As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

What is this, the 90s? I need help starting an internet forum.

MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin techRegistered User regular
edited August 2016 in Help / Advice Forum
Hello!
After a few days of research, I've decided I need to start asking around for tips, or else this thing will never get done.
Long story short, my country's WH40k community is somewhat falling apart, because we can't properly manage our forum. It's running on some old clunky engine (Dragonfly) and at this point even the admin doesn't know how to do as little as move it to another place, never mind update it or add new features. We need a completely new engine and I've been delegated to choose, install and admin it.

We really, REALLY, need an infraction system like the one used on these here very fine forums. The bare minimum we need is:
-A very clear and visible "USER WAS WARNED FOR THIS POST" note next to the infracted post
-Infraction posts that accumulate and then automatically expire one by one
-An automatic tempban for people who accumulate enough infraction posts

Unfortunately, Vanilla OS doesn't offer a plugin like this (the free Warnings plugin is very limited), phpBB seems to have one that hasn't been updated for ten years and vBulletin is at this moment outside our price range (and even then I'm not sure if their infraction system works well). Needless to say, we're a medium sized non-commercial hobby community, unable to pay a monthly fee, especially in the Vanilla Cloud range.

Can anybody recommend a free or cheap one-time payment forum engine with this functionality?

Mayday on

Posts

  • GonmunGonmun He keeps kickin' me in the dickRegistered User regular
    Perhaps @Tube or @IcyLiquid could offer a suggestion?

    desc wrote: »
    ~ * swole patrol flying roundhouse kick top performer recognition: April 2014 * ~
    If you have a sec, check out my podcast: War and Beast Twitter Facebook
  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    Vanilla is your best bet. Using OS you can code your own solution.. Ask on vanillaforums.org, I would be hugely surprised if there is not an existing plugin for that.

  • FiendishrabbitFiendishrabbit Registered User regular
    Simple Machines Forum seems to have all the features you need.

    "The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
    -Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    Hey @Tube, thanks for dropping in! Yeah, that plugin was the first thing I checked out after installing Vanilla. It's a good start, but:
    -the warning isn't visible to other users (I want it to serve as a reminder)
    -there are no accumulating points (the mod only has the option to manually change the user's warning status).
    -I need to either give mods the full freedom of banning or no banning ability at all, I was looking for a middle ground of e.g. an automatic 2-week tempban for 5 warning points.

    It's a good start and with no other solutions I will resort to it, so thanks again!

    @Fiendishrabbit Thanks, I will look into it!

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    I would suggest that you may not need the exact system we have here as much as you think you do. Like, the "warnings are visible to other users" wasn't even a thing here until pretty recently.

  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    Yeah, this might very well be the case. I'll do a test run. It doesn't appear that SMF has anything more than Vanilla's warning plugin.

  • TubeTube Registered User admin
    This is a super, super specific plugin that was designed by PA for a super specific purpose and use case. You're unlikely to find anything all that close to it. It's only in Vanilla Cloud because we came on board at a time when we could get basically whatever we wanted.

  • MaydayMayday Cutting edge goblin tech Registered User regular
    Alright, so the golden rule of the internet: once you ask for help after days of trying, you will find the solution yourself within hours.
    MyBB apears to offer all I asked for except for the automatic "user was warned for this post" - which is hardly surprising to me now that Tube explained this was a PA original idea (a very good one, I might add).
    Thanks for your involvement guys!

  • IcyLiquidIcyLiquid Two Steaks Montreal, QuebecAdministrator, Vanilla Staff vanilla
    The Vanilla Warnings plugin also adds a CSS class to the post, so you can add "USER WAS WARNED" thing yourself quite easily with CSS if you like.

  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    Yeah I can safely say this is one of the best managed & technically capable forums I've been active in the past 10 years or so.

    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • CelestialBadgerCelestialBadger Registered User regular
    I don't think it's too bad for a warning to be visible to others. That way others learn what is and is not acceptable, better than a "forum etiquette" FAQ (which no-one reads.)

Sign In or Register to comment.