Linking Nabble and Yahoogroup

[trebso]

Hi

I don't understand how Nabble connects to mailing list like Yahoo and that works.

Here's my scenario:

I'm setting up Nabble forum for a UK-wide association with several regional groups.

I'm considering some UK-wide subforms, plus a sub-forum for each region.

However one region already has an active yahoo group. (The others have no existing forum or mailing list)

Would it be possible to link that region's sub-forum to its existing yahoo group? How would that work in practice? Could people participate via Nabble and via Yahoo, as they prefer?  What are the constraints, workflows?

Thanks!

[GregChapman]

Hi,

trebso wrote

I don't understand how Nabble connects to mailing list like Yahoo and that works.

Nabble provides an "archive" of posts appearing on a mail list by subscribing to that mail list. It then posts each message that it receives as a subscriber to a Nabble forum. This allows anyone able to view that forum to read past posts from the time that Nabble subscribed to that list.

Note that someone registering at a Nabble forum does not automatically become a subscriber to the original mail list, so while they can post to the forum and Nabble will forward their message to the mail list, if they are not also subscribed to the original list there post will probably not be accepted there. Should Nabble receive a rejection note from the mail list, it then adds a "Message pending" note to the post on the forum and only those reading the forum will be aware of the post.

Here's my scenario:
I'm setting up Nabble forum for a UK-wide association with several regional groups.
I'm considering some UK-wide subforms, plus a sub-forum for each region.
However one region already has an active yahoo group. (The others have no existing forum or mailing list)
Would it be possible to link that region's sub-forum to its existing yahoo group? How would that work in practice? Could people participate via Nabble and via Yahoo, as they prefer?  What are the constraints, workflows?

YahooGroups are a special case as far as mail lists go, because it already offers a web-based interface that largely duplicates what Nabble can offer. It may take a lot of persuasion to get those in that region to move to a new service.

Your best strategy is probably to start at national level, grow the traffic there, adding sub-forums for the other areas as they come on board and eventually, the YahooGroup area will realise that it is better to fall in line. Generally, the politics of trying to force the one "out of step" group to join before its members, especially those who started the group, can see any benefit just leads to conflict and resentment. Better to let them work out for themselves they are better off in the mainstream.

It is easy enough at any time to add sub-forum for the "YahooGroup" region and get it to subscribe to the YahooGroup. Those users then have the option of how to interact - via YahooGroups, via Nabble, or via mail subscription from either service (subject to the caveats above). I find that once they've tried it most people prefer the less cluttered appearance of a Nabble forum over YahooGroups. They just set their Yahoo subscription to "No Mail" and either subscribe at Nabble or use Nabble's forum.

The one big benefit of Nabble's forum-based structure is that national and regional information can be brought together in a single site and with Nabble it is possible to subscribe to individual sub-forums for those that don't want to know what's happening in other regions and prefer their contact via email.

I want to use the Board application type - I like the way it shows the beginning of each post. I'm using a number of subforms.

But how can I control the number of posts that are shown?

You can't. That's the nature of that particular layout, but for most other types you can change them at:
Options > Application > Change appearance > Preferences > Topics per page

As you have discovered "Board" is not ideal where you have a large number of sub-forums. You might find that "Category" suits you better at the top level as that only shows the sub-forums with their descriptions but not the posts. You could then use the "Board" as your application for each sub-forum.

Edit to add: just noticed that there seems to be no way to 'add new topic' in Board application!
So, also: How can I have the board layout, with a few lines of the text of each post, AND the ability to 'add new topic'?

True and you can't! These are both "features" of the Board application. There is no ability to post at the top level in the board application. You are need to visit the appropriate sub-forum and create your new topic there - or reply to one of the existing topics shown. It depends on the nature of the traffic whether this layout really suits you.

The same applies to "Category" but not "Mixed". With "Mixed" you lose the descriptions and quotes from posts but gain the "New Topic" link, (because it is possible to allow posting at the top level - though in my "Mixed" application I always over-ride the default permission. Users are then provided with a list of sub-forums where they may post. (i.e. if only committee members may post to the "Committee" sub-forum, then it does not appear on the list for those not in the "committeemembers" user group - if you chose to create such a group.)

I'm about to set up a Nabble forum for our sailing club. I want to set it up so that only paid up members of the sailing club can post in the forum.

To make it easy for the person approving new members (and removing members who haven't renewed their annual membership), I want to require members applying to join the forum to enter their (sailing club) membership number during the registration/approval process. And for that number to be visible to the Admin reviewing their request.

For that number (four digits e.g. 2312) to be shown in their profile.

Ideally, I'd also like their profiles to show real names, not user names. So profile would be:
John Smith
1324

(Ideally the same info would be in the 'users and groups' list, but that's less important.)

See see my post at:
http://support.nabble.com/Moderating-free-forum-tp6873076p6873871.html
which explains about the default user groups within Nabble and in particular the "Registered" and "Member". groups.

The simplest (but somewhat crude way) to achieve what you want is to ask all users to use their real name and membership number in their "User Name" as they register. As administrator you can go to their profile page and edit it should they not follow the protocol.

I presume Administrators approve new membership requests. Is that right? Do all Admins receive an email letting them know a request is pending?

The post at the link above answers these two questions.

Having said Nabble "can't" or "doesn't" do x or y, Nabble is ultimately flexible. however, that takes coding in NAML. There are posts on this forum about how to add extra fields to profile pages, but these are somewhat technical and if that kind of thing is not your forté then you need to consider paying for Premium Support. You'll see from posts in that area, that some users have some very specialised work done for them.

[trebso]

Thanks!

How do I find out about premium support? Those threads are quite old and I can't see where to sign up or how much it is!

EDITED: I've just spotted how to get premium support: in my profile! Wouldn't have thought of looking there!

Osbert
~

[trebso]

GregChapman wrote

See see my post at:
http://support.nabble.com/Moderating-free-forum-tp6873076p6873871.html

I presume Administrators approve new membership requests. Is that right? Do all Admins receive an email letting them know a request is pending?

The post at the link above answers these two questions.

Having read your post linked above more carefully, I'm still not clear is new members have to APPROVED by an Admin, or if they can only be removed if they register and turn out not to be qualified. Can you clarify?

Many thanks!

[GregChapman]

trebso wrote

I presume Administrators approve new membership requests. Is that right?

You need to understand the various types/levels of user, known as "Groups". Many newcomers to forums fail to distinguish between those in the "Registered" group and those added to the "Member" group. These are specific technical terms in forum-speak.

By default those in the "Anyone" group - literally anyone - can view and post anywhere on your forum. Most forum administrators will change the default permissions (See: Options > Users > Change permissions) to prevent anyone posting. Typically will let anyone view a forum as that will encourage people to participate.

The next level of user is "Registered". That is anyone who confirms (by clicking a link in an email sent to the address they claim to own) their access to a valid email address. Anyone can register and once registered they can never be removed from the registered list. Most forum administrators will allow registered users to view and post to their forum. This will not apply to you as you want to restrict posting to paid up members of your club.

(About the only thing registering does is allow the administrator to ban that user from the forum. However, banning can be subverted by a forum abuser by registering again using a different address. However, unless there is a case of ham-fisted administration that causes offence to a user this is never normally a problem in a forum used by mature people.)

You need to use the next level of user above this, that of  "Member". Users are assigned to this group manually by someone in the "Administrator" group. They can also be removed from this group - perhaps because of non-payment of a subscription.

The concept of "membership request" is a bit alien to the way a forum works. Normally, for a new forum to be used by club members, I would expect the administrator to add all club members email addresses to the "Members" group even before they are invited to join the forum. That way when the members registers at the forum they automatically also get all the privileges of membership without an additional process.

However, if the Administrator is a little slow in adding a user to the "Member" group and the user attempts to access an area where they do not yet have permission to view or post, they will be presented with a screen that invites them to post a request to the Administrator explaining why they believe they should be able to access that area.

Do all Admins receive an email letting them know a request is pending?

You missed the bit in my linked post that said you need to go to:
Options > Application > Extras & Add-ons > Email & Notifications >Notify me when someone registers
and turn the feature on.

Having read your post linked above more carefully, I'm still not clear is new members have to APPROVED by an Admin, or if they can only be removed if they register and turn out not to be qualified. Can you clarify?

I'm sorry my post wasn't clear. Hopefully, my opening description this time helps. It is a case of needing to understand the hierarchical nature of your forum's user groups, "Anyone", "Registered", "Member" and "Administrator" (plus any others you add to the default set) and how you need to map these forum terms to the various terms you might use for some of your club members, e.g. "potential member", "paid-up member", "lapsed member" and "committee member" (you'd need to create a group for this last group, if you wish to have a sub-forum to which committee members have access but ordinary members do not).

As an Administrator you have no control over who is in the "Anyone" or "Registered" group, so you should expect to find both potential members and lapsed members in the "Registered" group and make sure that group has the appropriate permissions for that type of club member. You need manually to add paid-up members to the forum's "Member" group and remove them when their subscription is overdue, so they fall back to only being in the "Anyone" and "Registered" groups (from which you cannot remove them).