Mod Request Limbo

[nivlac]

I posted a request on the Mod Request board on January 23, 2010, 11:34:17 PM, http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=362011.0, and I've quoted it below in case it can't be seen since it hasn't been approved. To date, nine days after it was posted, it has not been approved or denied. I was just wondering why it is taking so long for a reply.

Perhaps I posted on the wrong board or didn't supply the all the information needed, but if none of the moderators of this board reply to let me know, how am I to know. I need help with this issue nine days ago, and the previous authors/updaters of the mod seem to no longer be interested in supporting it. It is a good mod, and necessary to our forum's operation. Will someone please help. We don't have the money to pay anyone, but I do some website work and graphic design and I'm willing to barter in exchange for an update to this mod.

Thanks,

nivlac

I'm the webmaster for my high school's alumni association forum and we are currently using SMF 1.1.11 with MKPortal. To filter non-alumni visitors from registering, we are using the Password Registration for 1.1 mod by TXSherry which was modified to work with SMF 1.1.7 by Hawk_Eye, and also works with 1.1.11.

So far, this mod has suited our needs well. Alumni are either invited to join, or if they visit the website and want to join they can send a request to the admin to join. Either way, the admin sends them an email with the current password, which is changed weekly, and a link to the registration page so they can register.

I am preparing to upgrade our site to SMF 2.0 RC2 and changing the portal to Simple Portal. I copied our current site and ran the upgrade with no problems and the upgraded version works very well.

I've been adding the most important mods we currently use, as they are upgraded by their authors to work with RC2. The most important mod we use is the Registration Password by TXSherry and modified by Hawk_Eye. This mod hasn't been updated to work with RC2; and the author, TXSherry hasn't been active on this site since November of 2009 and Hawk_Eye the modifier, hasn't been active since May of 2009 and the last time he modified it was November of 2008, and none of the posts I could find by either of them referred to plans to update the mod.

I tried to modify it myself and the only differences I could find is that /Sources/ModSettings.php had its name changed to ManageSettings.php and /Themes/default/language/ModSettings.english.php name was changed to ManageSettings.english.php but the lines to be modified were the same; and /Themes/default/Register.template.php has comment and code changes.

I copied the files to be modified to two separate folders and then manually edited one set of files, based on the parse installation instructions, and kept the others as backup. The place where i ran into trouble was with Register.template.php at the code change. I could find where I think the code had changed, in the "require agreement" section, and inserted the code to be added after, per the instructions. Then, I installed the mod, and using ftp overwrote the files that the installation changed, with the ones I had manually edited.

The mod seemed to work as the checkbox to activate the mod and the text box for the password was in the admin section and appeared on the register page in the proper places, and it even picked up the previous password that was in the database from the upgrade. However, when I did a test register, it seemed to work. But then I tried without a password and  it will still let me register.

If anyone knows how to contact TXSherry or Hawk_Eye, would you ask them to please update this mod for RC2. Alternatively, is there anyone, with more understanding of php than I have, willing to update this mod to work with 2.0 RC2.

It is vital to the upgrade of my alumina's forum. Our admin is very anxious for this upgrade and I can't bring the upgrade online without an updated version of Password Registration for 1.1; and I, and my fellow alumnae, would truly appreciate any help we can get on this mod. We are eager to start using the new Curve and variant themes to bring new life to our forum.

Sincere thanks,

nivlac

[KensonPlays]

It says the topic doesn't exist on that board. and wait, they will reply...

* Kcmartz also remembers that after about 7 days, he thinks, the topic gets locked or deleted or something like that...

[nivlac]

Its link still shows under my login and I can still view it. Is it just lost in limbo or what?

[Norv]

Kcmartz: Not yet approved topics will only show to moderators and the topic author. That's what differentiates them from approved topics, which will be visible for everybody.

nivlac: I'm sorry I can't answer your question about when it'll be approved or what else is needed, for now, because I didn't try to understand well enough the requirements of Mod Request board.
However, what I can tell is that because of copyright reasons, one cannot really update mods without their original author approval, not while releasing them to public as part of the their work would be exactly using the code of the original author.
An alternative, along with other proposals you made, would be to simply ask if anyone could write a new mod for SMF 2.0 RC2, with similar features.

[nivlac]

Thanks for your suggestions Norv. Judging by the mod page, TXSherry has quit supporting the mod as it is listed as outdate and no longer supported. http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=106 In Hawk_Eye's version, he gives credit for the mod creation to TXSherry and says he only updated it to work with 1.1.3. http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=861

I can't find anything in either one's documentation that they are claiming copyrights or not. I also know that legally, if someone writes something it is considered their copyright even though they do not specifically state it. That being said. It looks like I am stuck as far as they are concerned because neither profile has any contact information and they may not visit this forum for a long time or it could be today.

So, I guess I'm resigned to ask if someone would be kind enough to create a mod that won't let people register unless they know the current secret password. Unless someone has a better suggestion of how to make our forum so that only alumni from our school can register, and not the general public.

[live627]

This mod is similar to my Join Reason mod and I will write it. Sounds pretty kewl!

[Norv]

As I understand it, when submitting a mod to the mod site, the mod has automatically the SM license, meaning that it cannot be distributed without author's consent. And modifying a bit then re-distributing (a derivative of) their code would be exactly that. I could be wrong though.
Please note however that generally people might modify/update mods and post what they did in the mod's support thread. Perhaps it's worth checking.

So, I guess I'm resigned to ask if someone would be kind enough to create a mod that won't let people register unless they know the current secret password. Unless someone has a better suggestion of how to make our forum so that only alumni from our school can register, and not the general public.

There was also an invitation mod, I'll look it up: the idea is that only those invited to register can register. Unfortunately I see it's also for 1.1.x only : http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=653.

Also, how about making the registration by approval? Admin > registration > settings. Then, anyone could register, but is "not approved" and cannot access the forum, until an admin sees the profile and approves him/her. This could be combined with using custom profile fields (default feature in SMF 2.0: Admin > Core feature to activate it, then Admin > Features and options to use it): add a few fields that people have to complete during registration, which could help admins understand whether to accept (and activate) their account or not.

[adbrad]

Also, how about making the registration by approval? Admin > registration > settings. Then, anyone could register, but is "not approved" and cannot access the forum, until an admin sees the profile and approves him/her. This could be combined with using custom profile fields (default feature in SMF 2.0: Admin > Core feature to activate it, then Admin > Features and options to use it): add a few fields that people have to complete during registration, which could help admins understand whether to accept (and activate) their account or not.

this sounds like a good idea as with the custom profile fields you can set them so they are required on registration.
so could make one to say what alumni they are in.

[nivlac]

Thanks live627. Did I understand correctly that you intend to write this mod for me? If so, I and my alumni forum truly appreciate it. It is very simple, at least on the surface. I know the coding will be more difficult, at least for me. I know just enough to get into trouble.

We've used the Password on Register mod since our forum was started and it worked great for what we need. It has a check box to activate/deactivate the feature, and a text box to enter the current password; and is admin accessible only. When active, the only people that can register are the ones to whom we send the current password.

Specs:
SMF 2.0 RC2 with SimplePortal 2.3.1.
Admin accessible only
Any other cool features that would be useful for this mod

Again, much thanks. And as offered, I can't pay, but I can barter if you need something. Your link/kudos on my alumni and personal sites. Help you with website graphics. Let me know.

[nivlac]

Norv, I definitely don't want to get into any copyright issues. I had an incident a couple of years ago, when I first started doing websites, where I "borrowed" someones TOS from their website to use as a template to guide me in writing a TOS for my site. I unintentionally and accidentally uploaded it to a staging site that wasn't live, but I forgot to add the folder to my robots file, and they found it and rightfully, if not rather rudely, called me and made various threats.

Believe me, it scared the crap out of me. They didn't even believe what I said and was accusing me of stealing it to use on my site. I tried explaining that if I was stealing it, then why did I leave their site name in it fourteen in places, but even that didn't persuade them. However, I took it down while they were on the site and that satisfied them. And, I don't borrow from websites now. Lesson learned.

As to your suggestion to use RC2's custom fields feature to achieve similar results, (and this will answer adbrad too) my high school is in a small town (less than 500) and for our admin, it is easier if she can just send a password to someone, since she has the list of all that graduated from our school, than it is to sort though daily registrations from people that didn't go to school there and only want to spam or troll the site.

Of course she doesn't have contact info for all of those people, so I made a "Request to Join" feature that by placing some code in an HTML block on SimplePortal. They click the button and it opens and uses a standard email form which sends the request to the admin and she determines if the person really went and then sends the registration password and instructions.

[live627]

AFAIK submitting a mod subjects it to the SM license, like Norv said. I have never seen the code of the two mods the OP talked about, nor did I download them. I am starting from scratch. That being said, I am going off the information gleaned from the OP and my coding knowledge.

In short, I'm not breaking the license (only the idea is the same!)

-live627

[Norv]

Please note that you could achieve using custom registration fields a little more: you could set a field to be the "password" field, and have it required for registration (exactly like your password verification, it has a regular expression constraint that could be used to verify the password)... I didn't test everything and I'm a little tired, but I'm just thinking it might be useful to play with it. Though, probably it doesn't offer the solution exactly as you need it to be.

live627: of course, creating your own mod, even if it does something similar or identical, is not affected. There are many cases.

[nivlac]

Hey live627, just checking in to see how things are coming along. Any progress? I've no intention of rushing you, I just don't know how long it can take to code something like this, or how many other projects you have that are more urgent on your schedule. However, I hope it is coming along well. I appreciate your help. Let me know if I can be of any help.

Sincere thanks...

nivlac

[live627]

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=364665.0;topicseen

Had to wait for it to be approved

[nivlac]

live627, I appreciate the quick coding of the Join Password mod, but I found an issue. I downloaded and installed the mod and it installed without a hitch. I typed in an access password and clicked "Save", and then logged out and did a test registration.

When doing the test, I didn't type in the access password and it generated an error telling me to check my cookie settings and offered a "back" link. I logged in under my admin name and the test profile was there. I logged out and the logged in using the test profile.

So, it allowed me to register without using the access password, which makes the point of the mod moot. Any ideas as to what it could be? Also, there was no text with the activate/deactivate checkbox. I knew what it was, but others might not; and so you have all the details, it was checked when I did the test.

Thanks,

nivlac

[live627]

I updated the package

[nivlac]

Hey live627, Happy holidays! Hope all is well with you.

I have a question. Will you be updating the mod, Custom Board Sort, to support RC4 anytime soon? I tried installing it under RC4 and it generates the following error: "The package you are trying to download or install is either corrupt or not compatible with this version of SMF. "

BTW, the RC3 version of Join Password parses okay on the SMF mod site, and installs under RC4, and I haven't been able to detect any problems so far. I guess it just needs to have its package updated to reflect RC4.

Thanks...

[live627]

Board Sort Methods is not mine to update

[nivlac]

D'oh! I had the sort part in my head but the wrong mod came to mind when I typed it.

I meant to say, Sorted Package Manager Listing. And, to be sure I wasn't confusing the error, I tried again and it generates the error "The package you are trying to download or install is either corrupt or not compatible with this version of SMF. "

Thanks...

[live627]

Oh! I see...

Did you try emulating 2.0 RC3?