Private forum. Viewable, but not readable.

[SuperFlyPimp]

Hi

I’ve been searching like crazy, but haven’t found an answer to this specific question.

This is going to be difficult to convey in text, so please bear with me as I do my best.

Properties of the VIP Lounge

• The forum name, description, thread numbers and post numbers can be globally viewed on the home page, even by unregistered guests.
• Only members of my VIP group can have full access to the VIP forum.
• Normal registered users should get the “you do not have permission to access this page” message if they try to enter the VIP forum.
• The VIP group must be public so people can apply to join, but applications must be moderated.

At the moment I have it set so that registered users can view the forum, but cannot view threads. Unfortunately this makes the forum look empty to them, and thus takes away any incentive for them to want to join the group that has access.

I am using 3.0.5

Example

VIP member home page view:
This is what I want everybody to be able to see.


Non-VIP member home page view:
Oh dear, the forum looks empty. Nobody will want to join that.


VIP member forum view:
This is all fine.


Non-VIP member forum view:
I don’t want the non-VIPS to get this far. I want them to see the “you do not have permission to access this page” message instead of entering the forum.


This was very easy to do in PHPBB by assigning the normal members the permission to “view” the forum, but not “read” the forum.

I have set-up two accounts on my test forum, one is normal registered user, and the other is in the VIP group. I will supply login details for both via PM or email to anyone who thinks they may be able to help me with this.

Thanks

Regards
mj
matt[*at*]genx4[*dot*]net

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Key words

Private, forum, permission, hidden, access, group, visible, invisible, 3.0.5

[Zachery]

AdminCP > vBulletin Options > Forum Listings Display Options > Hide Private Forums > Yes

[SuperFlyPimp]

Thanks for the quick response, however, I think you have misunderstood my problem.

I would like everybody including non-members and non-VIP group members to be able to see the VIP forum on the home page, as well as being able to see the thread numbers and post numbers.

Example:

http://www.eaweb.co.uk/stuff/vip_home.gif

At the moment, non-members can see the forum on the home page, but it appears to be empty:

http://www.eaweb.co.uk/stuff/nonvip_home.gif

I would like non-members and non-VIP group members to see the first image, but get the “you do not have permission to access this page” message if they try to enter the forum.

[Zachery]

Sorry, by default vBulletin does not work this way, and allowing members to have read access to the forum (and denying them though templaet modification) will not block them from reading the forum in the archive.

The only way to successfully do what you want is to modify the vBulletin files, you should try asking at vBulletin.org for assistance

[SuperFlyPimp]

That's a shame. I don't really want to start hacking it.

Thanks anyway.

[griffin]

Thanks for the quick response, however, I think you have misunderstood my problem.

I would like everybody including non-members and non-VIP group members to be able to see the VIP forum on the home page, as well as being able to see the thread numbers and post numbers.

Example:

http://www.eaweb.co.uk/stuff/vip_home.gif

At the moment, non-members can see the forum on the home page, but it appears to be empty:

http://www.eaweb.co.uk/stuff/nonvip_home.gif

I would like non-members and non-VIP group members to see the first image, but get the “you do not have permission to access this page” message if they try to enter the forum.

I wanted to do the same thing and the compromise I came up with is to make the "VIP" forums password protected instead of "private". It creates an extra step because members have to be PM'd the password. But non VIP members can see the threads, last post etc-when they click they are prompted for a password.

Just a thought.

[Dennis Olson]

There is a non-hack change you can make to the FORUMHOME template. I had asked for a way to change the word "NEVER" to "PRIVATE" for forums where users could see but not read. I was given a workable answer via template conditionals (but was too lazy to implement it).

The thread is in the HOW DO I forum here somewhere, started by me. You might search up "NEVER" or "PRIVATE" and see what you get.

[Omega Prime]

princeton released this pretty cool hack here which allows members to view the forums and read the thread titles, but not the actual content. For anyone who can't view the threads (this is done via usergroup permissions), they'll see an error message which you can customize.