Mini Mods - Encourage members to post

ABOUT THIS MOD

First, credit where credit is due. I got this idea from another mod by member dszuecs which is intended to force people (or at least encourage them) to register. This mod is similar but is aimed at members who are logged in and have a post count of zero (0). One of my biggest frustrations over the years has been people who register on my forum but never post anything. I created a special forum called "New Members" for people to introduce themselves, but never had a good way to entice them to make a post. Thus, I created this "mod" and thought I should share it. NOTE: This is the first mod I've ever posed here, so I hope I'm doing this right.

WHAT IT DOES

This modification will display a little character with a message to any member who is 1) logged in and 2) has a post count of ZERO (0). In other words, if someone is registered and logged in, this mod checks their post count. If they have never posted even once, the message will tell them to post an introduction of themselves in our "New Member" forum, then, once their post count is at least (1) they will no longer see the message. I'll attach the graphic I use, but you can make your own or modify this one. (May need to adjust size parameters if you use a different image).


1. Name image "joinus.png" (or .gif or .jpg, as appropriate) and upload your desired image to "/images/misc/joinus.png"


2. In AdminCP: Styles & Templates >> Search in Templates (need to repeat for each style where you want the mod)

3. Search for and OPEN "additional.css" and add the following lines:

div.joinin {
background:url(images/misc/joinin3.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
width:584px;
height:499px;
padding:0 5px 3px;
position:fixed;
top:0px;
left:50%;
margin-left:-292px;
z-index:1;
}

Again, you will need to modify each of the styles additional.css files for all styles you with to implement the mod.

Save and reload. This will place the image in center (the margin-left with negative number brings the image back to the an amount equal to 1/2 the width of the image. This is necessary because the "left:50%;" position parameter moved the left side of the image to the center, so we want to bring it back left a bit so that the middle of the image is centered)

4. In Admin CP: Style & Templates >> Style Manage >> Select Edit Templates from dropdown for each style in which you wish to implement the mod.

Open your "header" template for the selected style and add the following line on top:

<!-- Encourage members to post mod -->
<vb:if condition="THIS_SCRIPT != 'register'">
<vb:if condition="$show['member']">
<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo[posts] == 0"><div class="joinin"></div></vb:if>
</vb:if>
</vb:if>
<!-- End Encourage members to post mod -->

(Repeat for header of each style you have)

6. Mark as installed

7. Finished.

[djbaxter]

Why not use a conditional notice? No templates to edit.

[Prince]

Originally Posted by djbaxter

Why not use a conditional notice? No templates to edit.

good point!

[BasilFawlty]

Originally Posted by djbaxter

Why not use a conditional notice? No templates to edit.

Certanly you could do that and in fact I did do that for a while. This just looks a little cooler (my opinion). Also, with a notice, the notice will disappear when you scroll down on the page. With this little silly mod, the little man with the message stays with you as you scroll. So far it has been very effective. But certainly one can use the Notice System - this is just another option I offered up.

[2SQ.ORG]

How to change the message to fit the board of the member who downloaded this code
?