Please help me with setting up a Private Forum

[bira]

Hi,

On the UBB we have a private forum, for members only. Only users who have been granted permission (admin-done via the control panel) can enter that forum (they are requested to enter their username and password, and if they are authorised, they can go in) and needless to say, only they can read and post in that forum. However, the forum itself DOES show up on the main BB page, with the forum description explaining how one can become a member of that forum.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to do the same scheme on vB and I am at a loss. I tried everything possible in the control panel - at least I think I have - and cannot come up with that same scheme. Please help me, this set-up is quite vital for my BB.

Thanks,

Bira

[Edited by bira on 05-15-2000 at 02:10 AM]

[John]

You need to set up a user group for the users who will be able to access that forum. Then move the users who you want to have access into that usergroup by editing them in the control panel.

John

[bira]

I'll further play around with it. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it eventually :)

Thanks for replying, John.

[bira]

Ok John, I tried doing it your way and it DOES NOT help.

Like I said, I do not want this forum to be hidden -- ALL visitors, registered or not, are supposed to see the forum title and description on the BB's main page. However, if you click on the forum's link, only those authorised (be it with forum password or via user permissions) will be able to enter it, let alone read and post in it.

The way you have the forum permissions and usergroup permissions set up, I can only arrange for the forum to be visible to either all or to only the usergroup I created.

I want it to be PRIVATE -- access only to those who are authorised -- but not INVISIBLE on the front page of the BB. How are people going to know about the existance of this forum and apply for membership in it if it's totally hidden?

:(

[John]

Right, I understand now. To get this to happen, you need to make a small change to the code. Find this line (160 approx) in index.php:


$getperms=getpermissions($bbuserid,$bbusergroupid, $forum[forumid]);


And replace it with:


$getperms[canview]=1;


John

[bira]

sorry, John, but that doesn't change the situation.

I will simply this:

Right now, to the best of my knowledge, there is absolutely no way to set up a forum on vB which is visible on the front page's Forums Listings, but is not accessible to users who are not authorised. Am I right?

I have tried every conceivable combination, and I have tried the code change you just proposed. It just does not happen.

Perhaps if I explained to you what we currently have and why, it will help you understand what I am looking for?

We have a motor racing bulletin board. One forum is about current affairs, another about the history of the sport, etc.

We have one forum, a private one, which is "off topic". It's called The Paddock Club. Only members with a certain amount of posts which applied for access and were granted are allowed in.

The fact that no one can read the posts in this forum except for the authorised members offers a free atmosphere where members can really chit chat freely and pretty much do and say things that we would not allow on other forums.

The Paddock Club is listed on the front page of the Bulletin Board and who can qualify to enter it is also listed there. But if you're not authorised to enter it, then you will not be able to see what is going on INSIDE that forum.

Please visit our Bulletin Board and click on the Paddock Club link -- I think that will speak volumes of what I am trying to get: http://www.atlasf1.com/ubb-cgi/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro


Invisible forums are nice, if they are intended for a small pre-defined crowd (like admins and moderators only). But it does not qualify as a private forum. And as far as I can see right now, there is simply zero ways of actually setting up a private forum in its true sense :(



I am exhaused. I've been sitting on this for the last two days straight and my eyes are crossed by now. I hope you can provide me with a solution -- I will check on this first thing when I wake up.

Thanks for your time,

Bira

[Martin]

have you set up a specific usergroup and given read and write access only to that group in forum options?

[John]

I have just tried the code that I suggested and it worked fine. Perhaps you should try it one more time...

If it still does not work, email your index.php file to me and I will make the changes myself.

John