[vgevolution]

Hi sabert00the, I'll keep an eye out for those fixes, but in the meantime, I have some suggestions to flesh out the moderation and privacy options.

Right now, as I see it, here's how the two options (moderate and private) work and my observations:

Moderate Members:

• :up: Non-members must be approved to become full members of a moderated group
• :down: If a non-member joins a moderated group, they get a message that they are now a member of that group, not one that tells them they must await approval to be a full member
• :down: The Total Members count increases before the prospective member has been approved
• :down: Non-members can post in public, moderated groups, no membership needed

Private Posts:

• :up: Non-members can't see any threads
• :down: Non-members can see membership info (Total Members, View All Members, Latest Members, etc)
• :down: Non-members can join any "private" area unless it is also moderated.

Other:

• :up: I love the option to only allow the group leader thread-creation permission
• :up: Kicking - Members who are "Kicked" from a group can attempt to rejoin
• :down: There's no true "Ban" option for leaders to permanently ban problem users from their group (and dealing with their rejoin requests) without site admins creating a special "Cannot Use Groups" usergroup with no group permissions at all

Here's what I'd LOVE to see:

Moderate Members becomes Moderated Group
Private Posts becomes Private Group

Implications on usage:

Public Groups:

• Non-members can view posts in Public Groups
• Non-members must use a captcha image to create posts or join
• Non-members can see membership info
• Non-members can join (using captcha image), and become Full Members immediately
• Only Full Members can make posts without captcha images and send invites
• The captcha suggestion is purely for anti-spam purposes and to encourage non-members to join
• Make the captcha an option for group management

Moderated Groups:

• Non-members can view, but not post in Moderated Groups at all
• Non-members can apply for membership using a captcha image, and become "Pledges", not hidden members
• Pledges receive a notice that they must await approval
• The Total Members only counts Full Members, not Pledges
• A new Total Pledges stat becomes available to leaders, with link to moderation page
• When a Pledge is approved, the Pledge receives a PM that they're now full members
• Once approved, Full Members can reply to threads and send invites
• After a set time limit (7, 14 or 30 days, etc), Pledges expire and are automatically denied and pruned, yet they can apply again afterwards

Private Groups:

• Private automatically indicates Moderated, otherwise there is little reason to be Private
• Non-members cannot view or post in Private Groups, nor can they see Membership info
• Non-members can see the group description, the group leader info and a link to join
• Non-members can apply for membership using a captcha image, and become "Pledges", not hidden members
• The Total Members only counts Full Members, not Pledges
• A new Total Pledges stat becomes available to leaders, with link to moderation page
• Once approved, Full Members can view and reply to threads, send invites and view membership info
• After a set time limit (7, 14 or 30 days, etc), Pledges expire and are automatically denied and pruned, yet they can apply again afterwards

Other Ideas:

• A checkbox for "Closed Membership" - This option grants group leaders the ability to close the group to new members, i.e., non-members cannot attempt to join. Non-members retain the same privileges as they did, they just can't try to join.
• Banning - Members who are "Banned" from a group cannot attempt to rejoin without the group leader's permission (by removing their ID from a ban list)

I have more, but this is a start.