Allow Your Users to Post Anonymously Without Logging Out

When I released my Post As Anonymous Mod Hack (now obsolete), many users wanted the ability to allow ANY user to post anonymously. This hack fulfils that request.

It is a VERY long and difficult hack to install. Therefore, I have written the instruction file radically different than any I have ever written before. This one is written in discrete steps. Rather than having you blindly edit files and hope everything works when it's done, I have you do the hack in steps and TEST each step.

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CODE, I SUGGEST YOU POST A SERVICE REQUEST AND ASK SOMEBODY TO INSTALL THIS FOR YOU.

Features:
A. Control anonymous posting at the board, forum, usergroup, and user level.

This means that you can use the anonymous posting in any combination that you can use features such as allowing users to reply to posts.

B. Users can post anonymously, but still subscribe to the thread.

C. You can set the anonymous username per usergroup. For example, Admins can post as Anonymous Admin, while regular users post as Anonymous Registered Member.

D. Mods and Admins can see who truly posted.

E. Users can see their name on their own anonymous post.

F. The "edited by" message does not show on anonymous posts.

G. Lastposter works properly.

H. Search will not pull up a user's anonymous posts under their name. But, you can search for all anonymous posts.

I. Anonymous posts are marked so that you don't forget the post is anonymous and "out" yourself.

J. Anonymous posts can be safely quoted.

I will not support this hack for any version of vbulletin other than 3.0.7.

[amykhar]

I am not sure what the warning hack is or how it works.

[Lionel]

ok, let me rephrase that. Does the system still know who the real usename and userid is?

[Lionel]

I am stucked at step 4. The default permission in a forum allowed for an allowed usergroup shows no. Here are my last bitfields line.

'canbet' => 4194304,
// --- vBookie
'canpostanon' => 8388608,

and

'warnall' => 131072,
'allowanon' => 262144

I also tried without the comma at the end of 8388608

[amykhar]

Originally Posted by Lionel

ok, let me rephrase that. Does the system still know who the real usename and userid is?

Yes, it does. It's stored in the postanon and anonname field of the post.

[Lionel]

Thanks. I have been installing since there was a global on/off switch... but I am stucked ...

[amykhar]

Originally Posted by Lionel

I am stucked at step 4. The default permission in a forum allowed for an allowed usergroup shows no. Here are my last bitfields line.

'canbet' => 4194304,
// --- vBookie
'canpostanon' => 8388608,

and

'warnall' => 131072,
'allowanon' => 262144

I also tried without the comma at the end of 8388608

My bad. That's an error in the install file, which I shall now correct. Change canpostanon to candoanon.

[Lionel]

is there more than one instance to change it?
'candoanon' => 8388608

is not doing it.

never mind... I had unselected the usergroup when I encountered the problem

[amykhar]

I finished writing this thing in the wee hours of the morning. Hopefully, there won't be any more brain farts in the install instructions.

[Lionel]

I am stucked at step 5. I am logged in as admin with anon permissions, trying to post in an allowed forum, did the new template part (step o) , added $postanonoption in newthread template, yet when testing, I cannot see the option.

[Lionel]

Actually, the whole block in newthread about disablesmilies, vbookie, post poll disappeared?????