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.

[basketmen]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Have you read the hack description or the explanation of how it works with bots?

yup i had read it before

i just want to know experience from others if you try to set it to 0 or 1 what will happening with search engine google

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by basketmen

yup i had read it before

i just want to know experience from others if you try to set it to 0 or 1 what will happening with search engine google

This hack isn't intended to block the viewing of threads (0). If you want that setting use your user group permissions, not this addon. If you set it to 1 it's the same as setting it to 99999, bots don't use cookies (at least not yet).

[basketmen]

This hack isn't intended to block the viewing of threads (0). If you want that setting use your user group permissions, not this addon. If you set it to 1 it's the same as setting it to 99999, bots don't use cookies (at least not yet).

hi ted

i mean i want all user that view thread for the first time get block but i dont want block search engine google to crawl


because 45% my visitor just about 30 second in my forum then leave
i want them register first before they read the thread and leave


or you recomending 2 as minimum set to block???

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by basketmen

hi ted

i mean i want all user that view thread for the first time get block but i dont want block search engine google to crawl


because 45% my visitor just about 30 second in my forum then leave
i want them register first before they read the thread and leave


or you recomending 2 as minimum set to block???

I would never recommend blocking your visitors from reading their first thread... People visiting a site expect to see the content they came looking for, denying it to them tends to scare them off. Only in the case of reputable brands (i.e. major newspapers) or very high-demand sites are able to do this with success and even then they tend to have tremendous bounce rates.

Will some people register to read their first thread? Of course. But most won't because they've had no chance to see what their missing out on.

This addon is not designed to truly block users. If you want to do that you should use your usergroup permissions and find an addon to treat bots as registered members or something else that lets them view content.

[MrNase]

What are your experiences? Did it really help you to get guests to register?

[basketmen]

What are your experiences? Did it really help you to get guests to register?

i just try it in test forum

register stats must be increase with block set to 0 , the problem is this will block search engine google too or not if block set to 0


the success forum like this is forums.offtopic.com , guest cant read the thread so they must be register to read, but search engine google cant crawl it too http://www.google.com/search?q=site%...s.offtopic.com


imagine how if google can crawl thread in that forum too

offtopic.com is the largest forums that using vbulletin in big-boards.com stats

[Ted S]

Just because another site is able to block guests entirely doesn't mean you'll find success doing the same. Big Boards have a different dynamic than smaller sites, mainly in their appeal and viral notoriety. And of course, every niche is different.

Blocking guests from viewing anything is a hard sell.

[basketmen]

ok i just need this answer, last question


it is ok for search engine google if i set 2 to block thread?

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by basketmen

ok i just need this answer, last question

it is ok for search engine google if i set 2 to block thread?

I can only tell you how the hack works. Determining if that meets your SEO needs is entirely up to you.

[markdekwant]

Nice one dude :O