validate email module

i will not write the companion cron job module at this time, however, it seems important that we get valid e-mail addresses in the database. beginning research into this module.

implementing this is no small task. users will be able to access this module either from the link provided them in the e-mail they receive, or by accessing the link in their "Edit Profile" module.

I am currently considering some security additions to the edit profile module so that someone cannot validate their e-mail address and then change it to something that doesn't exist or is not correct.

The patch file I am attaching to this ticket will provide basic implementation for email validation, and require that the user validate their e-mail address when they change it in the edit_profile module.

However, it does require some changes to core functions and other modules, and is as yet a bit sloppy. Regardless, it does work.

You may want to reconsider the cron issue. To me it edges over into possible spam. My alternative suggestion would be to have a way to lock an unvalidated user account after a certain period of time. That way the only users you're going to bother with validation are those that have *not* abandoned their account.

email validation patch (build 1)

with this patch, we can implement email validation. I am reassigning the integration of this patch into the core project for a later date.

Replying to brad:

You may want to reconsider the cron issue. To me it edges over into possible spam. My alternative suggestion would be to have a way to lock an unvalidated user account after a certain period of time. That way the only users you're going to bother with validation are those that have *not* abandoned their account.

Hmmmm...a good point, which also lends towards cleaning up the database of users whose accounts have been locked for more than a certain period of time. (Like 2 months or so.)

(Yes, I only just saw this now.)