Social Forums: Public Status

[Marcus101RR]

Hey TCF Team,

This may not have been noticed, but I think that any Social Forum that has a public status and allows anyone to join the group should allow "Guests" and "Non-Members" to see the contents of the Social Groups including their posted threads. Currently, all Social groups show "Private" even if it isn't really a private group. Hope this sometime gets updated. Some people prefer not to join a group to read their threads.

 

[Loki]

Hey TCF Team,

This may not have been noticed, but I think that any Social Forum that has a public status and allows anyone to join the group should allow "Guests" and "Non-Members" to see the contents of the Social Groups including their posted threads. Currently, all Social groups show "Private" even if it isn't really a private group. Hope this sometime gets updated. Some people prefer not to join a group to read their threads.

But that is exactly how Public Groups are....unless something got borked.

Link me an example and I'll do some testing.


EDIT: works as designed. Or did you mean non-forum members (as in no TCF account)

 

[Marcus101RR]

But that is exactly how Public Groups are....unless something got borked.

Link me an example and I'll do some testing.


EDIT: works as designed. Or did you mean non-forum members (as in no TCF account)

No, I mean you cannot READ anything on the social group unless you are a member. Basically you are forcing people to register to the group even though its public. Why bother?

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?social-forums/teeria-legends-a-strangers-adventure.34/

Example, the group is "Public" and "Open" registrations, but as a registered user of this forum It shows up "(Private)" in the social group list. I cannot read any threads or posts that are on it, unless I join the group first. It should display recent posts like any typical forum, and allow you to read threads/posts like any typical forum if its has those settings enabled.

 

[Loki]

No, I mean you cannot READ anything on the social group unless you are a member. Basically you are forcing people to register to the group even though its public. Why bother?

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?social-forums/teeria-legends-a-strangers-adventure.34/

Example, the group is "Public" and "Open" registrations, but as a registered user of this forum It shows up "(Private)" in the social group list. I cannot read any threads or posts that are on it, unless I join the group first. It should display recent posts like any typical forum, and allow you to read threads/posts like any typical forum if its has those settings enabled.

I directly tested this last night on one of my test accounts and I could read everything just fine.

The overall list may say private, but when you click into the group, you can see the threads AND read them.

The group I used to test is Bat Club. I'll post screens to show when I can...and check into the one you linked


EDIT: ok here is what's happening. The SG creator needs to read the descriptions of the privacy settings more carefully.

Public: anyone can join, but only members can read and/or post
Read Only: anyone can read everything, but only members can post

If that is the intent, Bat Club was set up correctly whereas the one you linked was not. User Guide outlines this as does the privacy toggle descriptors

 

[Ghostar]

I just tested the same exact thing as Loki, using bat club as the test. You can see the topic, but you have to scroll down past whatever header the social group has.

 

[Loki]

Yeah, the threads are always beneath the header - so long headers will mean scrolling.

The one Marcus linked is set to "Public" instead of "Read Only" in the behind the scenes privacy settings. People seemed to like having both options - and the descriptions are pretty clear.

There is a separate area where they can denote the level of privacy using a custom field...of course these need to be matched and accurate to the desire....but that's really on the SG creator.

That said, I will happily help "fix" anyone's SG that isn't how they want - if they cannot figure it out themselves from the UG.

 

[Marcus101RR]

Yeah, the threads are always beneath the header - so long headers will mean scrolling.

The one Marcus linked is set to "Public" instead of "Read Only" in the behind the scenes privacy settings. People seemed to like having both options - and the descriptions are pretty clear.

There is a separate area where they can denote the level of privacy using a custom field...of course these need to be matched and accurate to the desire....but that's really on the SG creator.

That said, I will happily help "fix" anyone's SG that isn't how they want - if they cannot figure it out themselves from the UG.

Thanks for clearing that up, that was the settings I wanted, how odd, I would have thought "Public" is as public as you can get, I guess not lol.

 

[Loki]

Thanks for clearing that up, that was the settings I wanted, how odd, I would have thought "Public" is as public as you can get, I guess not lol.

Sorry...I know the wording is a bit wonky.

Suggested edits?

 

[Charmander27]

There is a different toggle for the actual application format of the SG and what is displayed on text. It is in the rules that it's supposed to be the same, but the member may forget or mess up. I'm not sure if there is a way to work around this, as I haven't messed with the plugin before.

 

[Loki]

I had to build all of the permission sets and custom fields by hand. There is no automatic way....even getting the permissions to work is a "jumble of wires" in the AP, lol!

 

[MegaSDMGShark]

That's a good idea. Might take a while, but it will be worth it!

 

[Charmander27]

Yeah. It's not really a big deal. If a social group says public and it's private, just report it or send a PM to a staff member, and we'll ask the creator to change it, or get Loki to do it himself if there is a problem or the creator is no longer active. We won't change things that are private to public, but we'll definitely match what is showing to what is actually being done.