Anonymous user conversion--why?

Thermopyle · February 21st, 2013, 04:03 PM

In chapter 17 you discuss creating user profiles, then move into how you would take data from an anonymous profile to create a user profile. There's no explanation for why you would want to do this. Was this just a "Hey, it's possible," type of scenario? From the context of the Planet Wrox site, I'm not seeing anything that an anonymous user could do that you'd want to save their information for.

Imar · February 21st, 2013, 04:26 PM

>> From the context of the Planet Wrox site, I'm not seeing anything that an anonymous user could do that you'd want to save their information for.

Correct. That's why it's just mentioned briefly and not part of a TIO.

It would be useful if you have profile data for anonymous users that you want to maintain when they sign up / login. For example, if the theme selector was using Profile and it was accessible to anonymous users, you want to maintain that data and upgrade to an authenticated profile.

Hope this helps,

Imar

Thermopyle · February 21st, 2013, 04:41 PM

Gotcha--that's what I thought, but wanted to make sure as it wasn't specified in the text.

I just noticed that your profile pic is from the Asp.Net 3.5 book--I know you post elsewhere on the wrox.com forums--maybe an updated pic would drive more traffic here and interest in your book than an old copy would? Also, do you have any other books in the works, preferably on related topics? Yours being well-structured and easy to read has made learning the basics of asp.net 4.5 much easier than I expected.

Imar · February 21st, 2013, 04:47 PM

>> maybe an updated pic would drive more traffic here and interest in your book than an old copy would?

I know. However, that's the last book that has my face on the cover. Back then, authors were asked to use it as a profile picture and I never changed it. Hope people come here for technical content and not for my face ;-)

Not working on another book as I just released this ASP.NET 4.5. book.

>> Yours being well-structured and easy to read has made learning the basics of asp.net 4.5 much easier than I expected.

Good to hear. Spread the word! ;-)

Cheers,

Imar