Usernames, emails and member IDs
The Ultimate Membership Pro username is the login name of a member account. Members choose it when they register, and it stays the same afterwards. The email address and the member ID are the two other details that identify an account.
This guide answers the common questions about all three: what members can change, how they log in, how to sign up with an email address only, where you find a member’s ID, and why an email address can be “already taken”.
The Ultimate Membership Pro username
A member picks the username in the Username field of the registration form. When you add a member by hand, you type it in the Username field of the Account & Login tab. After that, WordPress doesn’t allow a username to be changed, and the profile form in the Member Portal doesn’t show the field.
The username can only use characters WordPress allows, and no other account can have it. Otherwise the form shows Invalid Username or Username has already been taken.
Names you list under Block Username on SignUp in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Security can’t be used to register.
Log in with a username or an email address
The login form has one first field for both. Members type their username or their email address, then their password. See Set up the login form. A member who forgot the password uses the Lost your password? link; see How password reset works.
The login form accepts a username or an email address only. It has no option to sign in with a phone number.
Email addresses
Every account has its own email address. Two accounts can’t share one.
Members change their address in the Email field of the profile form, in the Profile tab of the Member Portal. The Email field is always part of that form; see Customize the profile form. When a member saves, the plugin checks the address:
An empty or invalid address shows You must have a valid email address.
If you show a Confirm Email field, both fields must be the same. Otherwise the form shows Email Addresses do not match.
The address can stay the same, but it can’t belong to another account. Otherwise the form shows Email address has already been taken.
Addresses listed under Email Address Black List in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Security are refused with the same “has already been taken” message. Each entry blocks only that exact address; separate entries with commas.
The same checks run when you change a member’s address in Edit Member (open it from the Details menu in Ultimate Membership Pro›Members). The registration form runs them too, so a visitor can’t register with an address another account already uses.
Changing the email doesn’t change the username
The username isn’t part of the profile form, so it keeps its value when a member saves a new email address. The member can log in with the username or with the current email address.
Sign up with an email address only
You have two ways to let visitors register without choosing a username.
A second form with a single field, the email address. The plugin creates the account, uses the email address as the username and emails a generated password. Add it with [ihc-register-lite]. See Registration with email only (Register Lite).
While the Register Lite module is on, the Username row in Ultimate Membership Pro›Registration Form›Custom Fields has an On Registration switch. Switch it off and the plugin uses the email address as the username. Switch off Password and Confirm Password too, and the plugin generates a password and emails it.
The main form keeps everything else you set up, such as a Membership, payment and other fields. See Set up the registration form and Add custom fields to the registration form.
The member ID
The member ID is the WordPress user ID: a number WordPress gives to the account when it’s created. Members can change their email address, but the ID stays the same. You can find it here:
The ID shows after the member’s name, for example #42, and in the User ID row of the summary next to the form.
Both pages show the User ID next to the member’s name. Open them from the Details menu in Ultimate Membership Pro›Members. See Manage your members.
The file from Export CSV in Members starts with a User ID column. To bring members in, see Import members from a CSV file.
The User ID option of the Membership Card module prints the ID on the card, with the label Member ID:. It’s off by default. See Give members a printable Membership card.
The {user_id} tag (WordPress user ID) is available in the templates of Ultimate Membership Pro›Email Notifications. See Set up email notifications.
Example: one account on the Coaching Club site
- Username
- daniel.brooks (chosen at registration, never changes)
- Log in with
- daniel.brooks or daniel.brooks@example.com
- New email address
- Daniel edits Email in the Profile tab of the Member Portal
- Member ID
- 42, the same before and after the change
- Where you see the ID
- Members › Details › Edit Member, and the User ID column of Export CSV
Learn more about accounts and login
- Registration and login features
- The Member Portal
- Stop spam registrations
- WordPress.org: Your Profile screen
Troubleshooting
Can a member change their username?
No. A username is set when the account is created and can’t be changed afterwards, because WordPress doesn’t allow it. This is why the field isn’t in the profile form.
Can members log in with a phone number?
No. The login form accepts a username or an email address. You can still collect a phone number in a custom field; see Add custom fields to the registration form.
Can a member change their email address?
Yes. The Email field is always in the profile form, so members change it in the Profile tab of the Member Portal and click Save Changes. The new address must be valid, must not belong to another account and must not be on the Email Address Black List.
What username do new members get when I switch off the Username field?
The email address they register with. The Username row only has an On Registration switch while the Register Lite module is on. See Registration with email only (Register Lite).
Why does a new registration say “Email address has already been taken” after I deleted the user?
The plugin checks the address against the WordPress users table. If the old account is really gone, the address is taken for another reason. First, another account may use it. Administrators never appear in the Members list, so search under Users in the WordPress menu. Second, the address may be on the Email Address Black List in Ultimate Membership Pro›Settings›Security; the form shows the same “has already been taken” message for it, so remove the address from the list. Third, on a Multisite network the sites share common user tables, so the address can belong to a user of another site; check Users in the Network Admin. For other messages, see Login and registration problems.
Where do I find a member’s ID?
Open the Details menu of the member in Members and click Edit Member, Member Profile or Manage Plans. Each page shows the User ID. To get the IDs of many members, use Export CSV.
Can two members have the same email address?
No. Every email address belongs to one account. A visitor who already has an account can log in or reset the password instead of registering again.
