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HOL-D066Story implementation: In progress

Join Backcountry directly from a visit

membership · Proposed launch phase 1

Start from Home

Review as Visitor

User story

As a visitor who is ready to join Backcountry, I want to select membership and create or use my account within one joining flow so I can reach paid-member content without completing a separate free-account onboarding journey.

Draft requirements for review · Updated 2026-10-19

What the app should do

  • The demonstration of Visitor-to-paid joining starts on the magazine Visitor Home before benefits/plans and shared account entry. Preserve the chosen plan and safe destination through a genuine account/session; no automatically active paid sample may stand in for conversion.
  • Keep benefits and plans public; no membership trial or temporary premium unlock.
  • Use genuine isolated local account registration, password sign-in and captured email verification. Checkout is an explicit no-charge local test; collect no payment card.
  • Join directly from Visitor, creating or using the registered account within the paid joining flow without a separate free-onboarding journey.
  • Preserve the same account, chosen plan, safe original destination and supported profile/public-save data across verification, a new confirmation tab and return sessions.
  • Distinguish account verification, checkout review, pending membership intent and trusted active access. Failure or cancellation keeps free access and supported account data.
  • Only the trusted local backend outcome supplies membership entitlement. A selected plan, role, browser flag or success URL cannot activate access.

What to check in the demo

Follow these steps from the role’s landing page through navigation and feature checks.

Review as

Visitor

Start here: Home

Begin on Visitor Home while signed out. If an account is active, use the account/workspace menu → Sign out. Public browsing does not require an account.

Navigation from public entry

  1. 01Begin on Visitor Home, without signing in.
  2. 02From signed-out Visitor Home use footer The magazine → Subscribe, or open The Long Way In from Stories and select Explore membership.
  3. 03Feature starts at Connected digital or Print + connected digital and Continue with [selected plan]. Retain the original requested story for the return check.

Feature checks start here

Join directly from Visitor, creating or using an account inside joining without a separate free-onboarding detour.

October19 scoped dummy-account fixes are available in dev. Named Home/reload and truthful profile checks pass; exact no-preference Professional browser coverage awaits a suitable account. Full-story acceptance remains separate. Connected in dev; full acceptance remains In progress. A brand-new visitor selected Print + Digital, registered and confirmed email in a new tab, completed the trusted local test outcome and returned to the original unlocked story. Other edge-case checks remain open; no charge or trial.

  1. 04Begin on Visitor Home, choose benefits/plan, use shared signup/sign-in and review the actual account-bound no-charge test outcome. Switching to a demo persona mid-journey must not silently lose the valid plan or replay another account’s attempt.
  2. 05Choose the plan, then create a new synthetic account or use Sign in for an existing one. Do not complete a separate free-profile onboarding detour.
  3. 06Open the actual confirmation email in the local captured mailbox. Confirmation may open a new tab; continue and check that the same selected plan is shown.
  4. 07Select Continue to checkout review. Confirm that pending access is still free, then select Confirm successful test payment under Local payment test outcomes · no charge.
  5. 08Select Continue to Backcountry. Confirm that the original story is unlocked with the exact chosen plan and the same account.
  6. 09Review Test payment failure or Cancel checkout on separate fresh attempts. Select Try checkout again and confirm the plan is retained without duplicate accounts or accidental paid access.

Backend work for this feature

Backend development authorized · Dev only

What needs to be supported

  • The demonstration of Visitor-to-paid joining starts on the magazine Visitor Home before benefits/plans and shared account entry. Preserve the chosen plan and safe destination through a genuine account/session; no automatically active paid sample may stand in for conversion.
  • Use D058 for authenticated identity/verification, safe return context and the selected owner-scoped persistence slice; do not implement another authentication system per path.
  • Use D069 for a validated account/plan-bound intent, trusted test-only activation, idempotent result and server-enforced free/paid access; client role/success URLs cannot grant real authority.
  • Join directly from Visitor, creating or using an account inside joining without a separate free-onboarding detour. Preserve account continuity and supported data across session interruption, duplicate completion, cancellation, failed and pending activation.
  • Prepare owner/other-user/signed-out tests and explicit recovery behavior in an isolated synthetic environment; use actual isolated local auth/intent/entitlement, with no real payment/email or hosted migration/connection.

How to verify in dev

  1. Begin on Visitor Home, choose benefits/plan, use shared signup/sign-in and review the actual account-bound no-charge test outcome. Switching to a demo persona mid-journey must not silently lose the valid plan or replay another account’s attempt.
  2. Execute this exact role path against D058/D069 and compare owner/account/plan/return identity before and after activation.
  3. Exercise cancel/fail/pending/expired-session and repeated/forged/cross-account completion; verify retained free data and no unauthorized paid grant.

Before this can work

  • Begin on Visitor Home while signed out. If an account is active, use the account/workspace menu → Sign out. Public browsing does not require an account.
  • Use a new synthetic account for a fresh Visitor path or your own verified free demo account for upgrade. Existing records remain intact.
  • Keep local test checkout separate from real payment. Full security and edge-case acceptance stays linked to D058, D085, D089 and D069.

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