Board/Topic Notifications

[EAFCOO]

I know the default setting is to have the member(s) click the notification button when wanting to receive updated posts from a specific board or topic.  I refer to this as "Opting-In"

But is there a way to change the default to when they sign up to be a member, that they automatically receive all notifications and have to choose to "Opt-Out"?  All of our members are Corporate Executives and rarely have time to access the forum and get caught up, nor will they take the time to click on the actual Notification button to Opt-In. 

Or as an Admin, is it possible to activate the Notifications for them?

[kat]

This of any use?

http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1861

[Kindred]

no, that won't do it k@...


actually, what the user is requesting is technically illegal in many locations.
things like notifications emails must be subscribed to through an ACTIVE choice, not a passive, predetermined one...

[EAFCOO]

That is what I was concerned about, legalities of such a process.  Trying to find more information about that.

[kat]

You could always create a post, asking them to consent, to this.

[EAFCOO]

How about this...is there a way to modify the welcome email to include the steps of clicking on the notification buttons?  I already have a topic on the forum about the notification function, but who knows if they will actual read it.

[kat]

Sure is.

I thought there was a mod, for that. Can't find it, though.

Gimme a few minutes...

[Illori]

it exists for 2.0 but not 1.1.*. you would need to manually edit the language file.

[kat]

That's what I'm just looking at.

[EAFCOO]

Well then...I have IXWebhosting and they only have this version available from SMF and I have absolutely no clue on how to upgrade to 2.0.

[Illori]

you dont have to upgrade but you can read http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Upgrading

[Kindred]

upgrades are always (ALWAYS) better done directly (using the instructions listed by Illori) rather than depending on your host's auto "features"

It's odd that your host is still stuck on 1.1.x, since 2.0.x has been the current version for a long time (years) now.

[kat]

It's been a while since I did this...

If I remember rightly, the file is Login.english.php and you want to mess around with edit these lines:

Code Select Expand

// For the below three messages, %1$s is the display name, %2$s is the username, %3$s is the password, %4$s is the activation code, and %5$s is the activation link (the last two are only for activation.)
$txt['register_immediate_message'] = 'You are now registered with an account at ' . $context['forum_name'] . ', %1$s!' . "\n\n" . 'Your account\'s username is %2$s and its password is %3$s.' . "\n\n" . 'You may change your password after you login by going to your profile, or by visiting this page after you login:' . "\n\n" . $scripturl . '?action=profile' . "\n\n" . $txt[130];
$txt['register_activate_message'] = 'You are now registered with an account at ' . $context['forum_name'] . ', %1$s!' . "\n\n" . 'Your account\'s username is %2$s and its password is %3$s (which can be changed later.)' . "\n\n" . 'Before you can login, you first need to activate your account. To do so, please follow this link:' . "\n\n" . '%5$s' . "\n\n" . 'Should you have any problems with activation, please use the code "%4$s".' . "\n\n" . $txt[130];
$txt['register_pending_message'] = 'Your registration request at ' . $context['forum_name'] . ' has been received, %1$s.' . "\n\n" . 'The username you registered with was %2$s and the password was %3$s.' . "\n\n" . 'Before you can login and start using the forum, your request will be reviewed and approved.  When this happens, you will receive another email from this address.' . "\n\n" . $txt[130];

// For the below two messages, %1$s is the user's display name, %2$s is their username, %3$s is the activation code, and %4$s is the activation link (the last two are only for activation.)
$txt['resend_activate_message'] = 'You are now registered with an account at ' . $context['forum_name'] . ', %1$s!' . "\n\n" . 'Your username is "%2$s".' . "\n\n" . 'Before you can login, you first need to activate your account. To do so, please follow this link:' . "\n\n" . '%4$s' . "\n\n" . 'Should you have any problems with activation, please use the code "%3$s".' . "\n\n" . $txt[130];
$txt['resend_pending_message'] = 'Your registration request at ' . $context['forum_name'] . ' has been received, %1$s.' . "\n\n" . 'The username you registered with was %2$s.' . "\n\n" . 'Before you can login and start using the forum, your request will be reviewed and approved.  When this happens, you will receive another email from this address.' . "\n\n" . $txt[130];

[MrPhil]

If your audience is "captive", e.g., an internal company forum, you can do whatever you want as far as opt-out vs opt-in (so long as it's approved company policy). If your membership is in "the outside world", be careful not to violate any laws requiring an explicit opt-in (or even, double-opt-in) for mailings and newsletters. Emergencies and security-related notifications are always legal. It's a bit of a gray area as to whether signing up for membership in a forum would imply consent to automatically receive emails -- that may vary by legal jurisdiction. Of course, the member would have to be warned during signup that they're going to receive regular email notifications.

As suggested before, you could remind them as part of the Welcome email, and you could "pin" ("sticky") a topic at the top of each board that reminds them to subscribe. Of course, if they don't bother to visit the forum, they won't see the sticky, nor would they see any oversized button on the page begging them to subscribe. There's no guarantee that a busy (i.e., "important") executive will ever read the Welcome email, so it might be better to put the notification consent in the registration.

Each mailing should remind members that they are receiving this mail because they signed up for it, and should remind them of how to easily unsubscribe. That's at a minimum a courtesy, and may even be a legal requirement in some areas. People tend to forget that they signed up for things, and to report these mailings as spam.

[MrLeN]

I feel distraught, and very disappointed with humanity (after reading the above).

Once someone has joined my community and has made a post, I want them to get a notification that someone has replied - by default.

I know I am not breaking any laws if the signup states that they will receive notification on posts that they (themselves) have made.

This world is really starting to get too politically correct. Everyone wants to control everything. And everyone wants to bow to even the OBSCUREST of possibilities that some "authority" will come and upset their day.

All the big social networks have subscription notifications on by default: YouTube, facebook, twitter. You can go turn them off - but they are on by default - which, of course, makes perfect logical sense.

I mean, why would someone not want to be notified of a response to a topic they have made?

I want to turn topics on by default - and I'm happy to stand in front of any court in the world, explaining that all users were notified in the tems that my forum might have the "AUDACITY" to bother them to answers/responses to their posts/questions.

I am really shaking my head @ SMF (as much as I love SMF and appreciate the years of free forum software). SMF has been downgraded. Functionality that was once there is now "gone" *POOF* (shivering in our boots @ political correctness).

I want default notification.

Ok, so how do I do it?

..and more importantly, why has this feature been taken out of SMF? It was always in the member options configurations.

I already know the (kowtowing to political correctness and the ways of the world) answers. This post might as well be rhetorical.

Pfffft'...

I already know what type of answers I will get in defense.

In advance I don't/wont agree with one of them.

[MrLeN]

Ok, so I wrote a script which might help.

[kat]

I think that the key phrase is "what the user is requesting is technically illegal in many locations."

I have no idea which locations that would include, though. It may not break any laws, in your country. But, of course SMF is a kinda "World-wide" thing. So, even though those laws may seem silly, to you and me, we have to try and ensure that laws aren't broken, wherever we can.

[MrPhil]

Yes, the world is in a sad state. I can imagine that the SMF developers don't want to provide notifications by default, even if they can be shut off, because they don't want to find themselves on the receiving end of legal action from some forum owner who didn't realize what they were doing was illegal in their state or country. Arguably such a function could be provided, by default shut off, along with a big warning by the "On" switch that you should check the legality of automatically sending notifications.

It ought to not be too big of a mod to automatically subscribe to notifications, so long as each member can easily turn it off (globally, per board, etc.), and each email includes a reminder of how to do so. In addition, the terms of service should let members know that they are autosubscribed.

It's not possible to proof SMF (or kitchen knives, for that matter) against every possibly illegal act or use. So long as the default configuration is to turn off things that are commonly illegal, and the switches to turn them on flag them as possibly illegal in some places, I think the SMF developers would be covered.