I had to leave work but am going to pick this up in a little while to complete, whilst I am here, I figure I should inform you all of how it works

1: Create or modify a forum
2: select the option where it says "Private Forum" you should set this for the Lowest level of membership that will be allowed in this private forum and should be at least "Registered or All Registered"
3: Go to "Restricted Forums"
4: Select the forum you want to give a user access to
5: Click "Add Users"
6: Start typing the members name (You can add as many as you want to the list from here)
7: Hit save

The way that this all works is a simple concept which basically first checks whether the forum is a standard Fireboard Private forum(core functionality). It then checks if there are "Restricted Users" if there are then the forum is ONLY SHOWN TO THOSE USERS ASSIGNED TO IT. (I had to shout that, because this means the forum is even hidden from other Administrators and Moderaters unless they are assigned to it. This is how I designed it because my needs are specific forums for specific people).

That's basically it, all part of the core and all private as private can be. If there are no users assigned to the forum, then it reverts back to the coe functionality of Joomla Group level access.

Let me know if that sounds tasty or you need further details.

Dan

How will this work in conjunction with modules like Recent Posts, Latest posts, etc? I read all the time here that even using add-ons like GroupJive people are still able to see restricted posts by way of these modules. Even by viewing a members profile "restricted" forums can be bypassed and viewed.

As far as my testing has shown, because it always checks the "permissions" via the 2 perm files and I have modified these, it should automatically pull in this permission.

Going forward I will reconfirm.

But basically any "private" forum as it stands with the current system is excluded from the latest post addon.

hope that makes sense. Really those should be adapted into the core and re-written to use the permissions properly anyways, and if they aren't then I will happily rewrite them later.

Dan

I am interested in Joomla and Fireboard because I am a programmer, not a designer. I want something that will allow me to add content with minimal effort. I really need the group access feature because my new board is going to be centered around allowing organizations to join the site and have their own private forums while also having a common area for them to all interact.


I've setup joomla and phpbb with a bridge. It worked nice but it can be a pain when it is time to upgrade. We have since moved that board to IPB.

I would be very interested in testing your code as part of my evaluation of joomla and fireboard.

I also would be very interested in using this code for my site even if its still in a testing phase. Let me know if I can help out in anyway possible.

Just letting you know I have just finished the code for 1.0.3 and will compile it to an patch with correct directories and upload it then immediately transition the change to the latest version.

It is looking like you should have this by tomorrow at the latest, depending on how busy my day gets.

Dan

Dan ... has anyone ever told you... you da man!!!

I tell myself regularly but I don't think that counts

Good News and Bad news for all those fold out there

Good News: 100% finished and ready to go in 1.0.3, just putting the files together

Bad News: Work got crazy busy today and I didn't get a chance to port this to 1.0.4

The mediocre news: I had a prelim look at 1.0.4 and there is no reason the changes won't work and be easily transfered within about 30 minutes when I have a look tomorrow

ToDo:
Check whether the addons like latest posts work properly with this, if they don't re-write/change them to work with core Fireboard functonality
- Have a rest and try to finish some contract work

Also this has been a good intro to Joomla coding, it has some good points and bad points, but if I can get a good design for my site together I will be more than happy to stay with it and continue coding for Joomla.

Dan

So here is the 1.0.3 version.

Can someone please check this for me I may have forgotten to include a file or two in the zip, it is 9:30pn and i have been working since 5:30am so am starting to get just a tad delerious.

Anyone please let me know how it goes, and use the steps above to use it, ahh actually here they are now

Step 1: Backup your fireboard files
Step 2: Upload the files into the correct directories Directory structure from Joomla root withheld)
Step 3: Modify or create a forum via Components >> Fireboard >> Forum Administration
Step 4: Set the "Public Access Level" to the lowest level of private use (must be at least "All Registered", this shows it as a "private forum" so will allow you to assign users to it)
Step 5: Go to "Restricted Forums" from the Fireboard Cpanel or the menu
Step 6: Click on the forum you wish to assign users to
Step 7: Click "Add Users"
Step 8: Start typing the users name you want to add, as you see it in the list Click it (it will show up highlighted in the list box)
Step 9: Click Save

That's it the forum is now private. If you do not add users to the forum then it reverts back to standard fireboard functionality, if you add only a single user to the forum then only that user will see the forum, this means that even if you are a Super Administrator, unless you are listed as a user of the private forum then you wont see it in the front end, that includes you the person doing this.
I know that bit of functionality sounds odd, but the reasoning is that it is easier to create it to exclude all but the list than allow for super administrators, and in my system i have several super admins but they still don't have access to all. This means you also have 100% control over exactly who can access the forum rather than being group based.

If you find any bugs, issues or require additions please let me know and please let me know if it works and what you think.

Enjoy

Dan