[please comment on this. I'd like to get it in shape so people can pick up the code for the membership pages and work on it easily. this has gone on for over a year; let's get it done once and for all. --nils]
Here's a description of how the membership process should work. It is based on the rules set down in the bylaws: http://www.spi-inc.org/corporate/spi-bylaws The remaining rules etc. will be made by the membership ctte. [revision 2001-04-16] >> NON-CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS - non-contributing memberships should be automagically granted with a valid email address (somewhat like the list subscription confirmation process) - no expiration date - these members are just 'supporters' of SPI with no real obligations etc. but with their membership they indicate that they support the principles of SPI - registration: register with email addr and passwd (automatically generate passwd?) - automatic confirmation to that email address - ability to recover passwd by entering email addr and having the passwd resent - can apply for contrib membership by submitting list of contributions for review/approval by membership committee The first part of the contrib member process is exactly the same as for non-contrib, and can get approved automatically by confirmation of the email address. The contributing membership part is then handled afterwards by the membership ctte. >> CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS - these do expire (say in 2 years- not fixed yet) When they do, they become non-contrib members - must have made significant contributions to the free software community, as determined by the membership committee. - registration happens as follows: - get name, email, list of contributions, contact info - membership committee looks at application and decides if enough info is there - if enough info, he's approved, pgp key is required for voting etc. - if not enough info, ask for more info (repeat as necessary) - if not enough contributions, non-contributing membership is offered - non-contrib membership is approved as soon as email addr is validated (same process as for non-contribs) All fields should exist for BOTH types of members since: a) non-contrib members can apply to become contrib members b) contrib members that expire are downgraded to non-contrib and we don't want their info lost c) same for contrib applicants that are rejected: they become non-contrib DB Fields needed: name email addr contact info (just a text field; people can put addr, phone, etc. as desired) password (for accessing/updating information) PGP key contribution information (can be a pointer to a file with the info) record history (what was done then; can be a file pointer; should never have info deleted from it) ..date of application ..date of approval/rejection for contrib membership ..date of any changes to the record contrib_membership (becomes valid when confirmed by membership ctte) non_contrib_membership (becomes valid when the email addr is confirmed) ...probably others I haven't thought of, let's try to get a complete list.
