Marc Stridgen

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
 
 

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.

Reputation & Reactions are an important part of communities across the internet. IPS Community Suite gives you the flexibility to set these up in a way which is suites your own community needs.
 
Basic Settings
Reputation settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions
From the basic settings screen, you can set up various overall settings, related to how reputation and reactions work on your site. You can switch the system on and off, as well as assign which groups are allowed to use this, and how to display the reputation items.

Example Reputation Settings
One important item to note here, is the "Highlight content with positive reputation. When this is set, topics will be highlighted when they reach the set reputation level, along with being given a reputation symbol in the top right to highlight the post has high reputation.

Denotes High Reputation Post
Reactions
Reactions settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Reactions
On the reactions tab you will see a list of all the reactions that a user can give on your site. Each of these is given either a positive, a negative, or a neutral value. These are the reputation points in which a user will receive for a particular reaction. You can reorder these using the anchors on the left of each item. You can create new reaction items using the button in the top right of the screen.

Default Reaction Set
You will note that the 'like' item has no ability to delete. This is the default reaction, and is what is shown at in the reaction placement area on posts. Your users point at this icon in order to show other reactions, or click to give this reaction. Of course you can use the pencil icon to edit this to be anything you wish.

Pointing at the like icon shows other reactions
Leaderboard
The new Leaderboard is designed to better highlight your most active members and content based on reputation and other metrics. The Leaderboard will greatly enhance both member and content discovery on your community. Winners being highlighted within the profile when 'winning the day', and being added to the past members list. In turn, this can improve member participation on your site.

IPS Community Leaderboard
Leaderboard settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Leaderboard
From here, you can change various settings to determine what and how the leaderboard will display, or indeed if it will display at all. This can be helpful if, for example, you wish to exclude staff, or specific items, from being counted.

Leaderboard Settings
Reputation Levels
Reputation levels can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Reactions
Here you will see levels that can be gained upon reaching a set number of reputation/reaction points on your site. These can be given a reputation name and optionally an image.
 

Reputation Levels
Clicking on "Create new" will give you the opportunity to add a new reputation level. The one I have created below as an example will give people the superstar reputation level with a star image upon hitting 1000 reputation points.

Example Reputation Level
Note: Within each member group,  you can also set whether that group can see who has given reputation and the amount of reputation they can give in any one day.

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.

Reputation & Reactions are an important part of communities across the internet. IPS Community Suite gives you the flexibility to set these up in a way which is suites your own community needs.
 
Basic Settings
Reputation settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions
From the basic settings screen, you can set up various overall settings, related to how reputation and reactions work on your site. You can switch the system on and off, as well as assign which groups are allowed to use this, and how to display the reputation items.

Example Reputation Settings
One important item to note here, is the "Highlight content with positive reputation. When this is set, topics will be highlighted when they reach the set reputation level, along with being given a reputation symbol in the top right to highlight the post has high reputation.

Denotes High Reputation Post
Reactions
Reactions settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Reactions
On the reactions tab you will see a list of all the reactions that a user can give on your site. Each of these is given either a positive, a negative, or a neutral value. These are the reputation points in which a user will receive for a particular reaction. You can reorder these using the anchors on the left of each item. You can create new reaction items using the button in the top right of the screen.

Default Reaction Set
You will note that the 'like' item has no ability to delete. This is the default reaction, and is what is shown at in the reaction placement area on posts. Your users point at this icon in order to show other reactions, or click to give this reaction. Of course you can use the pencil icon to edit this to be anything you wish.

Pointing at the like icon shows other reactions
Leaderboard
The new Leaderboard is designed to better highlight your most active members and content based on reputation and other metrics. The Leaderboard will greatly enhance both member and content discovery on your community. Winners being highlighted within the profile when 'winning the day', and being added to the past members list. In turn, this can improve member participation on your site.

IPS Community Leaderboard
Leaderboard settings can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Leaderboard
From here, you can change various settings to determine what and how the leaderboard will display, or indeed if it will display at all. This can be helpful if, for example, you wish to exclude staff, or specific items, from being counted.

Leaderboard Settings
Reputation Levels
Reputation levels can be managed in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Reputation & Reactions -> Reactions
Here you will see levels that can be gained upon reaching a set number of reputation/reaction points on your site. These can be given a reputation name and optionally an image.
 

Reputation Levels
Clicking on "Create new" will give you the opportunity to add a new reputation level. The one I have created below as an example will give people the superstar reputation level with a star image upon hitting 1000 reputation points.

Example Reputation Level
Note: Within each member group,  you can also set whether that group can see who has given reputation and the amount of reputation they can give in any one day.

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
 
 

The warning system allows you a system in which to warn your members of unwanted actions on your site, and act upon those warnings automatically via the system, or by moderator action. 
Setting Up Warning
Setting up warning system on your site has 3 sections. Reasons, actions, and settings. Each of these will be discussed below. This section can be access from Members>Content Moderation>Warnings within your admin area.
Reasons
When you first enter the area above, the first tab you will see are reasons. In here you will see a list of all the reasons for warning a member which are currently set up. This will look similar to the below.

Warning Reasons
You can add to these reasons by selecting the create new button in the top right, or edit existing reasons by using the pencil icon at the side of any existing reason that is set up the name, number of points, expiry and other options related to warning actions.
Tip You can also copy or delete reasons using the other 2 icons next to the description
Adding/Editing a reason will give you the following screen where you can

Reason Creation
 
Actions
Actions compliment the warning reasons, by allowing you to process an action such as restricting a user from posting after a set amount of points. You can see the list of actions from within the actions tab.

Action List
By editing or adding new actions, you can set up what happens to the users on x points. So in the example below, I have chosen to moderate the users content for 1 day upon reaching 10 warning points. As you can see below, you can easily restrict posting and ban using the warning system should you wish to do so. In addition you can choose whether or not the moderator giving these warnings can override the automatic action.

Action Creation
 
Settings
The settings tab will allow you to enable/disable the warning system completely, along with set up who cannot be warned and various other items. The "User must acknowledge" setting will be discussed in further detail below.

Warning Settings
 
Using Warnings
You can warn an area from both their profile. either in the mini-profile or in the full profile on the left.
 

Warning From the Member Card
 
You will notice you can also see any warnings a user has already been given within the full profile as you can see in the image below

Warning From Profile
 
When clicking to add a warning to a member, you will be presented with a popup dialog which will allow you to choose one of the set reasons, or set your own if permissions allow.
You can leave notes for both your members, and indeed other moderators. These will only be viewable to the relevant people, so moderators can see these in the warnings and a member will be shown the detail added the 'Note for Member' section only.

Warning Options
 
Once you have given a warning you will be shown the details of the warning in which you have given the member. From here (as well as by selecting the warning in their profile) you can also revoke the warning should the need arise.

Warning View
 
If a member has been given a warning, and your settings are set so that the member has to acknowledge that warning before they continue, they will be presented with a red bar at the top of the site, which will allow them to click and accept the warning in question.

Member To Accept the Warning

Clicking Shows The Warning Content

Warning is Applied To the Member
Manual Actions
While we would hope these to be a last resort, there will be times where it becomes necessary to manually apply restrictions to an individual users account, or in some cases ban members from the site altogether. This can be done from the users account in the ACP
Members -> Members
Restrictions
While within a members account in the ACP, you will see a section for 'Warnings & Restrictions'. Here you will see any items which have already been applied to the account, along with the warning level, and more options that can be used such as flagging as spam, or banning the user. 

Restrictions on the Member Account
Selecting edit in the top right of this section, will allow you to add and remove items of restriction from the users account. There are various items you can apply from restricting posting, to the restriction on adding statuses.

Restriction Editing
Banning & Ban filters
A last resort to situations on your site, be it through spam, member misbehaviour etc, would be to ban offending accounts, IP addresses, or emails from your site. You can ban a member using the ban button within the restrictions section of a member account (See above section on restrictions.
On using the ban button, you will be given the option to also ban the IP address if you wish, move the member to another group, and set the length of time to ban the account for.

Member Banning Options
When opting to add the IP to the ban, this adds the IP to your ban filters. These can be found in the following location in your ACP
Members -> Member Settings -> Ban Settings
In this section, you can restrict access to your site from IP addresses, as well as restricting the email addresses and names that can be used on your site. This can be helpful if for example you wished to block registration by temporary email hosts, or stop people using the words 'mod' in their username. To add to this, simply use the 'Add Ban Filter' button in the top right.

Ban Settings and Filters
You will note from the above screenshot that there are wildcard(*) characters that have been used in some places. Where there are used, they will be match anything in that location. So for example, in the above you have *admin* . So if someone tried to register with I_am_admin_user then it would not be allowed when registering, as we are disallowing admin with anything prefixing or suffixing this. 

Adding a Ban Setting