Disallow guests to view threads, must register first

[Gary King]

Yes I know that there is already a a feature to stop guests from viewing threads, but then this also shows all the posts and threads counters to zero, and under Last Post it will say never (which sucks :)). But, with my hack, it just asks guests to either login or register when viewing a thread and still shows all the right numbers :D

Instructions

Open archive/index.php and find

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Below, add

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Open showthread.php and find

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Below, add:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Open template threadbit and find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

Replace it with

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Done! :D

[Amiga-uk]

So.. it makes your forum look REALLY inactive, unless you register? Which you wont, because its not even had a single post in it..

O_o;

[base]

i think the idea is that the current feature shows 0 threads / posts etc, and this hack shows the correct number of threads / posts, but asks for registration when a user clicks on a thread / post.

this, imo, is better than the current way of going about things, don't know why this isn't how vb did it in the first place :)

[Amiga-uk]

^ohh, the current one shows 0 posts..

Right, this is decent then.

Sorry for the misunderstanding ^^;

[C.Birch]

i think vb sould do it this way because now guests can infact see how busy your forum is but can not view the topics what means more will become members other then just viewing all your topics has a guest.

[aliencode]

Wow nice - woah this really SHOULD be the default hmm wonder what Vbulletin was thinking when they wrote the original.

[Razor-X]

Thank you for this tip. It was something I had been wanting for a while!

[Zachery]

could also be done via a template mod :)
in a slightly differnt way of course ;D

[Gary King]

So.. it makes your forum look REALLY inactive, unless you register? Which you wont, because its not even had a single post in it..

O_o;
First post edited to clarify things a bit :)

[eddiec]

thank you!!!

[Razor-X]

Thankyou for the hack-- and it certainly works, but all forums become restricted unless the user is logged-in. Is there a way to make it so you can show the postcount to the restricted forums, but not restrict all the forums? (still allow anonymous access to the other forums).

Thanks

[lange]

but all forums become restricted unless the user is logged-in. Is there a way to make it so you can show the postcount to the restricted forums, but not restrict all the forums? (still allow anonymous access to the other forums).

Thanks


I'm looking for that me too.

[gc1]

Great hack, let's em see all the threads then slams the door in their face if they don't register :)

Muhahahahahahahahah <Evil Laugh> Damn lurkers annoy me :)

GC

[trackpads]

Awesome A+++++

[dutchbb]

Very good hack tnx! *clicks install*

[trackpads]

Is there a way to disable this for a specific forum? I realized that people cannot see my "unregistered" forum topics now :-) Ack..

Thanks again for all the work!!

-Jason

[paulomt1]

Excellent, thank you!!!

[idwf]

Excellent, thank you!!!
*install*

[The Keeper]

What about unregistered Google Bots?

[nuke]

Big Thx Install

[Gary King]

What about unregistered Google Bots?
They can archive the built-in vB 3 archive :)

[nighteyes]

Short, sweet, and works superbly well. I share the sentiments of the other posters this should be the default way in vBulletin. I can see our registrations rocketing with this. Well done.

[azmi]

after installing this hack, i wondered alll users browsing through threads.
they all registered themselves new, but there was no need to accept the account by mail.
directly after register on board (nothing with mail), you can browse as a correctly registered user!

is there anything, you can make it with (id:3,1,....) for groups?

[Feran]

Wow nice - woah this really SHOULD be the default hmm wonder what Vbulletin was thinking when they wrote the original.
'tis a bit strange, actually, but you're still kinda violating your own privacy by listing Last Post Titles again.. If your'e going to show *those*, why not enable Guest-viewing of threads?

I admit I didn't enjoy the 0 thing too though.. I suppose this feature is a little nifty o.O;;

[Gary King]

after installing this hack, i wondered alll users browsing through threads.
they all registered themselves new, but there was no need to accept the account by mail.
directly after register on board (nothing with mail), you can browse as a correctly registered user!

is there anything, you can make it with (id:3,1,....) for groups?
Change the added code to:



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace X with whatever usergroupid you want :)

[azmi]

thats exactly what i want

big Thx

-----------------------
hmmm - only for me?
i can not add any php-code or smilies!
there is always an "#" to go to the top ?!

[dano]

could also be done via a template mod :)
in a slightly differnt way of course ;D
How?

[Darnell 0216]

Nice hack. I got tired of staring at the 0's... made the place seem so empty.

[Rampag33]

Great. Much needed.

[dano]

They can archive the built-in vB 3 archive :)
Does the archive turn off when you turn off the viewing for guests? I am worried that the search engines will not be able to search if I use this.

[Zachery]

Does the archive turn off when you turn off the viewing for guests? I am worried that the search engines will not be able to search if I use this.
no if the archive is enabled everyone with the correct permssions can see it

[gmarik]

and this does help a small board?

[maurier]

great hack ! Gary W
can you make this hack disallow members downloads attached files when member dont post x new threads or reply any threads ?

thank so much !

[Zachery]

great hack ! Gary W
can you make this hack disallow members downloads attached files when member dont post x new threads or reply any threads ?

thank so much !
Maurier please read this http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?p=462634#post462634

[anabolicedge]

my google bots are getting http://www.anabolicedge.net/forum/images/statusicon/wol_nopermission.gif Viewing 'No Permission' Message on all threads. google bot was fine before this!?!?!

[Gary King]

my google bots are getting http://www.anabolicedge.net/forum/images/statusicon/wol_nopermission.gif Viewing 'No Permission' Message on all threads. google bot was fine before this!?!?!
Because they are listed as guests, but they can still archive the built-in vB 3 archive, but not the actual threads.

[Mephisteus]

Because they are listed as guests, but they can still archive the built-in vB 3 archive, but not the actual threads.
should go into the mini mods subforum btw :)

[dano]

This is working for me but I have an addittional question. Does anyone know where I go to edit the print_no_permission page? I want to make it MUCH more clear to guests that they need to register. In VB2 it was a templete but I cant seem to find it in VB3

[Gary King]

This is working for me but I have an addittional question. Does anyone know where I go to edit the print_no_permission page? I want to make it MUCH more clear to guests that they need to register. In VB2 it was a templete but I cant seem to find it in VB3
This template: username_loggedout

[Gary King]

should go into the mini mods subforum btw :)
I think I posted this before I knew there was a mini-mod forum anyways :)

[dontpanic]

Great hack, I too am wondering how it could be used selectively on one or more specific forums though.

[dano]

This template: username_loggedout
Oh crap, looks like it has been split into MANY different phrases

[n00belit3]

Very nice, i have only one problem, for those of us using portals such as vbindex i figured out taht you can still view threads as unregistered by clicking under "latest threads". Is there any way from preventing unregistered users from doing this?

[Gary King]

Very nice, i have only one problem, for those of us using portals such as vbindex i figured out taht you can still view threads as unregistered by clicking under "latest threads". Is there any way from preventing unregistered users from doing this?
I would normally tell you to ask in the vBIndex support thread, but I'm feeling nice today :p

So here we go:

Open up the vbindex.php for vBIndex and find

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace with

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



There we go that should work :D

[bluecat]

Great hack, thank you. Can someone tell me how to accomplish this though: I have a few forums that only certain usergroups (paid subscribers) can access, but I want regular registered users to be able to see the post counts and threads, but not the content, just like guests now see with this hack (as opposed to "Never" and 0's). Is this possible? Thank you. Also, it works perfect for guests in these areas, just not registered users. :(

[bluecat]

anyone?

[PixelFx]

this is very cool :)

[bluecat]

I checked my stats and we now have on average between 40 to 55 new registrations a day with this, thanks (compared to our usual 5 a day)! But man, I apologize to ask again, but I have a paid restricted area that we used to get about 3 people a week sign up for, but now we only one in the last month, and it's definitely because these protected areas always look empty. Any advice? :(

[Gary King]

I checked my stats and we now have on average between 40 to 55 new registrations a day with this, thanks (compared to our usual 5 a day)! But man, I apologize to ask again, but I have a paid restricted area that we used to get about 3 people a week sign up for, but now we only one in the last month, and it's definitely because these protected areas always look empty. Any advice? :(
Try this:

Below the newly added code from this hack, add the following:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Of course replacing X with their respective numbers.

[bluecat]

Thank you very much! That worked. I had to go through and add one for each forum. Not sure if there's an easier way, but this works. Thank you very much.

Here's what I added which is for 3 different forums that are only for certain groups (paid subscribers):



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[bluecat]

Well I spoke too soon. Although it workds perfect if you manually change users to a primary usergroup, it blocks out "Secondary Usergroups" that are paid subscribers who have legitimate access.

What I'm wondering is if I can simply use the same codes, but instead of print_no_permission, add say three more that say if in a certain usergroup (paid subscribers that listed as registered id:2, and a secondary usergroup, id:35), then grant permission.

For example,



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



The "grant_permission" is totally wrong, I just don't know the term. But I'm just wondering how I can have it check userid and "allow" access. Any help is great. Thanks (also, even though the first 3 are disallowing the registered users, the secondary usergroups would have a different id number and should be able to enter). I hope this makes sense.

[Gary King]

Easier way would be to do it like this:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



This was a reply to your previous post, I'll look more into your latest one.

[Gary King]

Well I spoke too soon. Although it workds perfect if you manually change users to a primary usergroup, it blocks out "Secondary Usergroups" that are paid subscribers who have legitimate access.

What I'm wondering is if I can simply use the same codes, but instead of print_no_permission, add say three more that say if in a certain usergroup (paid subscribers that listed as registered id:2, and a secondary usergroup, id:35), then grant permission.

For example,



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



The "grant_permission" is totally wrong, I just don't know the term. But I'm just wondering how I can have it check userid and "allow" access. Any help is great. Thanks (also, even though the first 3 are disallowing the registered users, the secondary usergroups would have a different id number and should be able to enter). I hope this makes sense.
Try this:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

and replace X with the paid subscriber usergroupid. This code will check if the user has a membergroup of the paid subscribers group.

[gmarik]

could it be not only no_permission,
but

BIG letters: REgister as well?

[Gary King]

could it be not only no_permission,
but

BIG letters: REgister as well?
Nope, not if I understand you correctly anyhow.

[gc1]

This is a Fantastic hack but I would like it to see it take one step further

I would like it to do what it does now but only if there is X amount of guests in the forum

Say when 10 people(or any #) are guests the script kicks in

Is this possible?

[SEShady]

Can this be done in 2.3.4? If so, can someone steer me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Shady

[trackpads]

Gary, great hack. Is there a way to turn this off for only one forum? I have a Guest forum that has site features etc that I link to across the site.

Thanks!!!

-Jason

[Gary King]

Replace

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

with

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace X with the guest forum ID :)

[trackpads]

Thanks!!!!!

[dontpanic]

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace X with the guest forum ID :)OK, this works like a champ...so let's make it even more complex. :)

How about configuring multiple forums that a user CAN view as a guest? Is there a simpler way than writing a statement for each forum? I tried the code below with no luck.

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

I'd ideally like to prevent guests and awaiting email confirmation from seeing all but a few select forums.

[Gary King]

OK, this works like a champ...so let's make it even more complex. :)

How about configuring multiple forums that a user CAN view as a guest? Is there a simpler way than writing a statement for each forum? I tried the code below with no luck.

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

I'd ideally like to prevent guests and awaiting email confirmation from seeing all but a few select forums.
Replace

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

with

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[dontpanic]

Great, thanks! :)

[Gary King]

Glad I could help :D

[zennifer]

I have installed this and it is working great for us. I have one question though is there any way to get the thread title to appear in the title or in the actual text of the error page? The thread/forum/post ID# is in the url. I have tried a couple of things with out any success.

[Skaterscafe.com]

Great hack! My question is this, I have about 3 forums with a few selected sub-forums I want to allow. How do I deperate them?

I tried the above and can only get one or two to work.

[alkahf]

Thank you for this good hack, but....
Very important:

Open template:threadbit and find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



save edit.

Notice: Make this change with all your styles.

Best regards

[contramontanum]

God bless all the makers of "fancy" hacks (I've installed a few myself ;)), but this one is really useful. Thanks!

[Gary King]

Thank you for this good hack, but....
Very important:

Open template:threadbit and find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Replace with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



save edit.

Notice: Make this change with all your styles.

Best regards
Thanks, added that :)

[hasan2k]

Thanks, added that :)

I have one concern about the hack. With this hack implemented, will google media bot and adsense bot be able to spider...I have adsense in my forums and also would like my pages cached in the google.

Please respond.

[Gary King]

I have one concern about the hack. With this hack implemented, will google media bot and adsense bot be able to spider...I have adsense in my forums and also would like my pages cached in the google.

Please respond.
Google can still browse the archive pages, which is what they normally browse anyhow.

[Symbian.info]

Google can still browse the archive pages, which is what they normally browse anyhow.
Great script! Just what the doctor orderd!!

[hasan2k]

Google can still browse the archive pages, which is what they normally browse anyhow.

Well the my forum pages that are cached in google are not from the archive pages, they are from the main forums pages. So please address the issue regarding that.

[Gary King]

Well the my forum pages that are cached in google are not from the archive pages, they are from the main forums pages. So please address the issue regarding that.
Problem solved, check new instructions :) (The part where you have to add new code)

[bluecat]

Anyone know if vb changed this in Gold (so I don't have to add this)?

[Gary King]

Anyone know if vb changed this in Gold (so I don't have to add this)?
No new functionality has been added AFAIK, only bugfixes.

[hasan2k]

Problem solved, check new instructions :) (The part where you have to add new code)

Gary I saw your revised hack in post#1 (is that where you changed the hack?) just making sure.

Also, I just wanted to confirm it will allow google bot, adsense bot (2 different google bots), yahoo, MSN or other big bots. Seems like you had added some. But I am technically challenged. Please respond. And once again thanks for helping us out

[Gary King]

Gary I saw your revised hack in post#1 (is that where you changed the hack?) just making sure.

Also, I just wanted to confirm it will allow google bot, adsense bot (2 different google bots), yahoo, MSN or other big bots. Seems like you had added some. But I am technically challenged. Please respond. And once again thanks for helping us out
It should basically allow whatever bots the default vBulletin thinks is a bot, so yes it should allow all the major bots :)

[hasan2k]

It should basically allow whatever bots the default vBulletin thinks is a bot, so yes it should allow all the major bots :)

Amazing...you are wondeful man.

[Zilvia]

Does this work with vB 3.0.0 Final? I cant find the first edit in showthread.php

[Preds]

Very easy to install, this hack is a big improvement in showing that the board is indeed active yet keeps the posts locked to unregistered guests. I like it.

BTW, for those that might be interested, I installed this on vB 3.0.0 Gold without any problems.

You can check it out at predsff.com/forums

[WreckRman2]

I really like this however I'd like to see it work on select forums only... can that be done?

[Gary King]

I really like this however I'd like to see it work on select forums only... can that be done?
Use this code, replacing X with whatever forumid you want to block to guests:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Aleksey]

Does work for me.

[Aleksey]

ok it works now :-\

[Gary King]

Does work for me.
So what's the problem then..?

[Logikos]

Does this work with vB 3.0.0 Final? I cant find the first edit in showthread.php

Yes look for this



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[manguish]

Fantastic! :D

Clicks Install...... This should`ve been in from scratch ;)

[WreckRman2]

Use this code, replacing X with whatever forumid you want to block to guests:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



That does work for a single forum. Is there a way to block multiple ones?

[Gary King]

That does work for a single forum. Is there a way to block multiple ones?
Just keep on adding AND $forumid == X after AND $forumid == X

[WreckRman2]

Hmm, for some reason that didn't work... should it be AND $forumid == X OR $forumid == X OR $forumid == X OR $forumid == X OR $forumid == X OR $forumid == X ???



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[WreckRman2]

Yep that was it... I changed the AND to OR and it works now. Thanks!

[sabret00the]

I think I posted this before I knew there was a mini-mod forum anyways :)
2 questions, how would i go about only applying this to certain forums and also making sure that those threads are also unaccessible via the archive?

[sabret00the]

Use this code, replacing X with whatever forumid you want to block to guests:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------


that's one question answered :)

[sabret00the]

i thought of another question is this/can this be used to just "override the visiable but must be registered to view threads" option or is it all hardcoded?

the reason i ask is because i don't want unactive usergroups viewing the threads either.

[WreckRman2]

Well the above worked great to tell a guest they needed to login but when I'm logged in even as an admin I get the error:

you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

[NeoBlu]

Great Hack. Thx

[Pigs]

Great Hack Gary,
I have a question. With non apache servers the archive is disabled. What is the implecation with this and spiders.

[Gary King]

Great Hack Gary,
I have a question. With non apache servers the archive is disabled. What is the implecation with this and spiders.
It should still be working fine, because this hack has nothing to do with the archive, really :)

[Pigs]

It should still be working fine, because this hack has nothing to do with the archive, really :)

I understand your comment however if running and IIS setup with no archive ability then aren't spiders unable to index the site?

I probably worded it wrongly.

The hack by the way works perfectly. It should be the default setup IMHO.

Cheers.

[koon]

I think I've come across an unwanted side effect.
The archives can be read by guests when this hack is installed.

Was looking at online.php today and saw a guest reading away.


Yes! I have just noticed this too and thought it was just a problem with Vbulletin itself until I cam across your discovery and after testing your right.

Is there any chance of this getting fixed or a work around?

[webtam]

Is there a simple way to just make it show a ? or - when the postcount is zero?

[Vega]

Awesome! Thx!

[supernet]

Hi. When i browse into archive/index.php i get a blank white page.

If i understood correctly, i insert right after this code:

$title .= ' - ' . $foruminfo['title'];
}
else
{
$do = 'index';
}

This code:

if ($bbuserinfo['userid'] == 0 AND !preg_match("#(google|slurp@inktomi|yahoo! slurp)#si", $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']))
{
print_no_permission();
}

What might have gone wrong? :ermm:

[Gary King]

Are you logged in?

[supernet]

Ooops! I fill silly! :speechless:

Loged in, and its ok. Thanks Gary

[magmaink]

is there a way to restrict access to non-vb pages???? Meaning users have to log in to browse certain pages of the site?

[Gary King]

is there a way to restrict access to non-vb pages???? Meaning users have to log in to browse certain pages of the site?
Use this at the top of your files, changing the forum/ to match your site:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Wolffman]

For the showthread.php edit, instead of the normal text, my file says:



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



I put the added text under that ^, and it didn't work.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Streetjob]

Hi all!

This seems to still block the MSN spider. I want him to be able to browse my site with his friends. How can I do this?

Thank you

[Wolffman]

Nevermind. It works perfect now that I figured it out.

[Onkel_Tom]

Hi,
makes it sense to expand the spider and bot line to other names like


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



???

[Onkel_Tom]

If you are using vbindex just change the following to prevent showing the preview on mouse over threadtitle of lastest threads for unregistered people.

find in Template vbindex_latestthreadbit :


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



and replace it with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Raitsa]

I am feeling really stupid cos i cant get this hack to work: my postcount remains at 0 at all forums. I am using another (finnish) language at my site here (http://forum.hitechplace.com/index.php) , but that cant be causing it, can it?

Any ideas?

Using VB 3.01

[RonH.]

Nice hack! I hope this has the intended effect that I desire to have happen, to decrease lurking as unregistered and convert (at least spme of) them to registered users on my small board. Thanks.

[Streetjob]

BUMP. So where are the smart hackers? I still have not received an answer to my question. How do I make sure MSN has access to my archives as well? And if you want to throw in Jeeves or any other good ones please go ahead!

Thanks!

[Onkel_Tom]

Hi Streetjob,
I use the hack with the line I wrote few postings before


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



now since 3 days and the site was visited from several spiders and bots right now. Just have a look at the attached .jpg to see that MSN has access to the Archive and also to the forum.

[Onkel_Tom]

Another question to all,
Is it possible to show unregistered guest a message which show that they have to register to read threads when they are in the archive ?
At the moment the archive shows a blank screen for the guest.

any idea to fix this ?

[Onkel_Tom]

Okay, i fixed it with this change.

find in /archive/index.php:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



replace it with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Streetjob]

Hi Streetjob,
I use the hack with the line I wrote few postings before


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



now since 3 days and the site was visited from several spiders and bots right now. Just have a look at the attached .jpg to see that MSN has access to the Archive and also to the forum.

Wow! Thanks Tom! I did see your previous post but it didn't seem like you were 100% sure. And since these are hacks I don't want to run the risk of doing something bad to my site. Anyway, thanks again and i'll give this a try!

[Onkel_Tom]

There is still a problem if your vB is closed for guest and a user registers at the forum without click on the activation eMail, he can still read threads in the forum!

I found the solution for one usergroupID in the thread.


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



But for more usergroupID's it should look like:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Is there a solution to reduce the line with the usergroupid checks like or $bbuserinfo['usergroupid'] == in array[1, 3, 4, 8, 11] or something like that ?

[IIstix]

Is there a link explaining how to how to do this via a template?

could also be done via a template mod :)
in a slightly differnt way of course ;D

[maggie]

I've gotten all turned around in this thread, I'm wondering if someone can help me please?
I have one forum that I don't want ANYONE to see in any way (through searches, archives, nothing) unless they have special permission (admin or access masking).
One forum that I want registered members to have access to, and guests at least be able to see that there ARE threads in there, just not be able to view the actual threads.
And one forum that I want guests to be able to participate in.
So basically, I want the "can't view at all" AND the "open" options... pain in the rear, aren't I? :D

[gorman]

Is there a link explaining how to how to do this via a template?Yes, I would be interested too...

[Raitsa]

I am feeling really stupid cos i cant get this hack to work: my postcount remains at 0 at all forums.

Stupid i was. Again.

Of course i did not change the permissions for unregistered guests, i assumed they should see the posts automatically after applying this hack.
But since i had not given them rights to view the forum topics, i could not get this to work at all.
But now that i changed the forum rights settings they are allowed to see the topics, i get the right number of posts for them as well.
(But they still cant read the threads, only view them, as it was meant too).

[WEForums]

Nice hack and all, but I just did it this way:



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Natch]

Is there any way to tie in the $vboptions[spiderstrings] array into the spider-list - ???

[N00BIE]

nice hack thanx =]

[gr3g0]

I'm using this to keep out some determined fools on my site. For the benefit of anyone else who may be doing this, make sure you follow similar instructions as described in post #1 of this thread and apply the change to the following files in the same place:

printthread.php
search.php (it's possible to "find all posts by this user" and read posts that way)
showpost.php (in case a direct url is "guessed" or otherwise)

ALSO - we have all new registrants moderated, however these hacks only considered unregistered users. This meant people could "apply" to join the board and thereby skip all of these measures (by virtue of moving from the "guest" usergroup to the COPPA or "wait for email confirmation" usergroup).

As a result, all pages that I changed had a longer line added to them to cover all the appropriate usergroups:



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Don't forget to also amend the usergroup permissions for these usergroups so that they are the same as guests.

Of course, this all depends on your motives for keeping people out. Threads in our board are private so this was appropriate for us

[boiboi]

nice hack can google still index archives?

[TheOmegaCircle]

Anyone knows how get this work with 3.0.1?
(Showthread.php does not containt this code:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Pasting the new code below a similar place does not work...

[emtee]

Well the above worked great to tell a guest they needed to login but when I'm logged in even as an admin I get the error:

you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Same here! After awhile banging my head to the walls trying to figure out why it also blocks other usergroups - not just the specified group which is guest/not logged in - to view threads. Too bad I had to uninstall this. I check the codes very carefully but it still refused to work! I'm using 3.0.3 and this hack doesn't let me (admin) and other usergroups view threads that are supposed to block only guests/not logged-in from viewing.

If anyone can find a fix, please post it!!! Thanks in advance. This is a very useful hack. I don't know why this feature is not default in vB3. Plain s2pid!!!!!!!!!

[boiboi]

Google for some reason has stop indexing my site after I blocked the archives from being viewed by non members. The purpose of the archive is has nothing to do with archiving but instead it's work around to make vb3 search-engine-friendly. So the solution would be to uninstall the hack from archive and remove the archive link in the footer?

[Onkel_Tom]

Google for some reason has stop indexing my site after I blocked the archives from being viewed by non members. The purpose of the archive is has nothing to do with archiving but instead it's work around to make vb3 search-engine-friendly. So the solution would be to uninstall the hack from archive and remove the archive link in the footer?

You can also replace your line in index.php of /archive directory to let Google and other important search engines in your archive but not unregistered persons ;)



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



just replace the usergroups in $grouparray you want to disallow to have access to your archive.

For my Board Google is idexing all threads in archive and it works great ;)

[DarknessDivine]

You can also replace your line in index.php of /archive directory to let Google and other important search engines in your archive but not unregistered persons ;)



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



just replace the usergroups in $grouparray you want to disallow to have access to your archive.

For my Board Google is idexing all threads in archive and it works great ;)
Will this also work with 3.0.1???

[Onkel_Tom]

Will this also work with 3.0.1???

Why not ?
$bbuserinfo, $usergroupid and print_no_permission() is the same for vB3 in all Versions right now.

[emtee]

Hi Onkel Tom,

Does it work with 3.0.3 ? I have tried Gary W's code but unfortunately it works for all usergroups (don't know why???) not just guest/not logged in, so if you could post the instruction from scratch for all the files, it would really help me. I think I'm in the same boat with IndyWebDesign.


Well the above worked great to tell a guest they needed to login but when I'm logged in even as an admin I get the error:

You do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.


Thanks.

[Onkel_Tom]

Hi Onkel Tom,
Does it work with 3.0.3 ? I have tried Gary W's code but unfortunately it works for all usergroups (don't know why???) not just guest/not logged in, so if you could post the instruction from scratch for all the files, it would really help me. I think I'm in the same boat with IndyWebDesign.
Thanks.

As I wrote one post before my code is working for all vB 3 Versions right now. I using vB3.0.3 on my Boards too and it works.

Your find the instruction of the Hack in the first post. I only changed some parts for better fitting on my own wishes, so I posted my code which is working for the most recent search engines.

This code can be placed in /archive/index.php to allow search engines which are written in the code to index this pages.

If you want to use my code instead of Gary W's code for the archive just replace in /archive/index.php:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



With my code:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



You can add or remove search engines by editing this line:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------


for each new spider add his user agent identification to the line with a "|" between like "spider1|spider2|spider3"

The echo syntax is only for index.php of archive because if you use this code and a unauthorised person will access the archive only a white page is shown. Therefore I added the echo information to the screen to show "what is wrong".

I used the "$grouparray = array ( 3,4); " function to define my usergroups which are not allowed to access the archive. You can put here any usergroup ID you want not to access your archive separated by ",". Usergroup 8 and 11 are defined groups from my board, just remove that both group ID's.

I hope I could help and the instructions are easy to understand ;)

[emtee]

Very cool, I will try this. Thanks a lot man!!!

[DarknessDivine]

Tried it, looks great! Many thanks to you....

[DoKoK]

great job,

Install

[DoKoK]

I read a few pages of this topic and I don't see my question answered.

It might be in the other pages but anyway here it is:

Is there a way to let my guests see the News forum topics and not be able to open the others?

[PAINTBALLM]

installed

[nonet]

I've been playing around with this hack and MAY have come up with a forumula to allow spiders to still view threads while denying permission to guest. I am not a coder by trade so please check this code out and see if it works for you. I've been running it about 3-4 hours and it seems spider friendly on my site.

There are three files to change and one file to upload.

archive/index.php
includes/functions.php
showthread.php

Upload this file and place in your forum root directory and the archive directory.
spiders.txt (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=&stc=1)



Open archive/index.php and find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Below, add:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Open showthread.php and find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Below, add:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



In the same file find the lines:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



And replace them with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



In the same file find the lines:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



And replace them with:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Open functions.php and at the end before


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



Add:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



DONE!

[dorkus]

Thanks Gary.

[cschuck3]

Yea I needed this, I was waiting for this!!

[Neutral Singh]

Yea I needed this, I was waiting for this!!
Hi

I have installed this hack with gr8 results... my only problem is that i have a links partner section on the main forum itself... now what is happening is that when these link partners try to periodically locate their links in the forum they get the access denied message and they remove my links from their website. :(

Just as we did with archive section... Can we also exclude a selected forum from being affected by this hack. i mean that single particular forum should available as usual to anyone and everyone without any restriction.

Please guide me otherwise i am left with no option but to compromise on this hack.

Regards

[Sleepyk]

before i install this, does it work with vb 3.0.3?

[bamaster]

before i install this, does it work with vb 3.0.3?


Works on mine!

See here, for a protected forum:
http://www.allbowling.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11

[Oreamnos]

Works on mine!

See here, for a protected forum:
http://www.allbowling.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11
BTW, who has access to this forum on your site? all registered users? special usergroups? admins?

I am just about to install this and just wanted to check what you were doing.

[jzewatsky]

Where do add the code for showthread.php in vb 3.0.3? I've searched the php several times for the "globalize....." line and have not found it. Thanks in advance for the help.

[bamaster]

BTW, who has access to this forum on your site? all registered users? special usergroups? admins?

I am just about to install this and just wanted to check what you were doing.


Yes, all registered users. Actually, Registered and Imported users... since I imported my users from phpBB.

[bamaster]

Where do add the code for showthread.php in vb 3.0.3? I've searched the php several times for the "globalize....." line and have not found it. Thanks in advance for the help.


Read post #111 in this thread to see the altered code. He said it didn't work for him, but it did for me.

[rushabh]

Hi,

I have v3.0.3 too and really cant understand the part about the showthread. Am a beginner in .php so please understand.

What exactly do I find in the showthread and what do I add/replace?

Thanks much

R

[jzewatsky]

bamaster,

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it (post 111) and am still not working. Would you mind posting exactly how you got it to work? Are we working with different VB ver's?

[MauriceReed]

Hi we have got this hack installed on our forum www.gob++++es.co.uk and it seems to be working fine.

Question, does anybody know what impact, if any, this has on google spiders etc? I have submitted our site to google and some other search engines but vey little evidence of google spiders appearing. On another forum to which I belonged they were regularly visiting.


cheers

[boiboi]

no impact on yahoo whatsover.

[glock22]

Well, I installed the initial code on my 3.0.6 board that I just installed and it worked great.. I thought it was bulletproof... Well , there seems to be a problem. When users are logged in they do not have access to their subscription panel and they cannot use the drop down menu for subscribing to thread or forum. When they click they get a message that they do not have suffiecient privilages etc.... They can read and reply to threads... They cannot use the subsciption.php correctly. I even tried the fix that got posted for the subscription.php.. Still nothing

Nikos :(

This hack is integral to the success of my forum. ANy help is appreciated.

[glock22]

It seems like admin and supermoderators can access the

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/subscription.php? page

but normal users cannot.. I can't figure it out

Nikos

[boiboi]

Strange.. works ok on mine. you shouldn't have edited subscription.php

[Rambo]

Installed on VB 3.0.7 and works a charm ;)

Good job.

[CavGsi.co.uk]

When i open the showthread.php i cant find

globalize($_REQUEST, array('perpage' => INT, 'pagenumber', 'highlight' => STR, 'goto'));

Any help please ?? ??

[CavGsi.co.uk]

When i open the showthread.php i cant find

globalize($_REQUEST, array('perpage' => INT, 'pagenumber', 'highlight' => STR, 'goto'));

Any help please ?? ??

am using version 3.0.7

[kadafi_alive]

no impact on yahoo whatsover.

Exactly, it seems that it's allowing the Googlebot but disallowing [Slurp] Yahoo.

[Onkel_Tom]

I'm using this line:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------


and yahoo is working fine ;)

[Breathex]

installed

thnx for this nice hack

[CavGsi.co.uk]

When i open the showthread.php i cant find

globalize($_REQUEST, array('perpage' => INT, 'pagenumber', 'highlight' => STR, 'goto'));

Any help please ?? ??

anyone ?????

[twinsmom]

It should be the first thing right after "Start Main Script"

[CavGsi.co.uk]

It should be the first thing right after "Start Main Script"

I searched the file and it said 'not in this document' worked fine when i was running 3.0.3 but am now at 3.0.7

[Marco van Herwaarden]

This line now reads (in 3.0.3, 3.0.6 and 3.0.7):


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

In 3.0.1 the 'posted' line was not there.

[VirtualBurn]

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

Replace

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

with

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



I've found this thread to be really interesting and it has helped out with a lot of things. I've added the code to dissalow guest to view a couple of non vb pages but these pages should be only accessable by a certain user group.

Usergroup (id:9) are the only members that should have access to these pages, how can I modify this code to enable this feature?

Thankyou.

[VirtualBurn]

Ok, after scanning back through all the replies to this thread I finaly sussed it also added something else on ;)

This code stops guests (ID:0) and registered users (ID:2) from accesing the non-vb pages but with let the 'Premium Member' group (ID:9) walk right in.

For the users who aren't allwowed in a custom notice will appear telling the user to subscribe to access these areas.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93253

Thanks greg and all who replied here.

[swa]

awesome, works on 3.07!

[Bozkurtum]

Works on 3.5.x?

[stan111]

thanks a lot
i will try to get this installed when i get home

[mkdevo]

great hack!

i have a question as far as spiders go:

i have Kanoodle and TargetPoint ads on my board. after installing this hack, the TargetPoint ads (in threads) still show up, but the Kanoodle ads do not (because you now need to be logged in to view threads, etc.).

is there something i can add to this line in order to allow the Kanoodle ads in?



Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



?

[etaslim]

Works on 3.5.x?

same here, pls inform if there's any. thanks

[99SIVTEC]

I got it to work with 3.5, but it took a couple modifications. The code that you paste in showthread should now be

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

and should be done right after:

// #######################################################################
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################
// #######################################################################

[Zachery]

I got it to work with 3.5, but it took a couple modifications. The code that you paste in showthread should now be

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

and should be done right after:

// #######################################################################
// ######################## START MAIN SCRIPT ############################
// #######################################################################

Yo, stock feature in vB 3.5, nice job hacking a feature thats already in the system :)

[99SIVTEC]

and how is this a feature in the system already? The stock system doesn't allow search engine spiders while blocking guests.

[Snake]

Is this a good idea to install this hack? Do you think it'll get me more members?

[Zachery]

and how is this a feature in the system already? The stock system doesn't allow search engine spiders while blocking guests.

Thats content cloaking and a big no no. (This can get you black listed from sites like google and yahoo).

The Default vB system allows you to disallow users from viewing the thread content but see the titles etc.

[Zachery]

Is this a good idea to install this hack? Do you think it'll get me more members?

If your using the 3.5 you already have it built in.

Can view forum > Yes
Can View Others Threads > Yes
Can view thread content > No

[99SIVTEC]

lol, and good luck getting caught doing it. Myspace does the same thing as do other very large websites. You are highly unlikely to get penalized for something like this. Cloaking infers that you are showing DIFFERENT content to a search engine than a regular user. This isn't the case. The two see the exact same info they just must be registered to view it. Thus this is not cloaking. Do some research on the subject (I know quite a bit about the subject as I have built ip based cloaking system for sites in the past)

Thats content cloaking and a big no no. (This can get you black listed from sites like google and yahoo).

The Default vB system allows you to disallow users from viewing the thread content but see the titles etc.

[Justice]

I'm very interested in this topic... not so much the arguing, but the tangible differences between this hack and the built-in method.

Also, was this a built-in feature in 3.0 or was it just added in 3.5? I don't recall vbulletin always having this.

[99SIVTEC]

THIS is NOT a built in feature.

[Justice]

I didn't think so, but I haven't installed 3.5 yet. *shrug*

[MRGTB]

As I wrote one post before my code is working for all vB 3 Versions right now. I using vB3.0.3 on my Boards too and it works.

Your find the instruction of the Hack in the first post. I only changed some parts for better fitting on my own wishes, so I posted my code which is working for the most recent search engines.

This code can be placed in /archive/index.php to allow search engines which are written in the code to index this pages.

If you want to use my code instead of Gary W's code for the archive just replace in /archive/index.php:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



With my code:

Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



You can add or remove search engines by editing this line:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------


for each new spider add his user agent identification to the line with a "|" between like "spider1|spider2|spider3"

The echo syntax is only for index.php of archive because if you use this code and a unauthorised person will access the archive only a white page is shown. Therefore I added the echo information to the screen to show "what is wrong".

I used the "$grouparray = array ( 3,4); " function to define my usergroups which are not allowed to access the archive. You can put here any usergroup ID you want not to access your archive separated by ",". Usergroup 8 and 11 are defined groups from my board, just remove that both group ID's.

I hope I could help and the instructions are easy to understand ;)

Thanks for that, works great to stop other usergroups awaiting email. But there is still one problem you might know the answer to. If you logon to an account you create that needs email validation. You can still hover over thread titles on your board and read the full THREAD PREVIEW as a member waiting email validation.

Which defeats the whole object if they can read the thread that way

[MRGTB]

I've spotted a problem with this. Even if you protect the Archive and threads from being viewed on the forum board.

They can still view them via the printthread.php link instead to bypass the permissions as a guest and still view the full thread as a printable thread version. By simply replacing the showthread name in the link they want to view with "printthread" instead. This can be done manually quite easy to view all threads as printable versions.

Does anybody know how to use the same method to stop certain usergroups from accessing the printthread page?

EDIT:

Fixed it now for printthread.

Find:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------



below it put:


Code:
---------------
Code is only visible to licensed users, and only when logged into the forums.
---------------

[Snoop-It]

If your using the 3.5 you already have it built in.

Can view forum > Yes
Can View Others Threads > Yes
Can view thread content > No

that does not work with 3.5.x

it makes no difference what so ever. guests can still view thread content. iv had that option on since 3.5.0 was released even now i still have it on 3.5.2 and guests still can view the posts.

if i edit the files that is explained on here would it work with 3.5.x ?? :ermm:

[MRGTB]

that does not work with 3.5.x

it makes no difference what so ever. guests can still view thread content. iv had that option on since 3.5.0 was released even now i still have it on 3.5.2 and guests still can view the posts.

if i edit the files that is explained on here would it work with 3.5.x ?? :ermm:

Do you not have to setup them settings in the Usergroups rather than board settings. I don't use vB 3.5. So I'm not sure, but I would have suspected you set that up as a Usergroup setting to stop guests from viewing threads if the option is there.

[Snoop-It]

Yes thats correct. In the unregistered / not logged in usergroup - I selected those permissions and it didnt make a difference...

very annoying..

[MRGTB]

Yes thats correct. In the unregistered / not logged in usergroup - I selected those permissions and it didnt make a difference...

very annoying..

Did you also check the permission on forum boards for Guests. To make sure the same permission was in place for them to not view thread content. I would just double check your forum category and boards usergroup permissions also to see if the permissions has be over ridden.

[Snoop-It]

that means in each category i have i will need to set the permission? but then it will display to them that no posts been made in that category.

I remember using your hack on the 3.0.x version... it was cool. It displayed the number of posts and latest post made etc... but then when the guest tried reading it or checking it out it will say log in..

[Snoop-It]

ok it displays PRIVATE... but it should act as normal.. thats what i want to show the guests and others that yeh there are posts inside that category.. but once some 1 clicks the category the LOGIN comes up

[MRGTB]

If your using the 3.5 you already have it built in.

Can view forum > Yes
Can View Others Threads > Yes
Can view thread content > No

Yes, but they can still view threads through the "Archive Pages" or "Printthread Pages" (not sure which one, or if they can view through both). As a way of getting around that feature logged out as a guest in vB 3.5. Making that a pretty flawed feature that doesn't really stop anyone at all if they know what address to type in there browser to still view the content.

Were as this hack stops guest from doing that by blocking them from viewing threads while still allowing you to add bots you list in the code that can have access like Google Adsence, Googlebot, Yahoo Slurp etc.