We have an open forum that also has some content limited only to members of our organization - a one design class sailing organization. I'd like to know how folks have setup to use a forum, similar to "subscriptions" so that only paid members receive benefits. Our dues are paid outside of the forum, via our class association website, so the "subscription" feature isn't really used. We have a script that sends me a message with a link that I click on to update their membership status in a forum group I've created. Our dues run by calendar year.
I setup group called "2010 Dues Paid" and have given people access to the "Members Only" forum. I add people manually to this group when their dues are paid. So some questions:
- Can I make it so that people added to this group automatically have that forum added to their watch list for new posts?
- Is it possible to have people automatically removed from the forum watched list when the membership expires at the end of the year?
- Should I use the "subscriptions" group and force renewal dates, rather than creating a "2010 dues paid" groups? (e.g. not sure what the admin or other features are I'm missing)
Finally - what kinds of things have you found to be beneficial to offer dues paying members on the forum. One of the things we will offer is discount membership / renewal in the US Sailing organization that most folks are required to join to enter many regattas.
Forum Link - running 7.5.4.2
