Beta Test - Various things noticed during signup process

Hope this isn't too confusing --

password and login/username can be identical right now standard security implementations say this should not be so -

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unique email address function seems to work, however that email message (and other error message when missing fields during sign up process) could be a little more obvious. i didn't see it at first. maybe bold or with reverse red background / white text?

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step 1 - register - but no step 2, step 3?

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big yellow continue button seems out of place (maybe one more like the site design?) __________________

green text message referring to "you are now an aspiring producer, you need to activate" is hard to see (maybe bold, red text?) * A validation e-mail has been sent to your e-mail address. In order to gain full access to the site, you will need to follow the instructions in that message. * Login successful. <<<<<<----- what does this mean???>>>>>>

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also, menu on the left says * my account (not sure why this is here? it's a little confusing) * Film FAQ (i kinda get why this is here) * log out (i don't understand why this is here) is this menu necessary? the my account takes you to an activation message, the film faq is available through the main menu, and log out is available at the top, though at this point we'd probably rather get people to activate rather than log out also, probably all access should be locked out at this point, it seems there is some acces to the settings at this point - probably be simpler to lock this out completely as an incentive to activate or donate. the donation box on the bottom of this page appears to be out of whack (css-wise)

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Activation / Paying immediately and site access rules are a little loose. I know this is a deep topic. Donation seems to give 80 percent access to the profile, with no access to blogs but access to forums and profile settings. Kind of a half-access or something. Should paying also give full activation? Or should paying still not activate anything until user verifies email address?

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When forwarding a page (from profile) this page comes up (along with error message) Message generated and sent has no links that send person back to the profile page . _____________________

In profile – why is the ‘this is a private credit’ message so big? Also, modify privacy settings choice. This is a little confusing as there are other buttons to settings, and these choices are available as sign up.

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The compose tips underneath comment boxes could use some cleanup – it appears different for blogs, forum posts, and profile comments. Also, the compose tips page is not legible.