Marc Stridgen

Date formats in IPS 4 can be formatted and translated by changing language strings to any format you wish to show them in. You can find date related strings prefixed with _date within your language pack.
If you are unsure on how to manually translate language strings, you will need to read the following guide first of all
Language strings are made up of separate elements relating to the day, month, and year. In this example I will be editing the language string _date_last_year_long .
The default for this is as follows, which I will explain in parts
 {!1#[1:January][2:February][3:March][4:April][5:May][6:June][7:July][8:August][9:September][10:October][11:November][12:December]} {0#} %s
 
Re-formatting
To explain this I have colorized the relevant items within the language string we are using as an example
{!1#[1:January][2:February][3:March][4:April][5:May][6:June][7:July][8:August][9:September][10:October][11:November][12:December]} {0#} %s
In this example we have 3 parts, and I will explain this showing March 1 2016
RED - This is the simplest of the 3 sections, as you can see the months clearly. This is the "March" month part of the string above
BLUE - This is the day part of the string, in this case simply the number 1.
PURPLE - This represents the year part of the above date, being 2016
As you can see here, you can quite simply rearrange the above by changing the order in which the parts are set within your language string. So if we wanted to switch this to "1 March 2016" we would re-arranged as follows. Again colorized to emphasize the individual parts.
{0#} {!1#[1:January][2:February][3:March][4:April][5:May][6:June][7:July][8:August][9:September][10:October][11:November][12:December]} %s
Tip You will note before the months that there is a  "{!1#" displayed. This means that it will not display the numbers in that section, so will only show February for the language string part, rather than showing the number 2 
 
Note: Some dates are controlled by the locale set within your language pack. You can edit this from Customization>Localization>Languages, by selecting the edit button on your language pack

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

On the front end of your community, moderators can moderate your site depending on the permissions that you have given them to do so. Moderation can be done at an item level, or the level of its container. For example you may moderate individual posts from the topic screen, or moderate topics from the forum screen.
Content Moderation
Whilst within a post or topic, if you hover over the topic or post you wish to moderate you will see a checkbox appear in the top right of that item. Selecting this will add this to the items that you are currently moderating. Once you have selected at least one item, you will see the moderation menu appear at the bottom where you can select the action you wish to perform. You can see this in action in the animation below.

Moderator Bar
In some of the other areas of the community,  you may find moderator actions under a button, such as you can see here in a gallery image.

Moderation Menu Items
Tip Within each item of content you will see a moderator actions menu. You can perform similar actions from here, and also see the moderation history for that particular item.
Depending on where you are within the system, the moderation menu will show different actions. Below is another example where posts in a topic are being hidden from the end user.

Inline Selection
 
Post Approval
There may be times when you need to switch on approval for replies within an individual topic. You can select this option from the 'Moderation Actions' menu, which will then mean each reply will need to be approved before being seen

Post Approval
Automatic Moderation
There comes a time when your community is so successful that it can be a little tough to keep up with all the content and reports. To help with this, you can make use of our automatic moderation feature, which performs actions when an item of content is reported by a user of your community.
This  feature leverages your member reports to automatically remove objectionable content from public view.
You as the admin will define thresholds for the content. For example, you may say that to hide content, a post needs 5 reports.
This reduces the workload for your moderators and enables you to crowd source moderation.
Community Moderation
When a member reports a piece of content, they now have the option to set a type, such as "Spam" or "Offensive". These options can count towards the threshold. Once the threshold has been passed the item is hidden.

Options when a user reports
This threshold can be set up by creating rules in the Admin CP as shown below
Report Types
Before you can create your own rules for automatic moderation, you must create 1 or more report types from the following location. Once you have done this, you can then continue to setting up rules for auto moderation.
Members -> Content Moderation -> Automatic Moderation -> Manage Report Types

Any report type can be added here
Creating Rules
At its heart of the system are the rules. You can create custom rules within the ACP from the following location
Members -> Content Moderation -> Automatic Moderation
 

Rules set within the ACP
For example, you may decide that:
A member with less than 10 posts only needs 5 reports to hide the content. But you may want to give more experienced members a higher threshold as there is more trust.
You simply add a new rule: A member who joined over a year ago with over 500 posts needs 10 reports to hide content. You can do that easily with the rules system as it will scan them all and pick the one most suitable for this member.
Notifications
Once an item has received enough reports to match the threshold, it is automatically hidden from view. Meaning it can then be dealt with by a moderator at an appropriate time, without the reported post being an issue to your members.

Post is hidden on auto moderation
A notification is sent to all moderators who opt in for notifications. This notification shows inline in the notifications center.
 

Inline notification
It can also optionally be sent via email for those who want to know without checking the site.

Notification sent via email
Of course, a moderator may decide that the content is fine and un-hide it. Once a piece of content has been un-hidden, automatic moderation will not hide it again.
Preventing Abuse
The system will only count a unique member as one point towards the threshold. This is to prevent a single member can reporting an item 5 times, as they are only counted once towards the threshold.
You can also set a time limit between reporting the same item. This will prevent a member reporting a single item multiple times in succession.
These settings can be found within the following area
Members -> Content Moderation -> Automatic Moderation -> Settings

Set limits to prevent abuse of this feature
Of course, the member can delete their report if it was in error.
 

Clicking report again gives the option to delete
 
 
 
 

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

Customer Referrals can be a good way in which to drive sales on your site, as you can get your customers doing the work for you, giving a small benefit to the customer who is referring people to your site. Within the admin CP, you can get to the referal setup section by going to Commerce>Customers>Referrals.
Switching On
Once you enable referrals and save them as being on, you will see 3 tabs. The first section you will see will look similar to the screen below, and allow you to switch the system on and off, and to set whether your customers can see the commision rules. In most cases you would leave this on, however if you set up complicated rules,  you may wish to switch this off. Switching this off will give you an editor where you can add information to show about the commission received instead.

Referrals Main Settings
 
Setting Rules
The next tab will show you a list of the commission rules currently set up, and give you the ability to add new ones. Clicking on "Create New" will give you a screen similar to the below.
From this screen you can set up a commission rule set, along with the percentage of that sale you would pay the referrer.

Commission Rules
 
Referral Banners
You may want your customers to use referral banners if they are advertising your site or products. You can add in as many banner as you wish within the Referral Banners tab, which will then be shown to your customers for use when referring people to your site, along with the links for these in html and bbcode.

Banner Setup
 
On the customer side
Warning It is important to note, that referrals will only apply to new registrations made via the referral links discussed below. If the purchaser is already a registered member of your site, then no referral commission would apply, regardless of the link followed. By default the referrals section on the front end of your site is under Store>My Details>Referrals (of course you can change this using the menu manager). Here they will see their unique links to give to people when referring others to your site. Anyone using these links will be shown as referred by the person who's link they used.

Customer Side

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

When a new version of the software is released, there will inevitably be changes to the default templates in which would need to be replicated in your own custom themes. On an upgrade, only unedited templates would be upgraded automatically, and therefore this would be for yourself to upgrade any templates which cannot be upgraded.
There are a couple of tools available for you in order to achieve this. Each of which is explained below.
Theme differences
The theme differences tool is an external tool which can be found in the following location on our site
https://invisionpower.com/index.php?app=core&module=system&controller=plugins&do=diff
This tool will allow you to see the differences between any 2 versions of the 4.x software, from 4.0.0 right up to the current version.

 
Once you have selected the versions to compare, you will then be shown all changes between templates on the 2 versions in which you selected in a similar format to the below. Red showing what has been removed, and the green showing what was added

 
Comparing within the admin CP
Whilst within a template in your custom theme, you can compare that to the default, unedited version of the same template directly from the admin CP. 
First of all, you would take a look to see which items within your custom theme have been modified. You can do this using the selection menu at the top of the template list, to select only modified templates. This will enable you to quickly find all templates that you may need to look at after an upgrade.

 
Once you have found and opened a template that you are working on, you will see a tools button in the top right of the screen. Clicking on this will show an option for you show the default.
Tip If you simply need to change the template to be that of the default template, you can use the Revert button, also shown in the image below, to achieve this.

 
Once you have selected this, you will see the default template is placed alongside, with any changes to the default indicated, as shown below. Note that you can edit directly on the right hand side to make any changes needed.

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

S3 is a reliable, scalable cloud storage service provided by Amazons AWS platform. Using AWS, for some, may be a cost effective and faster way to store data outside of your usual hosting environment.
The following guide shows how to set up S3, alongside your Invision Community setup. Note that this guide is correct at the time of writing, and screens may vary from time to time on the AWS console. If you have not set one up already, please first of all ensure you have created an amazon AWS account. You can do this at the following location. (If asked, please ensure you select to use the new management console)

https://portal.aws.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html
Creating an S3 bucket
When you first log into AWS, you will need to add an S3 storage service to your account. Using the search box provided, type in S3, and select the S3 service

Finding S3 in AWS
Once you have selected the S3 service, you will be able to create a new S3 'Bucket'. A bucket is simply an area where you will store your data, within the S3 service. Click on create bucket to get started with its creation.
 

Create a New Bucket
On the first screen you will be asked for a bucket name, and a region. Choose the region which is closest to the majority of your users, and give your bucket a name. The name can be anything you wish. In this example I have used 'myinvisionbucket'

Choosing Name and Region
Once you have added the name and chosen your name, select "ACLs enabled", as this is required for the invision applications to function correctly. 

Enabling ACLs
 
As your items are Accessible on the web, you need to enable public access. Deselect the blocking options, as shown here, and select the checkbox to confirm

Ensuring Public Access
 
Finally, select "Create bucket" to create the new S3 bucket you will be using on your site
Creating Credentials
Before we can go ahead an set up the storage method in our admin CP, we need to create a set of credentials to use with the S3 bucket. In order to do this, you need to visit the Identity and Access Management (IAM) settings page of your AWS account. You can find a direct link to this here

https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/
Once here, we need to first create a group which has full access to your S3 location. Select Access Management -> Groups from the menu on the left. Then Click on "Create New Group"

Creating a Group
Give it a group name, and then click next step. You will then be given a list of items to select from. Search for S3, click the checkbox at the side of "AmazonS3FullAccess" and click next.

Policy Selection
You can now click on create group, which will take you back to the first page. On the left, you now need to click on users, and click "Add User"

Create User
Give the user a name, select "Acccess Key ID - Programmatic Access" then click "Next: Permissions"

User Setup Screen
On the next screen you will see the name of the group you previously created.

Select Group
Click the checkbox for this and Click "Next: Tags", then "Next: Review" and finally "Create User"

Here you can see your Access ID, and Secret Access Key (click show). Copy these out somewhere so that you have these in the next steps.
 
Setting the storage method
In order to set up the new storage method, visit the following location within your Admin CP

System -> Overview -> Files -> Storage Settings -> Configurations
Once in this location, select to create a new storage method

Creating New Storage Method
Once you have done this, select "Amazon S3" from the storage method options at the top of the page. We then need to set up an access key and add the information into your Admin CP as we go. The items in the image below are numbered corresponding to the descriptions below

Storage Method Options
The first item you need to add is a bucket name. This is the Bucket Name you used in the first step of this guide. In our example case, we used myinvisionbucket.
  The endpoint will be different depending on what you have set up as your region in previous steps. The link below this item will take you to the AWS help guides where you can find the end point name. First of all find this in the list. I have used Europe (Ireland), and therefore I need eu-west-1 for part of my endpoint URL



The 'Endpoint' you will enter is the following, where {yourRegion} is replaced with the region name you got above.

s3.{yourRegion}.amazonaws.com

So in our scenario, we will be using s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
  The 3rd and final part of setting up the storage method, is to enter the access key and secret. These are the values you copied from creating your user in the previous stage of this guide. 
  Choosing what to store
Now that you have created a new storage method connected to your S3 bucket, you can choose what you wish to store in amazon S3. Go to the following location to do this
System -> Overview -> Files -> Storage Settings
From here, use the dropdown on any of the items to change the storage method to your amazon S3 bucket. If there are items which exist already, a background task will be created to move these to the new location.

Changing Storage Method
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Moving your site to another server / Server Transfer is a relatively simple task with regards to the way in which your software works. In order to do this, you would follow the process below.
Step 1 - Your old hosting
Switch your site offline ready for transfer to your new server Make a full backup of your database. Make a full backup of your files and folders. Step 2 - Your new hosting
Create a new database Restore your backup from the above steps to the new database you have just created Upload your files and folder, which you backed up from your old server Ensure any folders which should be writable, remain writable on your new server. The folders which should be writable by the software are as follows

applications
datastore
plugins
uploads recursively (all contents) Step 3 - Software configuration
Open your conf_global.php file, which can be found at the root of your installations folder on the new server. In here you will need to edit the mysql username, password, and database name, to match the new database you have set up and restored to. Log into your admin control panel and run through the support tools by visiting System>Support>Support, and selecting "something isnt working correctly". You will need to select next only until it states cache has been cleared. Other considerations
If you have also changed the URL of your site, or the folder in which your site will be in (for example moved it from a subfolder into root), then you will also need to change the site URL within your conf_global.php file. You should do this prior to running the support tool in the steps above.
  If you have a constants.php file (not all configurations will have this), then please ensure that you check any paths which may be present within this file as they will likely need to be updated.
  If you are using .htaccess for friendly url rewrites you may also need to adjust the path in the .htaccess file or download a new one from the admincp > Search Engine Optimization > Friendly URL sub-tab. -----------------------
Test installations
Creating a test installation would be the same process as above, however you would be copying, rather than moving the software. You would need to ensure you have changed your URL within your conf_global.php file as described above.
In addition, you need to ensure you change to your test license key from the following location
system>settings>license key
Your test key, would be your current license key, suffixed with -TESTINSTALL . So for example, if you have a license key of the following
000-000-000
then your test key would be 
000-000-000 -TESTINSTALL
All test installations should be protected by htaccess, and not available to the public, as per your license agreement.
 

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

Introduction
Commerce is a multi functional tool which allows you to sell products, both physical and digital to your members. This can be a useful way in which to generate revenue on your community, whether it be a member subscription you wish to encourage, or a physical item in which you wish to sell directly on your site
 
 

Commerce Store
Features
The commerce platforms has many features available to you, in order to ensure you can sell your items in the manner that suites your particular community. These include the following and more, each of which will be discussed in the following guides.
Multiple payment methods Invoicing Anti Fraud integration Shipping Customer profiles Categorization and Filtering Custom fields Subscription selling Automatic group promotion on purchases Full support system Gift cards Coupon codes Donation system, with donation goals
Product Screen
Throughout these guides you will be shown how to utilize these features, how to build your own store from scratch, and even add support for your customers with the built in support area.

Installing the IPS4 converter package is the same as installing any other of our application into the suite. You do this by uploading a fresh set of files from your client area, and then installing from System>Site Features>Applications, as shown in the images below.
Applies to cloud customers only If you are a cloud customer please contact support who will be able to advise further on conversion options.
Where to get them
The first thing that you will need to do, is to get the converter application itself. Go to your client area, and download the full package, however ensure that you select the "Include Converters" checkbox before downloading.

Downloading the converters
Installing the application
To install the application, you will need to visit the following area within the admin cp
System>Site Features>Applications
If you have uploaded the files correctly, you will see the converters available to install at the bottom of the list, as shown below

Installing the application
 
Check the installation
Once you have done this, you have installed the converter and you should see these within system>Conversions where you can start your conversion.

Converter application installed
  Before you start

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

Selling advertisement space to your customers can easily achieved within commerce by adding a new product within Commerce>Store>Products. Before reading this step, it is suggested that you read the previous step. This step will cover the items specifically relating to selecting advertisements as the product type.
When selecting the Advertisement product type, you will be presented with a screen similar to the following. In addition to the many items discussed in the previous step of this guide, you can choose an advertisement location when selecting this type. This will allow you to sell ad space in one or many locations directly to your customers.

You will also be able to set an expiry period for the product, as well as the maximum dimensions for any banners which are uploaded. This allows you control over the size and period that a banner is show for.

Any which are purchased will show up within System>Site Promotion>Advertisements as a pending advertisement. This enables you to ensure that the ads are suitable for your site before showing them.

In any community there will always be information you want to capture about your members which is not provided within the core product. These may be information needed for administration purposes, or items which you wish to have displayed within profile, or content items. In the IPS Community Suite, we provide the ability to set up many of these, grouping in a way in which is appropriate to your site. 
Setting Up
Profile fields can be set up within the following location within your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Profiles -> Profile Fields

Profile field list
Clicking on the Create New button in the top right will allow you to set up a new grouping for profile fields, similar to what you see above with the Personal Information section. To add a new field to a group, select the + at the side of the relevant group.
 
Clicking to add a new field will show you the following screen. You will see I have selected text as the field type on this occasion which will let a user enter information into a text box. 

New profile field entry
 
You can see settings here you can use to set up a maximum length and even using Regular Expressions to validate the data that is entered. You will note that there is no "Required" element shown here. This is because we have profile completion set up. If you do not have quick registration set up to use profile completion, you will also see a "Required" checkbox which can be selected.
 
In addition you can set up where the information is shown, how it is shown, and its behavior with regards to being filled in. Do you want this to be edited once it is filled in? No? Not a problem, just de-select the "Member can edit value" and it will only allow this to be entered once.

New profile entry
What is important to note on the screenshot above, is the "Display Format for..." sections. These will appear only if you have the corresponding settings to make these viewable, and were introduced in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform. So for example, above we have "Show to staff" set for the "Show with members content submissions". If we switched this not to show, then you would not see the "Display format for topics" option.
Display Formatting
The display formatting sections by default will display just the field contents. However you can display the item stored in the field in any way you wish, by selecting "Use Custom Formatting". You will then be shown the following field for adding your own formatting code

Display Formatting
This is where you can enter HTML along with the placeholders provided to display the information in any manor that you choose. This is how they will then be displayed in that area (Profile or topic).
Note: Prior to the 4.4 version, this is a single field named "Display Format" and applies to both areas. {title} and {content} should be used instead of the ones below.
If you add the following code to the example field we set up, the placeholders {$title} and {$content} will be replaced with the title of the custom field, and the content that is entered by the user
<strong>{$title}:</strong> {$content} User Side
You will see once you have set up your profile fields the members can then add the information from within their profiles.

Profile Field Completion
Depending on if you have setup of your profile fields to be searchable, these can also be searched using the member search form on your site

Profile Field Search
And of course, they will show up in various areas of the site, using the formatting in which you have set to your own liking.

Formatting on Posts
 
 

It may be handy at times, to be able to add some of the blocks you see in pages, or even your own custom blocks, into external webpages. Within IPS4 we give you the ability to choose any block to embed externally directly from the admin CP.
 
In order to embed one of your blocks on an external page. First log into your admin CP and visit Pages>Page Management>Blocks.
Once you are in here, select the dropdown box next to the block you wish to embed externally, and select "External embed"

Selection Menu
 
Once you have selected this, you will be presented with a screen similar to the below.

Embed Text
Copy the code into the relevant areas of your own website code to embed the block. Note that there is a checkbox to "Inherit key styles from parent page". If this is selected, then the styling of the block will also be brought across. If not, then you would need to style the block from your own websites code.
 
 

It may be handy at times, to be able to add some of the blocks you see in pages, or even your own custom blocks, into external webpages. Within IPS4 we give you the ability to choose any block to embed externally directly from the admin CP.
 
In order to embed one of your blocks on an external page. First log into your admin CP and visit Pages>Page Management>Blocks.
Once you are in here, select the dropdown box next to the block you wish to embed externally, and select "External embed"

Selection Menu
 
Once you have selected this, you will be presented with a screen similar to the below.

Embed Text
Copy the code into the relevant areas of your own website code to embed the block. Note that there is a checkbox to "Inherit key styles from parent page". If this is selected, then the styling of the block will also be brought across. If not, then you would need to style the block from your own websites code.
 
 

It may be handy at times, to be able to add some of the blocks you see in pages, or even your own custom blocks, into external webpages. Within IPS4 we give you the ability to choose any block to embed externally directly from the admin CP.
 
In order to embed one of your blocks on an external page. First log into your admin CP and visit Pages>Page Management>Blocks.
Once you are in here, select the dropdown box next to the block you wish to embed externally, and select "External embed"

Selection Menu
 
Once you have selected this, you will be presented with a screen similar to the below.

Embed Text
Copy the code into the relevant areas of your own website code to embed the block. Note that there is a checkbox to "Inherit key styles from parent page". If this is selected, then the styling of the block will also be brought across. If not, then you would need to style the block from your own websites code.
 
 

Share Icons
You can place links to share content to other social media such as Facebook and twitter. You will see these links below any content on the site. Here is an example from a topic.

Share icons
 
Share Permissions
If you visit Sharing you will see all of the sharing sites that you can currently use. 
 
You can disable any of these completely at any time. Simply click the "Enabled" button and this will change to "Disabled"

Shares Available
If you click on the pencil icon at the side of any of these, you will be presented with options for which user groups can use any individual share link, along with any other options which may be relevant to that share link. Below is an example of the options for Twitter.

Edit Share Option
Social Sign In
You can enable social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and more as an option for your visitors to register or login on your Community. Existing members can choose to link their accounts to one or more social media platforms to enable a more integrated experience.
Setting up social media integration varies by network.
Facebook
Twitter
Microsoft
LinkedIn
Another Community Instance
Wordpress
External Database

When a new version of the software is released, there will inevitably be changes to the default templates in which would need to be replicated in your own custom themes. On an upgrade, only unedited templates would be upgraded automatically, and therefore this would be for yourself to upgrade any templates which cannot be upgraded.
There are a couple of tools available for you in order to achieve this. Each of which is explained below.
Theme differences
The theme differences tool is an external tool which can be found in the following location on our site
https://invisionpower.com/index.php?app=core&module=system&controller=plugins&do=diff
This tool will allow you to see the differences between any 2 versions of the 4.x software, from 4.0.0 right up to the current version.

 
Once you have selected the versions to compare, you will then be shown all changes between templates on the 2 versions in which you selected in a similar format to the below. Red showing what has been removed, and the green showing what was added

 
Comparing within the admin CP
Whilst within a template in your custom theme, you can compare that to the default, unedited version of the same template directly from the admin CP. 
First of all, you would take a look to see which items within your custom theme have been modified. You can do this using the selection menu at the top of the template list, to select only modified templates. This will enable you to quickly find all templates that you may need to look at after an upgrade.

 
Once you have found and opened a template that you are working on, you will see a tools button in the top right of the screen. Clicking on this will show an option for you show the default.
Tip If you simply need to change the template to be that of the default template, you can use the Revert button, also shown in the image below, to achieve this.

 
Once you have selected this, you will see the default template is placed alongside, with any changes to the default indicated, as shown below. Note that you can edit directly on the right hand side to make any changes needed.

There are several methods of adding advertisements on your Community both in HTML and as image-based ads. They are placed automatically in areas of your choosing.
Create Ads
Advertisements can be placed on you site in either image or plain HTML in Advertisements in the AdminCP.
You can add a new advertisement by clicking on the "Create new" button shown in the image above. Once you have done this you will be presented with the various options for creating an image. You can either enter HTML code or you can click "Upload Images" in order to upload an ad image.
In the example below, you will see you can chose to enter separate HTML code to appear on secure pages.
 

 
Once you have added your image or advertisement code, you can then choose the location and permissions for your advert to be shown. You can select more than one location for an ad to show and criteria for when and how long to show the ad.
When using Google Adsense adverts you may notice that page navigation no longer works as expected. This is caused by Google requiring that adverts are not loaded using AJAX. To resolve this issue you can disable AJAX pagination using the built in theme settings.

Ajax Pagination
Should you wish to disable an advert at any time, you can do this by clicking the "Enabled" text in the list, which will then change to "Disabled"

Disable/Enable
Manual Ad Placement
You can put advertisements in several pre-defined locations but it is also possible to create additional locations which you can insert by modifying the HTML code for your community or use in the Pages application.
First, create your advertisement as normal. For the "Show the advertisement" setting, select "Define your own location" and enter a key into the box (it can be whatever you like). You can then later use the same key for other advertisements that you want to show in this location.
Now you will need to insert a special tag in the HTML code where you want the advertisement to show. The code to insert is:
{advertisement="KEY"} Replace "KEY" with whatever key you used.
In your theme
Go to Themes and click the "Edit HTML and CSS" button for your default theme. The specific template you need to edit and where to make the change depends on where you want the advertisement to show. For this example, if you wanted the advertisement to show in the profile under the header, go to the core -> front -> profile -> profileHeader template and insert the code at the very bottom.
Since each theme has its own HTML templates, you will now need to repeat this for each theme.
In pages or blocks
The tag can be inserted in a page, block or template within the Pages application. Simply insert the tag wherever you want the advertisement to show.
Control when Ads Show
Using the responsive CSS classes available in IPS4, it is possible to set your ads up so that different content displays depending on the device size.
This only applies to ads you create yourself. If you use an ad service (such as Google Adsense), you should find out how that service supports responsive ads.
For example:
<div class='ipsResponsive_showDesktop ipsResponsive_showTablet ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on desktop and tablets, but *not* phones </div> <div class='ipsResponsive_showPhone ipsResponsive_block'> This ad shows on phones, but *not* desktop and tablets </div> Ads in email
Introducts in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform, is the ability to show your ads within your community emails, as well as on your site. Within the same email section, you will see an Email Advertisements tab, where you can ad advertisements which will only show within emails.
Ads within Emails can be restricted to only show within specific email types. As you can see in the image below, I have changed this ad only to be sent when the email is from a Topic, such as a topic reply notification.

Email Ads
 
 
 
 
 

You can set up gift cards on the system, which will allow your customers to purchase gift cards for people to use on your site. To set these up, you would visit the following area within your admin cp. Commerce>Store>Settings>Gift Cards
Setting up
When visiting this area, you can then set up various set amounts that your members can purchase along with optionally allow their own amounts if you wish to do so, as you can see I have set up below.

Setup Page
Purchasing
Your members can then buy gift card from thegift cards menu option

Menu Link
When selecting to buy a gift card, you can then select a colour, a message for the person who is to receive this. You can then either print or email these to the person they are for.

Buying Gift Cards
 
Using Gift Cards
Your members can use gift cards using the redeem button shown in the image above (next to the buy button). They will then be asked for the gift card code which can be seen on the gift card itself.

Gift Card Print
Upon entering this, the credit will be added to the account for purchasing items in  your store with.

Selling advertisement space to your customers can easily achieved within commerce by adding a new product within Commerce>Store>Products. Before reading this step, it is suggested that you read the previous step. This step will cover the items specifically relating to selecting advertisements as the product type.
When selecting the Advertisement product type, you will be presented with a screen similar to the following. In addition to the many items discussed in the previous step of this guide, you can choose an advertisement location when selecting this type. This will allow you to sell ad space in one or many locations directly to your customers.

You will also be able to set an expiry period for the product, as well as the maximum dimensions for any banners which are uploaded. This allows you control over the size and period that a banner is show for.

Any which are purchased will show up within System>Site Promotion>Advertisements as a pending advertisement. This enables you to ensure that the ads are suitable for your site before showing them.

You can set up gift cards on the system, which will allow your customers to purchase gift cards for people to use on your site. To set these up, you would visit the following area within your admin cp. Commerce>Store>Settings>Gift Cards
Setting up
When visiting this area, you can then set up various set amounts that your members can purchase along with optionally allow their own amounts if you wish to do so, as you can see I have set up below.

Setup Page
Purchasing
Your members can then buy gift card from thegift cards menu option

Menu Link
When selecting to buy a gift card, you can then select a colour, a message for the person who is to receive this. You can then either print or email these to the person they are for.

Buying Gift Cards
 
Using Gift Cards
Your members can use gift cards using the redeem button shown in the image above (next to the buy button). They will then be asked for the gift card code which can be seen on the gift card itself.

Gift Card Print
Upon entering this, the credit will be added to the account for purchasing items in  your store with.

In any community there will always be information you want to capture about your members which is not provided within the core product. These may be information needed for administration purposes, or items which you wish to have displayed within profile, or content items. In the IPS Community Suite, we provide the ability to set up many of these, grouping in a way in which is appropriate to your site. 
Setting Up
Profile fields can be set up within the following location within your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Profiles -> Profile Fields

Profile field list
Clicking on the Create New button in the top right will allow you to set up a new grouping for profile fields, similar to what you see above with the Personal Information section. To add a new field to a group, select the + at the side of the relevant group.
 
Clicking to add a new field will show you the following screen. You will see I have selected text as the field type on this occasion which will let a user enter information into a text box. 

New profile field entry
 
You can see settings here you can use to set up a maximum length and even using Regular Expressions to validate the data that is entered. You will note that there is no "Required" element shown here. This is because we have profile completion set up. If you do not have quick registration set up to use profile completion, you will also see a "Required" checkbox which can be selected.
 
In addition you can set up where the information is shown, how it is shown, and its behavior with regards to being filled in. Do you want this to be edited once it is filled in? No? Not a problem, just de-select the "Member can edit value" and it will only allow this to be entered once.

New profile entry
What is important to note on the screenshot above, is the "Display Format for..." sections. These will appear only if you have the corresponding settings to make these viewable, and were introduced in version 4.4 of the Invision Community platform. So for example, above we have "Show to staff" set for the "Show with members content submissions". If we switched this not to show, then you would not see the "Display format for topics" option.
Display Formatting
The display formatting sections by default will display just the field contents. However you can display the item stored in the field in any way you wish, by selecting "Use Custom Formatting". You will then be shown the following field for adding your own formatting code

Display Formatting
This is where you can enter HTML along with the placeholders provided to display the information in any manor that you choose. This is how they will then be displayed in that area (Profile or topic).
Note: Prior to the 4.4 version, this is a single field named "Display Format" and applies to both areas. {title} and {content} should be used instead of the ones below.
If you add the following code to the example field we set up, the placeholders {$title} and {$content} will be replaced with the title of the custom field, and the content that is entered by the user
<strong>{$title}:</strong> {$content} User Side
You will see once you have set up your profile fields the members can then add the information from within their profiles.

Profile Field Completion
Depending on if you have setup of your profile fields to be searchable, these can also be searched using the member search form on your site

Profile Field Search
And of course, they will show up in various areas of the site, using the formatting in which you have set to your own liking.

Formatting on Posts