Show Thread Enhancements - Limited Guest Viewing -- Motivate Guests to Register

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 [or membership upgrades] by limiting the number of threads guests [or certain membergroups] 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.

Install Instructions: Read the install file. Customize via admin settings & templates.

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.

Search Engine Bots (Spiders): Anything that changes your forum viewing can impact how search engines treat it. The cookie approach used by this modification is bypassed by many bots and, since people can still view posts, cloaking should not apply. Users with IP logging may face more restrictions although a filtering system lets defined spiders pass. This plugin is intended to limit repetitive viewing and not restrict people from single views.

For a full explanation of the impact on bots read the install file before asking questions.

Usergroup Limitations:
Version 2.1 introduces basic usergroup limiting with the same rules & messages guests get. Based on demand this may be extended to a per-usergroup level restriction and messaging in the future.

Change Log:
- 7.21.2012 - Update to 2.1.0 which adds usergroup limiting, fixes mySQL 5.5 support, removes the need for template editing, cleans up install guide. Upgrading is optional.

Mod Philosophy -- Drive Your Own Success:
All of my mods are inspired by my work in the digital industry and are designed to drive registrations, interaction or other engagement activities the core platform does not address. Each is designed to fit a general need by providing a starting point but it's on you to decide how to make things work to their best possible outcome. Don't stay in the box.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by rosmac54

Hey Tom great Mod... been using this mod for over 3 years and love it. Great job my friend! Question what do I need to replace to get this to work with registered members. Looking at your code I cannot for the life of me figure this out! I know that non reg is 1 and my registered is 2, could you please let me know where to make these changes in the code and does it also need to be done in MySQL...if so where? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Ross

Tom? We've got an Andrew, a Drew, but no Tom's around here to pass your remarks on to...

As far as your question, if you want to limit how registered members see threads you'd essentially be taking the base code and rewriting the check functionality to switch from guest to a usergroup check. You can find the aproppriate functions in the vBulletin documentation.

[rosmac54]

Thanks for all your smart ass help TED! TEDDY! EDWARD! EDWARDO! UN-Installed. I'll rewrite the whole thing and post it. One word of advice...be very careful who you insult, especially when you have NO IDEA who you are insulting.

[Videx]

Originally Posted by rosmac54

Thanks for all your smart ass help ... be very careful who you insult

I think you have seriously misinterpreted his response if you think that was an insult. The smiley alone shows he's just palling around. Lighten up.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by rosmac54

Thanks for all your smart ass help TED! TEDDY! EDWARD! EDWARDO! UN-Installed. I'll rewrite the whole thing and post it. One word of advice...be very careful who you insult, especially when you have NO IDEA who you are insulting.

What insult? Now I'm even more confused.

Anyways to each their own. But if you do decide to create a better version of this idea I certainly do hope you share it with the community. That's the point of this all, right?

[iadventure]

I get database error when I try to install on 4.1.12.
I even used the updated one from page one as well. no dice.

[xRaW]

Originally Posted by Ted S

vBulletin has generally assumed MyISAM but this is not a big deal. Simply remove the Type=MyISAM bit leaving ); in the query / xml file.

thanks i had the same error and that worked. I could easily enable MyISAM but i was being lazy so just removed type=MyISAM

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by xRaW

thanks i had the same error and that worked. I could easily enable MyISAM but i was being lazy so just removed type=MyISAM

InnoDB is a better option anyways

[Geisthund99]

Change: TYPE=MyISAM to Engine=MyISAM
Works for Mysql 5 plus
HTH

[cooljeba]

Thanks Installed

[Ted S]

Hey LGV users!

It's been a while since we've had an update for the mod and today's release of 2.1.0 is one part functionality, one part compatibility...

- Adds basic usergroups limiting just like guests get
- Adds option to enable/ disable guest blocking
- Removes requirement for template edits
- Removes references to MyISAM to support mySQL 5.5 and above
- Updates search bot list and checking process

Of course if there's other features you'd like to see please chime in.