Do I need to auto-login after account activation?

Posted by Art on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Art
Published on 2010-03-17T01:08:30Z Indexed on 2010/03/17 1:11 UTC
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This is the standard scenario:

  1. User registers on the site
  2. User receives an account activation email, clicks link to activate
  3. Web site notifies the user that account is activated

Now there are at least two pathways:

  1. User is taken to the login screen and asked to enter login details
  2. User is automatically logged in and taken to a welcome/profile/etc page

While there are obvious benefits in (1) as far as the user's experience is concerned, there could be drawbacks as well. Option (2) offers improved security at cost of UX.

Which of the scenarios is preferable and why? Any serious flaws in any of them?

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