One word in the header of your Altru online sales pages causes more confused emails than it should: Register. To your staff, it means “create a web account.” To a visitor buying tickets for a family program, it reads like “sign up for the event,” and to a member it can look like they’re expected to join all over again. Some visitors click it when they should be buying. Others avoid it because they think it costs money.
Renaming it to something like “Create account” sounds like a five-minute job. In practice, how much control you have depends on how your Altru web pages are set up, and you may not be able to change it at all without a workaround. Here’s how to figure out where you stand.
Why this label is hard to change
Altru’s public-facing pages (online ticket sales, membership purchases, donation forms, and the account login area) come from Blackbaud’s hosted web framework. Some wording on those pages is set inside individual web forms and parts, which you can edit. Other wording, especially in shared navigation and login areas, comes from the platform itself and isn’t exposed as an editable setting.
We haven’t found a documented, supported setting that renames the header Register link on its own. That doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist in your version or configuration. Check before you build a workaround.
Where to look first
- The login or account-related parts on your pages. If your header area is built from a login part, open its properties and look for editable link text or captions. Some parts let you change labels; some don’t.
- Your page templates and layouts. If the header is part of a template you or a past administrator customized, the word may be sitting in template content you can edit directly. Look at which template your sales pages use and whether the header region is plain content or a system part.
- Blackbaud support or the knowledgebase. Ask the question exactly: “Can the Register link text in the header of our Altru web pages be changed, and if so, where?” Mention which pages it appears on. Support can tell you whether it’s configurable for your setup, which saves you from guessing.
- A test page. If you do find a setting, change it on a page that isn’t linked from your main site first and check it on desktop and phone before rolling it out.
If it can’t be changed directly
You still have some options. None of them are perfect, so pick based on how much the confusion is actually costing you.
Add clarifying copy nearby
If you control any text near the header or at the top of your sales pages, add a short line such as “No account needed to buy tickets. Create an account to see past orders.” This doesn’t rename the button, but it answers the question the button raises. It’s the lowest-risk fix and survives platform updates.
Script-based text replacement
Some organizations whose templates allow custom HTML use a small script to swap the visible text after the page loads. It can work, but be honest with yourself about the tradeoffs:
- The original word may flash briefly before it’s replaced.
- A Blackbaud update that changes page structure can quietly break it, and nobody will notice until someone reports the old wording again.
- Whether your templates allow scripts at all depends on your configuration, so confirm that first.
If you go this route, document it somewhere your successor will find it, and add “check the header label” to your post-update checklist.
Change where people land
Often the bigger fix is to keep visitors out of the account flow when they don’t need it. Link your website’s “Buy tickets,” “Join,” and “Give” buttons straight to the specific sales or donation form instead of a general landing page with the account header front and center. Fewer people see the Register link, and the ones who do are more likely to actually want an account.
Choosing better wording
If you get the chance to rename it, pick a label that says what happens next. Options that tend to read clearly:
- Create account: plain and accurate for most audiences.
- Sign up: short, but can still be mistaken for joining a program.
- Member sign-in: useful if accounts are mainly for members, paired with a separate “Create account” link.
Whatever you choose, use the same words in your confirmation emails, your website FAQ, and front desk scripts. A visitor who sees “Register” online and hears “set up your login” at the desk will assume those are two different things.
When the wording problem is really a checkout problem
If you keep running into labels, layouts, and steps you can’t adjust on Altru-hosted pages, the underlying issue is control over the buying experience. Social Good’s Checkouts replaces Altru web forms with a branded, mobile-friendly checkout for tickets, memberships, and donations, with the data written back to Altru. Because the checkout is your own page, the wording on it is yours to set, and Altru stays where your records live.
Quick answers
Do visitors need an account to buy tickets in Altru?
That depends on how your forms are configured. Test a purchase as a logged-out visitor to see exactly what they experience.
Will a script-based rename affect the data Altru stores?
No. It changes only what the browser displays; the underlying account process is unchanged.
