classifying users and making them searchable.
• Artistprofile: only users that are assigned the role “artist” during registration (role_signup.module) will create an artistprofile nodeprofile node.This node holds information relative to the artist’s musical activities and properties.

Issues to be discussed

• OpenID, core in Drupal 6 (thanks Dub), probably used in OpenMusic, how does it affect the registration procedure?
• which of the nodeprofile information fields should be made taxonomy, and which module best inserts taxonomy into a cck field