View Only Boards

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* View Only Boards - Modification for SMF          *
* version 1.1                                       *
* © 2007, Rudolf Martincsek                         *
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Please read thoroughly this file, because it contains vital information on how to use and/or customize other themes to use with this mod. If still in trouble visit the official thread over the official SMF support forum.

Make boards visible on the forum index based on member groups.
This mod affects only the forum and board index, in a way that it will control which boards are shown based on the access and visbility settings.
There is a setting to enable/disable the view of the topic listing for "view only" boards.
In "Features and Settings" -> Basic Settings: Show the message index for "view only" boards

This mod has been tested with SMF version 1.1.2
Install using the Package Manager in your forum's Admin section. Before you install this version make sure you uninstall any previous versions. This will not remove your settings.

This mod supports only the 'default' theme. (Note: The "default" one that came with SMF, and not your forum's default!) If you are using another theme or a modified version of this one, consult the "3. Customizing" section below.

Uninstalling the mod will *not* remove your settings! Reinstalling or upgrading your mod will use the already existing settings.

This mod changes the 'default' theme. If you're using a different theme, you will have to apply the theme modifications for every theme where you want this feature to work. Not modifying a theme to support this mod will *not* break your forum, said theme, or computer.

a) Open the package and look at the theme.xml file. If you understand the format you can apply the changes to your theme following the operations done there. Obviously this is the hard way.

b) The normal way would be to search for the default template files open it and copy over your themes the modified parts.

The template files would be: BoardIndex.template.php,MessageIndex.template.php, ManageBoards.template.php. You can find these in 'Themes\default' folder.

You will find sections between //-View Only Boards MOD- Start and //-View Only Boards- End. The code betwen this you'll have to copy in the template files of the other theme, in the same place. Occasionally you will find a simple //-View Only Boards MOD- something comment. In this case only the line is added/modified.

Note: The code in other template files could look different. If it's so you'll have to figure out the correct place where to put the code. Experiment. If everything else fails, ask for support.

This mod is language customizeable. That is if you are using another language then english you can and you will have to translate it.

Add at the end (before the ?>)in Modifications.your_language.php the following text. Translate the text after the equation marks (=).

//-View Only Boards MOD- Start $txt['cbv_allowMessageIndexView'] = 'Show the message index for "view only" boards'; $txt['vob_protected'] = 'Protected'; //-View Only Boards MOD- End

In ManageBoards.your_language.php search for the value for

$txt['mboards_groups_desc'] = '...';

and translate it according what you find in the ManageBoards.english.php

The latest posts of the boards are protected if you disallow the message index. To modify how the "Protected" word is displayed add in your_theme_directory/style.css the following code

.vob_protected { font-style: italic; /*example*/ }

Use any CSS property to make it how you want. You can find CSS references all around the Net.

View Only Boards 1.1 - 14^th April 2007
! Child boards were not visible on the message index of a board
! Fixed errors when adding a board + Ability to protect the board's latest post information ! Fixed users beaing able to post in boards they vould only see

View Only Boards 1.0 - 4^th January 2007
+ First release