Links to best practices for registration keys / access codes
I am developing an online site that will be available for sale in college bookstores. Students will purchase a card from a bookstore with an access code that they can use to register online at our site.
I want to make the code as user-friendly as possible. I personally hate product registration and have to enter the registration key 5 times because it is ambiguous.
Can anyone point me to resources outlining best practices for designing the format of the code itself? Obvious spring things to mind - don't use zeros or letter O, don't make it case sensitive, include some sort of checksum. I don't want to be creative here, I need a recipe for a problem to be solved over and over again.
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Joel Spolsky was very good at solving this problem in one of the recent StackOverflow podcasts. I believe the episode was # 49, you should download the podcasts or check the transcripts at https://stackoverflow.fogbugz.com/default.asp?W4
Working with 0 (number) and O (letter) mixed with a key is really annoying as some fonts make it difficult to distinguish between them.
Other usability concepts like groups of three are easier to handle and remember, then one number is good to know. For example, 345-829-817-432 instead of 345829817432.
By the way, 345-829-817-432 gives you 12 ^ 10 permutations, and an even smaller number 345-829-817 gives you 9 ^ 10 permutations, which might give you enough strength depending on your situation.
tschüss,
billion
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It really depends on how much you need. Several ideas come to mind.
If you want something really simple, you can generate simulated credit card numbers; students know how to use these four-digit combinations and they can be tested using the Luna algorithm.
If you want something a little stronger, you can generate a GUID and use that as your code.
If your website can send emails, you can ask the student for their email address and send them a challenge / response message. Then you don't need codes at all. Their email address is a code.
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