Add-On Releases - Welcome headers - Improve community registration rates

Out of the box, your forum isn't personalized to assist or address your visitors. As a result, guests entering on a page other than the homepage (which is most often the case) have no idea what to do or why to register. Additionally, there are no visible status indicators, making it confusing for unconfirmed, unapproved or new members to know what to do or where to begin. But with a little customization, the use of the vBulletin Notices System and Welcome Headers, you can solve these issues in just a few minutes.

What is Welcome Headers?

Welcome Headers is a set of predefined messages and rules designed to help you get started in personalizing your site's notices using the vBulletin notice feature. The default templates are just that, default ? I highly encourage you to modify and add to the language and rules to meet the needs of your actual community environment.

Modifications/ Instructions:

Plugins: 1 (notices entries, rules and phrases)
This template hack should take under 5 minutes to implement and customize.

Installation/ Upgrade Instructions

1 ? Backup any existing welcome header messages (upgrading)
2 ? Remove the default welcome header from your forum home template (new installs)
3 ? Install the attached plugin file
4 ? Now Required: Customize the messages to include your site's name

For detailed instructions on each step please view the install.html file included with this addon.

Support

Please post any enhancement or technical questions you may have and I will do my best to respond in a timely manner. Please note: I can not guarantee an immediate response and am unable to assist with integrating this addon with other addons or with HTML related questions.

Why use this when the notices system exists?

Welcome Headers have been around since before vBulletin 3.0 but as of 3.7 the functionality of the system was no longer needed as vBulletin added its own native feature to handle notices. However while the notices feature lets you show welcome header style messages it doesn't give you any to start with. This addon no longer adds functionality but instead provides a set of 4 notices that have been time-tested and help your forum grow and function better for guests and members.

Please be sure to customize and add to the messages from this addon to match the individual needs of your forum!

Older Version Support

While most users are choosing to upgrade to the notices system, there are some advantages to the "old" system mainly in that it does not rely on a rules system and can be configured as designed with code changes. Additionally, the "old" version has automatic interfacing with several other addons which the notices system does not. For this reason, the old version is still supported and remains fully compatible with 3.8.

Updates from 3.7

No changes have been made; the code needed for both is the same so upgrading is not necessary.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by macgregor

Ok. Clarification.
I was understanding this hack already then and installing tonite.
Many thanks.

I checked out your DM site and registered since I dive.
Once I registered I got a welcome screen module that was
not default. I would like to incorporate similar welcome screen.
That is a beautiful site btw.

Guidance much appreciated.

You can do that with this addon. Just customize it with your text and links.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by macgregor

This one......



Congratulations *****, your D M account has been setup!

We know there's a lot to D M so here's a few ideas to get you started.
? Fill out your d profile and your general profile to help other members get to know a little more about you. You can explain your whole history or just provide the basics -- either way, it helps other members understand who their talking to.
? Once your profile is complete, why not make your official entrance to the community by posting in our new members introductions forum. It's a simple way to get to meet a few members and get all of your questions answered. If you'd prefer to dive right in and ask a question or post your comments, you're welcome to do that as well.
? If you're feeling overwhelmed, try our getting started tutorial for a step-by-step guide to getting the most out of your D M account.
There's a lot more to D M than just forum discussions, you might also be interested in visiting our photo galleries, browsing through our events calendar, searching for local ds or browsing some of our other content or articles.
________________________________________[ARG:4 UNDEFINED]

I believe that is on the post-registration page and is a customization of the existing, default registration message.

[Abbsta]

Fantastic! this is what I was looking for and like you said..

help people get started

so Thank you!

[Super-six]

Originally Posted by Ted S

I believe that is on the post-registration page and is a customization of the existing, default registration message.

Although Im aware it isnt really the subject here...Id be most grateful
if you could tell me where to input this custom message....

adminCP > vBulletin Options > [????]

Thanks

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by macgregor

Although Im aware it isnt really the subject here...Id be most grateful
if you could tell me where to input this custom message....

adminCP > vBulletin Options > [????]

Thanks

Sorry it's been a while since I customized the message but it is a phrase. Just copy some of the text out of what you have now and search your phrases for it.

[Super-six]

Originally Posted by Ted S

Sorry it's been a while since I customized the message but it is a phrase. Just copy some of the text out of what you have now and search your phrases for it.

Good enough. I went in and found it. Thanks.

Installed the Welcome Message Headers last night. Terrific.
However, this morning Im noticing an extraordinary number of
visitors getting error messages - [triangle symbol with "!"]

Any special settings involved?

[Ted S]

Welcome headers does not change navigation or pages other than to add an additional table through a default vBulletin feature so it should not (and really cannot) have any impact on how people access content.

[MeoConVn]

I can't find the template bit in FORUMHOME.

[Ted S]

Originally Posted by MeoConVn

I can't find the template bit in FORUMHOME.

Do you have a custom template?

[MagicThemeParks]

Does what it should and helps those that need a little kickstart in working the 'notices' that come default with vBulletin! :up:

Thanks Ted!