Add-On Releases - Limited Guest Viewing -- Improve community registration rates

Note: This addon works with the 3.6.x series only. Click Here for the 3.7.0 version of this addon.

With vBulletin, forum guests are able to view endless amounts of content without being directly asked or forced to register no matter how many times they come back. The purpose of the Limited Guest Viewing System is to drive in registrations by limiting the number of threads guests are able to view without interruption.

This plugin offers two options which can be used to drive in more registrations. The first option allows you to show a reminder message or advertisement after a guest has viewed a certain number of threads. The second option puts up a roadblock stopping guests from viewing threads altogether after reaching a certain number of views. Both options work together to encourage and ultimately force anonymous visitors to either register or login but can also be used separately based on your individual needs.

Because this plugin uses cookies, few if any bots will be impacted when it comes to spidering your site.

Modifications/ Instructions:
Template edits: 1
Plugins: 1 (adds 1 template and several settings)

This template hack should take under 5 minutes to implement and customize.

Customizing the content / messages
To customize which messages appear or what they say, go to vBulletin options, select the ?Limited Guest Viewing System? group and configure the options as desired. Each phase can be modified by adding translation text.

Through the ACP you can enable or disable each option, specify the number of threads that can be viewed before the option is enabled and input any forums you wish to exclude from being blocked.

About spiders/bots
This plugin works by setting a cookie to track the number of visits from a particular user. As bots do not tend to accept cookies, they should not be blocked. To further insure there is no spider accessibility issues, there script identifies major bots (google, yahoo, msn, aol) and explicitly lets them through -- you can easily add to this list by editing the plugin code should you so desire, however, unless a bot starts taking cookies this should not be necessary.


Welcome headers compatibility
The Limited Guest Viewing is designed to work with the Welcome Headers system without any conflict. To insure that welcome header messages do not show up at the same time as the limited guest viewing message, please be sure you are running welcome headers version 4.1.3 or greater (released 11/19).

Updates
5/9/2008 - Released update to prevent installs on 3.7 boards.
2/18/2007 - Minor update to fix register link. Updates optional.
11/20/2006 - Minor update released to fix error with links in some messaging. Updates recommended.

[kevcj]

Thank you, nice mod.

[LordDB]

Hi Ted

Just what I'm now looking for but...

Is it possible to make this work for Registered Members only so to encourage them to pay for a Subscription?

Cheers!

[Tom_S]

He did already...read back through the thread. I will try and find it.


EDIT
It starts around here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost....&postcount=191

[BadgerDog]

Ok, I finally got around to turning ON this option.

Once enabled, I logged out from my regular username on the board and left myself in "guest" state viewing the forum home. I then started looking at threads to build towards the warning count I had set to 5. Once there, the message appeared suggesting I should register.

I then kept viewing threads working towards the "block" setting of 10. Once there, sure enough, I got the message that my time was up and I had to register, just like it's supposed to. I assume a "cookie" got set someplace.

So, here's my problem....

I logged in under my regular registered username and did some work. I then logged out again to make sure that I wasn't able to continue using this same computer (due to cookie) as an unregistered guest. I expected to see the same message saying my time was up and I needed to register, but instead, it let me into viewing more threads?

So, just a guess, but I thought I'd ask. Does the "guest block" cookie get cleared when I log in from this same machine as a Registered Member?

Thanks for any feedback...

Regards,
Badger

[Ted S]

When you logout your cookies are ALL cleared including the cookie this addon uses. This is not intended to stop people from being able to view threads if they work at, it's just a little bump in the road.

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by Ted S

When you logout your cookies are ALL cleared including the cookie this addon uses. This is not intended to stop people from being able to view threads if they work at, it's just a little bump in the road.

So, again, just for clarity (I can be slow .. )

After a guest user gets blocked because he exceeded the views specified, all he has to do to start the viewing cycle all over again, is to shut down his browser on the machine he's using, then restart it.

Doing that causes the cookie that was set by your mod to deleted, so in essence, this mod only works as along as the user says in a current browser session. Correct?

If so, it's too bad a cookie can't be set that causes the machine not to be able to view more at all, unless it was specifically cleared by the machine user manually?

My apologies if I've misunderstood how the cookie operates...

Thanks again for your work....

Regards,
Badger

[Ted S]

It's not a session based cookie so no, he would have to clear his cookies, login or do something to remove the cookie. Just closing a browser is not enough.

[Ben5150VH]

thanks for this install

[BadgerDog]

Originally Posted by Ted S

It's not a session based cookie so no, he would have to clear his cookies, login or do something to remove the cookie. Just closing a browser is not enough.

Understood ... :up:

Thank you...

Regards,
Badger

[inciarco]

Magnific Add-On!! :up:

Works Ok With vBulletin 3.6.6!! :up: