Preinstall questions

[Donnie Fontaine]

Hello! I've installed 3 different forums now and I keep running into limitations that are deal-breakers so, before I try yet another forum, I'm hoping someone can help me determine if SMF will meet my needs...

   
• First and foremost, I need to be able to create multiple groups with various permissions such that certain groups won't even know that certain forums exist.
• I'd also like to be able to restrict user groups from posting images, links, etc.
• I need subforums
• I'd like to be able, as administrator, to add new users
• When new users register for the forum, I'd like them to be assigned to a very limited group (e.g. "Pending") until an admin or moderator approves them.
• I'd like to have a feature where a user can be automatically promoted to another group after a specified number of posts.
• I'd like a setting that automatically subscribes users to a new topic they create as well as topics in which they've posted/replied - and I'd like to be able to make that the board default and/or set it when I'm creating a new user.
• When I'm adding a new user, I'd like to be able to subscribe them to one or more entire forums and subforums.
• I'd like to be able to put a user in more than one group (mostly so they can belong to a regular group but still be an administrator and/or a moderator)
• For security reasons, I'd like it if a user could be an administrator without it saying "Administrator" anywhere in their profile. Additionally, if there username could be NOT displayed (display a nickname or real name instead) that's one more thing a hacker has to figure out.
• If any of the above can/must be done as a mod, I'd strongly prefer not to modify any of the core files so that I don't have to reinstall the mods every time there's a version update.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration. I realize that most of my questions are probably answered somewhere in this forum or the wiki but I'd have to do an awful lot of hunting to find the answers to all my questions.

[lurkalot]

While waiting for a reply, you could check out the features page, that'll answer most of them. https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/features.php

[Gary]

At the moment, 2.1 is still in beta, so it's not recommended to use proper. Until it's released, you're better off using 2.0.

First and foremost, I need to be able to create multiple groups with various permissions such that certain groups won't even know that certain forums exist.

You can use secondary groups for this effect. Primary groups get shown against profiles, secondary ones don't, if there's no primary membergroup set, then the post count related group is shown instead.

I'd also like to be able to restrict user groups from posting images, links, etc.

BBC can be restricted, but this is global, meaning it'd apply to everyone except Administrators. There's probably a mod to apply membergroup restricted BBC.

I need subforums

This has been a core feature since 1.0. We refer to them as "Child Boards" though.

I'd like to be able, as administrator, to add new users

You can do this from the Administration center, no problem.

When new users register for the forum, I'd like them to be assigned to a very limited group (e.g. "Pending") until an admin or moderator approves them.

There are many ways to control how members register, including, immediately, email activation and administrator approval.

I'd like to have a feature where a user can be automatically promoted to another group after a specified number of posts.

These are post count membergroups. They're available by default. They can even have their own permissions related to them.

I'd like a setting that automatically subscribes users to a new topic they create as well as topics in which they've posted/replied - and I'd like to be able to make that the board default and/or set it when I'm creating a new user.

You can set these for defaults but, users are able to alter them for themselves for their preferences.

When I'm adding a new user, I'd like to be able to subscribe them to one or more entire forums and subforums.

You can, but it wont be automatic. You'd have to log into that account and set them up for them. There may be a mod around it. Probably.

I'd like to be able to put a user in more than one group (mostly so they can belong to a regular group but still be an administrator and/or a moderator)

Users can have as many membergroups as you want. Upto two groups are shown, the primary if it's been set and the post count related group.

For security reasons, I'd like it if a user could be an administrator without it saying "Administrator" anywhere in their profile. Additionally, if there username could be NOT displayed (display a nickname or real name instead) that's one more thing a hacker has to figure out.

There's nothing to worry about with having Administrators known, and in fact, it's a good idea to do so as it gives a point of contact in case of any problems from your members. But the administrator group can be set as a secondary which hides it.

Usernames are used by default, though there are fields for display names (which in turn can be used for real names too) which overrides the username visually. (Eg. my username is Gazmanafc but my display name is Gary. To login, I still use Gazmanafc though)

If any of the above can/must be done as a mod, I'd strongly prefer not to modify any of the core files so that I don't have to reinstall the mods every time there's a version update.

Reinstallation of mods is only an issue when upgrading between major versions of SMF.  So an upgrade between 2.0 and 2.1 would require reinstall, but 2.0.13 to 2.0.14 when upgrading via the Package Manager would not.

[Donnie Fontaine]

Thank you, Gary!