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Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates Details »»
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Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates
Developer Last Online: May 2013 
vBulletin 3.6 users click here for the 3.6 compatible version of this plugin.
The out of the box vBulletin style does not have a robust method of informing users about their current activity status or user level. As a result, guests entering on a page other than the homepage (which is most often the case) have no idea what a forum is about or that they may need to register. Additionally, there are no visible status indicators, making it confusing for unconfirmed, unapproved or new members to know what to do or where to begin. To help solve these problems, the welcome headers plugin creates a 5-part set of conditionals to better introduce members to your community while pushing them to register, activate or post. The default templates are just that, default – I highly encourage you to tweak the language and functions to meet the needs of your actual community environment. Modifications/ Instructions: Template edits: 2 Plugins: 1 (adds 1 template and several settings) This template hack should take under 5 minutes to implement and customize. What’s new in 4.1.0 The 4.1.0 version of this system is a complete rewrite from earlier versions. All of the original functionality still exists; however, the system has been improved to make it much more modular. With the new version, you can now turn on/off individual welcome header messages, configure the content and change other settings all from your ACP Options panel. Additionally, a 5th welcome header has been added for global announcements. With the exception of one small phrase change, this upgrade is seamless to upgrade. Upgrade Instructions: Full upgrade instructions can be found in the attached zip file. However, to avoid confusion anyone upgrading from the 4.0.x version of this plugin to 4.1.x should do the following: 1 – Upload the new version of the plugin file based on your version of vBulletin (3.5 or 3.6). Be sure to set the override option to “yes”. 2 – Go to your phrase manager and search for the phrase “first_visit_message”, copy any customizations you have made to this phrase into the phrase “welcome_guest”. 3 – Go to your vBulletin options, select the “Welcome Header System” group and configure the options as desired. Customizing the content / messages To customize which messages appear or what they say, go to vBulletin options, select the “Welcome Header System” group and configure the options as desired. Each phase can be modified by adding translation text. Details on how it all works: Step One: Turning lurkers into Members For most websites, upwards of 50% of traffic (or more) comes through search engines or deep links to threads, profiles and categories. Out of the box, vBulletin only displays a welcome message on the forum-homepage, meaning someone who enters through any other page does not have the benefit of seeing an explanation of the site or welcome message. The guest welcome header is used to explain the purpose of your site, sell users on the benefits of joining the community and push them to proactively register. Step Two: Making Users Confirm their Account Many vBulletin sites require email confirmation prior to being able to post or access an account. However, activation emails are often misdirected to spam folders, ignored or simply deleted, leaving unconfirmed users with little access rights and no explanation as to what is wrong with their account. The unconfirmed welcome header is used to inform unconfirmed members of their account status and to direct them to automatically resend their activation email, or to contact the webmaster for support. Step Three: Get non-posting users to post Another chronic problem faced by many forums is insuring users post after registering. Many new visitors register in order to access certain features with the intent of posting, but never do so. The never posted welcome header is used to encourage users to post for their first time and should ideally be linked directly to an introductions or new member forum to help users "break the ice". Step Four: Getting inactive users to become more active Many members start out as lurkers, register, post once or twice and then go back to being lurkers. Often time these members are not actively thinking about participating in topics or are still shy about interacting. The inactivity welcome header reminds members to make a post after a predetermined amount of time as specified by the forum administrator. Step Five: General Announcements Unfortunately the standard announcements are often overlooked or never even seen by members who use the "new posts feature". As a result, urgent notices may be missed by users causing problems and high volumes of support requests. The global announcement welcome header creates a message shown to all members who do not fall into the other welcome header groups (guest, unconfirmed, never posted, inactive). Whether it be a scheduled outage/ upgrade, an important request or the need to display an advertisement in a prominent spot, global announcements allow an administrator to effectively and quickly display messages in a way that is certain to be read. The results: At first glance this system may seem a bit superfluous, however, the numbers rarely lie, nor does the feedback. Since posting this plugin in October, it has risen to over 1700 confirmed installations and is now one of the top 5 vBulletin plugins. On ScubaBoard.Com, the site the system was originally tested on, posting rates have increased by over 100%; new user registration rates by over 60%; user activity by 50% and the welcome/ intro & greets forum has exploded over 400%. If you browse through the pages of this thread you will find even more real life testimonials and experiences from the thousands of people using the system. But enough about why -- give it a shot yourself and let me know how your results turn out. vBulletin 3.6 users click here for the 3.6 compatible version of this plugin. Download Now Only licensed members can download files, Click Here for more information. Screenshots Show Your Support
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About Developer
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| Mod | Developer | Type | Replies | Last Post |
| Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates | Ted S | vBulletin 3.6 Add-ons | 1339 | 12 Aug 2011 07:07 |
| Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates | Ted S | vBulletin 3.7 Add-ons | 331 | 28 Oct 2010 04:18 |
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#496
07 Feb 2006, 04:25
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This one could become very handy.
I now make PMs to send to newly regged members with instruction on how to use the forum first time (You need 1 post to start posting on the forum) With this hack I can make it alot easier to point out to members what to do first time. Many thanks No members have liked this post.
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#497
07 Feb 2006, 18:34
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Great hack.
I am getting members complaining that they are finding the messages annoying. Would it be difficult to have them appear maybe once per session?
__________________
AVForums.com the UK's largest audio visual home consumer electronics forums. Running several hacks with thanks to vBulletin.org and its members. No members have liked this post.
Last edited by Spinball : 07 Feb 2006 at 18:58.
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#498
07 Feb 2006, 18:49
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I second this...
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#499
07 Feb 2006, 23:58
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thank you for the great hack. Is it possible to get another message to registered users? I'd like to suggest to the registered users to become site sponsors.
TIA. Grandma No members have liked this post.
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#500
08 Feb 2006, 02:53
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Originally Posted by grandma2
You can change the phrases or welcome_headers template to say whatever you like.
__________________
Ted & the Giftery.me Team New features released for Product Review Forums 1.3 (4.0) Helpful Answers (3.8) (4.0) | Limited Guest Viewing (3.8) (4.0) No members have liked this post.
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#501
08 Feb 2006, 03:38
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hey nice hack!! one question though - how do I edit the messages? Where do I go to rewrite them?
Thanks! No members have liked this post.
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#502
08 Feb 2006, 05:08
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Originally Posted by HotRodKush
You can find all of the messages in the phrase manager, just search for them!
__________________
Ted & the Giftery.me Team New features released for Product Review Forums 1.3 (4.0) Helpful Answers (3.8) (4.0) | Limited Guest Viewing (3.8) (4.0) No members have liked this post.
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#503
08 Feb 2006, 18:04
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where is the phrase manager?
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#504
08 Feb 2006, 18:16
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Originally Posted by HotRodKush
Admin Control panel>Languages & Phrases
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#505
08 Feb 2006, 18:59
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cant find the 4 phrases :ermm:
I modified the code and installed it through the plugin system, but none of the phrases show up in the phrase manager. Maybe its something obvious, I'll keep poking around. EDIT: It was right infront of me. Sometimes I scare myself  EDIT #2: I found 2 of the phrases and edited them, but instead of changing them there are now 2 copies - the original and the modified of each phrase. Is this normal? Also, still cant find welcome_postmoreoften and welcome_neverposted No members have liked this post.
Last edited by HotRodKush : 08 Feb 2006 at 19:15.
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#506
08 Feb 2006, 21:43
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#507
09 Feb 2006, 18:37
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Originally Posted by Spinball
Hello Ted, did you miss my post?
__________________
AVForums.com the UK's largest audio visual home consumer electronics forums. Running several hacks with thanks to vBulletin.org and its members. No members have liked this post.
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#508
10 Feb 2006, 02:33
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Originally Posted by Spinball
Nope. I just don't have an answer.
__________________
Ted & the Giftery.me Team New features released for Product Review Forums 1.3 (4.0) Helpful Answers (3.8) (4.0) | Limited Guest Viewing (3.8) (4.0) No members have liked this post.
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#509
10 Feb 2006, 10:55
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installed
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#510
10 Feb 2006, 14:47
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everything works, but..
there is a mysterious table directly below the welcome box. In firefox it appears to be just a small dot (centered) and in internet explorer it is a full width divider with the attributes of my normal tables. (grey background, yellow border)
Link to site Anyone ideas? No members have liked this post.
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