How to Switch to Registration Term Based Experiences

In the world of digital publishing, providing a seamless user experience is crucial for building and maintaining a loyal readership. One of the key factors that can make or break this experience is the registration process. Many publishers have traditionally used a one-time registration approach, requiring users to create an account and provide personal information upfront. In this article, we will explore what registration term-based experiences are and how publishers can make the switch to this approach, ultimately enhancing the user experience through the below steps:

Create a new registration resource and the registration term
Update the offer templates with the registration offer CTA
Review the system templates using the registration term
Review the system emails specific to the registration term
Switch action cards from showTemplate to showOffer in the Composer experience(s)
Update the user segmentation cards in all the Composer experience(s) with regard to the registration resource targeting
Assign registration terms reversely for users who already created accounts in the past

Step 1: Create a new registration resource and the registration term

Create a new resource that will be linked only with a registration term as described here.
Create a new registration term.

Important note: Users that have converted on a registration term will see an entry in the Subscriptions tab of the My Account section, so it is recommended to have an appropriate registration resource name and registration term name/description.

Step 2: Update the offer templates with the registration offer CTA

To start a registration checkout instead of just a standard new Piano ID account creation signup flow all the offer templates with the registration offer CTA (Call-to-Action) - ribbons, regwalls, etc. - need to have the ng-click="register()" function switched to the ng-click="startCheckout()" function.

Step 3: Review the system templates using the registration term

System templates that use registration term or resource elements that are recommended to be reviewed and QA-ed before a registration term checkout is introduced and launched live on the site are listed below:

Step 4: Review the system emails specific to the registration term

Which system emails are used with a registration term?

User registration (sent on general level not on term level, optional)

When it's sent: To users when they create a new user account through Piano ID or Piano Accounts.

Completed registration

When it's sent: To consumers when they convert on a registration term in return for access.

X Days after access ends

When it's sent: To consumers X days after their access to a resource ended.

X Days after access starts

When it's sent: To consumers X days after their access to a resource began.

X Days until access ends

When it's sent: To consumers X days before their access to a resource ends.

Important note: Both "User registration" and "Completed registration" will be fired at once in case both are enabled when the user completes registration term conversion.

Step 5: Switch action cards from showTemplate to showOffer in the Composer experience(s)

In order to enable users to convert on the registration term, it is necessary to use showOffer cards that include not just a template with startCheckout function mentioned in Step 2, but also a linked offer that contains a registration term.

Depending on the offer template type (how many CTA buttons are included, what offers it allows users to convert on), an appropriate template and offer needs to be selected for a particular Composer experience branch.

Step 6: Update the user segmentation cards in all the Composer experience(s) with regard to the registration resource targeting

To target anonymous users and logged-in users with no paid access appropriately once a registration term is planned to be used, user targeting needs to be adjusted accordingly.

Most common user segmentation setup use cases:

Step 7: Assign registration terms reversely for users who already created accounts in the past

Registration terms are powerful tools for publishers, but they do create a common segmentation problem, as demonstrated in this section.

The issue arises when registration terms are incorrectly used for segmentation to mean “all logged in users”.

It is not possible to completely disable all user registration paths that do not grant a resource.
This often leads to publishers implementing workarounds to manually assign the registration resource to all users, which requires development and maintenance.
Changing segmentation while retaining the terms for user flows and analytics is almost always the appropriate fix instead.

There are a number of valid reasons to segment using registration terms only:

special event registration
time-limited access
and using the term to incentivize first-party data collection

If preferred, a publisher can add a registration term for the users who already created an account prior to launching the registration term and related experiences, so that these users can be included in the advanced custom registered users behavior reports.

It is possible to programmatically assign a registration term to a user that is logged in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should a registration term be linked to a new separate VX resource?

- Yes, it is recommended to use a separate resource for the registration use case, so that registered users can be targeted specifically in the User Segmentation card and users are not given the same access as users who converted on the payment-based subscription terms.

Can the registration term checkout be used with social login options?

- Yes, that is possible in the same way as the Piano ID account creation flow.

It is possible to use the passwordless checkout for a registration term?

- Yes, it is possible to run the passwordless checkout when a registration term is being used in the offer template.

Which system templates are being used to run the registration term checkout flow?

- Term Components, Already has access, Checkout, Checkout Components, and Receipt.

Can the receipt screen at the end of the registration checkout flow be customized?

- It is possible to customize receipts on a per term basis, but there is not currently a default receipt configured for registration terms. The standard payment term receipt is used instead.

Can the direct checkout be used with a registration term?
- Yes, an offer with these 2 conditions:\n
  
  - single registration term\n- display type "Modal / Lightbox"
  
  Will have the Direct checkout option available. Enabling the option allows the user to skip the offer modal display and go directly into checkout (Piano ID registration form).

Last updated: June 25, 2026