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Newbie Questions Profiles and Avatars

SwordOfGFSwordOfGF New
in Vanilla 2.0 - 2.8

Greetings! I recently experienced some unfortunate issues with another will-not-be-named forum software package involving security and spam so I'm looking around at new forum software and find Vanilla to be intriguing. I've been playing around with it on a test server and I think I've got all the basic elements in place I need, but I still have six questions:

  1. When you use the Profile Extender plug-in, it allows people to add things like their website etc. Is there a way to restrict permissions so that until a user has been activated, they're not able to edit their profile?

  2. Is there a way to allow users to use remote image files for their avatars, instead of having to upload them?

  3. Is there a way to make the avatars larger on the posts?

  4. Is it better to use the default HTML formatting method in posts, or to use Markdown? Especially when Button Bar is being used?

  5. Is there a way to have users be part of a certain group until they reach a certain post count? Or perhaps restrict certain permissions until they reach a certain post count?

  6. When on the Dashboard permissions page, a certain block of permissions is labeled "Garden". I'm afraid I find this particular block a little confusing. What does this block of permissions pertain to?

So far I'm liking what I'm seeing with Vanilla Forums. If I can find some sort of solutions to address the above issues that work for me, I do believe my forum will be switching.

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    peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited August 2014

    @SwordOfGF said

    Is there a way to restrict permissions so that until a user has been activated

    in general parlance this would be applicant. and yes go to the role applicant and uncheck permissions referring to edit profile.

    Is there a way to allow users to use remote image files for their avatars, instead of having to upload them?

    gravatar , vanillicon. if you use remote site your loading of forum will be as fast as its weakest link, so if it loads images from a slow site, your loading of images in forum is slower as well.

    Is there a way to make the avatars larger on the posts?

    yes. numerous ways have been discussed on this forum. A search of avatars or thumbnails should give you several ways to do it.

    just one example provided by typing info in search box on this forum

    http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26621/avatar-size-in-v2-1b3

    Is it better to use the default HTML formatting method in posts, or to use Markdown? Especially when Button Bar is being used?

    its purely preference, html tags work when using buttonbar w/markdown or buttonbar w/html

    is there a way to have users be part of a certain group until they reach a certain post count? Or perhaps restrict certain permissions until they reach a certain post count?

    I think someone was developing a role promotion plugin. @hgtonight or @businessdad‌

    When on the Dashboard permissions page, a certain block of permissions is labeled "Garden". I'm afraid I find this particular block a little confusing. What does this block of permissions pertain to?

    this is the crux of what you can do.

    generally easy to figure out, create a few test users with a test roles (uncheck a certain permission and experiment how it changes things.

    this is 2.0 but an example of defaults for applicant which is slightly different in 2.1

    you could remove edit or view profiles for applicants and guests if you like.

    So far I'm liking what I'm seeing with Vanilla Forums. If I can find some sort of solutions to address the above issues that work for me, I do believe my forum will be switching.

    searching the forum, reading the tutorials on theme design, etc. troubleshooting, documentation and wiki are filled with great info.

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • Options
    SwordOfGFSwordOfGF New

    Thanks for the reply Peregrine!

    1. I went to Dashboard > Roles & Permissions > Edit Applicant. In the Garden for them, "Edit" is unchecked for Profiles. However, I created a new test user, and they're still able to edit their profile and add website information etc even though they're an Applicant.

    2. From the link you graciously provided, It looks like the way to increase the size of the avatars on the posts is by editing the CSS.

    3. What quoting plugin does the Vanilla forum here use? It looks and acts differently than the quote plugin available for self-hosted Vanilla installs.

  • Options
    peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited August 2014

    yeah, sometimes you got to search the forum for better answers or different ones.
    then test or verify if it works for you as expected.

    1) http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/comment/208345/#Comment_208345
    try removing the profile view permission as I alluded to before and see if that works for you.

    3) I think in the documentation pages it states what plugins and themes vanilla uses. I'd check there, if it were me. or search for "quoting. Sometimes you can find things out using your web inspector in browser for clues of plugins and versions used as well

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

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