Guest Registration, in depth

1. The visitor types an email address and passes a security check.
2. The server sends a one-time code. The code expires after 10 minutes. The visitor has 5 tries per code and can ask for a new code every 30 seconds, up to 3 times.
3. After the code, the visitor gives a name and, if wanted, a phone number, an address and a home faith community.
4. The visitor adds up to 15 children, or skips this step.
5. The server creates the guest profile and signs the visitor in with the role guest.

A guest who registers again with the same email goes straight to the finished screen.

The parish does not create a guest profile for a person who already has a parishioner account. If the email, or a child's phone number, matches a parishioner record, the page sends the visitor to the member login. A last name and a child's name can match an inactive household. Then the page asks "Is this your household?" The visitor can reactivate the old household or continue as a new family. Reactivation merges the visitor into the old record.

Each child needs a gender. A child with no last name takes the parent's last name. A date of birth shows an age hint: childcare, camper, teen volunteer, or adult. The hint does not enroll the child. Staff confirm eligibility.

Two guests can link into one family group, so each child appears once. A person asks to join. An existing member must approve. Nothing is shared before the approval, and the reply does not reveal whether a family group exists. A member can leave a group or dissolve it.

A guest account is narrow by design. Guests can reach Vacation Bible School sign-up, their own profile, and their family group. Modules for parishioners, such as Giving, do not appear for a guest. The server also refuses a guest request for those records, so hiding a menu is not the only protection. A guest can edit their own profile and children. The server accepts only a fixed list of fields.

A guest who needs a parish program, such as Faith Formation, sees a Register as a parishioner button. The upgrade form keeps the guest's name and email. It asks only for what is missing: date of birth, gender, phone, home address, each child's gender, and contact choices. Texts are off until the person checks the consent box. The server checks again for an existing parishioner record. If one exists, it asks the person to contact the parish office. Retrying after an error does not create a duplicate. After the upgrade, the account is a parishioner account, and the form closes to that person.

Each guest profile and each child gets an audit note when the server creates or changes it. The parish office sees guest contacts in the parish database, not in a separate admin screen.