JLS Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 Sorry, I'm not sure what to title this and I could look dumb for posting it here if I'm just not finding the existing functionality. But here goes... I've switched our forum around so that now guests can view some full topics, some titles only in certain areas, and some forum names only (since the topic titles and authors might wish to not have their posts guest viewable). The problem with that is it tells our guests the forum name but then says "no posts here yet". This gives guests the appearance that it's empty so why signup for a forum with several empty areas? I'd really like it still to state the number of posts in that area. That doesn't give away anything right and still shows how busy the forum is? Thanks for considering and if this functionality exists then please advise and feel free to move this to the appropriate area
Joel R Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Yes I just discovered this as well over the past weekend. It reflects very poorly from the guest view when every forum where thru can read thr name says no.posts
InsideEdge Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 I would think there is a way to edit the code to exchange the "no posts here yet" to "members only" or just leave blank.
Rheddy Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Personally, I've never had a problem with allowing guests to browse my forums, read topics and what. I have an anime and manga community and I've into situations where guests want to feel out the community and get a sense of how members interact or post before they'll sign up for an account. By closing off your forums or placing your forums behind a "walled garden", accessible only to members, you prohibit the growth of your community. I've actually had new members who explained how they were "lurkers" for many years before they finally decided to register for an account. To be honest, placing your forums so that only members can browse the content acts more of a deterrence than anything else and they are more likely to find another community. Additionally, I have policies on my site to prevent the registration of anyone under the age of 13, like many website and forum communities have. When you restrict your forums for guests and visitors, you're limiting the expansion of your community, unless you have a membership fee in order to view content. If it's just a matter of trying to new members to register, your community simply will not grow and they will find some other community to frequent.
JLS Posted January 23, 2016 Author Posted January 23, 2016 Our members are professionals in their fields and they don't want clients potentially viewing their questions etc. Our forum is paid subscriptions only. We do not allow minors access even though we don't really have adult content or anything. We also have exclusive articles and downloads etc for members only. i agree to an extent with you though which is why I re-organized our forums to have a mix of public, semi-public, and member-only viewable areas. But since we kinda needed to start fresh to do this most of our old topics had to private areas which I no-longer allow new topics posted in. But, having it state "no posts" hurts us. I want it to show a number as that's where the bulk of our posts are. Without it we look like we barely have any because only the new areas show...
Rheddy Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Hang on. Let me get this straight, your community is based on paid subscriptions. When your members pay for a subscription, they are able to see exclusive content on your forums. But your members are professionals and don't want clients viewing their content? Either I missed something or your professional members are confused as to how communities who offer paid subscriptions actually work. It sounds to me that your professional members are posting questions on your forums concerning problems that they experiencing with their private clientele and that they don't want their private clientele seeing the questions they are posting on your private forums. Doesn't sound like they're very professional. At any rate, while I do have very few "member's only" forums, they are only two forums out of 34 forums. Not a whole lot but that registered members have access to all forums. but, I would suggest, for you, to check the permissions for those forums to ensure that guests and visitors have access to browse those forums. it sounds to me like you have guest/visitor permissions configured strangely. What I mean is that your guests may have the ability to view the forum name but that they aren;t able to view the specific forum topics. This could explain why the content number is showing as "0" or "no posts". If you don't find an answer, I would suggest opening a support ticket in your IPS client account.
InsideEdge Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 @Morisato If you put your member's only forums in a seperate category and make that category not viewable to guests then nothing shows and guests are not aware that those forums exist until they join as a member.
chilihead Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 The OP's issue is known to be a bug, I'd post here:
JLS Posted January 23, 2016 Author Posted January 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Morisato said: Hang on. Let me get this straight, your community is based on paid subscriptions. When your members pay for a subscription, they are able to see exclusive content on your forums. But your members are professionals and don't want clients viewing their content? Either I missed something or your professional members are confused as to how communities who offer paid subscriptions actually work. It sounds to me that your professional members are posting questions on your forums concerning problems that they experiencing with their private clientele and that they don't want their private clientele seeing the questions they are posting on your private forums. Doesn't sound like they're very professional. I'm not sure how this topic about a minor feature request (or change) turned into something about whether my forum is legit and members are truly professional...lol. Its a paid forum for professional photographers. Sometimes a photographer might want to 'vent' without providing their clients names of course. Or ask how other pros might handle x situation again without client details provided. There is a million and one reasons they would like to have some posts not visible to the general public. Heck, even this forum isn't totally visible to the public...lol. In addition to plain forum access we also offer them freebies and premium training articles or videos as well. We are about 5 years old now and have had thousands of members. Pretty sure we and our members are professional enough. But, that doesn't mean we can't improve which is all I'm hoping to do
Rheddy Posted January 23, 2016 Posted January 23, 2016 Ah. Now I understand. What you posted provided very little information. Understandable.
JLS Posted January 23, 2016 Author Posted January 23, 2016 3 hours ago, chilihead said: The OP's issue is known to be a bug, I'd post here: Done. Thanks for pointing that out @chilihead
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