I would like to create a private board that can be accessed by password. I have created the board but do not see how to make it password accessed. Many thanks.
Quote from: ruskan on July 27, 2024, 03:24:23 PMI would like to create a private board that can be accessed by password. I have created the board but do not see how to make it password accessed. Many thanks.
You will need a custom mod for that. Have a look at the following mod. It says that it is compatible with the 2.0.x branch.
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=2873
It's always been discouraged because it only needs one person to share the password.
Almost every case it's better to use membergroups to control access.
Thanks. I found the mod/package. Sorry to be so dumb, but I've searched for 'package manager' and have not found any directions to it. Where is the package manager for the board in question? I"m looking under 'modify' on the board name.
https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/SMF2.0:Package_manager
I've read the article but it does not appear to explain how to get to the package manager. It assumes the reader has already accessed it. I am not able to find/access the package manager. As mentioned, I am in the admin > modify boards page.
You don't go there from the modify boards area, the package manager is available at the top level of admin, because it's for adding packages to the platform, not to a specific area of it.
It kind of is explained in the wiki.
I have the passwdBoard folder on my desktop. There are many files inside the folder.
I am trying to upload the package/folder. I see the upload package option. It asks for a file. If I select the passwdBoard folder, it does not register. Apparently I have to go inside the folder and select files(s). Do I select ALL the files or just certain. ones? Which ones?
Thanks
dont unzip it, upload it as is.
ok, thanks. I uploaded the zip file and was able to activate it on the new board. However, as I was trying to set the password, the whole forum program seemed to crash. That was yesterday, it's still down today. When trying to access the forum I get the error message:
508 Resource Limit Is Reached
The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later.
Here is the address:
https://www.emclear.com/forum/
Ask your host what exactly is the issue - that's a hosting level error message.
Thanks, I got the forum up and running with the new board pw protected. My question now is about email notifications when someone posts on a board. I have 2 boards - one is public and one is private. I would like registered members to be notified by email whenever a new topic is created, but I would not want all registered members to be notified when someone posts on the private board. Is there a way to separate email notifications to these 2 member groups? I have tried to carefully scan all the options and settings but have not found anything relating to email notifications. If email notifications can't be fine-tuned the only option I"m seeing is to create a new forum for the private group.
Normally, notifications is tied to membergroups which enforce the access rules. Password protection probably doesn't enforce that correctly (because it can't).
Best you can do with password boards is let people sign up for notifications while logged in and just ask them all to sign up for notifications.
(I *did* point out that password protected boards weren't recommended. Much better to create a membergroup and add people to it, also means that you can safely use the announcement feature to remind them, and you're not at risk of people sharing the password.)
Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore your suggestion about the membergroups, the private group is small, no more than 20, its very unlikely the pw would be leaked, and it wouldn't matter anyway, and I thought it would be more inviting and simpler for the members to just enter a pw rather than request being added.
However, the forum has crashed again as I was testing the new board by registering a new 'test' member. My host was very good about fixing the previous crash, but it seems something in the new board is causing the crash. Can it be the pw program?
Could be, you'd need to provide more details than just calling it a 'crash' though.
What issues or errors do you get?
Here is the error message
--------------------
Temporarily Unavailable
We apologize for the inconvenience, but this page is currently unavailable. Please check back again later.
504 Gateway Timeout
The backend service failed to respond within the expected amount of time.
----------------------
You can see it yourself:
https://www.emclear.com/forum/
Quote from: ruskan on August 15, 2024, 02:58:00 PM504 Gateway Timeout
This type of error is almost always server related.
Thanks for the reply, but I'm trying to find out what is causing the error. Pls read back a few of the messages. The error started after I put up the second board with the pw protection. Is that what's causing the crash?
Quote from: ruskan on August 15, 2024, 05:13:26 PMThanks for the reply, but I'm trying to find out what is causing the error. Pls read back a few of the messages. The error started after I put up the second board with the pw protection. Is that what's causing the crash?
What are your forum and php versions?
Do yourself a favor and restore the forum from /Packages/backups/, then do what Arantor suggested and use membergroups and board permissions to solve your problem.
https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/A_mod_broke_my_forum
seriously -- if the member group is only 20 people, then don't bother with a password -- just assign those 20 people to a specific membergroup and give that membergroup access and remove the access for all other membergroups.
problem solved and much easier than having to type in a password every time a user wants to access that board.
I have deleted the pw program and gone ahead with the membergroups. I see how to assign a user to a membergroup. My question is now about notifications. I would like users in the membergroup to be automatically notified by email whenever a new topic or a reply to a topic is posted. I have found the notification page in the member profile but as far I can tell, the user has to hit the notify button in the forum to activate notifications. This is going to be a stumbling block for most users. Can we make the notifications automatic without requiring them to hit the notify button?
I don't think so: privacy rules require users to actively CHOOSE to receive notifications
If you're only dealing with 20 members, I believe you can set notifications for them with a database query in smf_log_notify table. Gotta go, maybe someone can post the query.
Generally, you shouldn't. Subscribing users to future emails they have not asked for, is against the law in one way or another in most of the civilized world.
Hmm, well then you could post a sticky on the board explaining to members how to enable notification, leave it up to them.
I am resolved at the moment to having users toggle the 'notify' button in order to get notified by email of a posting.
The new problem is that this does not seem to be working. I have been working with a friend. I have been posting topics both as the moderator and as a test user that I have registered with a different email. My friend does not get the email notice.
If my friend posts, I do not get a notice, either to my moderator or my test user.
However, when I post from the test user account, I do get an immediate notice sent to my moderator email.
I have gone to the users 'modify profile' page and checked all boxes and made optimal setting for immediate notification as far as I can tell.
A while back, it was suggested I retrieve backups from the 'mod broke my forum' page. I have not done this because the forum does seem to be up and running otherwise and I was able to remove the pw package with no difficulty.
Thanks for all the help.
Another thought to confuse things more. On Sat morning I got 4 identical emails which all said:
There has been a problem with the database!
This is a notice email to let you know that SMF could not connect to the database, contact your host if this continues.
Later that day I spent a few hours posting and replying on the new board with my friend and not getting the notifications as I described. However, the boards seemed to work ok except for not getting the notifications so I was not sure if SMF could really not connect.
I did contact my host. Here's what they said. I have no idea how to do what they suggest:
You might need to reconfigure the SMTP settings for the forum. I do not see any database connection issues, as that would cause other issues with the forum as a whole and would look like it saying 'I'm Not Loading'. I'd work with a database administrator to ensure that the forum database is functioning and not missing data, as that could potentially have happened.
That's a transient error that occasionally happens on many hosts, related to server load. If it happens frequently, you should move to a better host.
If the forum is sending some emails but not others, it's nothing to do with smtp settings. It's all or nothing, either the settings work or they don't. Anything in your error log when notifications fail?
There are 500,000 errors in the undefined. Just numbers.
There are some errors in database (4) and user (18) but none that correspond to the day that we did the testing.
Sounds like it's time for a clean set of files, or upgrade to 2.1.
Can you advise on how to get the 'clean set of files' and are you saying that this will solve the notifications problem?
https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/How_to_upload_a_fresh_set_of_files
It may not solve the notifications problem, but it will narrow down the possible causes.
I appreciate the efforts that have been made so far to provide help, but I must say that I find this latest suggestion to be frivolous if not irresponsible. As I read the info on how to install clean files I am overwhelmed by the complexity and room for error. I am not qualified to undertake such a technical operation. I don't know who in your audience would actually be able to do this operation or have the time unless they are professional IT or webmasters. You are suggesting a clean install with no certainty for resolving the immediate problem of notifications. This can lead to days of frustration and things going wrong. I have already spent weeks on this forum trying to add another board.
Are there no settings that must be set properly to turn on notifications? I have tried to look through all the setting pages but it is SO complex.
If taking a backup and simply uploading new files is too technical for you, you might really want to reconsider if running a website is for you.
And no... turning on notification for other users is literally illegal in many countries
Quote from: Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen on August 22, 2024, 02:11:56 PMIf taking a backup and simply uploading new files is too technical for you, you might really want to reconsider if running a website is for you.
^ This. :P
Quote from: ruskan on August 22, 2024, 01:58:26 PMI find this latest suggestion to be frivolous if not irresponsible
We do not give out frivolous or irresponsible support and don't appreciate comments like this.
If I had a forum with 500,000 errors on it, I'd be seriously questioning what I'd done to mess it up that hard, and resetting to factory defaults would be the best way to go - especially given that installing an older mod is literally an automated "find this code and replace it with this code", a process that has never gone wrong in the history of anything ever, he said sarcastically.