RNYA - Default Fields Problem

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:56 pm

If you have it set for admin approval, the user registers and is notified that the registration process depends on approval. After approved, the user clicks the activation link and THEN is presented with the long form to fill out making personal choices as to which functions are desired. What I have found out since I started this is that the user can click on "profile" in the forum and some of the same fields are the same. So, if you deactivate one field it isn't also deactivated in this profile form in the forum.

Cheers

registered · Site Admin Joined: Jun 04, 2004 Posts: 6441

OK - but let's take one issue at a time. We'll address the forum profile later.

Here, we're talking about the activation link form. I've already updated that to only show the fields that are active. Before I finish testing and update SVN / make the changes available, I want to know if it makes sense to allow a user to change something the admin has already reviewed / approved. Yes, they can change it later, but this is activating an account

Involved Joined: Nov 19, 2003 Posts: 282

In account activation nothing should be changed once its been reviewed. Once activated if they want to change it then they can do so and go back through the approval of the changes.

But the hook is in the activation - that clicking submit at the bottom - so I say no changes here and be as simple as possible on this page. Because without that click ... its just a "waiting user". Dont confuse them..... (yet) Laughing

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:43 am

I agree with not changing anything that has already been approved. The problem is that this screen allows them to change anything on their profile that was part of the approval. Maybe we should activate only (no edit) then proceed to the edit user function in Your Account, then make sure that function (edit in Your Account) shows all the fields, including those on the forum profile. Then we could simply redirect calls to the forum profile to the your account profile...

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:02 am

It really depends on how strict the admin wants control over the site and it's users. In my case, if I deactivate a field, I do not want it to be user-activated at ANY time, be it upon initial registration or later in ANY area including the forum profile. The purpose of "deactivation" IMHO is just that .. DEactivation. If I had my druthers, the ability to alter the profile in the forum wouldn't even be there in the first place, "Your Account => Change Info" is enough. And IF that isn't enough then a "Contact the Admin for changes to your profile" may in order.

Cheers

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:41 am

Right. Deactivated is deactived, period. But the other fields that are either active or required for registration are the ones I'm talking about.

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:55 am

Admin activation/deactivation choices should apply across the board. In other words, for example, if I choose to not let a user include a website then they should not have that choice in any field on any form, anywhere. Same goes for "required" fields. It is also my opinion that ONLY "required" fields be presented in the initial registration form. Other user-option fields can be included in the YA => Change Info form, such as ICQ, AIM, Newsletter subscribe and so on.

At this moment I am having a huge problem with users registering for the sole purpose of including an ad-link in their post/reply, what they post and/or reply to is basic nonsense just to enter a link. I don't permit those ad-links because I have paid ads/links on the site, free advertising is not allowed. Admin approval is enabled and users must fill out a form that is emailed to me that include their username, password, etc. and I manually register them. This is why I am desparate to eliminate the forum profile edit feature or at least pare it down to only my choice of fields.

registered · Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:03 am

dad7732, I agree with this last post as well. I had to remove from News comments the show of the user's website for this very purpose. I just wish there was an easier way to pass around the user's info throughout the various modules. A plug-in type approach would be nice, but its tough with *nuke, because the skinning isn't done in a way that allows for this without having to really hack up module code. <sigh>

Bottom line is that I am adding my support for standardization of the user's userinfo, the management and presentment thereof.

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:16 am

I have enabled admin approval and force the registrant to view / agree to my TOS and still they attempt to register and then reply to an old post with some nonsense reply only to include their ad-link, etc. Sometimes I approve knowing the outcome just to follow their progress and immediately remove the post AND them. Smile

One of their little tricks is to enable "hide online status" so "we" can't see 'em. I had to go to the extreme of commenting out the abilitiy in the forum profile line - there is no longer a yes/no radio button. Very Happy

Sometimes I have a little fun by replacing their link with one of mine for my other domains. SEO is a wonderful thing.

Note: Am in full support wtih your last sentence.

Cheers

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:07 pm

Head scratcher !!!!

I have "online status" deactivated in the default fields AND in the forums profile.

I just saw an established user that has been registered since 2007 change his online status to hidden .. How can that be??? He hasn't visited in a few months, could it still be available in his cookie or cache somehow ?

Puzzled !!

Cheers

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:17 am

Ok, the mystery is getting deeper regarding a user setting "online status". I have it completely disabled everywhere I know of, in pre-registration, in "Change Info" and in the forum "Profile".

New users are somehow setting the online status to "NO" and I have no clue as to how.

Is it possible that the info is stored in a cookie/cache from a previous visit by a user BEFORE I disabled it ?? If so, this seems a bit odd as well as a security risk issue.

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:12 pm

Problem solved - cockpit problem as usual.

With the help of a user that registered and set Online Status to hidden, she said it was when she first clicked the activation link in the email it was one of the choices. I thought I had covered that but found it in activation.php which is NOW commented out. Sheesh !! Smack

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:07 am

At a loss once again as NEW users are able to Hide Online Status. I even registered as a NEW user and don't see anywhere in the entire application, approval, registration and edit in "home" or "profile" anywhere this can be changed.

Help?

Cheers

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:39 am

Send me a link to your site, let register..

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:29 am

I got it figured out. First, re-uploaded the RNYA files which took care of the "hide" being default and then I edited the activation.php to comment out the online status lines which took care of the "first" registration screen when a user activates after approval. The Change Info is taken care of by the "Default Fields" deactivation in YA. Happy camper now!

Groovy

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:42 pm

Back to square ONE. Users that have NEVER been on the site are somehow Hiding Online Status and I haven't a clue.

Cheers

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 12:10 am

I have not had a chance to register yet but I'll get to it today if the guys that are installing a new heating system don't damage anything.
Might be worth checking the DB table to make sure it hasn't been modified to default to the wrong value.

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 4:35 am

Take your time, no rush at all as I can handle it quite easily by changing it back in PHPMyadmin. It is just an irritant at the moment, not a deal-killer. Smile

I did make a change that "may" have taken care of it in the meantime. I did a Windows Grep for HIDE and found many more files than I originally suspected and made some changes online. We'll see.

Cheers

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 8:52 am

Ok, just confirmed .. It's setting to Hide Online Status - YES by "default". Now, how to rectify this?? Seems obvious - to me at least - that commenting out the lines in some file(s) that it automatically invokes this default behaviour somehow. Dunno .. I s'pose I'm missing an "if - else" somewhere.

Cheers

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 9:40 am

Ok, got a "band aid" fix on this issue. Uncommented the lines in new_user.php and activation.php. In both files, switched _NO for _YES and vice versa so when a user chooses YES it is really NO ... and it works, tried it. Smile

Cheers