Invites System

I no longer support my hacks. Please feel free to update them and release new versions elsewhere as long as I get the credit for the original modification.

/*=========================================*\
|| Invites System
||
|| Author : Anton Kanevsky
|| Works on : vBulletin 3.5.0
|| Released : Dec 19, 2005
||
|| Time required to install: 1 minute
|| Difficulty: easy
\*=========================================*/

DESCRIPTION

A complete invites system for your vBulletin board.

STATISTICS

File Uploads: 3
Template Changes: 4
Products to Install: 1


FEATURES

Configuration Options:

• The system can be turned on and off.
• Registration can be set to either require invite code to sign up or to continue allowing regular registrations when the system is on.
• Invite Expiration Period.
• Minimal Posts Required to Receive Changes in Number of Invites.
• Minimal Reputation Required to Receive Changes in Number of Invites.
• Number of Posts Required to Get One (1) Invite.
• Number of Invites Received or Subtracted per Reputation (+ for positive, - for negative).
• Initial Number of Invites Given on Registration (Sign Up).
• Usergroups that May Not Use Invite Manager.
• Usergroups that May Use Invite Manager (Optional Override).
• Initial Registration Usergroup (only pertaining to registration by invites).
• Do or Do Not make users linked by an invite mutual buddies after the completion of registration of the person invited.
• Single / Multiple Address Line Field.
• If Multiple, Number of Fields to Show.

Miscellaneous Features:

• Upon invite-based registration, the person who issued the invite is set up as a referrer of the person invited. Therefore, free specification of a referrer is restricted during such registration.
• Image (GD) Verification.
• Administrator can manually edit any user's invite count.
• If a user is permitted to issue invites (based on both the number of unused invites and the system permissions), that user has a link to invites of usercp home (says "Click here to invite new users!"). When a user has no invites left, the link does not show up. Nevertheless, as long as system permissions allow access to the Invite Manager, the usercp navlink continues to show up, so that the user would have access to his/her invite history, which is available just below the "Issue New Invite" form.
• If registration is set to require invite code to sign up, the navbar register link becomes hidden.
• If registration is set to continue allowing non-invited sign ups, the number of invites available to any single user is unlimited. Therefore, the number of invites left does not show up.
• Invite History in UserCP, on the bottom of the invite manager.
• Single-Line AddressField, with Unlimited # Of Simultaneous Recipients, within the bounds of invite tokens.
• Multiple-Line AddressField, with Limited Configurable # Of Simultaneous Recipients, within the bounds of invite tokens.
• Unregistered Users, Banned Users and Users with No Forumview Permissions cannot use invite manager. Therefore, you do not have to specify those usergroups in the list of usergroups that may not use the invite manager.
• Invite counts are automatically updated once a week, based on the admincp-configured settings.
• Per-user invite usage restriction.
• Inactive users, who do not post anything new, will gradually lose all of their invites.

VERSION HISTORY

1.5.0
A new, commercial release.

1.4.0
[+] Image verification to avoid multiple submits.

1.3.0
[+] New Config Option: Single-Field / Multiple-Field Address Line (Default: Multiple-Field)
[+] New Config Option: Number of fields to show if multiple option is chosen.
[+] User Option, which lets an administrator restrict invite system usage for that single user.
[F] Fixed Bug, which prevented a user from registration if COPPA was enabled.
[F] Fixed Bug, which prevented a user from sending out an invite if he had zero invites and dependency on registration was turned off.
[F] Fixed Bug, which continued to show the invite form after it was submitted, even if there were no more invites left.

1.2.0
[+] New Config Option: Usergroups that May Use Invite Manager (Optional Override).
[+] New Config Option: Initial Registration Usergroup (only pertaining to registration by invites).

1.0.2
[+] Ability to send unlimited simultaneous invites, within the bounds of invite count owned.
[+] Improved invite interface (see screenshot).
[F] A couple of hard-coded forgotten phrases have been moved into the phrase system.

1.0.1
[+] Amount of posts required to get one invite is now configurable
[+] When a user can issue invites, he/she has a link on usercp (which says "Click here to Invite a New User!")
[+] When invites are required to register, there is no direct "Register" link in the navbar
[+] When invites are not required to register, there is no limitation on invites, and therefore the number of invites left is not shown
[+] Administrator can now edit invite counts manually using Admin Manager
[+] Administrator can now specify which usergroups cannot use Invite Manager
[+] More descriptive AdminCP Hack Options
[F] Added TABLE_PREFIX to the Install Code
[F] Fixed a Typo in Registration Code
[F] In the Invite History, invites are now lister in a descending order, rather than ascending. In other words, the latest invites are now on the top.

1.0.0
Initial Release

The installation manual is contained within the attached file.

IF YOU LIKE MY HACK, PLEASE CLICK INSTALL

[akanevsky]

Yes.

won't be necessary in the next vBulletin version after 3.5.2

Install 3.5.3.

[Jayphen]

Is there an easy way for myself as the administrator to send out a batch of first invites?

I want to send out something like 100 invites, as I have just created a new invite-only forum.

[MagikMuzik]

installed, absolutely awesome system. Thanks very much for this!

[kofoid]

Originally Posted by kofoid

Has anyone found a work around to this:
Make sure to turn on "Forum View" permission for guests, otherwise they won't be able to register. This won't be necessary in the next vBulletin version after 3.5.2 (a bug which Andreas promised to fix). For now - just do it.

Just bumping this because this system is BAD ASS!!!! But my forums are semi-pvt.


www.lets-yada-yada-yada.com

[Tralala]

I'm concerned my users will invite someone who's been banned, a known troublemaker to the mods. I realize that if the jerk tries to sign up again, his email addy or IP address will keep them away, but I'd prefer if the invite never got sent in the first place. (Perhaps with a message explaining to the inviter, "please contact an admin for explanation.")

Is there a way for there to be some blacklist of certain email addresses that cannot receive invites? That'd help alleviate some anxiety and awkwardness on my forums.

[Tralala]

Originally Posted by IML8RU2

We're still getting the message "You must be invited....." even after the person clicks on the link in the invite email. Any suggestions?

Same thing happened to me. Turns out it wasn't happy with our default (third-party) skin for some reason. Worked fine on vBulletin's built-in one. So I rigged the invite email to "force" users into the vBulletin skin for registration, and the final confirmation email to force then back to my forum's third-party default one. (I detailed this workaround above.)

Glad it's working for ya now, though!

[akanevsky]

Originally Posted by Tralala

I'm concerned my users will invite someone who's been banned, a known troublemaker to the mods. I realize that if the jerk tries to sign up again, his email addy or IP address will keep them away, but I'd prefer if the invite never got sent in the first place. (Perhaps with a message explaining to the inviter, "please contact an admin for explanation.")

Is there a way for there to be some blacklist of certain email addresses that cannot receive invites? That'd help alleviate some anxiety and awkwardness on my forums.

Just turn on "Require Unique Email Addresses" in vbulletin options, and the user wont be able to register with same email addy.

[akanevsky]

Originally Posted by Tralala

Same thing happened to me. Turns out it wasn't happy with our default (third-party) skin for some reason. Worked fine on vBulletin's built-in one. So I rigged the invite email to "force" users into the vBulletin skin for registration, and the final confirmation email to force then back to my forum's third-party default one. (I detailed this workaround above.)

Glad it's working for ya now, though!

That probably has to do with different html tag placements in different skins... You have to look at it yourself, as I only support my hacks when applied to default vbulletin installation and a default skin.

[Tralala]

Originally Posted by Psionic Vision

Just turn on "Require Unique Email Addresses" in vbulletin options, and the user wont be able to register with same email addy.

Well, sure, that'll prevent them from being able to sign up, but it creates an incendiary situation when they keep getting invites from members (yet can't actually register.)

Why allow an invite to be sent when the forum is just going to reject them later on? I'd just as soon not poke the bear and piss them off. I was hoping for a more elegant way to deal with this touchy situation. Their email addies are already in the "User Banning Options -> Banned Email Addresses" ... would be great if the Invites System looked at that and helped avoid discomfort.

[Mr.D]

Originally Posted by Mr.D

Can you tell me is it posible for admin to generate say 100 invites and then paste it some where. Will that be posible in next version? Will admin have the ability to generate invites?

Can someone please answer this Psionic?