UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums General Suggestions and Feedback Conrad's collection of mini ideas

I run a fairly large site so a lot of this is feedback from mods, on top of that some of these little features might already be available as I started compiling this list a while ago. Thought it would be better to categorize them and post them in one go than start multiple threads. Anyway here goes:


Registration/IP-related:

- option to "flag" an IP address so that it doesn't block registrations, but makes a note that someone is registering from a flagged IP
- in "manual registration approval" mode, it would be good if the system automatically cross-checked the user's registration IP with the database and listed any correlations
- show country flags for IP on registration approval screen
- ability to select watching a user on the registration screen when confirming the registration. Make it possible so that all posts this user makes are sent to the PM-box (only the admin to have this function)
- being able to search for posts according to IP (not just registration and last post IP)
- after display name change automatically list user's old display name underneath for predetermined amount of time (option set in admin panel)


PM feature:

- more PM security features, such as auto-lock of this feature in chosen groups if the system detects the same message sent to multiple recipients (possibility of spam)
- PM from admin to override any max message settings
- create PM folders, with ability to set certain messages to automatically be placed in given folder (for instance multiple-user alerts)
- ability to sweep through PMs to catch out spammers using a "PM censor list", user's PM feature to be blocked pending admin investigation


User-related:

- ability to lock a user's profile in the CP (I recall UBB.classic having this function) to prevent him from updating stuff like location, home page, etc. A little check-box should do it


Posting/Forum:

- when posting an internal forum link (to other thread/topic), automatically substitute the link to show the title of the thread being linked to instead
- block ability to change subject of thread with every new post
- allow post moderation not only in certain forums but also certain individual topics
- special censor list that doesn't change the text but informs the admin via PM about the post/author. Would be good if this can also sweep through PMs to catch out spammers
- ability to set a time-frame (from x time to y time) for a forum to automatically be displayed in a different location. Useful if you have a subforum about football but you want it to automatically move to the main forum screen during the weekend.
- ability to create forms for certain topics, whereby people cannot write replies freely buy can only respond by filling in a special form (kind of similar to the polling function)
- instead of excluding certain forums from a user's post count, it would be useful to give certain forums a different status so although the total post count will appear below a users name/avatar, clicking on his profile will show the total posts (in a pie chart for instance) and differentiate between those on most forums and those singled out by the admin (for instance relevant forums VS off-topic forums)


Admin/mod actions:

- put deleted posts in a "trash can" visible only to the admin - sort of like a log of all deleted posts, which could be revived and put back in their place if the admin overrides the decision to delete. From a technical standpoint this could be done by making a mod's erase function merely hide the post… until the admin then verifies the deletion to wipe it for good.
- as above, maybe create a separate function called "hide" which mods would use instead of delete
- multiple post erase function: admin/mods granted this ability will see little check-boxes next to each message in topic view, enabling them to select multiple posts for deletion (similar to multiple thread deletion - but for posts instead)
- split 'edit user' features (banning/editing privileges) into separate powers (ex. allow a group to edit but not erase a user with his/her posts, some mods to be allowed to give time-bans, others permanent bans, only some or none to be allowed to delete users, some not to be allowed to even edit (or what the next suggestion below will be about - even see) any user data, etc.
- make the ability to see a user's email address (or other visible user info fields in CP) a separate privilege (just like with the IP address which is a separate option), so that for instance mods with certain editing powers (like time bans) would not even have access to people's email addresses
- log profiles looked up by global mods (or those with access to CP user profile info)
- force password change at next login: this should be available on an individual as well as forum-wide basis (for instance compromised database, where you would want as many users as possible to change their passwords asap).
- time bans on certain forums, instead of applying to the entire board


Others (logging in, posting pics via mobile phone - possibly iphone app, built-in banner rotation system):

- SSL login, CAPCHA for subsequent logins after unsuccessful login
- special page for selected users to be able to post photos from their mobile phone (iphone app?)
- including a simple banner rotation system, I would definitely pay $$ for such an add-on
- splitting us posts table so that new one is created every year (speed up database by splitting it up into smaller chunks on an annual basis, backups would also only need to be done of current db table)

This was in the UBB.Classic version of the message board and was dropped in Threads. This has been requested a few times to have placed back on the product.


Correct, UBB.Classic had this feature and was dropped in Threads.


I wrote a mod for this in UBB.Classic many years ago. I have changed this to s stand alone software pulling the rotating banner Ads into the board under an iFrame with a login for the banner owner to see his / her banner stats for views and clicks with an automated tracking system as well as built in billing for payment.


Requested a few times in the past to relieve server stress in the database for very large forums. Has been mentioned that this may / will be an addition in the version 8 of Threads sometime in the release or future.

Good list, and I especially like the "Registration" section.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/betterrotator/

I've used this script with a lot of success for some projects. On my own board I use OpenX which is simple enough to install which I would recommend for anyone except those doing the most simplest ad schemes.

Yeh, I like the OpenX software (and its predecessors), i hear they made it a little less complex in newer versions...

- "Daily topic" - auto topic initiation, so each day a new topic starts automatically and the old one is also locked at the same time
- time-delay delete post with countdown timer
- counter to take into account all subforums (so that counter on main forum index is more accurate)
- some sort of warning system (like "3 strikes and you're out") that would display the warnings in the user's profile (the one that appears next to each post). Include an option for users to only see their own warnings.
- allow PM starter to invite more people after the message has been sent out to the initial recipients
- when in manual registration approval mode, include an option to approve and at the same time put the user into a group that requires post approval each time
- who's online option to list all usernames (plus option to list guests as "guest1", "guest2", etc.)
- list ban history on user profile in admin panel (who banned them, for how long, why (if a comment is included), etc.)
- just like original email address used for registration can be seen in user profile, also list original display name upon registration
- adornments: be able to add trophies or other graphics next to or below user data when viewing threads, so if someone for instance wins a forum competition then they will always have a special trophy icon visible (currently having to do this via the custom title area)
- include history of name changes in user's profile
- in forum permissions, add option to switch off forum subscription (adding a forum to a watch list)
- automove all topics from one forum to another after preset amount of time. Useful if you want certain people to see things first, before the thread is automatically moved to an open forum
- option to lock user's profile to prevent them from making profile field changes (Classic had such a feature).
- CAPCHA verification for password retrieval, have had several attempts of banned users stalking mods by clicking on the password retrieval feature dozens of times, thus flooding their inboxes. Or just limit the feature to once per hour or so…

Good list,thank you for sharing