[Ted S]

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the old welcome headers system work on 3.7.0?

Yes. You can continue to use the existing welcome headers system with no changes required.

Will my I see my existing customized messages if I upgrade to the new version?

No. Since the addon now makes use of the Notices feature, any old customizations you may have made will no longer appear. You can however copy and paste all of your custom messages into the new notices system.

How can I customize my welcome messages / notices?

Messages can be customized (including changing the rulesets and orders) by visiting the “Notices” tab in your ACP. Each messages is labeled clearly to make it easy to identify.

Now that there is a notices system, why should I use the welcome headers addon?

With the launch of the Notices system, Welcome Headers may seem to be obsolete and in fact, the code that has been used on thousands of forums for over 3 years is no longer being offered in the latest system. Instead Welcome Headers has migrated from a coding addon to a set of default messages and business rules intended to help you customize your system. If you already have your own rules and messages there may not be a reason for you to use welcome headers but for sites use to the welcome headers systems, it’s still a simple and easy way to get started.

Are there any limitations to the Notices system that would make me want to use the old welcome headers instead?

There are a few reasons to use the old welcome headers although they are possible to address with some logic and/or code.

First and perhaps most importantly, the Notices system only allows one condition per rule set. What does this mean? You can’t exclude a message from both Guests and Unregistered Members. The solution to this is often to just rethink your ruleset using something like “Has Posted” (guests can’t post) but occasionally you may find the conditions limiting.

Second, each of your messages will appear inside the same template file. With some customization and conditionals this can be tweaked around but out of the box, your messages will follow the same general outline making them consistent. This means if you are using an image for your guest message, you would need to take extra steps to make your other messages display properly. The solution to this is to remove all HTML from the notices template and customize the layout directly through the notice body; this way you can have entirely different styles for different messages.

Last off, the Notices system has a limited number of predefiend variables (which makes sense as it's intended for your direct use, not a third party message). As such, any messages added by welcome headers or any other addon must be customized to insure the proper site title appears. This is not a limit so much as a nuisance. So remember to customize your messages to include your forum's name!