I think I have finally worked out a way to make a personalised entry / specialised welcome page per usergroup for my site, using Logician's top quality mod and with a bit of his advice as well.
(Actually with Logician's powerful controls it could also target key individual users with a custom entry / welcome page as well as targeting usergroups.)
No messing with the login process, no secondary complications of being timed out and forced to return to the entry page when logging in again.
Also when giving the URL for entry to anyone in an email/ by phone/ visible on a webpage, in a letter or advert, the welcome page URL can be kept very simple and easy to remember.
The welcome page can provide any information, links, guides as relevant to e.g. very new user/ veteran user/ mods/ various needs for usergroups.
Using Logician's admin cp editor by pasting in a complex page from your own editor,
OR using the "Edit this page" Logician webeditor to make a simple page of information and links, it's not a big deal to create the welcome page you want.
1. I make a perfectly ordinary html page.
I'll call this the false welcome page.
This must NOT be a Logician Webtemplate.
Best to place it outside the vbulletin folder.
Its URL is something like
Code:
www.mysite.com/welcome
To get this ultra simple URL make a directory named
containing an index.html page. This is the false welcome page.
This URL is very easy for you to publicise and for your people and new possible people to remember.
Code:
www.mysite.com/welcome
is much more user friendly than either the forumhome (if it's in a subdirectory) or a webtemplate page. It's quick and simple to
- give out on the phone,
-- offer in an email, email signature
- include in a letter/ letter heasding, leaflet, or advert
- and perhaps most important it's easily remembered.
For me with international travelling users that's key as they can remember it wherever they are.
2. But the false welcome page - the index.html page inside the welcome directory
has nothing in it except a standard redirect to one of Logician's cool webtemplates - which because it is powerful has its characteristically more complex URL.
Redirect is done like this.
Put this code between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags of the index page in the "welcome" directory.
Code:
<meta HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" content="0; url=http://www.mysite.com/view.php?pg=test ">
Code:
www.mysite.com/view.php?pg=test">
the target for the redirect, is one of Logician's sample webtemplates which will be the TRUE welcome page.
Yours will replace mysite.com and also the name of the webtemplate on the end showing as "test."
3. Because the user is being redirected to a page INTERNAL to VBulletin the standard VB login interface HAS to appear.
The user logs in.
or registers, if you accept open registration.
4. They then arrive at the TRUE welcome page.
For them it's just
- use the very simple URL to the false welcome page (the ordinary html page)
- Login or register
- Arrive at the TRUE welcome page.
4A. The webtemplate on arrival, the TRUE welcome page, obviously has a link to the forumhome either in its navbar (if using the VB header) and optionally in a side menu.
(I recommend Ultimate Side Columns for use with Logician's Webtemplates)
It should also have a prominent link to the TRUE welcome page so users can get back to it for information, guides, links to frequently used areas, the stuff you put together to suit THEIR needs.
5. The TRUE welcome page is one single longish page, set to be accessible to ALL usergroups you want to use this method of entry.
Set that access for this page, in Logician's webtemplates admincp.
(You may also want some usergroups to just use the standard forumhome which you publicise to those types of user. Perhaps having a personalised welcome page is best for your newcomers? or useful as a privilege level gift.)
6. The TRUE welcome page/ webtemplate has sections that are different for different usergroups.
Welcome for very new users,
higher level content for veterans,
stuff for mods,
specifics for various usergroups.
Logician's online editor feature also supports a collaborative page maintained with colleagues, fellow mods, family wetc though this would probably mean a simpler page unless the collaborators are all coders!
These usergroup access controls are created by php conditionals as Logician showed earlier on this thread:
Code:
<if condition="$bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 6">
this content displays only to administrator
</if>
<if condition="$bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 2">
this content displays only to registered member
</if>
There is also php conditional code like this to target an individual user, or bar one otherwise allowed by their usergroup.
.................................................. ...
TO SUMMARISE
Use a false welcome page \directory-named-welcome\index.html
index.html redirects to the TRUE webtemplate welcome (Logician's webtemploate)
the TRUE webtemplate welcome is set in Logician's admin cp to all usergroups you want to have a welcome/ entry page
it has php conditionals to offer customised stuff to a) usergroups b) key individuals or bar same.
Phew! Thank you Logician for helping me so much on the way. I hope this little piece of work is not out of place here.
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