Invision Community 4: Pages databases in Clubs

[Matt]

Finally, one of the most requested features for clubs in Invision Community is coming with our March 2024 release: Pages databases in Clubs.

You may be surprised to see a new feature being introduced for Invision Community 4 during our flow of news for Invision Community 5, but as we're committed to Invision Community 4, we wanted to continue to bring optimizations and improvements to the platform.

What is the benefit of this new feature?
Clubs enable communities to host multiple micro-communities with many benefits. Clubs allow more specialized and focused discussions on specific topics. This can lead to higher-quality content and a deeper exploration of niche subjects that may get overlooked when posted on a busy forum. Clubs also offer the ability to tailor the community experience based on the needs of that community. That customization is what this feature focuses on.

Pages is a powerful application that allows truly custom layouts for content areas. Simply by adjusting templates, you can create a news feed layout (it is what we use for this news blog area!) or something even more customized to your needs.

The March 2024 release allows you to create Pages database categories directly inside clubs, including custom fields and templates.

How does it work?
Setting up your Pages database to allow clubs to use categories is simple. Simply allow categories to be created within clubs when creating or editing a database.

Once that is done, club owners can add a Pages database category to their club in the same way they can add topics, galleries, etc.

Once the Pages database category has been added, you can then add content as you would any other club area with the added features of Pages, including custom templates and custom fields.

This example club uses a custom Pages database listing template to show the articles in a custom format along with custom field data.

Likewise, viewing an article in this example club showcases the use of custom templates to present the content differently from the standard topic templates Invision Community uses elsewhere.

Allowing Pages database categories inside clubs brings the opportunity for more complex custom areas making use of multiple custom fields along with truly custom layouts using templates. This is a great way to bring additional areas, such as news articles, into your club areas to compliment discussions.

We hope you enjoy this feature, and if you have any comments, please leave them below!

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[shahed]

This is indeed a great new feature and also unexpected one. kudos to the team.

I wanted such feature for my old website for very long time and eager to see how different aspects like custom fields and templates works.

One question... is it possible to also assign already existing category to a club?

[Marc]

5 hours ago, shahed said:

This is indeed a great new feature and also unexpected one. kudos to the team.

I wanted such feature for my old website for very long time and eager to see how different aspects like custom fields and templates works.

One question... is it possible to also assign already existing category to a club?

Yes, you will be able to add to an existing club

[opentype]

How exactly are permissions handled? So far, we have ACP page permissions, database permissions, category permissions and even field permissions. What of that is honored or ignored?

For example, can I have clubs-only database or do I need to make the database available to members globally in order for it to show up in clubs?

[TKO74]

3 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said:

Yes, you will be able to add to an existing club

How does it work?
I've activated "Yes, allow categories[...]" in two existing databases but there is no "articles" in dropdown "Manage Club" to choose!?

[Mike G.]

This is a very pleasant surprise and something that I planned on looking into in the future.

Thank you. You all are amazing.

[Koper74]

How does it work?
I've activated "Yes, allow categories[...]" in two existing databases but there is no "articles" in dropdown "Manage Club" to choose!?

[Matt]

6 hours ago, opentype said:

How exactly are permissions handled? So far, we have ACP page permissions, database permissions, category permissions and even field permissions. What of that is honored or ignored?

For example, can I have clubs-only database or do I need to make the database available to members globally in order for it to show up in clubs?

It's all honoured, so if the member doesn't have access to that database as they would normally, then they won't be able to add the categories.

4 hours ago, TKO74 said:

How does it work?
I've activated "Yes, allow categories[...]" in two existing databases but there is no "articles" in dropdown "Manage Club" to choose!?

Does your logged in member have permission to view the database?

[IPCommerceFan]

If a site has clubs/pages meticulously set up and full of content, will it all carry over when it comes time to upgrade to V5?

[Sonya*]

On 3/1/2024 at 5:48 PM, Matt said:

It's all honoured, so if the member doesn't have access to that database as they would normally, then they won't be able to add the categories.

Is there any way that club members can add own records to the club category? Or is it only for owners?

Edited March 2 by Sonya*

[Randy Calvert]

I'm still playing with this, but what I'm expecting to happen would be that the permissions would be honored from the database.  If the user has the ability to add records to the database... it would work.  Will try to play around later this weekend to confirm.

[Koper74]

On 3/1/2024 at 5:48 PM, Matt said:

Does your logged in member have permission to view the database?

yes

[Marc]

On 3/1/2024 at 8:25 PM, IPCommerceFan said:

If a site has clubs/pages meticulously set up and full of content, will it all carry over when it comes time to upgrade to V5?

Content will of course. In terms of layout/theming etc, of course, you would need to visit that once v5 is out to update anything required. But that would apply to any area.

On 3/2/2024 at 10:22 PM, Sonya* said:

Is there any way that club members can add own records to the club category? Or is it only for owners?

Its based on permissions, so if they have permission yes.

1 hour ago, Koper74 said:

yes

We would then need to an example. I would advise creating a new topic with your issue though, rather than in this topic

[Sonya*]

Just now, Marc Stridgen said:

Its based on permissions, so if they have permission yes.

Awesome! 🙏 Then this is a kind of bug or handling error. I will post it in technical issues. 

[Dreadknux]

This is a nice update - and great that you guys are still adding features to v4, wasn't expecting that!

QQ on this, as I'm more on the 'mildly curious' side of things with this particular feature and I'm thinking about possible content redundancy across the suite; is this feature just about creating new club-specific page databases that are exclusively tied to those clubs? Or is it the case that an existing pages database could be tied to one (or more?) Clubs and the content for that database could be accessed/viewed from either the Club space or the standard Page space?

To offer a use-case example; suppose I have an existing Pages database, that works like a wiki. I want to keep that wiki visible and accessible as it always has been, but I might have a category called '1990s Movies' that might work well if linked to an existing '90s Lovers' Club. This way, Club users (who like to stay on the Club app and don't leave) will be able to see and enjoy the Pages content, without them needing to create a brand new Pages DB for that purpose (and risk duplicating content across the site)?

Hope that makes sense? I only ask because there's talk of linked Pages db permissions being honoured at the Database level (and not necessarily the Clubs level), which makes me think that this could be possible.

EDIT: Also another question. 😄 About templates/theming, would pages be displayed as per the templates selected in the database settings in AdminCP? And if a Page is viewed from the Club space, would the Clubs header appear above that template?

Edited March 4 by Dreadknux

[Marc]

I believe they should if you select "Throughout the community". However that does appear to be a bug in the beta, so have bug reported that.

In terms of the templates, it would work in the same way as it does on pages. They are just listed in clubs instead.

Im not sure what you mean on the page being viewed from the club space

[IPCommerceFan]

13 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said:

Content will of course. In terms of layout/theming etc, of course, you would need to visit that once v5 is out to update anything required. But that would apply to any area.

Its based on permissions, so if they have permission yes.

We would then need to an example. I would advise creating a new topic with your issue though, rather than in this topic

Excellent, thanks @Marc Stridgen.  Yeah the concern was primarily for the content since I generally use stock themes. 👍

[Dreadknux]

23 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said:

Im not sure what you mean on the page being viewed from the club space

Sorry, it's probably a bit complicated what I mean. So if I have a Pages Database called 'Music' and from there I have a Page that can be accessed in one of two ways:

1. Via the Pages app (i.e. [domain.com]/music/category/this-is-a-page)

2. Via a Club through which the Pages Database is connected (i.e. [domain.com]/clubs/1-this-is-a-club > click 'Pages' tab)

Would the Page design/template look different depending on how/from where it is viewed? I imagine when accessing a Page via #2 above (through a club link), the Club Header would appear above the Page content (as it does if you create a Forum within a Club). But would the Club Header also appear if the same Page is accessed via #1 above (through usual browsing/navigation of the site)?

[Andreas Grace]

@Sonya* I happen to have your "Databases in Clubs 1.1.3" installed. Did you check if this new official functionality is compatible with that or I should uninstall it?

[opentype]

On 3/1/2024 at 5:48 PM, Matt said:

It's all honoured, so if the member doesn't have access to that database as they would normally, then they won't be able to add the categories.

Is it intentional that turning on Club categories for a database turns off the possibility to set custom permissions for (existing) database categories? I can still set “Set Custom Permissions” for my existing categories, but once I activate the club functionality for the database, the link to edit the category permissions disappears. I wouldn’t expect the clubs function to change parts of the regular usage of Pages databases. 

Use-case example: Let’s say I have an article database with categories where I publish admin news and now I want to allow clubs to post their own club news in this database. I would allow members to post on the database level, but set custom permissions for the existing admin categories outside the clubs so only admins can post there. Doesn’t seem possible at the moment. I can’t access the permissions anymore once I turned on the clubs functionality for the database. 

 

P.S. Also, why do Pages categories in Clubs don’t have the Description field like forums do? Seems reasonable to describe what one is supposed to post and see in those categories and Pages categories normally have that field. I suppose it’s even in the MySQL table by default, but not in the form when creating/editing the Pages category in clubs.

Edited March 13 by opentype

[Sonya*]

22 hours ago, Andreas Grace said:

I happen to have your "Databases in Clubs 1.1.3" installed. Did you check if this new official functionality is compatible with that or I should uninstall it?

Do not use it anymore. The official functionality is exact the same. Unfortunately, you are going to lose the connection between the categories created with “Databases in Clubs 1.1.3” and clubs. I believe, this would require manual SQL to re-connect them. 😞 

[opentype]

Another question while we are at it: are club database records supposed to show in feeds? Like the Club overview feed? Because I can’t see that at the moment. Intentional or connected to the permission issues that are still present?

[Marc]

2 hours ago, opentype said:

Another question while we are at it: are club database records supposed to show in feeds? Like the Club overview feed? Because I can’t see that at the moment. Intentional or connected to the permission issues that are still present?

I would think they should do, but please check after the permissions issue is resolved, as its causing all sorts of oddity at present

[Joel R]

1.  Will Clubs show the Page that contains the database category, or only the Database itself.  

The Page that contains the database often contains elements like filters or custom widgets.  Whereas the Database is, well, just the database template.  

2.  Show Club Content Areas - This setting is all or nothing to all content areas in all clubs. This is an overly broad setting.  

I can see how admins may want to show club Pages database in the Pages database, but perhaps not at all club nodes (or vice versa).  

3. News - This is more of an observation, but it's clear that the overwhelming common usage - albeit not the only one - is simply the need for News.  IPS may want to think about shipping a simple News function for clubs.  I have several clubs where the owners have used Blogs for several years now as a news system.    

4.  Search - Will members who don't have permission see search results, profile activity, and / or activity stream from club database fields?  

5. Choice of Databases - Will admins be able to choose which databases can be displayed in clubs, or is it all or nothing?  

 

I like the concept of integrating Database categories into Pages and its giving me some food for thought of building some foundational databases that any of my 40+ clubs can use.  

[Claudia999]

I was delighted when I read the announcement of the new function. When I tried it out on the test board, I realized that I had obviously misunderstood the feature. 

My use case: I have clubs mainly for people from one region. I thought I could now define a category in my Pages database (for example: Regional News) that can be used in the clubs - this one category. My hope was that all articles from the clubs would be visible in this category in my Pages database. And in the clubs, all articles written in the respective club would be visible.

Or have I not found a setting that would do exactly that?