Registration processes for Social network site

Question

I am building a website (kind of social network) for which I am designing registration and login pages. Here is how my registration page will look like:

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Here are the steps:

1. User will fill the basic registration form
2. If all fields are valid then user will be redirected to home page of my website. Meanwhile Email confirmation will be sent to user's email id:

[Question 1: Is it good to send verification mail with link or pin number?]

[Question 2: In case of pin, shall I redirect user to enter pin page and force him to enter correct pin to go to home page?]

3: If user is not verified, he can still use the site but on the top of the site user will keep getting notification that his/her email verification is still pending and in case of not abiding the policy, his/her account will be deactivated in next 2 days.

Question 3: As a part of social networking I need to get more information from users to get connections and relevant searches for other users (ex. dating). Where do I fit all these pages in above registration process which can guarantee that my users not get frustrated?

Pages Ex:

• Interest and Bio
• Location
• About me
• Upload profile pictures
• Invite other friends

Is there any flow chart or methodlogy available to inline pages for better UX?

Answer 1

Sending email verifications with link inside seem to be the most used and accurate way to prevent from non-human registrations.

As part of the core of your website related to social networking, IMHO allowing non-verified users navigate with a top bar as a reminder to activate their account would probably bother the website usability discouraging them to further fill and maintain their informations.

I suggest:

Step #1: registration form

Step #2: live verifications of fields + sending email with link if ok

Step #3: only after activation and user authentified then, first page should display like a % ratio of profile completion inviting the user to fill his informations through some frames in one page/screen or by the left menu.

Answer 2

Re Question 3 - Getting more info on users: let them add this voluntarily and progressively ( A bit like Linkedin does - with a '% completed' bar which pops up to remind the user from time to time )

If you force people to hand over info they will either go away or just make stuff up.