Registration

Q. Why does Austin Explorer have to verify my email address with a confirmation email? Are you going to spam me?
A. The email confirmation step for registration is part of an effort to cut down on the number of spam bots that attempt to create accounts on the site in order to post messages with inappropriate links. Spam bots often attempt to register with bogus email addresses and this step hinders their success. Other than an initial welcome email, all emails sent out by Austin Explorer are opt-in, so you will not be getting unwanted emails from us. If you register with an existing social login from a site such as Facebook you won't have to verify your email address if it has already been verified before.

Q. I'm told that an account with my email address has already been created, but I don't remember doing so. What can I do?
A. You might have signed up in the past and forgot, or your signed up on a sister site and don't realize that your account works here as well. You can use the "Trouble Logging In?" function on the login page. By entering your email address in the text box and pressing "Email Login Info" your user name will be emailed to the address, if an account exists that uses it. You'll also have the opportunity to regenerate a password for the account in case you've forgotten that too.

Q. What's the verification step and why is it required?
A. It's designed to try and tell the difference between a human and a spambot program in an effort to cut down on the amount of spam on the system. More information on this can be found on the Captcha help page.

Q: Do I have to sign up for Austin Explorer, Texas Hiking or related sites separately?
A: No, all of our sites share a common membership and log database. So your login will work on all! Plus, any hikes or visits you log on one site will show up on others, provided that the other site covers that location type and area. For example, any hikes you log on Austin Explorer will show up on Texas Hiking automatically. Texas Hiking logs will show up on Austin Explorer only if they reside in the vicinity of Austin.