Add-On Releases - Limited Guest Viewing -- Improve community registration rates [Archive]

Ted S

11-18-2006, 10:00 PM

Note: This addon works with the 3.6.x series only. Click Here for the 3.7.0 version of this addon. (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=178720)

With vBulletin, forum guests are able to view endless amounts of content without being directly asked or forced to register no matter how many times they come back. The purpose of the Limited Guest Viewing System is to drive in registrations by limiting the number of threads guests are able to view without interruption.

This plugin offers two options which can be used to drive in more registrations. The first option allows you to show a reminder message or advertisement after a guest has viewed a certain number of threads. The second option puts up a roadblock stopping guests from viewing threads altogether after reaching a certain number of views. Both options work together to encourage and ultimately force anonymous visitors to either register or login but can also be used separately based on your individual needs.

Because this plugin uses cookies, few if any bots will be impacted when it comes to spidering your site.

Modifications/ Instructions:
Template edits: 1
Plugins: 1 (adds 1 template and several settings)

This template hack should take under 5 minutes to implement and customize.

Customizing the content / messages
To customize which messages appear or what they say, go to vBulletin options, select the ?Limited Guest Viewing System? group and configure the options as desired. Each phase can be modified by adding translation text.

Through the ACP you can enable or disable each option, specify the number of threads that can be viewed before the option is enabled and input any forums you wish to exclude from being blocked.

About spiders/bots
This plugin works by setting a cookie to track the number of visits from a particular user. As bots do not tend to accept cookies, they should not be blocked. To further insure there is no spider accessibility issues, there script identifies major bots (google, yahoo, msn, aol) and explicitly lets them through -- you can easily add to this list by editing the plugin code should you so desire, however, unless a bot starts taking cookies this should not be necessary.

Welcome headers compatibility
The Limited Guest Viewing is designed to work with the Welcome Headers system (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=119572) without any conflict. To insure that welcome header messages do not show up at the same time as the limited guest viewing message, please be sure you are running welcome headers version 4.1.3 or greater (released 11/19).

Updates
5/9/2008 - Released update to prevent installs on 3.7 boards.
2/18/2007 - Minor update to fix register link. Updates optional.
11/20/2006 - Minor update released to fix error with links in some messaging. Updates recommended.

foulplay

11-19-2006, 07:08 PM

Thanks I'll check it out!

abramelin

11-19-2006, 07:09 PM

1-Does this realy checks these spiders. If it doesnt limit the spider then i am going to install this lovely mod
2-Doesnt this conflict with the welcome header mod?

Ted S

11-19-2006, 07:21 PM

1-Does this realy checks these spiders. If it doesnt limit the spider then i am going to install this lovely mod

It checks for the bots I've listed (google, aol, msn, yahoo). Any other bot will be blocked unless you add it to the plugin manually.

2-Doesnt this conflict with the welcome header mod?

No, they both work together. I will be releasing an update of the welcome headers in a few minutes to insure they never appear at the same time.

Shazz

11-19-2006, 07:29 PM

What if your you usergroup options are set to block everything from guests view... Set to private..

projectego

11-19-2006, 07:40 PM

Awesome hack! Thank you. ;)

Ntfu2

11-19-2006, 07:44 PM

YES! I've been waiting for something like this forever.

Definetly checking it out tonight.

Few questions: How does it detect how many page views? Cookie or IP based or both :D

How easily is it circumventable? If i simply clear my cookies, will i be able to start viewing all over again?

I'd like to open a registration required area up on my site for a short while but limit it in this way to require a registration to get all the goods!

Ted S

11-19-2006, 07:53 PM

What if your you usergroup options are set to block everything from guests view... Set to private..

Then this wouldn't do anything for you.

Ted S

11-19-2006, 07:58 PM

Few questions: How does it detect how many page views? Cookie or IP based or both :D

Just cookies. Tracking IPs would mean a lot of database calls which I wanted to avoid.

How easily is it circumventable? If i simply clear my cookies, will i be able to start viewing all over again?

Getting around this would not be impossible or even very difficult but it should stop most guests who don't know a thing about tracking visits in cookies.

StuntFactoryX

11-19-2006, 08:12 PM

installed and tested, awesome hack, its not all or nothing anymore. and if people wanna deleate their cookies just to get another 5 views out of my site, im sure they will just register, that would be less hassle imo.

FleaBag

11-19-2006, 08:58 PM

I have a fear if Google realised your page was using this it could really damage your ranking.

rex_b

11-19-2006, 09:04 PM

Wow Ted. Great hack!

Josh1

11-19-2006, 09:40 PM

Excellent. :).

redlabour

11-19-2006, 09:52 PM

Attention :

s. Screenshot - this is happening after Installation of this Hack.

Most Yahoo IP´s are blocked.

Ted S

11-19-2006, 09:55 PM

I have a fear if Google realised your page was using this it could really damage your ranking.

That's certainly possible. However, many sites (i.e. webmaser world, new york times, barons, wsj, etc...) do just this... and do it with Google's knowledge. In fact, Google has a product that logs in to protected sites and from what I've been told, will be rolling this out to more sites in the future.

Keep in mind that you are not showing different content to a user any more than Amazon shows people who have logged in different content than those that have not. Most dynamic sites these days show different content to different groups -- the welcome message on your forumhome template, showing birthdays or announcements to one group, or ads to another. In this case, all you are doing is limiting the number of times a guest may view pages. I can't tell you what this will or won't do for the SERPs, I can tell you why it makes sense and what others are doing that's similar.

Ted S

11-19-2006, 09:58 PM

Attention :

s. Screenshot - this is happening after Installation of this Hack.

Most Yahoo IP?s are blocked.

It looks like Yahoo's agent was a little different than what my filter had. Try updating the plugin file and let me know if you see any issues.

redlabour

11-19-2006, 10:07 PM

That's certainly possible. However, many major news (i.e. new york times, barons, wsj, etc...) sites do just this... and do it with Google's knowledge. In fact, Google has a product that logs in to protected sites and from what I've been told, will be rolling this out to more sites in the future.

Keep in mind that you are not showing different content to a user any more than Amazon shows people who have logged in different content than those that have not. Most dynamic sites these days show different content to different groups -- the welcome message on your forumhome template, showing birthdays or announcements to one group, or ads to another. In this case, all you are doing is limiting the number of times a guest may view pages. I can't tell you what this will or won't do for the SERPs, I can tell you why it makes sense and what others are doing that's similar.

Sorry, Ted after your other Answer about Google i have to uninstall this. If Google uses Login Agents it will only do it at Major Sites and that are not the most Sites. ;)

Nice Idea - but Crawling is more important for me than force Guest to register. ;)

hotwheels

11-19-2006, 11:20 PM

awesome mod ted s.......works perfectly

hotwheels

11-19-2006, 11:34 PM

Ted, quick question on bot's?

If you want certian bot's to come to your site, say Yahoo! Slurp Spider or FeedFetcher-Google Spiders.........where do you add these? I see // check if user is a bot
$lvgbot = ($vbulletin->superglobal_size['_COOKIE'] == 0 AND preg_match("#(google|msnbot|zoints|aol|yahoo|slurp)#si", $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']));

Would it be something like // check if user is a bot
$lvgbot = ($vbulletin->superglobal_size['_COOKIE'] == 0 AND preg_match("#(google|msnbot|zoints|aol|yahoo|slurp|FeedFetcher-Google|Yahoo! Slurp)#si", $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']));[/

hotwheels

11-19-2006, 11:55 PM

K, i have to disable this for now.......redlabour is right, it is kickin off the bot's for those that need to have them on.

I will keep checking back on this post tho, this is a great idea.

hotwheels

11-20-2006, 01:08 AM

XanTrax

11-20-2006, 02:04 AM

Couldnt a user/guest just delete their cookie and start it all over again? Considering firefox has a quick thing to delete cookies.

Ted S

11-20-2006, 03:38 AM

Ted S

11-20-2006, 03:38 AM

Couldnt a user/guest just delete their cookie and start it all over again? Considering firefox has a quick thing to delete cookies.

Yes. The goal here isn't to make it impossible to view threads, it's to make it harder and thus encourage registration. If you're looking to shut guests out, stick to the registration system.

Ted S

11-20-2006, 03:39 AM

Ted, quick question on bot's?

If you want certian bot's to come to your site, say Yahoo! Slurp Spider or FeedFetcher-Google Spiders.........where do you add these? I see [php]// check if user is a bot

Just change the line google|msnbot|zoints|aol|yahoo|slurp to include any other bots you like with a pipe (|) between each name.

JimmyN

11-20-2006, 04:28 AM

so this hack still allows all search engine bots to view?

But limits normal guests?

thanks

Ntfu2

11-20-2006, 05:14 AM

How about adding a timer to where the cookie expires after x amount of hours :D

And then in the phrase maybe something like

"Thank you for viewing our content, you've viewed all the content allowed by guests, you can view more unrestricted content in X amount of hours blah blah...:"

scottreeve

11-20-2006, 05:25 AM

Good hack.

I've installed, and only problem is with the 'custom message' edit. (To edit the phrase for this message error, click here (enter your custom text in the translation box).)
It comes up with a SQL database error...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Scott

Ntfu2

11-20-2006, 06:33 AM

Good hack.

I've installed, and only problem is with the 'custom message' edit.
It comes up with a SQL database error...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Scott

Try to reimport the product XML and overwrite the old one.

JimmyN

11-20-2006, 07:06 AM

How about adding a timer to where the cookie expires after x amount of hours :D

And then in the phrase maybe something like

"Thank you for viewing our content, you've viewed all the content allowed by guests, you can view more unrestricted content in X amount of hours blah blah...:"

i think this would be a great idea, but just have it that the guest can return to the board after 24hours say and then view a thead again, and if they click another thread then they get the msg.
But just have the existing msgs, not the X hours left, becuse then they might just not bother registering or they may come back to view latter without thinking to reg.

Maybe this can all be set in the admincp for this. So it can be cusomised to suite your own forum.

Just some ideas though,

So far its a great hack though, thanks heaps :) working great on my board

Bad Bunny

11-20-2006, 07:26 AM

So, I have tested this a bit, and it seems really useful. What exactly is the problem from the spider perspective? Is it blocking them or is it not? Also, wouldn't using only the message bypass any problems with the cookies anyway?

Distance

11-20-2006, 07:34 AM

Thanks!! I love your hacks

Ahhh this is a good point!! Does it block spiders!!

redlabour

11-20-2006, 07:53 AM

so this hack still allows all search engine bots to view?

But limits normal guests?

thanks

No it does not - read the Thread. It only works at the most important but not at all. And sometimes it can block the important Ones if they change their Crawlers.

Thanks!! I love your hacks

Ahhh this is a good point!! Does it block spiders!!

Is anybody reading before installing ? *omg*

scottreeve

11-20-2006, 08:51 AM

Try to reimport the product XML and overwrite the old one.

Thanks for your help.

I've reimported, and still the same problem :(

Distance

11-20-2006, 09:58 AM

Bots dont work then.... great shame

*uninstalls* :(

InTeNsE-HuMoR

11-20-2006, 10:05 AM

This hack is great but it looks like everyone overlooked this simple mistake:

On the "Register block page" the create a new account links are invalid and thus a guest is unable to sign up for an account through that page. Other than that, great hack.:D

sensimilla

11-20-2006, 10:42 AM

Its a great hack I was in need of,
thanks

puertoblack2003

11-20-2006, 11:16 AM

i like this very much and by far a good hack..thanks **INSTALLED**

Robru

11-20-2006, 12:03 PM

Marvelous hack, thanX :)

hotwheels

11-20-2006, 12:18 PM

It let's the bot's on your site........After 12am when my site stat's reset, here is what i show currently for my bot's: Yahoo! Slurp(11) , WorldIndexer , Google and Yahoo! Slurp Spiders (283), Majestics MJ12bot Spiders (1), Technorati Spiders (1), WiseNut Spiders (1), MSNBot Spiders (1), WorldIndexer Spiders (2), FeedBurner Spiders (2), Voyager Spiders (1), Google Spiders (1), FeedFetcher-Google Spiders (1)........

Hotwheels

iran.gs

11-20-2006, 12:46 PM

Installed how ever why after the messege comes when u press register, this link comes
http://www.XXX/forum/Array['bburl']/register.php

Ted S

11-20-2006, 02:14 PM

Good hack.

I've installed, and only problem is with the 'custom message' edit.
It comes up with a SQL database error...

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Scott

What vb version are you running? The phrases can always be manually edited via your phrase manager...

Ted S

11-20-2006, 02:15 PM

So, I have tested this a bit, and it seems really useful. What exactly is the problem from the spider perspective? Is it blocking them or is it not? Also, wouldn't using only the message bypass any problems with the cookies anyway?

Spiders don't accept cookies so it can't block them on that basis (which is how the plugin checks). There is also an exclude list in the script to insure bots go right through.

Ted S

11-20-2006, 02:16 PM

Bots dont work then.... great shame

*uninstalls* :(

There is no impact to standard bots with this plugin (unless the bot is using cookies and not in the exclude list).

Ted S

11-20-2006, 02:19 PM

Installed how ever why after the messege comes when u press register, this link comes
http://www.XXX/forum/Array['bburl']/register.php

Odd, I will be taking a look at this issue later today.

Can you tell me when exactly this issue appears?

Ted S

11-20-2006, 02:21 PM

It let's the bot's on your site........After 12am when my site stat's reset, here is what i show currently for my bot's: Yahoo! Slurp(11) , WorldIndexer , Google and Yahoo! Slurp Spiders (283), Majestics MJ12bot Spiders (1), Technorati Spiders (1), WiseNut Spiders (1), MSNBot Spiders (1), WorldIndexer Spiders (2), FeedBurner Spiders (2), Voyager Spiders (1), Google Spiders (1), FeedFetcher-Google Spiders (1)........

Thank you for the information hotwheels!

As stated in the main thread; this plugin works using cookies which the vast majority of bots don't use or don't store therefore few bots will ever be blocked. To be sure, the script also explicitly looks for major bots and lets them through, just as if they were a user who had not yet met the threshold to be denied. From a spider?s perspective, they see what a guest would see on their first visits so the content is no different than what someone else has access to.

Nephalim

11-20-2006, 03:28 PM

Installed how ever why after the messege comes when u press register, this link comes
http://www.XXX/forum/Array['bburl']/register.php

Same here! cool looking hack but new visitors get sent to an error page;
http://www.XXX/forum/Array['bburl']/register.php[/QUOTE]
this shows after the allowed pages set for the visitor to look at.

InTeNsE-HuMoR

11-20-2006, 04:07 PM

This hack is great but it looks like everyone overlooked this simple mistake:

On the "Register block page" the create a new account links are invalid and thus a guest is unable to sign up for an account through that page. Other than that, great hack.:D

^^^^ It's on the register page when you have viewed the maximum amount of threads allowed and are then promted to sign up or login to continue viewing the forum. The sign-up links are invalid within that message.

project-Buckfas

11-20-2006, 05:41 PM

Looks interesting. I'll try it after the above bug is fixed.....

puertoblack2003

11-20-2006, 06:41 PM

yea i hav ethat same error when you click to sign up http://www.puertotech.com/Array['bburl']/register.php

also i notice that when i did that test run on it it didn't bring that notice up i had to rebuild style and now is working.:)

coffee

11-20-2006, 08:43 PM

I would prefer to have that message displayed the same way as your other mod here: Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=119572)

Or at least tell me :) how to alter that one to show such messages

Ted S

11-21-2006, 12:59 AM

The issue with invalid urls has been addressed. Please download the latest version (1.0.5) and upgrade by uploading the new plugin and allowing overwrites.

coffee

11-21-2006, 03:05 AM

Installed, Thank you Ted S.

I have a little problem here, but first my options are: yes,yes,5,yes,10 and 0

The "Register Take-Over Message" won't appear while "Register Block" appears after the tenth visit correctly.

I upgraded the other mod (Welcome Headers) and just installed this one for the first time.

Ted S

11-21-2006, 03:18 AM

Try resetting all of the options (set them to no then yes) and see what happens. If it still doesn't work, PM me your url.

coffee

11-21-2006, 03:42 AM

Thanks for your help, my little forum is here: http://shinqit.net/index.php?langid=1

I turned them off then cleared cookies then on again, but no success on showing the take-over while the block appeared after trying to view topic #12.

Ted S

11-21-2006, 03:47 AM

I was able to encounter the message after 10 views when I went to http://shinqit.net/t5368.html. Keep in mind that this plugin only applies to viewing and printing threads.

coffee

11-21-2006, 03:50 AM

Oh well!

I like the "Register Block" a lot :)

Hornstar

11-21-2006, 04:12 AM

Nice work, this could come in handy in the future if my forums become to crowded with guests.

s25

11-21-2006, 05:33 PM

I get this error when using it :s
Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

The adress is a0tu.com/bbs

Ted S

11-21-2006, 07:16 PM

s25,
What other addons do you have installed? Do you have any vlaues in the exclude field?

Bad Bunny

11-21-2006, 07:37 PM

Thanks for your help, my little forum is here: http://shinqit.net/index.php?langid=1

I turned them off then cleared cookies then on again, but no success on showing the take-over while the block appeared after trying to view topic #12.
It worked for me when viewing your thread on your forum. Just refreshed several times and I was blocked from viewing and urged to register or sign in.

aky

11-21-2006, 08:08 PM

i dont have this template

nav_bar template, is this only for 3.6.3 ?

coffee

11-21-2006, 08:35 PM

It worked for me when viewing your thread on your forum. Just refreshed several times and I was blocked from viewing and urged to register or sign in.

Thank you. I just corrected the problem, it was all about step#3, which I forgot to apply :)

This mod is very nice in letting people in for some time then politely telling them to register, which is great for a little forum. While for large ones, I guess it will be okey to block guests upon their first visit.

Some might clear their browsers as a work around but they will still have to register not to lose every thing each time they visit such forum.

coffee

11-21-2006, 08:52 PM

I would suggest adding an "O.K." button to the "Register Block" forwarding visitors to the register form like this:

"O.K." -> (Register)
"Cancel" -> (Go to Index)

Ted S

11-22-2006, 01:13 AM

i dont have this template

nav_bar template, is this only for 3.6.3 ?

The template is navbar. The plugin will work in 3.5+ although some of the admin links are only compliant with 3.6+.

Ted S

11-22-2006, 01:15 AM

I would suggest adding an "O.K." button to the "Register Block" forwarding visitors to the register form like this:

"O.K." -> (Register)
"Cancel" -> (Go to Index)

You can easily accomplish this by editing the phrases from your ACP options.

coffee

11-22-2006, 01:37 AM

Nope! I'll leave it as is..

They know how to register already :)

smoknz28

11-22-2006, 03:22 AM

Awesome hack! ;)

This works perfect for what I was looking for and waiting for....

Thank you for sharing this code with us.

Installed on 3.6.3 with ease and less than 5 mins. :D

Masiello

11-22-2006, 08:03 AM

I love this Hack, but I need to allow without exception all the web bots (spiders) to access all my forum thread and post at anytime, what I need exactly to do for that, sorry but about that I'm so confused.
Thanks

Snake

11-22-2006, 04:38 PM

Thanks for this! :)

Ntfu2

11-22-2006, 07:43 PM

I love this Hack, but I need to allow without exception all the web bots (spiders) to access all my forum thread and post at anytime, what I need exactly to do for that, sorry but about that I'm so confused.
Thanks

This already lets bots and the such in like they were before

aky

11-22-2006, 09:59 PM

one of the register links that popup when the post gets blocked just goes to the index.php page, can this be fixed to go to the register pagE?

JimmyN

11-22-2006, 11:10 PM

Installed and got this working great, i set the register block page to 0 and it stops guest viewing any threads at all, and still allows search engine bots, this is very handy :)

Good work

libertylounge

11-23-2006, 03:54 AM

Can you make it check spiders based off the vbulletin_spiders.xml?

Ted S

11-23-2006, 03:58 AM

I love this Hack, but I need to allow without exception all the web bots (spiders) to access all my forum thread and post at anytime, what I need exactly to do for that, sorry but about that I'm so confused.
Thanks

Unless a bot is using cookies (which is not something I've seen) they will not be affected by this plugin. I'm not aware of bots posting so you're on your own there.

Ted S

11-23-2006, 03:59 AM

Can you make it check spiders based off the vbulletin_spiders.xml?

Since bots are still allowed in I did not see a reason to go through that level of authentication. In the future I'll consider adding it.

rknight111

11-23-2006, 11:49 AM

This is as good as the Welcome header.

I found in the Vbulletin msg after looking at 10 posts, when you click on "sign up" it directs you back to the main page rather than the register.php like the colored text "create your account now". I went in to mine and added the "/register.php" after the {2]. It works fine unless that is made to go to main page??

Thanks for the add-on, this will increase users, the welcome header helped alot..

RON:)

Bad Bunny

11-23-2006, 12:44 PM

This is as good as the Welcome header.

I found in the Vbulletin msg after looking at 10 posts, when you click on "sign up" it directs you back to the main page rather than the register.php like the colored text "create your account now". I went in to mine and added the "/register.php" after the {2]. It works fine unless that is made to go to main page??

Thanks for the add-on, this will increase users, the welcome header helped alot..

RON:)
You can also edit the message. To anyone complaining about the links:
Edit them. It's the language system. I never noticed my links not working because I changed the messages and made my own links.

Masiello

11-23-2006, 04:19 PM

Yes. edit the message, find: <a href="{2}">register</a> and replace with this: <a href="{2}/register.php">Put here your Own phrase</a>

Masiello

11-23-2006, 04:23 PM

Thank you all for answer my question about bots, and thanks again to share this great mod.

scottreeve

11-23-2006, 10:42 PM

I've had this hack installed for a couple of days now, and have seen huge gains in guest registrations already.

Keep up the good work Ted

Best,
Scott

Smoothie

11-24-2006, 12:08 AM

I'm very tempted to use this, but what do you guys think? By limiting what guests can view and forcing them to register, do we piss them off and drive them away or does this really increase membership?

I look at some of the really big forums and they wouldn't touch a mod like this with a 10 foot pole. Seems most of the smaller forums are trying this to build a more active community and I'm not sure that's the right course of action. Thoughts?

Smoothie

11-24-2006, 12:10 AM

I've had this hack installed for a couple of days now, and have seen huge gains in guest registrations already.

Keep up the good work Ted

Best,
ScottI'm not doubting you, but besides your word do you have any concrete poof this type of mod actually increases registrations?

Bad Bunny

11-24-2006, 03:26 AM

Well, think about it from your perspective. I have it set to show a notice after five views. If you have looked at five threads so far, you must be at least mildly interested in the forums.

I have my blocking set at 20. If you have viewed 20 threads at my site...well I think it's easy to say you are a big fan of the forums. I know that by the time I have read 20 threads somewhere I am signed up.

scottreeve

11-24-2006, 07:08 AM

I'm not doubting you, but besides your word do you have any concrete poof this type of mod actually increases registrations?

Just sending my appreciation.
There are valid for and against arguments above, each to their own if they like it or lump it.
So far, I am happy with my experience with this hack.

If you need proof, see my attachment. Prior to installing the hack my forum was averaging 3-4 registrations p/day. The last couple of days have averaged around 15.

I supose it also depends if your website offers good content which potential guests desire.

Note, I have set the block-message at 7 page views (excluding some of the sub-forums from the count).

Best,
Scott

Smoothie

11-24-2006, 02:35 PM

Thanks, I appreciate the time you took to show those stats.

Smoothie

11-24-2006, 03:08 PM

The issue with invalid urls has been addressed. Please download the latest version (1.0.5) and upgrade by uploading the new plugin and allowing overwrites.

Quick question. I just downloaded the latest version (1.0.5) but in the install file it still says:
This article and its associated code was updated on October 7th, 2006
Version: 1.0.3

In the first post it says:
11/20/2006 - Minor update released to fix error with links in some messaging. Updates recommended.

s25

11-24-2006, 08:56 PM

s25,
What other addons do you have installed? Do you have any vlaues in the exclude field?

Sorry for taking so long to reply was just busy!
I don understand what you mean by values in the exclude field :s But I have the following addons installed:

Geek Auto-Link 4.5.0

Hide Links From Guests 1.32

Limited Guest Viewing 1.0.5

Link Anonymizer 1.10

Prevent Spam 1.0

Shoutcast Status Forumhome 2.0 (not working at the moment)

vB Importance 1.0.0

Welcome Headers 4.1.3
Zoints SEO 2.2.2

Zoints Thread Tags 1.2.1

Fusion2

11-24-2006, 11:42 PM

It checks for the bots I've listed (google, aol, msn, yahoo). Any other bot will be blocked unless you add it to the plugin manually.

Ouch, i was about to install this. But, you mean to tell you you only installed only four bots into your program? So the thousands of other bots, including several major ones missing from your list, wont be able to index my forums?

JimmyN

11-25-2006, 12:11 AM

So far Yahoo, google, msn etc are fine

Tested and working on my forums
They may be some smaller bots not allowed, but they will not be that important as they will only get you like 5 guests a month? as long as the big bots like google and yahoo are acsessing your site you are right.

Just goto "who's Online" and see whats going on and if there is any permission probelms from the bots.

Maybe if this hack is regually updated with a new list of bots than it will be ok.

scottreeve - your are very correct in that i to have got a heap more registrations per day also. Gone up 14 used to be 1-4 average. Really is getting my forum on the go again, thanks to this hack

s25

11-25-2006, 02:04 AM

Also i was under the belief that bots don't accept cookies so surly it wont have any affect on them anyways.

Ted S

11-25-2006, 02:09 AM

Ouch, i was about to install this. But, you mean to tell you you only installed only four bots into your program? So the thousands of other bots, including several major ones missing from your list, wont be able to index my forums?

No. As stated in several threads and the original post, the plugin uses cookies. Bots don't use cookies. Thus bots are fine. However, to be extra sure I have added a routine to check for and skip processing for several major bots which represent 90%+ of searching. Other bots should be fine too.

Ted S

11-25-2006, 02:12 AM

Quick question. I just downloaded the latest version (1.0.5) but in the install file it still says:
This article and its associated code was updated on October 7th, 2006
Version: 1.0.3

In the first post it says:
11/20/2006 - Minor update released to fix error with links in some messaging. Updates recommended.

Don't worry about that. The file is updated, I just didn't update part of the install guide.

Smoothie

11-25-2006, 02:33 AM

Don't worry about that. The file is updated, I just didn't update part of the install guide.Thanks! Installed, we'll see how it goes.

RedTurtle

11-25-2006, 05:01 AM

If I have version 1.0.3 installed and I upgrade by intalling the new 1.0.5 will it overwrite all my custom phrases that I changed for this mod?

OT, but same question in regards to welcome headers if I overwrite with the new version, will it kill the custom phrases?

Thanks Ted!

Ted S

11-25-2006, 05:06 AM

If I have version 1.0.3 installed and I upgrade by intalling the new 1.0.5 will it overwrite all my custom phrases that I changed for this mod?

OT, but same question in regards to welcome headers if I overwrite with the new version, will it kill the custom phrases?

Thanks Ted!

It shouldn't but back it up to be sure!

calvorn

11-28-2006, 08:07 PM

Any chance of extending the plug-in to include photo views in a PhotoPost Gallery that has been integrated with vBulletin?

Great plug-in, by the way.

Cal

Ted S

11-29-2006, 12:08 AM

I'm not familiar with the photopost system for working with vb but I'll take a look.

Scormen

11-29-2006, 10:08 AM

Works great! Thanks!

Grtz,
Kris

mlbvb

11-30-2006, 10:39 PM

Works like a charm! We already had about 12 guests join since the it was installed 48 hrs ago. Thanks!

Fusion2

12-01-2006, 12:54 AM

No. As stated in several threads and the original post, the plugin uses cookies. Bots don't use cookies. Thus bots are fine. However, to be extra sure I have added a routine to check for and skip processing for several major bots which represent 90%+ of searching. Other bots should be fine too.

Ok thanks, I just installed and Love it.

But, does this reset after 24hrs?

Meaning that when they hit the block, does it limit them to a total of 10 views or just 10 views for today?

Im hoping it only limits them during a 24hr period. Thus i can set it low to just 5 per day etc..

ICY ICE

12-01-2006, 01:24 AM

Thanks works perfectly!

Ted S

12-01-2006, 01:37 AM

Im hoping it only limits them during a 24hr period. Thus i can set it low to just 5 per day etc..

It's views until you clear your cookies, be that every hour, day or never.

agitated

12-03-2006, 01:26 PM

Thanks for this Ted S

Installed and working fine. Only wanted to restrict one forum at the moment and it works perfectly well.

One thing though, it does not appear to restrict access via the Archive.
Is this correct ?

Ted S

12-03-2006, 05:51 PM

Thanks for this Ted S

Installed and working fine. Only wanted to restrict one forum at the moment and it works perfectly well.

One thing though, it does not appear to restrict access via the Archive.
Is this correct ?

Correct. This does not impact the archive what so ever.

agitated

12-03-2006, 06:45 PM

In that case spiders will still be able to spider via the archive so no worries there. :cool:

Are there any plans to add the archive to the restriction. ?

Ted S

12-03-2006, 10:50 PM

Are there any plans to add the archive to the restriction. ?

I hadn't planned on it but I suppose I could take a look.

rex_b

12-03-2006, 11:03 PM

Gonna give this a shot ;)

Rebecca217

12-04-2006, 01:26 PM

This hack is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much! :)

I second the above about also limiting the archive--that would be a handy feature.

Rebecca

HUMMERh3

12-06-2006, 01:38 AM

yes a good add on to the next update would be to allow "clear cookies" so that if the user comes back in 24 hours they can view the threads again up to the limit you set i.e 10 views.

By the way this works for vb3.54 as well

Thinkinstein

12-06-2006, 02:08 PM

Well.. what would happen if the guest view your archive or printed version?

Beller

12-06-2006, 04:04 PM

Installed .. Thank You!

phdev

12-07-2006, 05:12 PM

Hi,

I have 3.6.0 and the register take-over message never shows up.

What should I do to make it work?

Thanks,

Ian

s25

12-07-2006, 05:35 PM

Hi I posted this a while back but I got no reply now I understand your a busy man and I love your work and you probably just missed it :)

I get this error when using it :s
Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

Warning: strstr() [function.strstr]: Empty delimiter. in /includes/class_postbit.php(296) : eval()'d code on line 26

The adress is a0tu.com/bbs

The plugins I have installed are:
Sorry for taking so long to reply was just busy!
I don understand what you mean by values in the exclude field :s But I have the following addons installed:

Geek Auto-Link 4.5.0

Hide Links From Guests 1.32

Limited Guest Viewing 1.0.5

Link Anonymizer 1.10

Prevent Spam 1.0

Shoutcast Status Forumhome 2.0 (not working at the moment)

vB Importance 1.0.0

Welcome Headers 4.1.3
Zoints SEO 2.2.2

Zoints Thread Tags 1.2.1

Ted S

12-08-2006, 02:18 AM

s25, I can't diagnose conflicts with other plugins as I don't write their code. My suggestion is to disable all hacks then enable welcome headers and another hack one at a time until you find the conflict.

s25

12-08-2006, 07:48 AM

Ok no problem its just earlier in the thread you had asked for a list of my installed plugins but I will do that tonight :)

Hehhe amazing how these things happen,I just re-did it and now it is working :) I dont know why but hey if it works ;)

wolfyman

12-12-2006, 12:02 AM

yeah this hack sucks.

:P

So much so, in fact, that I just nominated it as MOTM. Thanks. :)

Canyou guess when I installed it?

http://www.holdmyfile.com/n_images/usr/gal9386/s_img/f0002.gif

Ted S

12-13-2006, 04:04 PM

Great stats, thanks for sharing those with us!

trd167

12-16-2006, 03:58 AM

this mod doesnt work for me?

Ted S

12-16-2006, 06:59 AM

this mod doesnt work for me?

That depends on what you want it to do for you I suppose.

HUMMERh3

12-18-2006, 04:25 AM

I am getting logged out when I visit my homepage which is CPMS vbadvanced installed on it..Anyone know how to get it to work with it installed or what I code I have to add so that I won't get logged out??

Ted S

12-18-2006, 04:26 AM

I am getting logged out when I visit my homepage which is CPMS vbadvanced installed on it..Anyone know how to get it to work with it installed or what I code I have to add so that I won't get logged out??

I don't think your question relates to this addon. I would suggest you post it in the vbadvanced support thread.

sduckie2k5

12-19-2006, 05:13 PM

Does this stop guests from viewing threads from the archive?

Ted S

12-20-2006, 01:55 AM

Does this stop guests from viewing threads from the archive?

Nope.

AHMUDEM

12-20-2006, 05:15 PM

very nice :D

sportsoutlaw

12-22-2006, 10:15 PM

Question for vbseo forums.

Does it matter if the navbar template edit goes above or below the welcome header edit at the bottom of the navbar?

sportsoutlaw

12-22-2006, 10:35 PM

I have one weird situation going on.

No guest message shows up on the showthread pages when this hack is enabled until I reach the number of threads require to activate the "Register Take Over Message". Is this supposed to be happening?

I verified this on my forum and this forum (http://www.oz-consolemods.net/forums/index.php).

Ted S

12-28-2006, 06:00 AM

I have one weird situation going on.

No guest message shows up on the showthread pages when this hack is enabled until I reach the number of threads require to activate the "Register Take Over Message". Is this supposed to be happening?

Yes.

SCRIPT3R

01-02-2007, 08:15 PM

Hi,

I have 3.6.0 and the register take-over message never shows up.

likewise - i have vB 3.6.4, though, and the Register Take-Over Message DOES NOT appear ever... please advise.

Frimon86

01-02-2007, 09:12 PM

I'd like to give this mod a shot, I find it interesting, however, I too have vB 3.6.4 so if you can update this, that would be fantastic!

Smoothie

01-02-2007, 11:05 PM

I am running vB 3.6.4 with this mod and it works fine. I checked it myself. :p

Ted S

01-02-2007, 11:33 PM

I'd like to give this mod a shot, I find it interesting, however, I too have vB 3.6.4 so if you can update this, that would be fantastic!

This mod works witn 3.6.4 and all of the 3.6.x series.

Ted S

01-02-2007, 11:34 PM

likewise - i have vB 3.6.4, though, and the Register Take-Over Message DOES NOT appear ever... please advise.

What is your forum url?

Have you enabled the take over message? If so, how many pageviews does it require before it shows?

SCRIPT3R

01-02-2007, 11:57 PM

What is your forum url?

Have you enabled the take over message? If so, how many pageviews does it require before it shows?
yes, both features are enabled at 5 & 10. screenshot provided... will send my forum URL via PM as i do not wish for it to be posted publicly.

Ted S

01-03-2007, 12:14 AM

It takes a few reloads but....

SCRIPT3R

01-03-2007, 12:27 AM

It takes a few reloads but....
that is the Register Block Page which works fine. my initial concern was for the Register Take-Over Message which should be appearing after 5 counts, but does not.

likewise - i have vB 3.6.4, though, and the Register Take-Over Message DOES NOT appear ever... please advise.
;)

also, if you could remove or edit your attached image so that my domain and name information does not appear i would appreciate it.

Ted S

01-03-2007, 01:18 AM

that is the Register Block Page which works fine. my initial concern was for the Register Take-Over Message which should be appearing after 5 counts, but does not.

My mistake. Do you have the welcome headers hack installed?

SCRIPT3R

01-03-2007, 01:21 AM

My mistake. Do you have the welcome headers hack installed?
yes, both the Welcome Headers hack and this one... all default settings.

Ted S

01-03-2007, 02:17 AM

Be sure you have the variable $lgvmessage in your header or navbar template.

Also, the systems are designed such that if you have both hacks on, the welcome header message will not show on posts and since the register take over message appears in the same format as the welcome header message, it is easy to confuse the two.

SCRIPT3R

01-03-2007, 07:26 PM

Be sure you have the variable $lgvmessage in your header or navbar template.
ugh, i missed that part of the instructions... i feel like such a noob! i'll update my template accordingly. thnx for your help.

SCRIPT3R

01-03-2007, 07:34 PM

Update... yup, works perfectly now - thnx again.

chick

01-04-2007, 01:01 AM

Running great for me. Thank you much

extreme-mobile

01-05-2007, 02:45 PM

brilliant idea, as long as it doesnt block the bots aswell this is great

will install when i get home

burntire

01-16-2007, 05:57 PM

Nice Mod
Installed

mtlcore

01-17-2007, 04:28 PM

Did this mod affect any of you with SEO?

StarBuG

01-20-2007, 11:01 AM

SWEET

That is a totally great Idea.

/me clicks install

melbo

01-20-2007, 09:58 PM

Be sure you have the variable $lgvmessage in your header or navbar template.

Also, the systems are designed such that if you have both hacks on, the welcome header message will not show on posts and since the register take over message appears in the same format as the welcome header message, it is easy to confuse the two.

Can you explain $lgvmessage for me?
I ran with WH for some time now with no problems and am also not getting the Take Over after 5 views....

THanks

sportsoutlaw

01-20-2007, 10:09 PM

Did this mod affect any of you with SEO?

Not at all. Spiders can still index your site just fine. I monitor my forum regularly and the spiders are never blocked by this.

All this mod has done is improve my registrations from 4-6 per day, up to 12-16 per day.

sportsoutlaw

01-20-2007, 10:13 PM

Can you explain $lgvmessage for me?
I ran with WH for some time now with no problems and am also not getting the Take Over after 5 views....

THanks

If you are running welcome headers, you have to use the variable $welcomeheaders. Just place the variable $lgvmessage in the same place, either in your header or navbard, depending on how you have it set up.

Like this, wherever you have your welcome header variable.

$welcomeheaders
$lgvmessage

If you have that variable in place, and have this mod enbabled, you should be seeing the message come up in showthread after the number of views you specified in admincp.

melbo

01-20-2007, 11:19 PM

Thanks. I failed to follow step 3 in the instructions......
Working now.

sportsoutlaw

01-21-2007, 12:58 AM

LOL, Dont worry, I did the same exact thing when I first installed it. :)

Snake

01-21-2007, 01:15 AM

Thank you very much for this! :)

Martyh

01-21-2007, 03:06 AM

Thanks, great add-on,

BTW, nice instructions!!! because it matters, at least to the newbies.

GPS_Flex

01-21-2007, 05:11 PM

:up: Another nice addon that works just as it is described.

Easy to install and customize.

Ted S

01-21-2007, 06:03 PM

Thanks, great add-on,

BTW, nice instructions!!! because it matters, at least to the newbies.

Thanks!

Stoneyreef

02-02-2007, 08:36 PM

I assume this is where it finds out if a person is a guest or not, but how would I add other usergroups to this as well as guests?

if ($show['guest'] AND !$lvgbot AND $vbulletin->options['lgvon'])

Ted S

02-02-2007, 09:30 PM

Actually, that code just checks to see if the feature should be activated or not.

You can modify what groups see what messages in the welcome_headrs template.

Shazz

02-02-2007, 10:37 PM

I think it really does improve registration rates
Ive been using it for quite some time now. Does seem to attract them
I also have a yellow bar at the top, but this one gives the description
Working perfect :)

Stoneyreef

02-02-2007, 11:24 PM

Actually, that code just checks to see if the feature should be activated or not.

You can modify what groups see what messages in the welcome_headrs template.

I want them to be locked out much like they are in the limited viewing modification!

Ted S

02-03-2007, 12:31 AM

I want them to be locked out much like they are in the limited viewing modification!

Welcome headers doesn't lock anyone out of anything, that's not what it's intended for.

Stoneyreef

02-03-2007, 03:52 AM

after X number of posts it makes the register unless they clear their cookies, how can i set it up to do the same thing for registered users, unless they go to a different usergroup IE purchase a subscription.

melscamera

02-03-2007, 07:09 AM

Works great. thanks again for the great product

http://forums.melscamera.com

midirtrider

02-04-2007, 05:35 AM

AWSOME.. thank you..

working perfectly on www.MIdirtriders.com

I will keep an eye on my registration rates and see what happens..
many of my members said they had friends and family that lurk all the time but were not registered users.. hopefully this will help our community grow!!!

thanks again!

mtlcore

02-05-2007, 11:15 PM

Installed.

Does any1 have a list of spiders?

Stoneyreef

02-17-2007, 12:01 AM

OK let me see if this is correct.
<plugin active="1">

This makes the plugin active for usergroup 1 the guests, so if that assumption is correct could i do like:
<plugin active="1,2">

to make it active for more usergroups?

Ted S

02-17-2007, 12:44 AM

OK let me see if this is correct.
<plugin active="1">

This makes the plugin active for usergroup 1 the guests, so if that assumption is correct could i do like:
<plugin active="1,2">

to make it active for more usergroups?

No. The plugin code is what makes this work for guests -- changing that involves rewriting portions of the php.

Shazz

02-17-2007, 02:46 AM

Ted you are very good of what guests view and see
Like welcome headers and this
Did you know that?

Very creative

Ted S

02-17-2007, 04:26 AM

Ted you are very good of what guests view and see
Like welcome headers and this
Did you know that?

Very creative

That's what us marketing people do... spend all our days coming up with ways to get people to register, buy, whatever.

GamesBucket

02-18-2007, 03:13 PM

NaughtyStud

02-18-2007, 04:21 PM

Very cool hack, thanks so much. :)

treasureman

02-18-2007, 04:31 PM

Correct. This does not impact the archive what so ever.

In my forum is does not allow viewing of archived posts. It shows the post name, but they aren't live links. So users can't click on them.

So either a change was made in the mod or I have some sort of setting in my forum permissions that are different.

Anyway, I like restricting the archive as well as the forums, this is exactly what I need, thank you!

Ted S

02-18-2007, 05:12 PM

In my forum is does not allow viewing of archived posts. It shows the post name, but they aren't live links. So users can't click on them.

So either a change was made in the mod or I have some sort of setting in my forum permissions that are different.

This plugin doesn't add anything to the archive scripts, language files or hooks so it's impossible that it altered how your archive worked.

Ted S

02-18-2007, 05:12 PM

I can see it checks if the bots are google|msnbot|zoints|aol|yahoo|slurp
What about the alexa bot?

Whats it called so to add it?
And anyone knows of any other bots?

Since bots don't use cookies the plugin won't affect them. I have a hardcoded list of the major spiders just as a matter of efficiency and for the future incase Google or anyone else decides to add cookie support.

treasureman

02-18-2007, 05:31 PM

This plugin doesn't add anything to the archive scripts, language files or hooks so it's impossible that it altered how your archive worked.

Okay, I know why it does what it does. I have my archive set up to link directly to the "full version" posts by choosing "no" for Display Simple View of Threads in the Admin CP > Search Engine Friendly Archive.

So when someone clicks a link to view a post in the archive page they are taken to the full version of the post. Since it does that, it behaves the same on the archives as it does the full version.

Which is what I need. Why allow someone to view your entire site in the archives if you are going to block them after a few posts in the full version?

So anyone using this mod that also want the archives to be limited viewing for guests, check "no" for Admin CP > Search Engine Friendly Archive > Display Simple View of Threads

Ted S

02-18-2007, 06:12 PM

Great tip, thanks for sharing!

Jorrit787

02-18-2007, 09:44 PM

Great mod! This may have been mentioned already, but let me just put it out here just in case:

Hey there! It appears that you've exceeded the maximum number of posts you can view, but wait, there's a simple solution. To unlock the forum and continue viewing messages, all you need to do is <a href="{2}">sign up</a> for a free account. The entire process takes just a few minutes so <a href="{2}/register.php">create your account now</a> and view as many threads as you like! Already a member? Login at the top of this page to stop seeing this message.
Aren't both of those links supposed to point to the registration page? The way it is now only the second one does, and the first one redirects to the forum's home page.

Ted S

02-18-2007, 11:16 PM

Yes they are. I will issue an updated version.

Mudvayne

02-19-2007, 04:25 AM

Ted is it possible to create an option where we can put all the spiders rather than edit plugin? Or is it possible to read from ./includes/xml/vbulletin_spiders.xml ?

Ted S

02-19-2007, 04:26 AM

It's possible but again, spiders don't use cookies so I don't see it as being necessary. Should someone disagree I am more than open to an addon to this addon. ;)

hellmet

02-20-2007, 04:07 AM

excellent stuff!! nominated!!

TrIn@dOr

02-20-2007, 11:29 AM

updated!

Mudvayne

02-27-2007, 03:17 PM

It's possible but again, spiders don't use cookies so I don't see it as being necessary. Should someone disagree I am more than open to an addon to this addon. ;)
I don't disagree with you cause there is no logic. However if its not that much resource hunger then you can add this function that it 'll collect data from vbulletin_spiders.xml & determine spiders. Thanks in advance :D.

Ted S

02-27-2007, 11:42 PM

At this time I have no plans to add that functionality but will be sure and note it on a wish list. Thanks for your input.

HDT

02-28-2007, 08:30 AM

Is this will problem with SE spiders,because they always coming in Guest mode,so I think they will have limited page views when crawling our forums.

Ted S

03-01-2007, 04:22 AM

Is this will problem with SE spiders,because they always coming in Guest mode,so I think they will have limited page views when crawling our forums.

Bots don't use cookies so no, they won't have problems. If you are afraid a particular bot is using cookies, their is a global exclude list located in the plugin source.

Deadly Assassin

03-04-2007, 03:23 AM

http://www.game-image.com/uploads/a0ebbae441.jpg

Works like a charm - thanks!

Dan@TT

03-04-2007, 12:11 PM

Installed. Thank you

YLP1

03-04-2007, 02:24 PM

Be sure you have the variable $lgvmessage in your header or navbar template.

I missed this too. Where do you put $lgvmessage in the header?

Ted S

03-05-2007, 12:56 AM

I missed this too. Where do you put $lgvmessage in the header?

Yes (see the line you quoted).

Tom_S

03-06-2007, 02:22 PM

Is it possible that this can work for both guest and registered members of a group? Our website is a paysite that once they pay they are upgraded into another group. Until then they are just a registered member but with no access to forums. We would like to do this so it works for both guests and the usergroup "registered users" to encourge them to upgrade their account to paid status.

Thanks in advance :)

Ted S

03-06-2007, 05:42 PM

Is it possible that this can work for both guest and registered members of a group? Our website is a paysite that once they pay they are upgraded into another group. Until then they are just a registered member but with no access to forums. We would like to do this so it works for both guests and the usergroup "registered users" to encourge them to upgrade their account to paid status.

Thanks in advance :)

This hack is not intended to do this but you could certainly make it do so. The question to ask yourself if is if you want to let members or guests ever access forums. It sounds like right now people get no access, limited guest viewing is intended to let them view a few threads, then stop them (and bug them until then). If you don't want people _ever_ viewing threads then you should not use this hack but can take advantage of the welcome headers system to show registered members a message about subscribing.

Tom_S

03-06-2007, 06:29 PM

Registered paid members do indeed see threads and post and everything. The intent here was to allow both guests and initial registered members the ability to see a certain number of posts and then they will only see your register screen but modified.

I am using your mod on one of my other boards that is not a pay site and it works wonderful. I just would like to use it on my other board. Even if it only worked for registered users Group ID #2 then that would be okay. Anyway to implement that?

Tom_S

03-07-2007, 08:47 AM

Ideas here Ted?

I really need this to work for at least just group ID 2.

I went through your code and I don't see how you are doing it and since vB is new to me I will wait until someone that knows can help and since you created this bad boy I am hoping that will be you.

Thanks

Ted S

03-08-2007, 02:49 AM

<if condition="is_member_of($bbuserinfo,2)"> Message for Group 2</if>

Tom_S

03-08-2007, 09:43 AM

Where does that go? I tried using something similar yesterday by changing the line:
if ($show['guest'] AND !$lvgbot AND $vbulletin->options['lgvon'])
to:
if ($bbuserinfo['2'] AND !$lvgbot AND $vbulletin->options['lgvon']) but that didn't work.

I really appreciate your help on this :)

Ted S

03-09-2007, 03:32 AM

$bbuserinfo['2'] doesn't do much of anything ;)

Try

$membergroups = fetch_membergroupids_array($vbulletin->userinfo);
if (in_array('2', $membergroups) AND !$lvgbot AND $vbulletin->options['lgvon'])

Tom_S

03-09-2007, 08:44 AM

Those changes made it work for the initial test. I will do further testing later today. With that in mind do you realize the potential for this mod? You could basically set it up to control campains over any usergroup setup. Wow! Great job my friend. Great job indeed. :)

milsirhc

03-10-2007, 07:41 AM

works great! Good to have abit of teaser for the guest.. let see how it goes!

ArabSQuad

03-10-2007, 10:52 AM

Awesome ..

* installed :)

thanks alot

sdebank

03-10-2007, 06:41 PM

Is it possible to allow guests to only see posts that are x amount of hours old. Thus guests wanting to see the latest news/posts will have to register/sign-in.

ThreeD

03-10-2007, 09:50 PM

*installed* great addon! :) Great job Ted..

nonet

03-10-2007, 09:51 PM

Why is this any different than setting the unregistered guest usergroup "Can View Thread Content" setting to no?

marcsmith73

03-11-2007, 01:08 AM

I like the hack thank you!

marcsmith73

03-11-2007, 01:09 AM

Why is this any different than setting the unregistered guest usergroup "Can View Thread Content" setting to no?

It gives them a taste of the forum. Setting to "no" makes people just click away pissed.

Tom_S

03-11-2007, 02:32 PM

Why is this any different than setting the unregistered guest usergroup "Can View Thread Content" setting to no?
And besides. What message pops up again with doing it your way? I completely agree with marcsmith73. :up:

Ted S

03-12-2007, 04:49 AM

Why is this any different than setting the unregistered guest usergroup "Can View Thread Content" setting to no?

A "access denied" message is not very motivating when it comes to getting people to register and in the case of a search engine, it doesn't index very well either.

xXxStitchxXx

03-12-2007, 07:36 AM

Hello!
Could yoy please help me?
I've installed LGV for my forum. But Register Take-Over Message doesn't work for me but it's enabled. Register Block Page is also enabled and it works fine. The settings are the following:
Register Take-Over Message Count: 1
Register Block Page Count: 7

P.s. I'm running Russia version of VB, but all other mods work fine!
Thank you!

Ted S

03-13-2007, 01:07 AM

What is the URL of your forum?

xXxStitchxXx

03-13-2007, 09:24 AM

What is the URL of your forum?

www.forum.cayenneclub.ru

xXxStitchxXx

03-13-2007, 11:28 AM

www.forum.cayenneclub.ru

ok. I've just fixed the problem. I forgot about template modification :-)

peterpigman

03-18-2007, 07:43 PM

About spiders/bots
This plugin works by setting a cookie to track the number of visits from a particular user. As bots do not tend to accept cookies, they should not be blocked. To further insure there is no spider accessibility issues, there script identifies major bots (google, yahoo, msn, aol) and explicitly lets them through -- you can easily add to this list by editing the plugin code should you so desire, however, unless a bot starts taking cookies this should not be necessary.

I just noticed we have lost some 2000 pages on google since we installed this. It might be an idea to turn it off once a month for a week as it appears to still block spiders.

puertoblack2003

03-18-2007, 07:54 PM

I just noticed we have lost some 2000 pages on google since we installed this. It might be an idea to turn it off once a month for a week as it appears to still block spiders.

i had reported that during the beginning of this hack when it came out but the author of this hack could not get this fix and said it works fine i long uninstall it so my googles stats is back up

i suggest the same thing since they won't do anything about it.

rolfw1

03-18-2007, 08:26 PM

Nice mod, thanks very much. :)

Ted S

03-18-2007, 10:14 PM

I just noticed we have lost some 2000 pages on google since we installed this. It might be an idea to turn it off once a month for a week as it appears to still block spiders.

I'm not sure how you're coming to this conclusion. Google does not use cookies and therefore it can't get blocked by this hack which is cookie based. Even if Google did use cookies the hack specifically excludes it (as well as yahoo, msn and a few others) from being impacted. Search rankings and indexing is dependant on a lot of factors, are you certain this is the only one on your site, outbound links, inbound links, content and so forth that has changed?

That said; if you don't think this addon is doing what you want it to do, please don't use it. My expertise is in helping communities become more marketable and to that end, I've released a few free addons to help sites out but not everything I make is ideal for every site.

Ted S

03-18-2007, 10:15 PM

i had reported that during the beginning of this hack when it came out but the author of this hack could not get this fix and said it works fine i long uninstall it so my googles stats is back up

i suggest the same thing since they won't do anything about it.

I appreciate your concern but I'm a bit puzzled by the "bug" you are reporting. Can you explain exactly what this is doing to stop google from indexing your site? Do you have any logs, screenshots or google sitemap reports that indicate there is a problem that I can use to work off of? I'm all for updating the addon and fixing any known bugs but I can't fix something without evidence of what's broken.

itsonlybarney

03-19-2007, 01:27 AM

I installed this, and set all the option, and followed the instructions. Yet I found there was no 'take-over' or 'blocking' of the website. Any help would be appreciated.

The website I'm talking about is http://userbars.ws

Smoothie

03-19-2007, 01:33 AM

I installed this, and set all the option, and followed the instructions. Yet I found there was no 'take-over' or 'blocking' of the website. Any help would be appreciated.

The website I'm talking about is http://userbars.wsGot one when I visited your site. Think it was after 15 clicks

itsonlybarney

03-19-2007, 01:54 AM

Got one when I visited your site. Think it was after 15 clicks
Cheers.

Obviously I wasn't patient enough to get that far through my website.

Ted S

03-19-2007, 04:59 AM

Obviously I wasn't patient enough to get that far through my website.

You can change the settings to lower the number of posts a user can view by going to your ACP --> vBulletin Options --> Limited Guest Viewing.

Masiello

03-19-2007, 05:24 AM

This add-on works great with'out any problem, I confirm that this don't block any spiders.
I believe that Welcome Headers system and Limited Guest Viewing are the two must important and usefull hack ever made for vBulletin users.

Thanks Ted_S

peterpigman

03-19-2007, 09:24 AM

I'm not sure how you're coming to this conclusion. Google does not use cookies and therefore it can't get blocked by this hack which is cookie based. Even if Google did use cookies the hack specifically excludes it (as well as yahoo, msn and a few others) from being impacted. Search rankings and indexing is dependant on a lot of factors, are you certain this is the only one on your site, outbound links, inbound links, content and so forth that has changed?

That said; if you don't think this addon is doing what you want it to do, please don't use it. My expertise is in helping communities become more marketable and to that end, I've released a few free addons to help sites out but not everything I make is ideal for every site.

I used http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Auncoverreality.com&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Which lists the sites links on google. We had 11,000 before we installed it now its down to 9000. I am not complaining btw just pointing out that it may have an effect. I like the hack a lot ty for it. Since i disabled it last week we are back up to 10,100 so something must not be working 100%. I love this hack but if we don't let you know the problems you can never improve it.

Ted S

03-20-2007, 01:00 AM

I used http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Auncoverreality.com&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Which lists the sites links on google. We had 11,000 before we installed it now its down to 9000. I am not complaining btw just pointing out that it may have an effect. I like the hack a lot ty for it. Since i disabled it last week we are back up to 10,100 so something must not be working 100%. I love this hack but if we don't let you know the problems you can never improve it.

If you feel it's impacting your SEO you should keep it off permanently -- Google is not always forgiving once it removes pages.

inciarco

03-23-2007, 01:02 AM

Great Add-On!! :up:

Congratulations, and Thank You Very Much Ted S!! :up:

I Send You My Best Regards!! :)

:)

apiasto

03-23-2007, 03:14 AM

great add on.working fine so far thnx

g00gl3r

03-24-2007, 12:42 PM

I've installed this but i'm sure it isn't working. I've turned it on and have set the limits to 5 for the message 10 for the block. And it seems guests are still wondering around more thn 5 pages to me.

Any1 tell if it's working? www.tilersforums.co.uk

g00gl3r

03-24-2007, 02:15 PM

OK, seems to be working, tested it in firefox. *installed* Working along side VBSEO too. Works great so far.

Ted S

03-24-2007, 07:38 PM

Glad to hear it!

dendrob

03-30-2007, 09:29 AM

I used http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=site%3Auncoverreality.com&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Which lists the sites links on google. We had 11,000 before we installed it now its down to 9000. I am not complaining btw just pointing out that it may have an effect. I like the hack a lot ty for it. Since i disabled it last week we are back up to 10,100 so something must not be working 100%. I love this hack but if we don't let you know the problems you can never improve it.

I'm assuming you have vbseo installed. If you check vbseo's forum, you'll find that fluctuations in pages indexed is pretty normal, I don't think this is caused by this hack

Smoothie

04-01-2007, 07:12 PM

When I did a "Site Diagnostics" from googls adsense, it showed no problems crawling pages.

RENDY81

04-06-2007, 06:50 AM

Thanks Alot, Great Mod, Installllll

kevcj

04-09-2007, 05:28 PM

Thank you, nice mod.

LordDB

04-16-2007, 05:51 PM

Hi Ted

Just what I'm now looking for but...

Is it possible to make this work for Registered Members only so to encourage them to pay for a Subscription?

Cheers!:)

Tom_S

04-16-2007, 07:02 PM

He did already...read back through the thread. I will try and find it.

EDIT
It starts around here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1197359&postcount=191

BadgerDog

05-02-2007, 01:14 PM

Ok, I finally got around to turning ON this option.

Once enabled, I logged out from my regular username on the board and left myself in "guest" state viewing the forum home. I then started looking at threads to build towards the warning count I had set to 5. Once there, the message appeared suggesting I should register.

I then kept viewing threads working towards the "block" setting of 10. Once there, sure enough, I got the message that my time was up and I had to register, just like it's supposed to. I assume a "cookie" got set someplace.

So, here's my problem....

I logged in under my regular registered username and did some work. I then logged out again to make sure that I wasn't able to continue using this same computer (due to cookie) as an unregistered guest. I expected to see the same message saying my time was up and I needed to register, but instead, it let me into viewing more threads?

So, just a guess, but I thought I'd ask. Does the "guest block" cookie get cleared when I log in from this same machine as a Registered Member?

Thanks for any feedback...

Regards,
Badger

Ted S

05-04-2007, 12:33 AM

When you logout your cookies are ALL cleared including the cookie this addon uses. This is not intended to stop people from being able to view threads if they work at, it's just a little bump in the road.

BadgerDog

05-04-2007, 10:10 AM

When you logout your cookies are ALL cleared including the cookie this addon uses. This is not intended to stop people from being able to view threads if they work at, it's just a little bump in the road.

So, again, just for clarity (I can be slow .. :D)

After a guest user gets blocked because he exceeded the views specified, all he has to do to start the viewing cycle all over again, is to shut down his browser on the machine he's using, then restart it.

Doing that causes the cookie that was set by your mod to deleted, so in essence, this mod only works as along as the user says in a current browser session. Correct?

If so, it's too bad a cookie can't be set that causes the machine not to be able to view more at all, unless it was specifically cleared by the machine user manually?

My apologies if I've misunderstood how the cookie operates...

Thanks again for your work....

Regards,
Badger

Ted S

05-05-2007, 12:57 AM

It's not a session based cookie so no, he would have to clear his cookies, login or do something to remove the cookie. Just closing a browser is not enough.

Ben5150VH

05-05-2007, 02:50 AM

thanks for this install

BadgerDog

05-05-2007, 01:00 PM

It's not a session based cookie so no, he would have to clear his cookies, login or do something to remove the cookie. Just closing a browser is not enough.

Understood ... :up:

Thank you... :)

Regards,
Badger

inciarco

05-12-2007, 01:08 PM

Magnific Add-On!! :up:

Works Ok With vBulletin 3.6.6!! :up:

:)

hoof

05-27-2007, 04:06 PM

Great product...easy install, Thanks!

Enyay

05-29-2007, 02:48 PM

/me installs - great thanks!

girlboheme

06-07-2007, 08:28 PM

I just wanted to let you know that I went from about 5 registering per day to 30 (still) and it's been six months. It quadrupled the member count we had after 1.5 years in just six months.

Thanks :)

HydraulicJack

06-08-2007, 07:59 PM

This looks like a very elegant system!

I'm curious though as to what happens if an unregistered person visits the website
but blocks the cookie.

Is the forum then wide open for viewing unlimited thread / post content, or???

HJ

Ted S

06-08-2007, 11:50 PM

The same thing that happens if a bot comes == there's nothing to count visits so they can keep on browsing.

HydraulicJack

06-09-2007, 12:02 AM

Thanks very much Ted... I saw your post here after I'd ask you this in the PM you so graciously sent. All the best!
HJ

Jibreil

06-10-2007, 09:03 PM

Thanks for this great MOD.

I was wondering besides the guests, whether Google, Yahoo! or MSN spiders are treated as guests or are they allowed to view any thread/forums infinite times?

Steve-EFC

06-10-2007, 09:19 PM

Thanks alot, Wanting this kind of a mod for a long time!

AnaB

06-10-2007, 11:00 PM

Great mod. Thanks so much. I have no idea how I hadn't seen this mod for so long.

AsilentFart02

06-11-2007, 03:56 AM

Nvm, figured it out. Is there any way to get this to show up in the main forum section instead of just topics?