In "Re: [beta] "P" next to member name" Brenda wrote:

My attempt to join GMF cold, as someone not already having an io
account, brought up this message:
**********************************
"To join any groups you must log in below. ...
************************************
So I can understand the confusion if someone is trying to join a group,
but doesn't understand that they can subscribe without a password, since
it states when clicking the "join this group" button that they "must log
in below" and lists Email address and password.

https://groups.io/g/beta/message/4960

You stepped right into an issue that caused a rather lengthy thread or two about the join process. I believe that's part of what Mark's intending to fix in his early 2016 roadmap.
https://groups.io/g/beta/thread/join_group_flow/269647
https://groups.io/g/beta/thread/suggestion_make_subscription/240853

As things stand, the way to join email-only is to use the email +subscribe command. The web interface assumes you want access to the group's members-only web pages (for which a password is required).


-- Shal
https://groups.io/g/GroupManagersForum