Location: Site Moderating Guide

Discussion: Can we be Viewable to Public and Closed to Approved Members Only?Reported This is a featured thread

Category: Discussion Forum / General Discussion
Showing 4 posts

Posted Anonymously
Can we be Viewable to Public and Closed to Approved Members Only?
Nov 6 2008, 4:23 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 6 2008, 4:23 PM EST
On first and second glance it appears that my options are to be publicly viewable and ANYONE can admit themselves as members OR
we can be a closed to the public Members-Only Group. We need the best of both worlds.

MSN Groups is closing and we're seeking a new home for our community of 1800+ users. We've been around since 2001 and have had virtually no spam or abusive users on our boards. The way we've prevented this is by having a manager screen each person who wishes to join the group. Because we're an open-to-the-public support group, we need the public to be able to view our pages even if they aren't a member. Is there a solution on WetPaint or are we barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for any opinions or suggestions from the group.

Cheryl from CASA (currently an MSN Group at shortcut url - www.casapeople.com ) 2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
Keyword tags: None (edit keyword tags)

Posted Anonymously
1. RE: Can we be Viewable to Public and Closed to Approved Members Only?
Nov 17 2008, 11:02 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 17 2008, 11:02 PM EST
I would like an answer to this one too. We have 13,000 plus members. Being able to screen applicants is essential to a peaceful board. Do you find this valuable?    

Jason_wetpaint
2. RE: Can we be Viewable to Public and Closed to Approved Members Only?
Nov 18 2008, 4:07 AM EST | Post edited: Nov 18 2008, 4:07 AM EST
You can set up the permissions so that an approval is required to edit pages. Registered users, and this could be anyone that joins, could still create threads and make posts.

The only way at the moment to have a complete approval process is through a Private site. Do you find this valuable?    

Posted Anonymously
3. RE: Can we be Viewable to Public and Closed to Approved Members Only?
Nov 26 2008, 1:15 AM EST | Post edited: Nov 26 2008, 1:15 AM EST
"You can set up the permissions so that an approval is required to edit pages. Registered users, and this could be anyone that joins, could still create threads and make posts.

The only way at the moment to have a complete approval process is through a Private site."
I am aware of that and that is precisely the problem. We want to make sure that problem posters are not given the opportunity to post in threads after being banned. What we need is the ability to screen applicants for approval before they are accepted for membership. People could apply for membership on an online form, indicating the reason they have an interest in joining. Their names and email addys they supply should then appear on a pending list visible to management only. We could get emailed notifications whenever someone applied for membership. When we click on the pending list we see the applicants responses.. We would then follow through in whatever manner works for us (possibly an email communication btw management and applicant) to ensure this is not a bad seed returning . When finished we would then go back to the pending list and click either accept or deny. Once we click accept, that person is instantly a member, and gets an automated email in confirmation. Do you find this valuable?