Remove statistic information to increase registrations

[StarBuG]

Introduction:

I came up with this idea when I thought about "what discourages me from registering with a forum I don't know when the topic interests me?"

Ask yourself what you do when you are searching for a topic and find a forum.
Where do you look first? What is it that turns you away?

Right! You/I first check to see how many threads and posts are in this forum and then I check the stats for how many registered members there are.
If these numbers are to low for me, then I most likely don't even start to read in the forum.
Does this sound familiar to you? If it does this hack is for you!

What this hack does:

It removes the columns "threads" and "posts" (count) for guests but leaves them for members on FORUMHOME and FORUMDISPLAY.
Optional it removes the whole "what is going on" box.
This way you get rid of unimportant information for guests and let them focus on your content.
These information are only helpful anyway if you are the top dog in your niche and want to show of what you got. If you have a smaller forum these information will most likely discourage guests more then it would encourage them.


Installation:

Templates to edit: 6



In Template FORUMHOME find:



<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td> and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td>
</if>find:



<td class="tfoot" align="center" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">6<else />5</if>"><div class="smallfont"><strong>and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="tfoot" align="center" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">6<else />5</if>"><div class="smallfont"><strong>
<else />
<td class="tfoot" align="center" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">4<else />3</if>"><div class="smallfont"><strong>
</if>In Template forumhome_forumbit_level1_nopost



find:



<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions[showmoderatorcolumn]">6<else />5</if>">and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions[showmoderatorcolumn]">6<else />5</if>">
<else />
<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions[showmoderatorcolumn]">4<else />3</if>">
</if>In Template forumhome_forumbit_level1_post



find:



<td class="alt1">$forum[threadcount]</td>
<td class="alt2">$forum[replycount]</td>and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="alt1">$forum[threadcount]</td>
<td class="alt2">$forum[replycount]</td>
</if>In Template forumhome_forumbit_level2_nopost



find:



<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">5<else />4</if>">and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">5<else />4</if>">
<else />
<td class="tcat" colspan="<if condition="$vboptions['showmoderatorcolumn']">3<else />2</if>">
</if>In Template forumhome_forumbit_level2_post



find:



<td class="alt1">$forum[threadcount]</td>
<td class="alt2">$forum[replycount]</td>and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="alt1">$forum[threadcount]</td>
<td class="alt2">$forum[replycount]</td>
</if>In Template FORUMDISPLAY



find:



<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td>and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td>
</if>OPTIONAL:



If you want the "What is going on" box to be removed as well:



In Template FORUMHOME find:



<!-- what's going on box -->and replace it with:



<if condition="$show['member']">
<!-- what's going on box -->find:



<!-- end what's going on box -->and replace it with:



<!-- end what's going on box -->
</if>If you install this hack, please mark it as installed. Thank you.

DEMO: http://www.patientenfragen.net

NOTE:

I have just installed this mod on my forum www.patientenfragen.net (http://www.patientenfragen.net) and can't yet say if it really increases the registration rate like I think it will. But we will see ;)

Feedback is welcome

StarBuG

[bongwater]

thanks, I installed most of the code in my forum =)

[StarBuG]

I marked the remove part of the "what is going on" box as optional because I think that some admins still want these informations displayed.

Thanks for the hint ;)

Let me know how it works out for you

StarBuG

[jerseyda6]

hmmmmmmmm

[bashy]

hmmmmmmmm
Such an informative post, get with the program!

Thanks for this, gonna install now, sounds like a top idea, much appreciated :)

EDIT:

ok trying to install but i do not have this code in my forumhome

<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td>
Any thoughts please?

[StarBuG]

It's in line 39 & 40 of the standard FORUMHOME template of vB 3.6.7

A few lines under <!-- main -->

[bashy]

Me using the mns7 style, looks like this aint for me then, oh well, thanks anyway, still a great idea ;)

[Fungsten]

Installed.

[rjmjr69]

Can this be made into a plug in or product so members dont have to edit so many templates themselfs? I do not mind doing the edits I actually rather do it myself but I know allot of people on here are going to pass this hack up due to having to edit templates....... Its scary for allot of people.

As a hack user/installer what I first look for is the description of the hack and the installation information how long how many edits how many uploaded files how many plug ins etc etc..... lol
You'll end up with more members installing this cool mod if you do.

Good work non the less keep it up thanks.

[Fungsten]

I also pass up MODS if you have to manually edit too many templates.

Can this be made into a plug in or product so members dont have to edit so many templates themselfs? I do not mind doing the edits I actually rather do it myself but I know allot of people on here are going to pass this hack up due to having to edit templates....... Its scary for allot of people.

As a hack user/installer what I first look for is the description of the hack and the installation information how long how many edits how many uploaded files how many plug ins etc etc..... lol
You'll end up with more members installing this cool mod if you do.

Good work non the less keep it up thanks.

[StarBuG]

As far as I believe template edits (search, replace) are not possible with plugins/products.

I have the template management system (http://www.vbhacks-germany.org/showthread.php?t=5572) installed which does the edits automatically.
But the TMS is from Andreas and I think only available on the german vBulletin hack forum.
If anyone wants the xml file for the TMS System, just say so ;)

If anyone points me to a tutorial how to make template changes in a plugin or product I am happy to make this mod a product.

[Snider]

no where to be found in my template over at www.forumjunkies.net

<td class="thead">$vbphrase[threads]</td>
<td class="thead">$vbphrase[posts]</td>

Actually none of the Forumhome stuff is there period. Guess this only works with certain templates

[StarBuG]

search for

$vbphrase[threads]

maybe the css class "thead" is changed in your style
I doubt that your style uses changed phrases as well ;)

You need to modify my code to fit your style then.

[Snider]

$vbphrase[threads]: $totalthreads,
$vbphrase[posts]: $totalposts,
$vbphrase[members]: $numbermembers<if condition="$show['activemembers']">,

That is all I have - guess I wont be using this as I know nothing about mods as is why I come here :-)

[bashy]

I also have only this

<td class="alt1" width="100%">
<div class="smallfont">
<div>
<if condition="$totalcats or $totallinks or $totalcomments">
$vbphrase[threads]: $totalthreads, $vbphrase[posts]: $totalposts<br />
$vbphrase[ldm_links_database] $vbphrase[ldm_categories]: $totalcats, $vbphrase[ldm_entries]: $totallinks, $vbphrase[ldm_comments]: $totalcomments<br />
<else />
$vbphrase[threads]: $totalthreads,
$vbphrase[posts]: $totalposts,
</if>

What do i replace in that code above and with what (in case its changed) :)

Thanks....

[StarBuG]

With only a part of your forumhome templates I can't help you.
Attach all needed forumhome templates (including nopost, post,...) as txt file and I will have a look when I find the time.

[Snider]

This would also be better if you could remove the last posted date of the threads on the main page

That is something I look at first is when was the last post dated.

[StarBuG]

I don't think this will help much because you can see that info on all threads as well.

[Luky]

They will register and not post.

[StarBuG]

They will register and not post.

It is all about getting them read your content.
It does not help you to fill an empty forum.

But it helps to not let them leave right away because of some unimportant numbers ;)

[neopet001]

Good idea!
now I'm getting problem with the Dark_vb2 style while hacking this mod :D

[Smoothie]

In Template FORUMHOME find:


Code:
<!-- what's going on box -->

and replace it with:

Code:
<if condition="$show['member']">
<!-- what's going on box -->


The conditional appears to be missing its end tag (</if>)

[StarBuG]

The conditional appears to be missing its end tag (</if>)

It was not missing, I just forgot to move it to the optional part ;)
I fixed it here and in the txt file.

Thx

StarBuG

[fateL]

I do the last optional part but it messes up the table.

[StarBuG]

Then redo it.
Or get the original code back by restoring the template and do it again.

StarBuG

[StarBuG]

11 Installs on this one.

Any feedback on the success so far?

[amnesia623]

Maybe this could be useful to show thread information to registered users only?

[hrk]

i wanted to install but ill hold till i gett this ans
can i just directly jum to ur
"If you want the "What is going on" box to be removed as well:" part?

thanks. nice mod .

[cpvr]

Has this helped much?

[Shinou]

Nothing at all happened, I tried it on the vB default and no change at all. Everything is still there, anything I do wrong?

[StarBuG]

Redo all steps.

It seems you missed something then.

[yoyoyoyo]

Here is a TMS (Template Modification System) XML file, for those that have TMS installed. The XML includes the optional removal of the "What's Going On" area, so if you want to allow guests to see that edit the XML accordingly.

[StarBuG]

Thanks

I missed to attach the xml myself ;)

[AWJunkies]

Hey there is an issue with the mod. On your site you seem to have only ONE Category. When you have multiple categories this mod doesn't work. It ONLY works in the first cat and not the rest. The other cats show blank for DATA but still have the template. Uploading pic now. I have done the edits manually and with the xml and get same issue. There has been no edits or mods effecting the area either. I am stumped why it would do this?

Side note where did you get the mod to remove the displayforum info stuff to show the thread title and forum title instead?

For instance it says this: http://www.elternfragen.net/chat-ecke/halloween-t1351.html

[StarBuG]

It works with multiple categories, I have tested this.

You have modified your forumhome to put spaces between categories.
This is the reason for why my mod is not working on your forum.

You have to find the colspan part in your modified version and adapt my mod to your forum.

[AWJunkies]

Yeah I thought that might be it. But weird it works for first category. Not sure what mod I have for the spacing was looking all over this site and non of them is what I used. SO will look.

EDITED:

OK works perfect I found the template and product. Edited it and walla works perfect. Thanks so much a much needed mod.

[StarBuG]

You're welcome ;)

[ymy]

Thanks a lot

I removed only "What is going on" one year ago

in this year the registration increases from about 3000 user to about 65000 user

* I don’t know if this was reason

YmY

[AWJunkies]

Side note where did you get the mod to remove the displayforum info stuff to show the thread title and forum title instead?

For instance it says this: http://www.elternfragen.net/chat-eck...een-t1351.html

[StarBuG]

The mod rewrite of my urls is done by vBSEO (http://www.vbseo.com/791/) as well as a lot other SEO optimizations.
However vBSEO costs 149$

There are other free mods out there that do the mod rewrite of the url but not all the SEO options you get with vBSEO.

There is a big discussion about if it is worth the money or not. 50% say it is, 50% say it is not.

I bought 2 licenses mainly because of the mod rewrite of the urls and the total compatibility with mods and add ons.
I tried the free mods and they all had their flaws.
So I can say for myself, that for me it was worth spending the money.

But that is a personal choice.

[Keesa]

Do you know if there is a way to remove it not only for guests but also for members? I find it to be clunky and meaningless really when if they drill down they also see the views and the replies?

I would rather they see hot topic titles?

Would it just be to remove the conditions of if... show member?

[StarBuG]

You must remove the condition, yes.

Everything between and including <if condition="$show['member']"> and </if> or <else>

[guptadogg]

I Get This -

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/external/2007/12/21.jpg

[Arrogant-One]

That is all I have - guess I wont be using this as I know nothing about mods as is why I come here :-)
I don't know if this really would improve registration rates. But I concede, its a very very interesting topic.

AO

[Keesa]

I talked to my users and they like the post counts, it is the thread counts that make them worry. Is there an easy way to only remove thread counts and leave post counts?

[StarBuG]

@guptadogg... that is because you use category spacing. With this mod the templates change and you need to adapt my changes to your template changes.

[guptadogg]

@guptadogg... that is because you use category spacing. With this mod the templates change and you need to adapt my changes to your template changes.

So how do I remove category spacing?

[Rob1986]

Installed and working on www.musclemecca.com

Thank you.