User Registration

Audience: Low-code Engineers

Skill Prerequisites: Actions, Tokens, Users

Creates a new user account on the current site. You give it an email, a username (or use the email as the username), a password (or let it generate one), and optionally a first and last name.

After the account is created, the [NewUserId] token holds the new user's ID, and the [User:*] tokens refer to the new user in the actions that follow. The action doesn't sign the user in. Add a User Login after it if you want that.

Typical Use Cases

• Build a custom registration form
• Add users from an admin screen, for example a listing of pending sign-ups
• Create an account with a random password and email the details to the user
• Create accounts that stay unauthorized until the user verifies their email or an admin approves them

Don't use it to

• Update an existing user. Use Update User Profile instead.
• Save profile properties other than first name, last name and email. Add Update User Profile after this action.
• Give the user roles. Add Grant User Role after this action.

Related Actions

Action Name	Description
User Login	Signs the new user in.
Update User Profile	Saves more profile properties for the new user.
Grant User Role	Adds the new user to a role.
Authorize User	Authorizes an account later, for example after email verification.
Load User	Loads a user and makes them the current user for the actions that follow.
Send Email	Sends your own welcome or verification email.
Send User Reset Password Email	Lets the user set their own password, for example after a random one.

Input Parameter Reference

In forms and listings, most parameters let you pick a field. You can also switch to an expression and use a token.

Parameter	Description	Supports Tokens	Default	Required
Username	The username for the new account. Ignored when Register with email is on. If it's empty, the action looks for a username field or a [username] token.	Yes	empty string	Yes, unless Register with email is on
Register with email	When on, the email is used as the username.	No	false	No
Password	The password for the new account. Ignored when Generate random password is on. If it's empty, the action looks for a password confirmation field, a password field, or a [password] token.	Yes	empty string	Yes, unless Generate random password is on
Generate random password	When on, the action generates a password and saves it in the [RegRandomPass] token, for example to send it by email.	No	false	No
Email	The email for the new account. If it's empty, the action looks for an email field or an [email] token. It must match the site's email format.	Yes	empty string	Yes
First Name	The first name. If it's empty, the action uses the [FirstName] token, if there is one.	Yes	empty string	No
Last Name	The last name. If it's empty, the action uses the [LastName] token, if there is one.	Yes	empty string	No
Send standard registration email	When on, the site's standard registration email is sent to the new user. The type of email depends on Authorize users who register with this form. Only sent from forms and listings. Not shown in Automation.	No	false	No
Authorize users who register with this form	Whether the new account is authorized (approved) and can sign in. See Authorization.	No	Authorize	No

Output Parameters Reference

Token	Description
[NewUserId]	The ID of the new user.
[RegRandomPass]	The generated password. Only set when Generate random password is on.
[User:*]	After the action, these tokens refer to the new user, for example [User:UserID] or [User:Email].

Authorization

Option	Account	Standard email sent
Authorize	Authorized. The user can sign in straight away.	The public registration (welcome) email.
Don't Authorize	Not authorized. The user can't sign in until the account is authorized.	The verified registration email, which asks the user to verify their email.
Inherit DNN Settings	Follows the site's User Registration setting. Only Public registration authorizes the account.	The email that matches the site setting: private, public or verified registration.

The site's registration setting doesn't stop the action. It creates the account even if the site is set to no registration.

The account that's created

• Username: from Username, or the email with Register with email.
• Display name: first name and last name, separated by a space.
• Email: set on the account and the Email profile property.
• Password: must meet the site's password rules, such as minimum length.

If the account can't be created, the action fails with the site's message. Common reasons:

• The username is already taken.
• The email is already used and the site requires unique emails.
• The password doesn't meet the password rules.

Other errors:

Error	Cause
Could not determine email field needed to create new user account!	No email was found.
Could not determine username field needed to create new user account!	No username was found and Register with email is off.
Could not determine password field needed to create new user account!	No password was found and Generate random password is off.
The username does not meet the required format.	The email doesn't match the site's email format. The message says "username" even when it's the email that's wrong.

Considerations

• An email is always required, even when you set a username.
• The user isn't signed in. Add User Login after this action. If you leave its Username and Password empty, it picks up the email (with Register with email) and [RegRandomPass] from this action.
• The current user changes. After this action, [User:*] tokens refer to the new user, not the person who submitted the form. If an admin creates users from a screen, read the admin's details before this action.
• Standard email only in forms and listings. Send standard registration email does nothing in API endpoints and workflows. Use Send Email there.
• Treat [RegRandomPass] carefully. Don't show it on the page or write it to logs. Consider sending a reset link with Send User Reset Password Email instead.
• Protect public registration forms. Anyone who can submit the form can create an account. Limit who can reach the form, or create unauthorized accounts and approve them later.
• Show a friendly message for duplicates. The action fails if the username is taken. Catch the error with Execute Actions and show your own message.

Examples

tip

To understand how to use the below examples, please see Running Examples.

1. Register with email and password

This action creates an authorized account that uses the email as the username. It takes the values from the Email, Password, FirstName and LastName fields, and sends the site's welcome email.

{
    "Title": "User Registration",
    "ActionType": "UserManagement_UserRegistration",
    "Description": "Create the account from the registration form",
    "Parameters": {
        "RegisterWithEmail": true,
        "PasswordField": "[Password]",
        "RandomPass": false,
        "EmailField": "[Email]",
        "FirstName": "[FirstName]",
        "LastName": "[LastName]",
        "SendDnnMail": true,
        "Authorization": "Authorize"
    }
}

2. Create an unauthorized account with a random password

This action creates an account that can't sign in yet, with a generated password. Later actions can send a verification email with Send Email and authorize the account with Authorize User once it's verified.

{
    "Title": "User Registration",
    "ActionType": "UserManagement_UserRegistration",
    "Description": "Create a pending account",
    "Parameters": {
        "UsernameField": "[Username]",
        "RegisterWithEmail": false,
        "RandomPass": true,
        "EmailField": "[Email]",
        "FirstName": "[FirstName]",
        "LastName": "[LastName]",
        "SendDnnMail": false,
        "Authorization": "NoAuthorize"
    }
}

Revised 09/28/2026