Simple Machines Community Forum

Welcome to the Aliases Mod.  In a nutshell, this mod will allow you and your users to create, delete, merge, or split aliases on your forum.

Features of this mod (full list below):

• Create, Delete, Merge, Split aliases from a parent account
• Turn existing accounts into aliases
• Set an alias to the parent account
• Show aliases on profile
• New search mod: search all aliases of the user as well
• Login as parent account only
• Dual post counts on parent profile (Parent only, and Parent + Aliases)
• Aliases displayed on memberlist
• Private messages go to parent account
• Post and edit as parent or any alias
• Admin limits aliases on sitewide basis
• Admin sets permissions on creation, deletion, merging and splitting
• Because each alias is really just another member on the board, they have their own post groups, and user groups if desired
• Admin can make unlimited aliases

Until a final release is made, all beta downloads will be kept track of at a Google Code site and I've setup a bug tracker as well.

Keep in mind that this is made to work on Beta 3.1, which does have a lot of bugs.  I've tried to code around them, and in some cases I did not, reliant upon the fact that it will be fixed in Beta 4.  You'll just have to live it until then.

If you encounter a bug or unexpected result, you need to be specific in your report about it otherwise I will probably not be able help you much.  I need to know what you clicked to make it happen (steps to reproduce), what you expected to happen, and what really happened.

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Users and Profiles
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Create PARENT account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Create SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Delete SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Set a SUB account as default/PARENT account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Add existing account as SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Merge SUB account with SUB account/PARENT account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) List SUB accounts on PARENT profile
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) PARENT » SUB breadcrumb support in profile viewing
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Switch to alias via profile
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) New Author search modes: "this account only" or "all accounts linked to this user"

General
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Login as PARENT account only
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) PARENT account has 2 postcounts: PARENT account plus all SUB account postcounts and the PARENT-only postcount
    * Member count based on PARENT accounts only
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Display all SUB accounts on PARENT accounts like subforums on memberlist
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Private message link on profiles sends PM to PARENT account of user
    * Site emails sent to PARENT account only (no multiple emails due to same email address for PARENT and SUB accounts)

Posting
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Post and Edit as PARENT and SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Update postcounts in all instances where post ownership is changed

Admin
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Admin can regulate the number of SUB accounts created by users individually or sitewide by membergroup
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Admin can set whether users can delete, merge. or detatch SUB accounts
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Option to set ranks PARENT account/SUB account only
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Detatch SUB account (make new PARENT account from SUB account)
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Delete SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Set a SUB account as default/PARENT account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Add existing account as SUB account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Merge SUB account with SUB account/PARENT account
    (https://www.simplemachines.org/community/Themes/smsite/images/post/solved.gif) Admin can always make infinite sub-accounts.

I have two major requests for integration.

• Integration with Ultimate Profile by JovanT
  
• Integration with SMF Shop by Daniel15*
  
  *This is obviously not possible at the moment since the mod has been removed from the mod site. Nevermind, it's back.
  
  My one question, though, is how the mod would work with groups. If a sub-account deserved a group that another didn't or the parent account didn't, how would that be resolved? Permissions, postcount groups and group badges.

SMF Shop is probably back now.

My idea is that all sub accounts would essentially be a regular account, and thus would have its own groups, permissions, etc, and I would code around that basis.  Probably adding another field to the members table, 'parent_account' or something like that.  This would essentially allow sub accounts of sub accounts should it be so desired.

I think you would be better served making a more generic functionality (which has the building blocks of those feature sets listed)

example.


Community builder - for Mambo  which allows relationships between users to be defined, allowing you to set up a view 'connection networks' or SMF's on loosely coupled "buddy lists"

I strongly feel these community functions should be part of the CORE and an api developed (to support piggy back interfacing and derivative improvements)

its not too much of of a stretch to view the buddy list (which is a list of affiliated tho independent individuals) as a "subaccounts" list, which is a list of affiliated but NOT independent, i.e. they are dependent on the master account.

This is how AOL does it, where there is one account (which is defined as the bill payer) then multiple dependent accounts.

Now are these sub accounts, separate but distinct entities?

or are they simply personae ? like clothes in a closet to be donned in roleplay?

finally, they could simply be fully independent, the 'buddy list' being the only indicator, with the exception being that there is a 'top buddy' or group leader.


even though denormalization (adding a field) would prob make for easier coding, I think a separate table is better....
the cool thing would be of course to allow people to define their own groups (cliques) and invite people to them.
People could even create their own private group boards that the leader or themselves would have the power to moderate - there are cautionary indicators with allowing this of course, the most obvious being, if you allow too much hidden or transitory content, you end up not having a forum after all, but in a large forum with a lot of activity this becomes necessary as ppl need to aggregate so as to not feel "lost"

Well, if you can make something out of this, then awesome. And I was going to suggest making current accounts into sub/parent accounts, but you've got that down already.

/me looks anxiously for the mod

Interesting modification. Good luck.

Just bumping this for the world to see.

Edit: Yea, I totally fail.  I need to redo the XML files as it wasn't installing stuff in the right spots.  Taken down for now.

F A I L

:P

LOL, just thought I'd tease you about it.

EDIT: Well, you fixed it, so I crossed it out. :P

Ok, I've fixed the install issues and put the package back up.  Have at it.

I noticed when creating an alias for an account that doesn't exist, it requires me to type in the same password as my current account, even though the password prompt implies it's only for accounts that are currently created. I'd suggest changing the language to reflect that, or make the password field truly optional.

Also, I noticed that when I created a new alias for an account that doesn't exist, when it went back to the aliases screen, it didn't show my new alias. I had to refresh again to see it.

Also, not really liking the interface to switch aliases on. I do hope it'll be possible to make an easier interface in the future.

BTW, Slammed, I can't report issues on your mantis bug tracker, and there's no register link. Are you intending for us to submit bug reports or just to view the ones you've submitted and know about?

Anyone with access to the admin panel will be required to enter their password, so the alias will take on that password as well.  This is because if you are an alias and try to access the admin panel, and it asks for a password, if you don't know it, you're SOL unless you switch aliases.  For regular users, a random password is generated to make the registration of aliases not go bonkers.   I'll edit the language strings to reflect that.

Going back to the aliases screen not showing the new alias, I edited some code that must have messed that up unintentionally, it used to work like that, but I'll fix it.

Ideas for how or where to switch aliases?

Bug tracker is for everyone to view, but only for me to add issues.  This way I can always use the same format and not leave out important info.

Ok, so you wanted me to post my suggestions. Here goes:

The profile breadcumb calls the current profile's username instead of the display name. (Confirmed bug by Slammed)

Memberlist should link alias names to their profiles.

When on another alias and viewing profile, I suggest displaying the Aliases link and switching the user back to their parent account.

When deleting an alias, it might be good to inform members of what they're deleting. The posts merge, but they are deleting all profile information connected to that account. Same with merging.

I suggest renaming Split to Unlink or something. I though Split would split a current alias into two or more.

Selectable edit-as alias box on Modify screen? (Not quick edit)

Removing references to aliases for those who don't have them on Post screen, modify screen and quick reply (no need to display what to post as if you have no aliases).

I decided against the selectable edit-as box on the modify screen.  Just decided to leave it as is (whichever alias owns the post is the one shown as editing it)

Still unsure of if I want to display the aliases link pointing back to the parent.  We'll see what the jury says on this one.

I updated some language strings, fixed some other things too, take a look at the bug tracker.

:)

Hi

This mod seems great.

What I am wondering about is, will it work with profile mods? And is it possible to let a user automatically switch to an alias when entering a certain subforum?

With what profile mods specifically?  It doesn't modify much of the profile, except for adding some stuff for Aliases to the menu.  As for auto switching on board entry, that would require a significant amount more of coding that I think wouldn't be needed.  I plan on adding a drop down to the forum header as Eliana suggested, so all a user would have to do is enter the board and then choose their alias from the drop down menu.

I'm guessing Ultimate Profile or similar mods. After I saw the changes to the profile, I don't think UP would be affected much at all. Just a few tweaks to it. But, that is, if and when this mod ever gets downgraded to 1.1.5 version. ;)

yes, thanks for the response.

A menu would indeed negate the need for what I discribed.

thanks :)

One more issue to solve on the bugbase, eh Slammed?

/me nudges

Something I would like:

• If aliases looked like normal users in the Memberlist, so that you could access them easily.
  
• Other (non-admin) members wouldn't be able to see if it was a regular member or an alias (in my forum some of my members want their other accounts to be a secret, and those who doesn't tend to mention their other accounts on their summary/info).
  However, both of these should be optional.
  
  Just some thoughts. ^^ Really cool mod. :D

On your first point: Aliases are listed under their parent account.  In the next release, one of the things I fixed was linking them to their profile.  I left that out of 0.9.0.

On your second point: I like that idea... 'hidden' aliases...

:)  Thanks for the input

Updated to 0.9.1.  I think this is pretty stable and I would encourage people to test this. :)

Not sure if this is intended functionality, but when I lock a topic and then post with an alias that is not a mod or admin (but my current 'alias' is), the post goes through.

That would be the correct functionality.  Aliases are nothing more than regular accounts with their own permissions and such, so if the alias has powers to mess with locked topics, it can do so, regardless of which alias made the post or topic.

ie: Parent account is Moderator1 (a moderator on the boarD), alias is member2, where member2 is a regular ol member with zero edit privileges to their own posts, Moderator1 can edit the post if desired if they have the right privileges

When deleting an Alias, It would be nice if you could choose not to move the posts over to the parent, so that it looks like when an ordinary member gets deleted, the posts looks like Guest-posts, but with the former members name. If this is already a feature, then nevermind. :P

You could split the alias from the parent, then delete. But I do agree, it'd be a nice feature to select whether or not to do that, or to select which Alias to mark the convert the posts to.

You could just go into the aliases profile and delete it like you would a normal member, which would accomplish having their posts go to 'guest'.

Something for me to keep in mind though.

Quote from: SlammedDime on July 18, 2008, 01:52:30 PM
You could just go into the aliases profile and delete it like you would a normal member, which would accomplish having their posts go to 'guest'.

Ah, i didn't know that. :D Then that would ofcourse work. :) Thank you for the answer. '^^ I'm trying to convince my Co-Admin that this would be great for our forum in the future, but she wants the whole Alias-thing kept secret to non-admins. Or atleast the part about how's an alias to who. So that someone could pretend to be two different persons to the non-admins. The whole alias in the memberlist is giving that away. ;) Anyhow, it's a really great mod. :D

When I add more features, one will be the option to 'hide' aliases from the public... that might very well work for you... :)

Are you also going to add shared aliases, Slammed?

Quote from: SlammedDime on July 20, 2008, 03:31:56 AM
When I add more features, one will be the option to 'hide' aliases from the public... that might very well work for you... :)

That sounds great! :D I'll be looking forward to that. ^^

Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on July 20, 2008, 09:46:02 AM
Are you also going to add shared aliases, Slammed?

That would be great! Two of my members is sharing one account. Perhaps it should only be possible to add an alias to a second account by an admin, for security-reasons, maybe?

Unfortunately, shared aliases would be quite difficult, at least in its current form.  I can take a look at it though.

There are several benefits I can see from it:

1. Shared Staff accounts
2. NPC accounts (for those characters that don't pop up often, but everybody can RP as them)
3. Joint Character accounts

Could you maybe make id_parent into an array and store it that way?

Yea, a CSV list... :)

Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on July 20, 2008, 05:37:14 PM
There are several benefits I can see from it:

1. Shared Staff accounts
2. NPC accounts (for those characters that don't pop up often, but everybody can RP as them)
3. Joint Character accounts

I've to agree completely. :) That would be great. ^^

Isn't that a bit of a bad idea to have staff accounts shared? I mean, permission wise?

Not when the "staff" account has the bare minimum of permissions that any normal staff member has.

I've just discovered some interesting functionality.  I edited another member's post, and since the admin account had aliases enabled, the 'post as' box appeared -- and thus, when saving the now-modified post, it used the post-as to change the post to appear as if originally by the editing admin account instead of the original member account (not one of the admin's aliases).

I can see how this would be useful; post under the wrong account, just edit it to switch the alias, tah dah.  However, perhaps having an option to select the original posting member for admins would be helpful in this situation?

hrm... that is definitely not intended.  I thought I had it coded so the 'alias drop down' box only showed if you were editing your own post from another alias.

Ok, just so you don't forget, it'd be a good idea to include total Karma on the parent account along with total post count.

Another interesting problem: guests appear to have access to the aliases dropdown, and it contains all accounts -- thus enabling impersonation without passwords.  Not a huge deal, since my forum is so small, but it caught me off-guard and could definitely be unpleasant with a larger population.

Hrm, I never tested it with guest posting... it's an easy fix though, thanks!

Is there somewhere we can see this in action?  I understand the basics of how it works, but I want to make sure that the feature itself is right for my site.

Thanks :)

I currently don't have a live site setup with this yet.  I decided to put development on hold until 2.0 was in the RC stages due to bugs that I was having to work around that was creating messy code.

Kae - I will try to patiently wait!  :D

Thanks so much!

Awesome, it's great to hear that you'll be updating this.  Since I've been putting it through its paces, it's become absolutely indispensable.  Fantastic work.

Found any issues with it other than the guest posting problem?

I haven't.

When the admin account edits a post, the modified post's id_member field is changed to the admin's id instead of the originally-posting member's.  I'm not getting a dropdown, it just automatically changes and I need to reset them by hand in the database.

hrm, I'll have to look into that as well.  Should be an easy fix.

Any chances on a 2.0 Beta 4 Version?

Also, SlammedDime, do you have a site where you do support and such for this and your other mods, besides here?

It's easier to provide support here, than on a separate site, so I do it all here, as much as I can anyway.  As for a beta 4 version, no, only because of ongoing template changes which will affect this mod, I don't really want to release it for beta 4 then have to release it again at the RC stages.

Alright, I just dl'd this, I'm SUPER excited about it.  The trouble is, I have SMF 1.1.7 and when I try to install it, I get "The package you are trying to download or install is either corrupt or not compatible with this version of SMF." as an error message.  Is it not compatible or did I jack it up some how (either is equally possible)

Because it's not (and very likely won't ever be) compatible for SMF 1.1.x. You'll have to upgrade to SMF 2 to use this, and currently its only compatible with SMF 2.0 Beta 3.1, not the Beta 4 that's currently out.

Oh, well then.

Yea, I'll be working on updating it soon to work with RC1, so that when RC1 is released it should work with that.  I'm holding off for the current time because of ongoing template changes and bug fixes in SMF that this mod relys on.

I tested this on a SMF 2.0 Beta 3.1 test site, and this is EXACTLY what I need for my Star Trek RPG Site. :)

However, I just went through a lot of trouble upgrading that from 1.1.7 to SMF 2.0 Beta 4. LOL

Just my rotten luck that the mod I need wont work on Beta 4, and the other mods, as well as theme, don't work well on Beta 3.1....LOL

Guess I'll have to wait a bit. Hopefully, not to long. :)

SlammedDime,

This is a great mod! I truly congratulate you on a great job done. :)

Thank you, please test it as much as you can if you haven't already... suprisingly, I only know of a few bugs, but I'm sure there are more waiting to be discovered.

Quote from: SlammedDime on December 08, 2008, 02:53:28 PM
Thank you, please test it as much as you can if you haven't already... suprisingly, I only know of a few bugs, but I'm sure there are more waiting to be discovered.

Consider me as Beta testing. :)

Have one test site that I'm running it on now, and may start a 2nd one and ask few people to help test it on there for posting. :)

QuoteType of error: Undefined

/index.php?action=post;board=2.0

8: Undefined index: name

File: /Themes/default/Post.template.php (main sub template - eval?)
Line: 340

Seems like the only error that shows. :)

Also, somehow, when one tester logged off, and cleared cookies, the dropdown shows in the posting on Guest Friendly board.
Shows him the 2 main accounts.
We both have a main, and an alias account on test site.

Is the post area code set to if logged? if not, I think it should be. :)

It's a small glitch in how I obtain aliases for a member... easy fix I think in Load.php.   Caltan figured it out a lil bit ago and posted about it.

I think we have the solution:

Post.template.php

Find:
if ($context['show_alias_drop'] && !empty($context['aliases_drop']))

Replace with:
if ($context['user']['is_logged'] && $context['show_alias_drop'] && !empty($context['aliases_drop']))

This fix also clears up the Guest error I reported before. :)

Not really... I mean, it works, but that's not the solution I'll use.  There's a piece of code in Load.php that actually retrieves the aliases for a given member... I need to bypass that code for guests, so they are never loaded... because on a forum with 1000 users, or whatever, all 1000 would be loaded anyway... definitely don't want that happening.

Hey, what can I say? I tried.....LOL

Still a good quick fix for anyone running a live site with the mod. :)

How is it going with this project? :)

Haven't really touched it yet... been busy with other projects, and there are still a few bugs in RC1 that need to be worked out before I can fix this up for 2.0 again.

Just bookmarking this thread for updates :P

Sorry to beg but when will this be out for SMF 2.0 BETA 4, it's a brilliant mod, tested it on a new installation of SMF 2.0 BETA 3, but my main site uses v4, so could you please please please port it? ;)

Since RC1 has been released, I won't be doing a Beta 4 version.  Once I have time to sit down and sift through my code again, I'll have to work out any new bugs that have cropped up because of RC1.

¬.¬ And I won't be upgrading to RC1 in a long time :'(

Oh well, I guess I'll have to learn to port it myself :'(

Why not?  RC1 fixes hundreds of bugs and incorporates security fixes from Beta 4.

will this work on SMF 2.0 RC1 SlammedDime as im looking for something like this so when i fill up my forum with help topics members dont think im the only staff member. can i restrict this to just admins or not

I'm so excited to see this for RC1 when you have the chance; it's absolutely irreplaceable functionality for me. 

Marking this as well...lost this thread 4 times now.  Can't wait for the release.  :)

This one will be so great, so looking forward to stable SMF 2 and this modification. ^-^ Or just this for RC1. :)

Is it safe to use on Beta 3.1 btw? it's driving me crazy logging in and out all the time. :o

Ps. it would also be nice if being able to choose usergroup. :) like you may with usergroup on registration mod ( on 1.1.8 ). :) And stuff like that. :) Maybe it's easier if we code it in manually, somehow? Would it be possible?

Unfortunately this isn't at the top of my todo list, and may get pushed to RC2.  I'm currently working with the Dev team on getting the new SMF theme ready for RC2, and it is quite a large task and we have a lot to do still.

As for usergroups... I'm having a hard time remember right now, but as each user is their own individual user, usergroups would apply like they would any normal member.

Thanks for the update!  I will sit patiently with my b3 forum until then.  :)

Hey SlammedDime. When you get the time, I really hope you do continue making this mod. We use a mod that is similar to this right now on our 1.1.8 forum. This is far better though. Our RP community really loves it.

Good luck with your work.

Bookmarking the topic ;)

Well, I have some good news, and some bad news.

The good news, I've picked up development on this again.

The bad news, I will be turning it into a paid mod.  It won't cost much, but because of it's size and the time and effort going into it, not to mention my current financial situation, I have to.

Look forward to seeing it in the next couple of weeks.

Will that be a one-time fee?

I haven't quite hammered out the licensing yet, however it will not be a raw deal.

I have no problems paying a reasonable licensing fee, because as aforementioned it's an indispensable functionality that my board can't live without, and I am more than happy to support your work. 

Does it becoming a pay mod also mean it will be getting increased support and attention?

I'd have to say that I'd also support it being a paid modification.  Depending on how the licensing works out, I'm sure we'll all be expecting different things.

If it's a one time payment, then I'd expect it to have as much support and attention as it already gets, or maybe a little more.  This function is one that a LOT of people would love, no matter the forum content.  I know that I'd want it, and I don't have an active forum anymore/yet.

If it's a recurring payment, I'd hope that it'd be available for multiple sites and (at least) a year per payment...

Anyway...suspense is killing me, so....can't wait to see the mod working for me...!

I'm still in the process of working out the details.... but the basic idea is that it will be a one time license fee for the version of SMF the mod is made for for one board... so if you buy a license for the mod on SMF 2.0, you will receive free upgrades and support until the next version of SMF (2.1 or higher, etc) is released.  If you want to run the mod on multiple boards, you will need one license for each board.  The cost of the licensing will be minimal at most.  I have no desire or need to rip anyone off.

Support for my paid mods will be given at my personal website where there will be boards for each paid mod so users may post the appropriate questions.  I tend to pay attention to as many details as possible when creating a mod that may be used by a large number of people as to decrease the support requests and make it a bullet proof mod.  As with all software, there are bound to be bugs, however I will try my hardest to provide as fast support as possible and hopefully the support needed will be minimal.  I'd much rather see questions on improving my mod's functionality rather than solving bugs all the time, as that just causes headaches for people when there is buggy software around.

As for this mod, Eliana can vouch for me that I am making excellent progress on the rewrite of this mod for RC1-1 which will hopefully reduce the changes I need to make for future 2.0 releases.  Many bugs that I reported that I found in Beta 3.1 when I originally made this mod have since been fixed and I don't need to work around them anymore.  I've also removed a bit of functionality from the mod, but IMO, it's for the better.  Everything in the first post of this topic, featurewise, still remains in the rewrite of this mod.  Some of the stuff removed includes allowing a user to do anything that their aliases can do... after really thinking about the code and the purpose of the mod, it's real purpose is to allow a user to have multiple accounts that can easily be managed from a parent account... I had a lot of extra code in many many files through SMF that really wasn't needed and was not in the true spirit of the mod.

There have also been a few template changes to purty things up a bit and make it look nicer, and in future versions, there will be more bells and whistles that make the mod stand out, but don't detriment functionality (Just as a clue: I like AJAX stuff....).  I'll also probably add some blocks for various portals that are available for SMF to integrate some things into the blocks/portal as well.  I'll post two screen shots of the updated template for now...

New Manage Alias interface (I've made a few minor changes since this screenshot, but overall this is what it looks like):
(https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fclip2net.com%2Fclip%2Fm18043%2Fthumb640%2F1243635555-clip-37kb.png&hash=4f8a688f8a6dbabee703532c9a32002d220d9ae3) (http://clip2net.com/page/m18043/1075746)

Dropdown to switch aliases on the fly:
(https://www.simplemachines.org/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fclip2net.com%2Fclip%2Fm18043%2Fthumb640%2F1243821246-clip-14kb.png&hash=6ad5ff5ceb7bb2a721f9a396f6b1f045dd7e388b) (http://clip2net.com/page/m18043/1085617)

Yea.... I need to work all of that out still... no, it won't be required to have two licenses... i'm still working on how the whole licensing thing will work out.

I seemed to have been mentioned, so I'll post here to say that what SlammedDime is saying is true regarding his progress.

When you say, "you will receive free upgrades and support until the next version of SMF (2.1 or higher, etc) is released.", does this mean we will have to pay the license fee each time SMF makes a 2.x update?

If so, that is quite a bit of money on my part. I can manage it, but it will cut into my budget, that's for sure.

The jump from SMF 1.0 to 1.1 took quite a while... and from 1.1 to 2.0 also took a couple years... and I'm sure it will be at minimum, a year until 2.1 is released, not to mention we still have a couple of RC releases to go before it goes gold...

....Forgot about minor changes. My Bad. xD

I just wanted clarification of this:

Even though child accounts are assigned to a Parent, they are all separate accounts as far as Member groups and permissions are concerned, correct?

Thank you, and my apologies if I missed you saying that somewhere.

Correct, they have all of the same options that a normal member would have, including permissions, membergroups, theme settings, look and layout settings, etc.

Would it be possible to make this work with passwords? I would like the members to be able to link their own persona accounts. They could prove it's their account if it requires them to login to it to be linked.

Is it also possible to turn off the ability to show the persona names on their main account?

The mod can link current accounts as sub-accounts. You are not restricted to creating new accounts.

and to answer your second question, I've built in that option as well, for the admin to choose whether or not sub-accounts show in the profile and on the memberlist.

So, the members could like their account together instead of having Moderators and such do it? We have had to do this in the past. Don't want some member linking into an admin account.

It requires the username and password of the account to be created or linked. If you're creating, you can put down anything that's not taken (it acts like the registration page and informs you if you've chosen a username that's already taken) and input any password. If you're linking, you use the username and password you want to link. Simple and easy with no mods/admins required.

If a member asked, could I (as the admin of the site) link two accounts for the member, or does it have to be done by the member herself? :)

Admins have full rights to link, unllink, merge, and delete any users accounts... as well as anyone you give permissions to (there are create_any/own, merge_any/own, delete_any/own and split_any/own permissions that can be assigned on a usergroup basis.

Thank you for the answer, this sounds great! ^^

I also wonder about PM's. what if I link two accounts together? what happens if someone sends user/account 2 a PM while i'm logged in to user/account 1, and the other way around? Can i see that my other user/account has got a new PM? :)

Edit: I mean, i've read the first message of this thread, and it's on the first list, and then strikethrough on the second list, does this mean the feature has disappeared?

And if the messages goes to parent-account, what happens when you reply? i would like to be able to answer with sub/child-account. :)

Other than the ability to post with any subaccount, the accounts are separate. PMs, profile information (excepting the info that the subaccount inherits, like email and layout settings), etc are all separate. You would need to switch to your subaccount in order to read/send/reply-to PMs.

As far as notifications, SMF has a built-in notification system for PMs: email. :P

I removed the feature of all PM's going to the parent account in the rewrite for RC1-1 because it wasn't in the true meaning of the mod, to have totally separate accounts, but linked and easily changeable.  On the 'Manage Subaccounts' screen, it does show how many PM's each subaccount has, and how many of those messages are new.

As for sending or replying to PM's as other accounts, I can definitely look at including that.

Another question, will you be incorporating this with the warning system? So people that are warned on any of the accounts get their warning lifted on all of them?

or

Does the warning system work with IP addresses?
____________________________________________

Either way, this Mod is epic and you can expect some money from us (us being forum).

The warning system works off of specific users... and as such, one account may have warnings, and one may not... I suppose I can incorporate an option for a warning to affect all accounts of a user... the difficulty with that though will come with shared subaccounts (now implemented).  I'll try to take a closer look at this.

Hilarious new bug one of my users just encountered:

She registered months and months ago with one name (internets handle), changed her display name to something else (RP character name).  People do this all the time, no big deal.  Today, she decided to make an aliased account with the first name (the parent account's user name, but not display name), and, not remembering that it was already the account name, managed to alias the account to itself, successfully locking her out of the alias editing functions entirely.

Totally easy fix in the database, and I'm not sure if the parent/alias generation will be the same in the new version, I just wanted to point out that there wasn't a check to make sure that the extant account wasn't the account presently in use as the parent.

I've rewritten the database query when checking for an existing account so that shouldn't happen.  I'll test it just to be sure though.  Thanks :)

Just checking in to see how this is progressing.  I'd love to use this on my board....not sure if there is a beta testing or something going on, but....can't wait.  :) 

Right now I have one person testing it out for me and so far so good... only minor issues have been encountered and fixed... and I've added in support for shared subaccounts as well, so multiple members can share an account.

Awesome...I feel all kinds of weird not having accounts linked like in 1.1.x.  Glad to hear that it's been easygoing so far!  Keep up the good work!

What do you mean, accounts not linked? They certainly are linked in the manner of the Multiple Personas mod. It's even more integration, being able to post from any account on the post page (and even quick reply!). Not to mention easy account creation from within the Subaccounts profile area.

Eliana - I mean that I had the Multiple Personas mod when my board was using the SMF 1.1.x¹, but that I had then switched to the RC for SMF 2.0 when it was available.  Since I don't have the Multiple Personas mod installed on the SMF 2.0 board (I understand that it's not compatible, though I haven't looked THAT far into it), I don't have linked accounts.

Unless I missed it, SlammedDime said he had one beta tester, and that everything was being cleaned up (as far as minor bugs, etc)....and I haven't seen a download for it on here yet, since I'm sure that he's wanting to make sure that it's polished up and working without those minor bugs before he releases it to the public.

From what I understand, without a modification to the SMF system (such as this is), you cannot have accounts linked by default.


SO.  Just to sum up.  I don't have this mod yet.  I used to have the Multiple Personas mod, but that doesn't work on 2.0.  This one DOES work on 2.0, but is not released yet.  Hence, I do not have any accounts linking, which makes me feel weird.

Ahh, I misunderstood. Thanks for clearing that up.

Loosing the Persona mod on 1.1.x is why I haven't yet upgraded my site... I'm waiting on the release of this mod, so that I can jump to 2.0 and have the persona's still :P

I see there are quite a few people who want to make the switch... I'll see what the possibility of writing a converter script would be... I'll have to look at the Persona mod to see how it stores data and user accounts... it might not be possible.

Well, if you can just re-assign all the accounts to the Main account after switching, I think that would be enough, haha, though, of course, it would be better to have it all done upon switching.

But yeah. I *think* the basic set up is the same -- Assign other accounts to a main account, and switch accounts manually - the Persona does this through a tab option along the top menu.


Though I have noticed, that when you're signed into a Persona account via the mod, it doesn't say you are logged in, your account is forever "Never" activated and you don't show up on the Online list.

Will your mod do this, too, or will you literally be "signed in" when you switch to a secondary account?

That's a bug in the personas mod, it doesn't take sessions into account. The SubAccount's mod kills (for the purposes of Who's Online) your main account session when you switch to a subaccount, and views you as the subaccount. So you're logged in and tracked like normal. And vice versa when you switch back to your main account.

Okay, awesome :D

Yea, what she said... heh...

When you switch accounts with my mod, it's like physically logging out of one account, then logging into another, except all you have to do is pick a name from a drop down and it's all automated. :)

Hey Slammed. I was just wondering how the development of this is coming along. I am trying to update to SMF 2.0 as fast as possible. I am having a bunch of problems with my SMF 1.1.10 right now. They happen on and off randomly. Is it possible we could work something out over PMs if anything?

Based on my discussions with the person testing it right now, it sounds like it's ready for a release, code wise.  I don't have an eta on when I'll actually release it though.  I'm working on getting my website setup at the moment.

Quote from: SlammedDime on July 30, 2009, 04:55:50 PM
Based on my discussions with the person testing it right now, it sounds like it's ready for a release, code wise.  I don't have an eta on when I'll actually release it though.  I'm working on getting my website setup at the moment.

Alright. Thanks for the response. Let us know when it's released.

Do you have any idea on pricing yet?

Let me rephrase that after rereading some of the posts..

For users that use a shared computer, is it possible for this to also function by essentially acting as a "multiple login" allowing them to still login in separately and still require a password for each account, but then once logged in let them switch with ease?

For your protection and the protection of your users, people should never share accounts and account information. There are too many issues that can arise from something like that. For-instance say two  friends are sharing an account then have some type of tiff, one person locks the other out of the account or even starts posting something as the other person to humiliate them.

The point of this type of mod is to allow people role-play a multiple personas that is tied to their account.

Quote from: Garou on August 01, 2009, 07:44:00 AM
For your protection and the protection of your users, people should never share accounts and account information.

Agreed, but where they already sharing this does appear as a better alternative than just using the one that's already logged in.

The situation I'm talking about with my site exists with family members rather than flat-mates, but your issues still apply. I was however suggesting that they would always need to enter the password for each account to log in (or change passwords as required by SMF) and would be no less secure than having a shared computer left logged in as someone else, like people obviously do now.

The way this mod works is login is only allowed by the main account.  No subaccount can physically log into the forum.

I'm so excited to hear this is ready for release -- I really want to upgrade to RC from B3, but need to wait on this mod (the joys of running RP forums, man).  If there's anything I can do as a user to help this along, please let me know.

Any update on this, SD?

there was a bug found (simple and easy to fix) by my tester, and I'm also adding a few things to the admin interface... so far it's looking really good...  I may delay release only because I think RC2 is getting closer and I know this isn't compatible with RC2 yet, so I'd hate to release it, then maybe a few weeks or couple months later have to release it again...

Quote from: SlammedDime on August 12, 2009, 02:58:59 PM
there was a bug found (simple and easy to fix) by my tester, and I'm also adding a few things to the admin interface... so far it's looking really good...  I may delay release only because I think RC2 is getting closer and I know this isn't compatible with RC2 yet, so I'd hate to release it, then maybe a few weeks or couple months later have to release it again...

I totally understand that logic. Dealt with that so many times. Just a question, is this Mod going to interface with the "Modifications," section of the Admin Panel?

No, it creates it's own subsection under the 'Members'

Quote from: SlammedDime on August 12, 2009, 03:15:20 PM
No, it creates it's own subsection under the 'Members'

Cool Cool. Thanks for the info.

I have another question. You say you are waiting on RC2. Who is to say that the code won't change considerably before SMF 2.0 final is released.

Why not wait till after that?

it's not so much the source code that I'm worried about... there are only a few changes needed for that... it's the new default theme that we are introducing with 2.0.  I will need to redo the layout to make it flow properly with the new theme.

Do you want it or not? :P

Considering how long it's been since the RC1 release, I think it's fairly safe to release between RCs. Also looking at the patterns of previous releases, SMF 1 had an RC1 and RC2 at least, and SMF 1.1 had RCs 1, 2 and 3. It's probably going to take a while (and perhaps another RC release) before SMF 2 is gold, and since this is a paid mod, that would ultimately decrease the amount of money that SD here could make. ;)

to point out though... I'm not out to make money... this will be one of only a small handful of paid mods I do, mainly just due to the nature of time and code invested into it.

:)

I'll take the money, then! :P

Well ya! of course I want it. However, doing things over and over again is something I can understand.

Okay, I may be going blind here, but I can't  see any download links available. Is this available for download, and if so, where? Thanks :D

Quote from: iKorp on August 14, 2009, 04:21:40 PM
Okay, I may be going blind here, but I can't  see any download links available. Is this available for download, and if so, where? Thanks :D

Not Yet.

And even when the mod is available it will be a paid mod meaning it won't be available just for download.

Well thats fine with me if it will be paid. Since it seems like such a useful feature for any new forum that needs to get started *cough*mine*cough* - I wouldn't mind paying, so long as it was a reasonable price.

Quote from: SlammedDime on August 14, 2009, 03:18:26 PM
it's not so much the source code that I'm worried about... there are only a few changes needed for that... it's the new default theme that we are introducing with 2.0.  I will need to redo the layout to make it flow properly with the new theme.

Frankly, if it's ready and working on RC1, I am totally willing to pay for it right now -- I don't use the default themes anyway.  I'm getting a little desperate to upgrade, but I can't live without the aliases functionality. XD

Just poking my nose in to see what's going on, and to let you know I'm still awaiting the release, and I've a well enough paying job once more to afford this upon it's release.

YAY :D

Any news on this release?

Seems like we've got another great mod that people are licking their chops on, including me.  Please keep us updated on the status of this, as it seems to be one of the more popular mods being looked into.

On a sidenote, @ Caltan:  Curse you and your cookie tree avatar.  And curse the wizard at the end!

As RC2 seems to be getting closer, I'm working on making it compatible with it so I can release it not too long after.  The theme file needs to be redone to look better with RC2's new theme and there are some code changes in SMF that prevent this from working right that I have to iron out.

Another small bug was found by Eliana, but otherwise it seems pretty stable. 

On the upside, I've decided that this will be a free mod. :)

Quote from: SlammedDime on October 02, 2009, 08:04:10 PM
On the upside, I've decided that this will be a free mod. :)

Its a great idea and well worth paying for (I did plan on spending the cash for this one) but personally I have always been against charging for SMF mods since SMF is itself free and open.

/me applause SD for this.

Quote from: SlammedDime on October 02, 2009, 08:04:10 PM
On the upside, I've decided that this will be a free mod. :)

Yay! I think a donation will end up being thrown your way for this! :D

I will likely pay a bit for this anyways, slammed. It's something I was looking to have made anyways.

xD

Just to update, it's ready for RC2 Public, so once RC2 is public, I'll be posting it to the mod site.

Then the real fun begins; as the remainder of the team will have to approve it... :)

Personally I can't wait to see this on the mod site.

Nice. I might have a look at this soon ;)

Quote from: SlammedDime on October 09, 2009, 05:12:19 PM
Just to update, it's ready for RC2 Public, so once RC2 is public, I'll be posting it to the mod site.

AWESOME.  I'm so looking forward to the new version!  Great job, SD.

Quote from: SlammedDime on October 09, 2009, 05:12:19 PM
Just to update, it's ready for RC2 Public, so once RC2 is public, I'll be posting it to the mod site.

Epic!

Wicked, I thought this would be paid-for, but for the mod site? EPIC!

Yes, but remember the rest of the team have to pull it apart first...

I'm looking forward to this mod but not quite so much to pulling apart what must be thousands of lines of code.

Quote from: Arantor on October 10, 2009, 06:03:42 AM
Yes, but remember the rest of the team have to pull it apart first...

I'm looking forward to this mod but not quite so much to pulling apart what must be thousands of lines of code.

What do you mean? Or rather, why does that have to happen?

Every mod that goes on the mod site is reviewed by the Customizer team first, no exceptions (not even the Customizer team themselves are exceptions to this).

In the case of Customizer team mods, it must be reviewed by a Customizer other than the author before it can be released publicly.

=) Ah, okay. Cool.

Arantor's just scheming, ignore him.

I'm not scheming anything. :P When any mod gets released - even by Cust team - it has to be checked by a Customizer. My own mods get checked too.

If this is as big as I think it'll be it'll likely need a couple of people to test it to make sure it all works and doesn't introduce any nasties into the system.

Yes, Arantor, but seriously, you're getting overly excited about this one. :P

I'm looking forward to it for my long term project too :)

Aha, I knew there was an ulterior motive at work here! ;)

Hehe you guys are a trip.  :P

Its nice to know that no favorites are being played and that everyone has meet the same standards but I'm sure wont take long. Since he responsible for checking other peoples mods he should know what is needed better then the rest of us. Not to mention the embarrassment and harassment from the rest of you if it doesn't pass muster. >;-)

Not to put added pressure, I'm just saying I have faith in him to do the job right.  :)

I would expect the cust team to find a couple of things out of line with it... with over 3K lines of code, it's bound to have a couple of things that go awry... although Eliana has been testing it for a while now and only recently found a small bug that has already been corrected, but did not adversely affect the function of the mod.

Well, I'm certainly not apposed to the Customizer Team testing things. It's a benefit for all of us in the end.

We will be able to merge existing accounts into sub-accounts, correct?

Merge, as the SubAccounts mod uses the terminology, is the ability to combine the posts and information of two accounts into one.

Linking, which is what I think you're talking about, is the ability to transform an existing account into a subaccount. And yes, that's entirely possible.

OK, great. I didn't want to start a trend and then make a mess of it later! Thanks!

Hey, was just wondering if this mod is coming to 2.0? If so, will it be here soon?
Also, is the 1.1.10 still available to download?

I never had a version for 1.1.x... this mod is only for 2.0 and will be submitted to the mod site once RC2 is public.

Ah ok my bad. Sorry for the stupidity :P

Quote from: bellrosk on November 08, 2009, 06:09:14 PM
Hey, was just wondering if this mod is coming to 2.0? If so, will it be here soon?
Also, is the 1.1.10 still available to download?

Bellrosk, if you are after a 1.1.10 Persona Mod, you should look here (http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=20916.0) It is not too dissimilar, although I think this one will be more user friendly and less buggy in the long run, the one I linked to IS only a beta version and it does what it does quite well. I like it, though I'm waiting on this one -- or rather, RC2 :P


EDIT: Which apparently happened a handful of hours ago. Sweet as XD

Waiting on this with excitement. :D

I'll be uploading it once I'm able to get my local webserver set back up on my PC after upgrading to Windows 7 x64.  It's been a small hassle.

AWESOME.  I'm so excited to see this, I can't wait. :)

Quote from: Caltan on November 09, 2009, 08:58:18 PM
AWESOME.  I'm so excited to see this, I can't wait. :)

Same!

Caltan - if you're still running Beta 3.1 and have this mod installed, I do have an 'upgrade' script that you'll be able to use.  Just let me know once this mod is released via PM or it's support topic and I'll send it on over for you to use.

Oh, that's spectacular!  Yeah, I'd love that -- I was expecting to have to have my users relink all their character accounts once we had RC2 and the new mod in, so an upgrade script would be terrific.

*is just excited, because it's only a matter of time for this mod to be released...*

Quote from: jkrlvgn on November 14, 2009, 04:58:03 PM
*is just excited, because it's only a matter of time for this mod to be released...*

It has been released already.

Please see: Subaccounts (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2264)

Quote from: Arantor on November 14, 2009, 05:03:24 PM
It has been released already.

Please see: Subaccounts (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2264)

Thank you!! :D


EDIT: Installed beautifully :D

gah...I think I broke something.

When I use the switch at the top of the forum, it redirects me to blank.gif in my default theme folder...

Just checking to see if anyone else is having the issue, or if it's just me.

Hi, is there an older version available that would work on 1.1.10?  Or is there a similar mod out there that would?  Have seen a similar one but its unsupported and nothing on that thread for a few years, and as i've only been using SMF for two days I am wary of installing something with no support if it does not work.  I desp need to be able to login as several users without needing to create lots of different accounts.
Any help appreciated

This mod has never worked, nor will ever work, for SMF 1.1.x.  Sorry.

I'm going to lock this topic as the mod is now published.

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2264