Forum a reg user cant look in but can see listed?? how?

[VinhVinh]

Ive made a area 51 forum.

Normal registered users cant view it but I want them to see it listed on the index.php and not hidden.

Can it be done?

[Steve Machol]

Set Hide Private Forums to 'No' in vBulletin Options.

[Jake Bunce]

Two methods:

1) Restrict access to the forum in your:

Admin CP -> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Permissions

Set the Can View Forum permission to No. Then do not hide private forums:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Forum Listings Display Options -> Hide Private Forums = No

Now the forum will be visible but the user will get a "No Permission" screen when they try to enter it. This method is not good if you have other private forums that you want to hide from users because those forums will now be visible.

2) Restrict access to the forum in your:

Admin CP -> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Permissions

Set the Can View Forum permission to Yes and everything else to No. Leave private forums hidden:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Forum Listings Display Options -> Hide Private Forums = Yes

You may also want to show a "lock" icon on the forum for users who don't have access, in which case you want to enable this option:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> Forum Listings Display Options -> Show Lock Icons to Users = Yes

Now users will be able to see the forum but when they enter it there won't be any threads in the thread listing and they won't be able to post. Under this method you can keep some private forums hidden (Can View Forum = No) and others not.

When using this method the user is not presented with a "No Permission" screen upon entering the forum, so you might want to post an announcement in the forum explaining your permission setup or your users might get confused when they don't see any threads listed.

[VinhVinh]

Thank you very much, both have been very helpful.

Last question since I dont want to waste another thread space.

How can I let which users or groups be able to see online.php? I only want them to see the online list at the bottom of the forum on index.php and they cant view the online.php because i dont like the idea they can see where you and your members are currently at.

[Steve Machol]

You can't limit access to one without the other. This would require hacking. Try asking over at vbulletin.org.