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

vB4 Users Find the vB4 Version Here.

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.

Modifications/ Instructions:
Template edits: 1
Plugins: 1 (adds 1 template and several settings)
SQL Queries: 2 [1 insert/update] (optional, with database setting used)

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.

Search Engine Bots (Spiders):

This plugin is intended to use cookies as a result few if any bots will be impacted when it comes to spidering your site [bots do not generally use cookies]. Users with IP logging enabled face more potential impact from spiders. For a full explanation of the impact on bots please read the install file. Questions about this issue should be asked after the install file will be read otherwise responses will direct you to read the file.

IP/ Database Logging:
As of version 2.0 this addon now allows for IP logging via mySQL instead of just using cookies. IP logging tracks visitors by IP address stopping issues associated with cookie clearing making the system more secure. This is optional and is turned off by default (adds a read-and insert/update query).

There are 3 possible downsides of this option you should be aware of.

1. The system adds an additional query and update every time a guest views a thread which adds to your server load.
2. Some users on ISPs like AOL share IPs and could be forced to register without being able to access any threads.
3. While spiders often change IPs and are specifically excluded (by hostmask) from the addon this is not absolute and it is possible they could be blocked. See the install file for more on this.

Welcome headers compatibility:
The Limited Guest Viewing is designed to work with the Welcome Headers System version 3.6 without any conflict. If you are using the notices system in 3.7 there is the possibility of duplicating messages.

[Joey805]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Probably possible. I'll look at the code next week.

Hey Ted,

Any updates on this?

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Joey805

Hey Ted,

Any updates on this?

The issue is that the block page is just an error message. The option would be to either hard code some changes in or redirect to a "new" error page which could be custom tracked but which adds to the amount of files and templates on your site.

[Mobo]

I have been looking at this mod for a while now. I was wondering how many of the new members gained by this mod are actually active in the forums? Have you notice an increase of inactive uses in proportion to new users?

[Log on]

very nice
thanx

[Bubble #5]

Is this the hack that doesn't work well with welcome headers, or was it the old version of welcome headers that had problems with this?

I'm using the 3.8 version (notices) of welcome headers...

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by Bubble #5

Is this the hack that doesn't work well with welcome headers, or was it the old version of welcome headers that had problems with this?

I'm using the 3.8 version (notices) of welcome headers...

Every version of this modification has worked with Welcome Headers since it was first released.

[Bubble #5]

OK thanks, I must have misunderstood the instructions where it says:

As a general rule, anyone not using the limited guest viewing system and not planning to do advanced changes is likely best of migrating to the notices system and to this version of the addon.

[Ted S]

As it says you are best off not using this version and limited guest viewing however you certainly can. The issue is that notices are global and may appear on a page where you have limited guest viewing messages as well. This doesn't break anything -- it's just less ideal for your users.

Using the older version of this addon the two do not run at the same time.

[chuckrobbie]

Thank you Ted...works like a charm!

[Bubble #5]

When we try to use this it causes our forum database to crash.

I keep getting database errors that seem to suggest a missing table. I'm not sure if I'm reading it right, but here is what it says:

Invalid SQL:

SELECT id,views
FROM vb38lgv AS lgv
WHERE lgv.ipaddress = '45.5.61.2';

MySQL Error : Table 'nhdrs_fom.vb38lgv' doesn't exist

I tried reinstalling but same problems happened. When we remove the hack the forum starts to work again.

How should we troubleshoot this?