I WILL PAY, PLEASE JUST FIX!

[Camo]

got this one today....

Dear camo,

nathancl requested authorization to join the Lizards:
http://classifieds.1047537.n5.nabble.com/Lizards-f4308057.html

Explanation from this user
Because i want to use the classifieds to get rid of an olive hence why i just registered?? not sure why you make people register then have to ask permission???

User e-mail
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To accept this request, you should add this user to at least one permission group that has access to this area:
http://classifieds.1047537.n5.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=change_user_groups&user=227323
Or you can ignore this email if this user should not visit this area.
________________________________________
Free forum powered by Nabble
http://www.nabble.com/

I have just discovered 34 members who registered on our forums who discovered due your 'flexability' that they could still not post. They registered and found themselves on your obsolete and confusing 'Authenticated' list. My client has been getting phone calls all day from people who have not been able
to post despite registering. Naturally I have redone the confusing user settings to allow 'authenticated' users to post in the meantime, but this confusion is unnecessary and unacceptable. Have you heard the expression 'Keep it simple'?

Nabble I think your software is terrific excepting this backward flexibility idea, its unacceptable. 7 days ago we launched our online store and we are losing business by the hour.

I need the following:

1. Admin, members, & anybody (guests) groups, thats it, no 'authenticated". If they registered and followed the validation link, they're a member.

2. Registered people are Members with full permissions or they do not exist on our database.

3. 'create new topic' link should either NOT be visible to unregistered (non members) OR should take them to registration page, NO PERMISSIONS REQUEST.

I need this to happen yesterday, we cannot afford delays and further loss of business.

I WILL PAY whatever the heck you ask to have this done, just tell me where and how to pay, ill borrow a friends credit card OK?

If you cant do it generically (all forums) then please just make it so on mine!

http://classifieds.1047537.n5.nabble.com/

http://camo-s-reptiles-forum.1047529.n5.nabble.com/

PLease Respond ASAP

[GregChapman]

Hi Camo,

I do understand some of your frustration. However, as you know from the Nabble you have a bug topic, Hugo is working on this. I suspect that it is a bigger job than is obvious because, I accept, there are some idiosyncrasies in the interface.

Camo wrote

1. Admin, members, & anybody (guests) groups, thats it, no 'authenticated". If they registered and followed the validation link, they're a member.

I'm sure you are aware that every Nabble Forum Administrator is free to use the term "Member" in their own way and so it is fairly meaningless in Nabble vocabulary. (Nabble does provides a sample "Member" group, but it's up to you whether you use it and it is redundant for the situation you describe - where you only use three classes of user, Admin, Registered and All Users. (Note: Following yesterday's post from Hugo these are the terms that will be used.

2. Registered people are Members with full permissions or they do not exist on our database.

I assume "our database" means your own customer list external to Nabble. I'm not sure how it relates to your Nabble users.

Currently, there is an issue with the wording or function of the "Authenticated" column on the Nabble Permissions screen. Hugo hasn't confirmed this, but I believe that the options under that column are only applied to those who have validated their email address and therefore that column should be headed "Registered". Certainly I have always operated on that basis and not run into trouble yet.

3. 'create new topic' link should either NOT be visible to unregistered (non members) OR should take them to registration page, NO PERMISSIONS REQUEST.

If, on the permissions screen, you remove the default options "Create_topic" and "Reply" from the "Anyone" column. A user will get taken to a "Login or Register" page.

In summary, I'm not sure where your problem lies. All you ask for is in place at the moment (Other than the confusing use of "Authenticated" on the Permissions screen). There must be something missing from your description, or you have permissions set inappropriately.

[Camo]

Greg, my issue is that I have 'unregistered members', this ought not be so.

A member IS a registered user, they have validated their reg email. These terms are not exclusive
with any other forum software. herein lies the problem.
With nabbles cumulative system, you end up with people in multiple lists, and this confuses user permission requirements.

I dont have any intention of ever altering the status of a registered member, if they do wrong, they're banned, end of story, hence no need for any other than 'Registered' (which ofcourse means 'Member').

If somebody overlooks the fact they must validate by clicking a link in an email, they return to the forum and try to post, thinking they now have full rights.
Instead they find themselves 'Authenticated' and try to post, but cannot, because I had allowed only 'Member'
to post.

To further add to this, they get the ask permission thing, and wonder why (as you can see above)
The confused person then leaves and thats it! Lost customer, lost business, lost $$$
No other forum software requires you to manually add a user to 'Registered' status, unless the admin chooses to do so.

This needs to be automatic, they register, validate and they are added to 'Registed Member'.
If they havent validated, they should be prompted if they try to post without doing so.

There is a great deal to be said for simplicity, people dont have any tolerance for confusion online, they just leave! IT MUST BE Clear and straightforward.

I assume "our database" means your own customer list ...

It means wherever nabble stores this information.

If, on the permissions screen, you remove the default options "Create_topic" and "Reply" from the "Anyone" column. A user will get taken to a "Login or Register" page.

Tell this to the 34 users who complained in the last day or so Greg! Create & reply have never been ticked in the anyone colum on my forums.

Either the registration process telling them to click the link in their email is not clear or noticible enough,
Or they become 'Authenticated' without having to validate their email address or confirm registration.

[mywaytoo]

Camo...
These problems are all related and are currently being worked on... http://nabble-support.1.n2.nabble.com/Nabble-You-have-a-bug-tp6534234p6534234.html

[Camo]

Yes Thankyou Anne, Id just like to 'kick it upstairs' in the priority list, so to speak. AS I mentioned, Im happy to pay to have my nabble forums 'my way'. Im currently mailing apologies and explanations , damage mitigation, if you like.
Dont misunderstand, im not blaming Nabble, but it does come back to lack of documentation also.
Id just like to have things sorted before lose further business.
Ive discovered how to create an account to pay for premium support, I just dont understand how much I need to pay for this particular request or indeed if its necessary.

You must understand what you may perceive as my impatience, is because its not my business,
My client has left it in my hands, hence the pressure is on me.

I do want it automated (registered users become Members) and will pay for this. Innovation is wonderful, but sometimes simplicity is better.

[mywaytoo]

Camo... If your client left the business in your hands, then it MUST have been running this way before you took over... so it was their responsibility...

Anyway, I'm sure that Nabble will sort it ASAP.

And in the meantime, you are promoting your client's website... for free... in your signature...

[Camo]

mywaytoo wrote

Camo... If your client left the business in your hands, then it MUST have been running this way before you took over... so it was their responsibility...

Thankyou for the unspoken sentiment, though please refrain from assumptions Anne.

Anyway, I'm sure that Nabble will sort it ASAP.

And in the meantime, you are promoting your client's website... for free... in your signature...

Yes indeed, it seems rather prudent business to do so, despite this forum being of little relevance to our clients Uniquely Australian, topic specific, demographic, though there may be some seo/google value to be gained thereby.
Is there some point you are trying to illustrate with this comment? I have had no contact from Nabble regarding the practice so I assume it is not an Issue.
It seems to me you perceive my posts here as a form of harassment?, and that you have designated yourself a 'free support diplomat'. While this is commendable, it is also misguided and unnecessary.
I am more than happy with Nabbles service, as stated in my comment to Hugo in 'you have a bug' thread,
which you have been so observant to point out already in this one.
However my concerns as a Nabble customer are real, as are the effects this issue is currently having on my clients business. As such, I reserve the rights granted me as a Nabble customer, regarding the use of this forum to voice those concerns.
This thread was posted in a genuine effort to play by the rules and seek to utilize premium support to fast track my request. I have not spammed, nor been hostile or impolite.
I would appreciate it if you would reconsider posting comments with little relevance, those that state the obvious or parrot the comments of others, and those lacking any helpful or illuminating content.
Your kind intentions have not gone unnoticed Anne, Thankyou.

[Hugo <Nabble>]

I replied to the other thread here:
http://nabble-support.1.n2.nabble.com/Nabble-You-have-a-bug-tp6534234p6561491.html

Related to the premium support work, you can see the payment page by trying to post on the root forum:
http://nabble-support.1.n2.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=new_topic&node=5621697

The number of weeks you should pick depends on the amount of work you want. You can discuss this with Peter because he is the one who works on premium support request.

[GregChapman]

Hi Camo,

Camo wrote

Greg, my issue is that I have 'unregistered members', this ought not be so.

Maybe this is so, but I am still trying to work out whether this is down to my or your misunderstanding of the system or a genuine bug.

A member IS a registered user
...
hence no need for any other than 'Registered' (which ofcourse means 'Member').
...
This needs to be automatic, they register, validate and they are added to 'Registed Member'.

As I understand it, in Nabble vocabulary:
Registered <> Member
You seem to be saying that you believe:
Registered = Member

Clearly such a fundamental difference will lead to a problem, as that would mean that you take the column in the permissions screen headed "Member" to apply to those who have validated their email address, while I assume that is not so.

As I understand it, and this seems to be confirmed by the changes I see this morning on the Permissions screen, there is a three stage automated part of the process:

Those who have not supplied an email address = On the "Anyone" list
Those who have supplied an email address = On the "Authenticated" list
Those who have verified an email address = On the "Registered" list

These are the only automated changes in status (Other than for special conditions, e.g. those who create a forum are placed on the "Administrators" list for that forum, and "Authors" of messages can be awarded permissions in their relation to their own posts.)

The "Member" status can be manually awarded by Admin to anyone they choose and is entirely beyond the scope of the automated process which raises people from "Anyone" through to "Registered". I suspect that you and Anne (and many others) have been adding people to the "Member" group and have assigned permissions to that group, without regard to whether they have responded to the validation email. I believe this is why you may have unregistered members.

I understand that the existence of the "Members" group, and the consequential "Members" column in the permissions screen, is a mere demonstration of how it is possible to add extra groups and award them special privileges. It might have been preferable for Nabble to have provided this demonstration as a "Moderators" group. People would then have understood that this has to be manually awarded to those that need permission levels set somewhere between "Registered" and "Admin". I believe calling this demonstration group "Members" has confused many.

With nabbles cumulative system, you end up with people in multiple lists, and this confuses user permission requirements.

I can understand that it would be confusing if there is a misunderstanding about what status levels are automatically changed and which require manual change.

If, on the permissions screen, you remove the default options "Create_topic" and "Reply" from the "Anyone" column. A user will get taken to a "Login or Register" page.

Tell this to the 34 users who complained in the last day or so Greg! Create & reply have never been ticked in the anyone colum on my forums.

All I can say is that I tested this yesterday on my "GregTest" forum and found it to be true.

Either the registration process telling them to click the link in their email is not clear or noticible enough,
Or they become 'Authenticated' without having to validate their email address or confirm registration.

The second is the case, as clearly spelt out in the first post here:
http://nabble-support.1.n2.nabble.com/Users-Groups-and-Permissions-td5568913.html#a5569729
though it's a shame that the line about "Member" is confusing as there is no reference to the "Registered" status.

[GregChapman]

Wish I'd read this before making my last post!

[mywaytoo]

Wish I hadn't read this at all...  

[GregChapman]

Hi Anne,

Console yourself with the fact that it's largely old hat now - well, three weeks old!

[mywaytoo]