Paid Forum and Dripping Content

[Divinum Fiat]

If this doesn't belong here, please move the thread.

I'm trying to wrap my head around something and don't know if XF has the capabilities to do this. Here's what I want to do:

1. Have free and paid forum
2. Those in paid forum get content week by week
3. I can't figure out how to 'protect' ALL of the content that will be going into the paid forum for those that have been there for months but protect ALL of the content from the newbies without giving away the entire farm (paid forum will be per-month payment)

I was thinking of having them subscribe to an email and giving the lessons in weekly doses, but then the content can be forwarded even easier.

Is there a way to protect from giving too much content to newbies and at the same time automate this entire flow?

Thank you!

 

[Morgain]

Couldn't you have the paid forum permissions set so that newcomers can see the titles but not read the posts?
- set forum to private at the top of its permissions page then add usergroups to its access to view + post

That means they are seeing it's good stuff but cant get in it.

I assume if these uses are paying you they are placed in certain usergroups anyway. So add those usergroups to the paid forums' access.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

That's how it is set now and it works but the newest forum will get mini-classes, downloadable ebooks, etc. And I don't want ALL of the content to be available to new paying members. That's like going in and getting the entire barn. They can just download everything, copy and paste and then cancel their membership. So the goal is to drip information, even for paying members. But can't figure out how to do it technically speaking with XF, or if it's even possible.

 

[Jake Bunce]

That's how it is set now and it works but the newest forum will get mini-classes, downloadable ebooks, etc. And I don't want ALL of the content to be available to new paying members. That's like going in and getting the entire barn. They can just download everything, copy and paste and then cancel their membership. So the goal is to drip information, even for paying members. But can't figure out how to do it technically speaking with XF, or if it's even possible.

An artificial drip seems awkward unless it's not artificial, such as if you have regular content updates.

 

[Morgain]

It should be possible in principle.

Needs an addon.
In THIS selected forum usergroup can only download stuff FROM the date they get access: access controlled by usergroup change.

 

[rootsxrocks]

I have found it difficult to get permissions set to were sub forums thread titles can be seen without the content being visible.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

Yes, there will be updates, etc. What I'm trying to figure out is how to not give the entire farm away so someone can pay, come in and grab all goodies and then cancel their account. Maybe I'll have to resort to some of the content being deliver outside of the forum via tele-seminar, etc. Hhhhm, something to ponder...

 

[Morgain]

Blueprint is it too many paid users to do something manually? How many approx?

I have found it difficult to get permissions set to were sub forums thread titles can be seen without the content being visible.

You can do it in the permission for a usergroup.
Usergroup/ Forum Permissions (on the left of the coloured bars) / View thread content: set to RED/ NO.

Or go through Node Tree - at a selected forum click the blue Permissions button on the right.
Select a usergroup and do same as above.

Or set the forum to Private by clicking the little box at the top of the forum permissions page.
Then select one or a few usergroups to give them access to View threads by others:, and View thread content etc

 

[Divinum Fiat]

What does it really mean to set a forum to private? I checked that box and the forum disappears.

 

[Morgain]

What does it really mean to set a forum to private? I checked that box and the forum disappears.

It should mean that only a usegroup or individual user specifically set to see it or do stuff in it can do so.
That is set through the blue Permissions button on the forum in the node tree.

It shouldnt affect you as admin though. Unless you have a secondary usegroup set on your account?
These unexpected results can sometimes come from using the RED /NO permission bars. These are dominant settings that cancel out ANY other permission for that activity on this usergroup or user.

You might need to post a separate help thread on why you as admin cannot see a Private forum (or node)

 

[Jake Bunce]

http://xenforo.com/community/resources/understanding-permissions.360/

Creating a private forum

Because of the way Revoke works in xenForo you shouldn't use it to restrict a private forum. Instead you should use a special feature in xenForo called Private node. You will see the Private node checkbox when editing the permissions for a specific node. This basically inverts the permissions so that you can specify Allowed groups instead of Revoked groups. This is actually better for group management if you add more groups later.

Admin CP -> Users -> Node Permissions -> [click Permissions for a forum] -> Private node
​

 

[Divinum Fiat]

Thanks all. I'm not having an issue with forum access or permissions, my trouble is in not figuring out how to give away the entire barn when someone pays for the upgraded account. I need to figure out how to give 'slow' access to each of the classes, etc. I was hoping to do it without getting a WP site involved that may be controlled with Wishlist, and do it all from XF.

 

[Morgain]

I think it can be but not without a small addon.
The database has the date the user joined the Paid usergroup. So it should be possible to call that date to control the content the user can see in a selected forum.
It's just XF doesnt do that as standard.

It doesn't seem like a complicated addon to make. There are several good coders who could do it but the only thing is you usually have to go in a queue for a few weeks.