Notification emails from your forum can include links that carry out an action as soon as they are opened, without a sign-in. This article explains which links those are and how to have them require a sign-in instead.
Which links act as soon as they are opened?
The Approve, Decline and Delete links in the new pending signup notification, the Approve, Decline and Delete links in the notification for a post or a post edit that is waiting for approval, and the Approve and Delete links in the notification for an event that is waiting for approval.
Do those links need a sign-in?
Not by default. The link itself authorizes the action, so a moderator can approve a pending signup from a phone without logging in first. It also means that anyone who holds the link can use it, and that the moderation record for the action shows no acting account when nobody was signed in.
How do I make the links require a sign-in?
We can turn one-click links off for your forum. Each link then asks for a sign-in before it acts, and the action is recorded against the signed-in administrator or moderator. Contact us to have this turned off for your forum.
Does that cover the links in notifications we already sent?
Yes. The sign-in check is applied when a link is opened, not when the notification was sent, so the links in notifications already sitting in an inbox are covered as well. There is nothing to re-send, and a link stops working as soon as its member, post or event is no longer waiting for approval.
Do unsubscribe links work the same way?
No. The unsubscribe and notification frequency links in notification emails have no sign-in requirement, because they only change the subscription of the person who receives the email.
Until one-click links are turned off for your forum, do not forward or quote a pending signup notification to the applicant, since the links travel with the email. You can also approve or decline members from your forum itself, as described in Approving and declining members and Signup Approval.