Thank you for downloading the Approve_Mod 1.0.9. This README will guide through
the basics of installation and operation of this mod with phpBB
2.0.6. Please ensure you read this and the accompanying documentation
fully before proceeding with the installation.
- About the Approve_Mod
- Installing the Approve_Mod
- Upgrading From Previous Versions
- Running the Approve_Mod
- Posting Decision Diagram
- Administrative Configuration
- Approve_Mod Control Panel
- Reporting Bugs
- Disclaimer
1. About the Approve_Mod
This MOD allows you to moderate posts prior to them being publicly
viewable! You have several options & methods for implementing
moderation. You can moderate ALL users in a given forum, and choose
to moderate from either: All Topics, All Posts, Topic Edits, Post
Edits. You alternately can choose to moderate only selected users
& topics, and choose to moderate either: All Topics, All Posts,
Topic Edits, Post Edits by those users, or within those topics.
A list of people can be designated for notification of new posts/topics
awaiting moderator approval. You may be notified via email or PM
and may choose to include the post itself, and limit it's maximum
length. An approval link would be included in the email/pm if you
chose to view the contents of the post awaiting approval. You may
also choose to notify the user via PM upon topic/post approval &
addition/removal from user-moderation or topic-moderation. An admin
add-on to this allows listing of all topics & posts awaiting
approval, all users & topics under moderation, and adding of
users/topics for moderation or auto-approval, and removal of users/topics
under moderation or auto-approval.
2. Installing the Approve_Mod
Installation instructions can be found in the MOD
document contained in this distribution. To view the MOD file itself,
open phpBB2_Approve_Mod.1.0.9.txt with your favorite
text editor and follow the instructions. Optionally, if this distribution
includes the phpBB2.zip file, you may unzip it and overwrite a new install of
phpBB 2.0.6 with the files included in the phpBB2 folder. You may
only use this option if this is a new install, and you have a backup
of phpBB 2.0.6. If you still wish to use this method, upload the
included files & follow the SQL steps in the MOD document
to create the necessary tables. You must upload the
included files to your phpBB directory,
and connect with your browser as an administrator to create the
necessary tables.
2.i. Upgrading From Previous Versions
Upgrade instructions from version 1.0.8 can be found in the PATCH
document contained in this distribution. To view the PATCH file
itself, open phpBB2_Approve_Mod_Patch.1.0.8-1.0.9.txt with
your favorite text editor and follow the instructions.
3. Running the Approve_Mod
Once installed, Approve_Mod 1.0.8 can be managed by both admin
and chosen moderators via links provided in the forums, and the
Approve_Mod Control Panel.
3.i. Posting Decision Diagram
When a user is posting, or editing their post, the system determines
whether or not to moderate their post based on the adminstrative
configuration. Inserted below is a diagram of this process.
If the user posting is a moderated user, we check the action. If not, we check
if the forum is configured for all users & topics, or only chosen
users & topics. If all users & topics, we check the action,
If chosen topics & users, we check the topic. If the topic is
is being moderated, we check the action. If the action is moderated,
we moderate the post.
Ex: A forum is is configured for moderation of 'chosen users &
topics' on new topics, topic edits, and reply edits. For a user
that has not been designated for moderation, posting a new reply
in a topic that has been designated for moderation: the post is
not moderated. If the user goes to edit this post now, the post
is moderated, because: we're in 'chosen' mode, and the topic is
moderated, and the user chose a moderated action (reply edit).
3.ii. Administrative Configuration
The administrator can
designate a forum for moderation in a variety of ways. We must
first designate a forum for moderation. Goto the admin panel,
click 'Management' under the 'Forum Admin' section, and click
Edit on the desired forum. You will notice a section labeled
'Approve Posts'. This is where we can enable and configure the
Approve_Mod. Let's say we want to have a public forum for user-contributed
news. In this case, the Approve_Mod can be used as a kind of
censorship system. |
To begin, let's turn on the approval
system, and designate moderation of 'All usera & Topics',
this way anyone who posts in this forum will be moderated,
except for Adminstrators. Then we must enable the actions
we would like to moderate. We would like to be able to review
& approve any new news, so turn on moderation for 'New
Topics' and, since it's news, and it shouldn't be edited,
turn on 'Topic edits'. Now, do we want people to be able to
comment on our news without being moderated? If not, turn
on 'New Posts' and 'Post Edits'. Now, we need to add some
moderators. All admins are moderators already, and have the
power to approve/moderate any topics, posts and users. However,
only people listed in the 'Moderator(s)' box can recieve notification
of new posts/topics. So, let's add the admin. If you've renamed
your admin, click 'Find Users' and search for the desired
username in the pop-up window. Then click 'Select' when you've
chosen the desired name from the drop-down. Once you do this,
you'll notice the box next to 'Find Users' has been filled
in with the chosen name. They're not yet in the 'Moderator(s)'
box yet, so to add them, click 'Add User'.
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Your configuration
should look like the picture to the right, and your administrator
should now be in the 'Moderator(s)' list-box. Now we have the
option of sending the user a Private Message when their post
has been approved, check the 'Enabled' button next to 'PM User
on Approval' to turn this feature on. Next is the ability to
disable viewing of un-approved posts and/or topics altogether.
By enabling one of these options, a user will not even be aware
of a topic or post that hasn't been approved yet. It's recommended
to leave these options disabled until you become familiar with
the approval system. As was stated earlier, we also have the
option of notifying the 'Moderator(s)' for this forum. Click
'Enabled' next to 'Moderator Notification' to turn on this feature.
If we enable Moderator Notification, we should choose which
actions we want to be notified on. Since this is for news, and
we want it to be updated & available as soon as possible,
we should be notified on all actions, check 'New Topics', 'Topic
Edits', 'New Posts', 'Posts Edits'. Also, we need to choose
a notification type, either via E-Mail or via Private Message.
Again, this will be something we check often, so the 'Private
Message' feature will be sufficient. We can also include the
post itself in the notification message, with a link to approve
it. To do this, click 'Enabled' next to 'Include Post in Notification'.
Next to that is a text box where we can enter how much of the
message we would like to include. Enter 0 to include the full
message. Your configuration is now complete! Click Update. |
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3.iii. Approve_Mod
Control Panel
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The
Approve_Mod comes with an Administrator Control Panel. When
you goto the administration section, you'll notice a new category,
'Approval'. Click 'Approve Index' to see the start page for
the Approve_Mod. It should look like the picture to the left.
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The Posts page has information
about the current posts awaiting approval. The username is a
link to the user's profile, the subject is a link to preview
the post itself, and the approve link is a direct link to approve
the post.
There is also a listing of the Page
Numbers, and these are links to the corresponding page as well.
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The Topics page has information
about the current topics awaiting approval, topics under moderation,
and topics with auto-approval enabled. The username is a link
to the user's profile, the topic title is a link to preview
the post itself, the approve link is a direct link to approve
the post, and the remove link is a direct link to remove approval/moderation.
The Sub-Links are links to the individual
sections, Topics Awaiting Approval, Moderated Topic, and Auto-Approved
Topics respectively. There is also a listing of the Page Numbers,
and these are links to the corresponding page as well. |
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The Users page has information
about the current users under moderation and users with auto-approval
enabled. The username is a link to the user's profile, and the
remove link is a direct link to remove approval/moderation.
The Sub-Links are links to the individual
sections, Moderated Users, and Auto-Approved Users respectively.
There are also links to add a Moderated, or Auto-Approved user
which lead to a username form where you can click 'Find Users'
and choose the user in the same manner as you chose moderators
in the forum configuration. |
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The Forums page has information
about the current forums under moderation.The Forum name is
a link to the forum itself, and the edit link is a direct link
to edit the forum configuration. |
4. Reporting Bugs
To post a bug, please post a reply to the MOD Release post on phpBB.com
under the MOD Release Announcements & Support category. The
release topic can be located at: http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=122005
Please follow a these steps before posting a bug:
- Firstly determine if your bug is reproduceable, how to determine
this depends on the bug in question. Only if the bug is reproduceable
is it likely to be a problem with the Approve_Mod (or in some
way connected). If something cannot be reproduced it may turn
out to have been your hosting provider working on something, a
user doing something silly, etc.
- Next please read or search through the existing bug postings
to see if your bug (or one very similar to it) is already
listed. If it is please check it for information on how to repair
the bug, or reply and note that you have also experienced this
bug, and any details that havn't been mentioned in the initial
bug entry.
If you do post a new bug please include the following details:
- Your server type/version, eg. Apache 1.2.22, IIS 4, Sambar, etc.
- PHP version and mode of operation, eg. PHP 4.1.1 as a module, PHP 4.0.1 running as CGI, etc.
- DB type/version, eg. MySQL 3.23.32, PostgreSQL 7.1.2, MSSQL Server 2000 SP1, etc.
Please also be as detailed as you can in your report, if possible
list the steps required to duplicate the problem. If you have a
fix which you are VERY SURE works (and is consistent with
phpBB coding guidelines) and does not introduce further problems
or incompatibilities please let us know.
5. Copyright and disclaimer
This application is opensource software released under the GPL.
This package and its contents are Copyright © 2003 synace,
all other material Copyright © 2003, phpBB
Group, All Rights Reserved.
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