Post posts in threads, and only allows mods to read them!

One of the best ideas I've had lately, if I may say so myself.

First of all, if you moderate new posts in your forum do NOT, do NOT install this hack!
Don't come to me crying if you do install it.
Read down to understand why.
And while I have your attention, don't bother asking for a version that works with moderation of new posts. There is a reason why I chose to use this system, and it would take a LOT (and I mean, really really a lot) of hacking to do this without that system.

Second, in case you were wondering, this hack is NOT the infamous Lockdown hack.
The only resemblance is that posts are hidden in this hack... that is all.

This hacks allows moderators and admins to post new posts in threads, and make these posts only readable by other mods and admins, meaning others users can't see them.
This is very handy when you need to ask a fellow moderator something in regard to a thread he replied to, etc.
Or, of course, if you want to talk behind the users' back. (as someone else cleverly pointed out )

I'm afraid I can't give you a demo or a screen shot of this hack, but imagine this.
In second thought, take a look here: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/attachmen...&postid=211039
When you reply, if you are a mod, you have a new checkbox at the bottom of the screen, asking you if you'd like to hide this post.
If you check that box, the reply will be hidden from everyone except for mods and admins - they will see the post and a bolded message next to it to tell them it's hidden (so they won't quote that post in a regular post!).

That's all there is to it.

This hack basically puts hidden posts into moderation. I modified showthread.php a bit to only show un-moderated posts to mods, and this is how it works.
If you moderate new posts in your forum and install this hack, your moderators will:
a) See all un-moderated posts, basically all new posts.
b) When they go to validate these posts, the hidden posts posted by mods and admins will be on the list, and your mods might unintentionally validate these posts as well, and by that un-hiding them.

Download the attached .txt file and follow the instructions there.
There are a bit more things to edit than usual, so I suggest you edit all the files at once and then upload them together.
After you're done with the files do the template changes.

Good luck and enjoy this hack!

[Boofo]

Chen,
Would it be possible on only the hidden messages to not have the "Quote with Reply" button or the quote box? That way, we would never have to worry about any mods accidentally quoting the message or replying to a hidden message.

Originally posted by FireFly
Good idea but it would be be harder for mods to notice which text is hidden and which isn't, and they might quote it in public.

I think the current version is pretty good.

[Velocd]

I'm getting a database error in showthread when I tried to install this on 2.2.6.

Can someone please confirm that this works on 2.2.6, after that I'll know I am making a mistake and can figure it out.

[Admin]

Yes this works. What is the error?

[Velocd]

It's already uninstalled, but I must have done something wrong if it defiantly works. I'll try re-installing much more carefully, since it was last night..

[Boofo]

Addon for Firefly's Hidden Newreply Post Hack.
(By Boofo)

NOTE: You MUST have Firefly's Hidden Newreply Post Hack installed for this to work.

Thanks goes out to Velocd for giving me this idea and showing me the code. And thanks also goes out to Nakkid since I used the javascript blinking text code from his blinking header PMs hack.

What this hack does:

It will show a blinking text of your choice for the hidden reply post. This should make the post more noticable and stand out for Moderators and Admins who don't know the hidden post is there.

Please let me know what you think of it.

[2 X Viverridae]

Thanks FireFly, great hack!

@Boofo - I had changed my text to a fairly verbose statement warning that the post was hidden to all but Mods/Admin, and admonishing them from quoting or commenting on it. When I installed your addon, I found it difficult to read, unless the blink rate was set to a very long interval, and then it looked funny blinking so darn slow! I will be sticking with large, bold, red, underlined text for now, sans blinking. Great work though, thanks for putting out the effort!

Your original suggestion of disabling the quote button would be an additional margin of safety, and is one I would still love to see implemented. [/subtle hint]

[Boofo]

Originally posted by 2 X Viverridae
Thanks FireFly, great hack!

@Boofo - Your original suggestion of disabling the quote button would be an additional margin of safety, and is one I would still love to see implemented. [/subtle hint]

I found a simple way (thanks to Xenon) of making this happen. First, install Logician's Dynamic Templates Hack. and then you can do it right in the template without having to edit any php files to do this. It works great!

[Boofo]

I found a bug in this hack. If you hide a post and use the Spin threads hack (or whatever else) to validate it, it will unhide the post. If you get a disgruntled Mod, they could simply validate the post and unhide it. Is there a way to make a hidden post immune to any sort of validation?

[Boofo]

Has anyone ever figured out a way to make hidden posts not show up on the validations lists?

[subu1]

hi,

find this code:

// redirect
if ($visible) {

with:

// redirect
if ($visible or $hiddenreply==1) {

my code is:

// redirect
if ($visible && !$returntowhere) {

what can i do :knockedout:

edit: ups that was not my line sorry, i find it:-)