Hack to allow forum veteran to create thread that only verterans can post in?
 

Rather than create a separate sub forum..
Is it possible for forum veterans (say - with one year membership) to be able to create a thread - that only OTHER veterans can post in?

The benefit? It would allow:

Newbies to read the threads but not ruin them with inexperience
All threads (newbies & veterans) to exist within the same one forum
Avoid the creation of an "elitist" sub forum area
Make browsing of the one forum easier than having to shuttle between the veterans forum and the 'everyone area'.

Any ideas how to manage this?

I suppose at the time of posting the thread - there would have to be an option to select

a) Let all participate
or
b) Let only veterans participate

I think it would be fantastic..

Any ideas? Does such a thing already exist? Would anyone else like it too?

Thanks VB comrades!

only idea i know of is 2 make a VETS ONLY usergroup and VETS ONLY section...

I have seen mods to ban users from threads, require passwords for threads and have private threads. Maybe one of those could be used to do what you want with a little bit of modification. (I saw them all when searching "thread*" in "all mods" "titles only")

Unfortunately that splits the forum in two - making it a segregated / "split" reading experience for the forum reader.:(

--------------- Added [DATE]1240953982[/DATE] at [TIME]1240953982[/TIME] ---------------

cool tip - I will try that search - thanks!

Keep the suggestions coming!

And your original suggestion doesn't?

By allowing certain users to create a thread (which is easily done using group permissions) and allowing another group to only read it (again, easily done via permissions), you've effectively split your forum.

IMO, not a good idea, as it only alienates your users, and causes many to make BS posts just to up their post count.

hehe..

I like the spirit of your challenge.. :D

However - there is one point slightly wrong (that I may have not made clear) the admin and moderators seem to favor duration of membership (say - one year...?) as a criteria for 'veteran status' and ability to post in 'veteran threads'.. (not post count)

I fully agree with you about BS posting to achieve post count..:down: That would be bad I 100% agree.

And again - splitting the forum up into sub forums would 'break' the forum followers reading experience..

How to not let newbies wreck popular forums? How to let them read all but be locked out of posting on selected threads only? - That is the question..

Still looking for a solution...:eek:

It seems impossible to avoid at least some sort of elitism (but at least with the system described above it would be the "same rule for all" - Earn your stripes by waiting one year) I will be dammed if I will chop the forum up into smaller sub forums..

I cant be the only community manager facing these sorts of issues! It's good to get into them here, I wish there were more threads like this..

Any how - advice greatly appreciated - bring it on!

If your advice is stronger moderation / leadership so be it - but I am seeking guidance.. There surely has to be a limit to the amount of newbies silly comments that moderators can deal with..? Regular forum veterans can get chased away as a forum get popular..

Thanks in advance, :up::up:

It's "new" blood that allows a forum to grow, and it's something that all admins need. If you have a good, established membership to start with, new registrants will either stay and participate, or they'll quickly find that the place just isn't for them. You're going to have growing pains with any new influx of people. It's how you handle them that allows your site to either stagnate or grow.

Its the technical nature of the forum subject matter, often newbies simply aren't able to 'hang' with the veterans and converse on an equal footing - newbies inexperience annoys the veterans.

Without the veterans the forum could end up becoming "the blind leading the blind" - or 'dumbed down'..

Its getting difficult to manage sometimes as the forum grows (I am aware that's the gig for myself and the moderators!) I'm just looking around for options..

How to keep the veterans happy - and still welcome newbies..

Perhaps we need a Kindergarden zone...???

If your veteran members are that intolerant to new ideas and discussions, I think you may be looking at this from the wrong angle.

Forum growth is a weird thing... you want your forum to grow and be successful, but at the same time there are a whole bunch of new issues you have to deal with.

On my forum, I created a new forum only for the veterans. I don't even advertise that it is there. They will just suddenly find themselves able to 'see' a new forum when they hit 1000 posts. This allows the 'veterans' who have gotten to know each other quite well, to have a place to share pictures or thoughts without knowing all these newbies are lurking around seeing everything they post. They still 'play' out in the main forum with the newbies, but they also play in their little private forum too. I manually control who gets into this forum - I don't use the promotion system - so that I can make sure some person who only posts smilies or covers in our covers forum doesn't get in.