Refer Member

[Sire]

Would like the ability to refer members.

JoeUser has lots of friends and wants to get credit for referring them to your forum. He can send them via link like:
yourforum.com/index.php?refer=1234 where 1234 is JoeUser's user number.

Member registers and his referedby field indicates 1234, or JoeUser's number.

JoeUser sent so many members and helped your forum grow, because there was an incentive and now he gets $50 and a free tshirt.

vB has had this ability for a long time, and it's one of the features I really miss after switching to Invision way back when.

[123]

matt, please add this!

that will be so cool!

[Surferdude™]

I thought their was a mod for this. But still would be awesome to be integrated

[Jasonawojo]

This would make a nice feature additional and would make running referring programs easier than ever. I think though that this would be best as an addon module or mod though. ;)

[Wolfie]

Don't get me started on a referring system :lol:

(ok, too late)

Referring options:

• Referral system (*)On ( )Off
• Enable User referral? (*)Yes ( )No
  Provide link in UserCP to give to others? (*)Yes ( )No
  Ask for referring member during sign-ups? (*)Yes ( )No
  Enable email referral? (*)Yes ( )No [EDIT]
  How many days before email referrals expire? [ ] days (default 30)
• List of locations (ie, websites, tv, newspaper, etc) 1 per line
  (On/Off) -and- (Multi line edit box)
• Enable "Other"? (*)Yes ( )No
  Ask user to explain 'other' if chosen? (*)Yes ( )No
• Groups member may not be a part of in order to receive credit?
  (list of groups, multi-selectable)
• Keep separate log of all referrals? (*)Yes ( )No
  

I'll explain the feature ideas a little bit..

Enable User Referral
Simple enough.. If not enabled, then users can't directly refer someone other than to tell them to sign up. Option to provide a link via UserCP so that the member can copy the link and give it to others. The "Ask for referring member" is for those who didn't get a link or an email, then would then have the option to pick and choose the name of the person that referred them.

Email enabled
Member can fill out a form with email to send to, user name to default to (but can be changed during sign up). In the EDIT, be able to change the invite message, if the member can add to the invite message or not, referral tracking (how many are sent out -vs- completed, as well as email addresses sent to and account name created). The expiration would be a method to trim the database of unused invites. When someone does accept the email invite, when they click the link, it would obviously already have their email address filled in but allow them to choose a different email, the assigned member name that they can change if they want.

List of locations
If on, will display the list of Admin picked locations that the member can pick from. Will automatically add in "By another member" if users can refer users and automatically includes the "Other" line if "Other" is enabled. The location multi-box would be in the format of name=description (ie, "google=Google.Com Search Engine"), and if ./modules/referrals/loc/{name}.php exists, then that module gets included for the next step. (If a member referred them, then it would check for ./modules/referrals/member.php) That way add-ons can be easily written, ie, member.php could be written to give points or additional subscription time to a member. ** As an additional thought, if the referring member ID doesn't exist, it would still run member.php, so that other referral methods can be included, ie, affiliates.

Enable other
Self explanitory really.

Exclude groups
If the member is a primary/secondary member of one or more of the groups listed, then they can't invite others

Logging
Obvious - keep track of new sign ups and the referral information.

Would also be nice to have it in a per-group basis, ie:

• Enable referrals for this group? (yes/no)
  (User can not invite if they are a member of one of the exclude groups.)
• Maximum allowed outstanding email referrals? 0=no limit [ ] default=10
• Give members of this group a referral link in their UserCP? (Yes/No)
• Member can 'invite' other members by email even if new registrations is disabled? (Yes/No)
• Points per referral to count towards post count for Member group promotion? [ ] default=0
  

Enable (obvious), but if the member is a primary/secondary member of an excluded group, then they can't invite anyways.
Maximum, prevents a user from sending out 100 emails, ie spamming/abusing
Give link in usercp (obvious)
Invite when new registrations disabled, this can help when having a closed board, members of groups with this permission can allow others to still sign up but only by email invites.
Group promotion, basically, if its possible for that member to get promoted when they make a certain number of posts, then for each referral they would get credit for x posts (their post count wouldn't change), so if it's 2 per referral and they have 20 referrals + 10 posts and to get promoted they need "50 posts", then they would get moved to the next group.

Okokok, I said a lot, but still, this would be nice to have since it could be an incentive on sites that give some sort of credit for referrals.

Additionally, its possible for a module to be written that could give $ points when members subscribe (ie, pay $ to be a member).

[123]

WoW.. that is kinda hard to be done.. but i'm sure that matt can do this..

[Wolfie]

Its not hard, just involved. :lol:

Would definitely give IPB an edge up on other referral systems.

:thumbsup:

[bridgeaddict]

If anybody could understand it, that is...

[Wolfie]

Which part did you not get? (Please don't say all of it)

[Cheule]

This is a great idea. Love it :)

[Loxx]

yep i know a lot of people would buy 2.0 final if refer option was available ! :D

[fpouk]

count me in on wanting this option as well.

[Wolfie]

Not looking for an ego rub here, just to clarify.. People just wanting the referral system, or the options/features that I piped in? Because if people want the features I mentioned, it'd help to say that so the powers that be know what people want exactly. :)

[-Strider-]

Not looking for an ego rub here, just to clarify..  People just wanting the referral system, or the options/features that I piped in?  Because if people want the features I mentioned, it'd help to say that so the powers that be know what people want exactly. :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldve been happy with just a simple system where you give out a referral link, but your suggestions are nice!!

[Michael_C]

I think this is best left to mod writers, its not something I can see very many forums use and I'd rather see development time spent on something more useful.

[Sire]

Features in a commercial script ( and this is 100% commercial as of 2.0 ) that apply to growth and marketing of your forum are high priority in my opinion and should be inherent in the product and not relegated to an add-on by a 3rd party. Many of us want our forums to grow, and the ability to recruit new members and entice existing members to recruit is priority.

[Wolfie]

It also helps when there are methods of detecting where a lot of the new members are coming from (hence all that features I listed earlier). Have a specific site that you know is endorsing you? By all means include that as one of the options for new members to choose. Or if its possible, a link that will automatically label the new members to take out the guess work for them.

Especially good if you are one of those paying for companies to promote your site and you are getting few hits (if any) from because of them. Then you can cancel membership with that company citing that you are not getting the benefits. If you feel it necessary, you can first check to see where your site is being supposedly advertised at and then if you never see your site being listed in any way, you can file a complaint and demand your $ back.

If certain types of sites/resources are proving useful, then obviously you would direct more attention in similar resources to better promote your site/forums.

For closed forums, member groups that are permitted to "invite" others would help the forums to grow but the only way anyone could get in would be to know someone else there. Thus no "unknowns" being brought in. There'd have to be a connection somewhere.

[modos.org]

For closed forums, member groups that are permitted to "invite" others would help the forums to grow but the only way anyone could get in would be to know someone else there.  Thus no "unknowns" being brought in.  There'd have to be a connection somewhere.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been looking to no avail for a mod that can do this. I second the proposition of the refer/invite system.

[Grant]

I believe that this should be left for a mod as well, but since it is in HIGH DEMAND, I would code it anyway if I were Matt and offer it as a plugin for a price like the community blog.

[pk62004]

would love to see this feature added!

[Wolfie]

I believe that this should be left for a mod as well, but since it is in HIGH DEMAND, I would code it anyway if I were Matt and offer it as a plugin for a price like the community blog.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NOOOOOOOOOOOO.. No more plug-ins (at least not at a cost :lol:)

The idea of a plug-in is nice and I can see that.. But perhaps in a manner where there is a pre-designed format and a .php calls (at least 2 .php's, 1 for admin, 1 for board) that could be made available for mod-writers to write and then IPS could review and decide which ones to pass onto Matt and then Matt could decided which ones to give a stamp of approval on so that anyone paranoid about adding modules would know it's approved and verified to meet the criteria required. Mind you, still not be backed up/supported by IPS, that'd still have to be where the mod came from, but it could make it easier for mod-writers to integrate their goodies if it's already supported provided it follows certain guidelines/etc.

Of course, I'm sure Matt would know how to do this trick: A folder that when a .php is added there, it's read for certain information, which is then added to an internal cache (so future scans will know what it is). Then it could automatically show up in the Admin menu (menu, items and data would be in that .php file), it could also tell what to automatically load up with certain source files/modules, and perhaps that could make it easier to add mods to the boards if the only thing that has to be done is to add in function calls through-out the sources so it's adding a single line (or two) instead of adding entire sections :)

The idea would be that the different sources that need to be included would be part stored in a table in the database.. Would definitely be a step towards easy mod adding for those who fear making mistakes and screwing everything up.

:-"

[Grant]

Hey good ideas.. I agree!

[tomek__w]

Which part did you not get?  (Please don't say all of it)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Starting at: Don't get me started.........

and ending with: Additionally, its possible for ..........

(w00t) (w00t) (w00t)

Seriously, its a GREAT breakdown of what should be provided! I would be happy with something simpler but if it's going to be done then it should be done properly

Perhaps you should put up a poll for this suggestion, in the hope that enough members vote to get it done...........

Just a thought.

TTFN

[Wolfie]

Starting at: Don't get me started.........

and ending with: Additionally, its possible for ..........

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<_<

Seriously, its a GREAT breakdown of what should be provided! I would be happy with something simpler but if it's going to be done then it should be done properly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Notice my last comment about making it easier to have add-on modules. I suppose a simple referral module could be included for the release, and then mod writers would write more involved replacements to just drop into its place. Simple expandibility. That's something that I think many forum admins would jump onboard for especially those that like to install mods but are always afraid of messing up.

(w00t)

[.John]

Great feature suggestion! Add my vote! :wink: