Simple Machines Community Forum

Customizing SMF => Modifications and Packages => Mod Requests => Topic started by: MegaProyk on April 02, 2019, 03:12:00 PM

Title: [PAID] Make users to pay for posting affiliate links
Post by: MegaProyk on April 02, 2019, 03:12:00 PM
Hello,

I am willing to pay for this mod but of course we would have to talk about the price and the features it would include. I may pay for upgrades to future versions of SMF (I can't be sure right now...).

Version
I am using version 2.0.15, Idk if it would be better to do the mod for this version or for 2.1. I could move to 2.1.

Description :
I am looking for a way to charge fees for posting affiliate links (AL). By posting AL on my forum the user could earn quite a few money, so it seems normal to me to earn something as well. I prefer to make some users (the ones who want) to pay rather than to have ads on my forum.

The best idea I got is to use x credits when a forumer posts an AL.
If the forumer does not have enough credits, a message would inform him he needs to have credits to post AL and that he can buy them with money and tell him the ways to earn them for free. If he decides not to pay the message could be posted but with the link/url automatically censored or removing the part of the URL that makes the link affiliate. Or he would have to remove himself the part of the url that makes the link affiliate.

First, is it possible for the forum to distinguish an AL ? An AL often contains "aff=" or "tag=", "ref=" or "affiliate"...
We should take into account that a link can be modified/shortened so it would not contain these patterns anymore... But maybe it is possible to distinguish the real/complete link ?

If it is impossible or very hard (I guess it is necessary to know all the possible patterns, like aff=, ref= etc to forbid all the AL that could exist?) to distinguish AL, the second option would be the same but with normal links.

The best would be this system :
- if the first message of a topic contains no link, no problem, the topic is automatically accepted

- if it contains a link, a message would ask the poster "is your link an affiliate link ?" :
. if he picks "no" and if the poster has enough credit to post a link, the topic is automatically accepted and no credits are used. After, I would verify the link. If it is not affiliate, no problem. But if it is affiliate, the poster's credits lower the double (for not being honest), for example (I think this can be done manually but better if it is automatic).
. if he picks "yes" and the poster have enough credits, it would normally lower the credits and I would not need to verify if the link is affiliate.
. if he picks "yes" and the poster doesn't have enough credit to post a link, a message would ask to buy credits or pay directly in money or inform him the free ways to earn credits.

Permissions :
Posting AL would be free for some groups : admin, some users, particularly the ones who have paid a subscription and why not for moderators.
Also, the price (in credits or in money) could be adaptable according to the board/subforum (subdomain).

In some boards (the ones where the forumers would post AL), the AL could be forbidden in responses of the topic : only the first message could contain an AL.
In some boards, AL could be forbidden.

Features :

- Buy a lot of credits in one go would be more profitable than buying a bit each time (price decreasing gradually).
- I read that AL are bad for SEO so it would be very cool if I could make them no-follow.
- If it is easier to implement this with cash directly, a way to change the credits (earned with another mod) into money would be very cool (idk if the credit mods like SMF shop mod or ST Shop mod allow to change credits vs money).

Of course the best would be that I wouldn't need to have to verify the links or the less possible (imagine if I had to verify each time a link is posted...).

Close mods :
I already asked the creator of ST Shop mod and he says that distinguish links (in general) would need another mod than a shop mod. The only thing he or the creator or SMF shop mod could do is to make use credits for creating topics (in some boards).

I think the anti-spam links mod https://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=2404 or Anti Spam: prevents posting links by specific groups https://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1095  are close to my idea.
But they have not been modificated for years.

Tell me if my first idea is doable (user posts an AL -> uses credits if have enough, otherwise informs to buy or AL censored or need to remove the part of the URL that makes it affiliate) or if it would be muuuch easier with links in general but with all the features involved (does your link is affiliate ? -> yes/no ; the punishment for lying etc).

Those are my ideas, if you think you can help me but with other ideas don't hesitate to tell me.
If you are interested in helping me with a mod of this kind, tell me the lowest price of my idea 1 and my idea 2 to have an idea...
Finally, if you think this mod would interest only me, say it, to see if I would better look for another way to make money with my foum 😄

Thank you very much for reading me :)