is it working in 3.6.5

Wast that to me? If so, can you tell me how to access this function?

Anyone...?

Figured it out.

I wish the threads themselves were invisible though...hmm...

i notice it makes the threads only appear to be private because the posts within the faux private threads are available via search for all posts by user. Apparently the mod should really be titled Not Quite Private Threads

Pls consider this: there is a difference between using the search function as admin and as normal user or even guest. Different rights mean different (search) results. :)

I believe that you did what I did before with this addon: I did him wrong because I forgot that admins won't be excluded from those threads for security purpose. I had the same complaints before I checked normal user rights instead of my admin account (dumb, I know :D).

Log out and re-check via guest or normal user account and get back here. The only thing I receive is "This is a private thread" when doing a search then but no content insecurity after all.

BTW: addon works smooth with vb 3.8

I wouldn't have posted without first trying both as an admin and as a regular user, plus I had several of my regular users point out to me that while the thread is private when they attempt to access it, when they go to a user's profile page and select show all posts by user the posts from the supposedly private thread show up.

Go to the creator of a private thread that your regular user account should not be able to read. Go to Statistics, then do Show All Posts by <creator of the private thread>. In addition to all the non-private thread posts, the private thread posts are fully displayed.

In order to prevent this I currently have to disable the Forum Search for my users (as the Private Threads is more important to them), but I shouldn't have to.

would you please try the procedure I described in the earlier post to see if this is a basic deficiency of the mod or a difference between v3.7x and v3.8?

I kinda agree. To me, its not even "Not Quite Private Threads." Its more like "Deny Post Viewing For Certain Users or Groups."

@The author: Dont get me wrong, the hack itself is excellent...I simply feel that its misnamed.

For example, a private message cant be seen by anyone at all except for those whom its intended for. Thus i think that a private THREAD should be 100% invisible if you arent part of the usergroup(s)/ person(s) who are allowed to see it...

It should be like ts not even there. If I start a private thread as an admin, I should be able to see it...but if I log in as a regualr user, it should be as it it doesnt exist at ALL...

Again, just my two cents. Its partially there by disallowing the viewing of the conversation in question. If it were to be taken to that last step? It'd be killer...

and if the denied users or groups really want to see what they're begin denied they only have to go to the thread creator's public profile and look at all posts by user to read everything in the thread. it's kind of like when children make something invisible by covering their eyes ;)

other than that little issue, the hack is beautiful and my users value it so much that they are willing to lose the searching facilities of VB in order to maintain the security of the hack.

Hello folks!

I am finally back after some testing and I also had a look at the source code of this addon aswell.

To make it short:

1. This addon is save only under certain additional conditions which need to be set by an admin
   
2. The addon has no flaws

Kinda paradoxical, or? But read on! :)

Here are now the results of my investigations regarding the so-called security flaws

The "search postings" issue is a flaw but not of the addon but of the cache.
You need to rebuild your search index cache to make the addon work 100%. After rebuilding there will be a message in the search posting preview "This is message from private thread". Technically the addon is flawless - the problem is the forum search cache.

How to fix that issue

• Rebuild your cache often via cron
• Allow the addon only in certain forums which aren't searchable
• Allow the addon only in certain forums which are restricted to certain usergroups only, but take care: then the problem applies to the members of the usergroup itself if you do not alter the search rules to the forum
• Turn of "posting preview" or reduce the number of letters (standard: 200, to be found in search.php)
• Use a spoiler to at least 200 letters for each posting

My suggestions
Use the addon only in forums where the search function is put off or at least restricted to titles only.

Rebuildung your Search Index Cache somehow sucks, because of the time gaps and the huge server load it creates.

So does this mod still work.

Does it really create thread privacy or are there loopholes?

If I'm reading Rene correctly the mod does create fully private threads if you limit it to forums that are not searchable, and if you rebuild your search cache often.

Unfortunately constantly rebuilding the search cache is not realistic due to the time and server resources required.

So this leaves us with the option of shutting off the search function on the board or limiting the mod to forums which have the search function disabled.

I have no problem with exchanging the search functionality for the private threads.

I am indifferent as to where the fault lies: I prefer to fix the flaws than to affix the blame. Whether you want to say the mod is flawed or the caching algorithm of VB is flawed, is immaterial to me.

I do believe the limitations and implicit requirements should be noted prominently in the mod's documentation so that admins are forewarned, rather than finding out about it after one of your members realizes that she posted info about her adulterous affairs in a private thread that wasn't all that private...

Can't find the ON/OFF Switch!!!

What does Admin Panel/Forum Rights/?

There is no such option in the Admin CP

Thanks!

go into the Admin CP -> Forums & Moderators -> Forum Manager

expand the forums and permission each in the Enable / Disable Private Thread Option towards the bottom.

I understand your point.

Understand mine.

My point is that the hack is GREAT. But it should be called "Private POSTS" instead of "Private Thread" :)

There is a plugin that is disabled by default:
Private Threads: Get Private/Restricted Users showthread_complete
What does that one do? Why is it disabled?

Also -- do you know how the mod interacts with mysql fulltext search? Does it still have the same problems?

Also -- is it still set up for admin only to be able to 'private' things?

It's an excellent mod -- I used the older version (long ago) and found them useful for our boards. Thanks for putting it together (it's BIG!) and thanks for supporting it.

One comment: I am running a huge board with many forums. It would be great if the admin controls had a setting that would propagate through child forums.

BUG: Edit (AJAX) of the first post of a thread results in the loss of the private flag for the thread.

A question, does this work with VB4?

Has anyone tested it?

Just curious, does this mod let the ability of "only the specified users can post to the thread, but everyone (with forum access permission) can still view it"?

Basically, I see full private as being something more left to PMing, so I wanna use this to let members control who can post to their thread, but still allow everyone else to view the thread.

Is there a way to make the first post visible to all and only the replies to make them private?

German Product ...

Has there been any activity in this mod? I would like to use Tapatalk on my board, but the security of the private threads is being violated. I need to figure out what I need to do in the tapatalk search.php so that the private threads are respected.

Is it possible for 4.22 to work?

is still my question, if some coder here he will bring it to work for 4.22 i will pay for it.

pm me

regards

If the code is available for review I would be willing to do the work on this.

Last Activity: 03 Aug 2009 17:13 so i think this developer is no more intrested, can somebody work for 4.22?

Thanks

This code is not marked reusable. It cannot be updated by a third party unless given permission from the original author. :)

I Now and this is the problem with vbulletin, the autor of this mod is no more here, this website is also down, this autor will not come back and now a good mod will by die! it?s a pity

It's not a problem with vBulletin, it is copyright laws. The code belongs to the person who wrote it, not vBulletin.