I am trying to use tinderbox on a laptop but cannot seem to be able to register it.
If I go to Preferences > Register Tinderbox I get the dialog box for registration, but if I enter the registration code and press the ‘register’ button on the top right, nothing happens.
I’m not quite sure what to do.
thanks, Frederick
I assume you are using a dialog looking akin to this.
The ‘button’ is not a button but a tab icon. confusing though as this dialog only has one tab and that is ‘Register’.
If you (correctly) fill out the Name/Org/code boxes and press Return, the bottom right corner of the dialog should show a green tick (all good) or a red X (a problem). I believe all 3 inputs are case-sensitive. The correct case should be shown in the email sent to you after purchasing a licence (update).
If still having issues, please contact Eastgate direct at tinderbox@eastgate.com, as you may need to discuss licence details that should not be passed in a public forum.
The common problems are:
Name doesn’t match the name used to order. Missing or added middle names or initials are common; so are nicknames. Checking typically resolves these.
Names in Chinese, some very occasionally names in Cyrillic languages, can cause trouble. Check with tinderbox@eastgate.com; it’s easy to resolve.
Sometimes there’s nothing wrong! If the big checkmark in the lower right-hand corner is green, you’re good.
Double-check that you’re looking at this year’s registration code, and not last year’s.
Thank you very much. I was using an older license code. Problem solved.
what is odd is that the checkmark was neither red nor green. I guess grey means older code.
thanks again!
thanks, Frederick
Interesting. Hard for users to test. Maybe a recent release changed the good/bad colours? If there is a definitive answer I’ll update aTbRef. 
The checkmark is grey if it’s not valid for this version of Tinderbox, and green if it’s registered.
Can we unpack what that means? As the code is not OS-dependent, I’d assume not valid covers:
Not valid:
If Tinderbox cannot run on your version of macOS, it won’t launch.
If your version of macOS is old, Tinderbox may skip some facilities, or use older or slower versions of those facilities. This is not a big concern at the moment.
Most useful, thanks. I’ll add that to my docs for future reference.
I have updated the article Registering Tinderbox for the first time and The Tinderbox Licence (the latter updated for references to Markdown licences).
I have a question. My Tinderbox has the green tick. But it still keeps saying: you’re in demo mode. (And I did pay for a upgrade and got a code which does give a green tick but not unlock Tinderbox.) So I’m stumped.
Welcome to the forum.
I’m not sure but I’ll ask Mark B when there’s a break in the conference. In the interim:
If you see a green tick you’re registered, Essentially, when you enter your serial code it is checked. If OK, you see the green tick.
So, it sounds like you are registered. I’d try restarting the app. If the demo mode waring still shows, you might need to email tinderbox@eastgate.com. Email, as you might need to share info about serial codes and that’s not something to do on a public forum. 
Hope you are fixed soon.
That’s a really good tip on confirming the registration status!
For anyone else still fighting this issue, checking for the green tick under Preferences is the ultimate confirmation that your serial code is valid, even if you still see a weird demo message.
If the green tick is there, restarting the app might fix it. If not, following Mark’s advice and emailing tinderbox@eastgate.com with your serial info privately is the best next step.
