"invisible mode" an undesired user option

[augidog]

simply put, i'd really REALLY like to be able to disable this user option.

thanks for any help.

[GregChapman]

Please explain more. I don't see an option "invisible mode" on the Nabble system.

[augidog]

in account settings>advanced settings> a user may disable the online status indicator (invisible mode)...and in my case, a personal & social forum, i don't want anyone to be able to be invisible...shoot, we don't want anyone who even wants to be invisible.

which leads to a loosely-related issue. it would also be nice to be able to completely REMOVE an undesireable account instead of merely banning its use.

[GregChapman]

Oops! Forgotten about that one. I have searched for relevant macros to edit and concluded that my NAML expertise isn't up to solving that one. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a response from one of the Nabble team.

What do you mean "completely REMOVE" an undesirable account.  If you mean place it in the same state as a not yet "Anyone" user then that would mean they could come along and do the same as before and you'd complain that you couldn't stop someone posting inappropriately. And how would you handle a situation where a respected user has their computer compromised, so you ban them, but once they had removed the malware and you were happy to re-instate them?

The problem is an IP address will always exist. You can't pretend it doesn't.

[augidog]

well, we get a lot of one-time posters, and unwelcome registrations. we're not-for-profit, more like a private clubhouse. members become friends also, or they do not stay members. i know when someone's genuine and not, and we don't want the fools hanging around...while i can ban the username, my memberlist is full of inactive accounts i'd rather just make gone.  it'd be easier if i could just get rid of accounts that i know won't be coming around anymore, or i know belong to unwelcome folks...and i don't mind doing that whenever i have to, instead of having my inactive and banned lists grow and grow.

[GregChapman]

augidog wrote

i know when someone's genuine and not, and we don't want the fools hanging around...while i can ban the username, my memberlist is full of inactive accounts i'd rather just make gone.

Have you created extra classes of user with names like "Inactive", "Suspended" or "Spammer" with posting rights removed as appropriate and, in particular, with the "Show_group_members" permission removed from those groups. The description for that entry "Which groups allow members to be listed" is not ideal. When you remove that permission you remove that group from the drop down list seen under the "People" link. Remove that permission from all except "Administrators" and "Members" and, as far as those who can view any forum or sub-forum will know is that you're the boss and you have a select group of active members. The rest, who you've assigned a "Spammer", "Inactive" or "Ex-Member" status will just not be there - only rapidly ageing posts of the once active will be there to show they were ever part of your forum (and you could delete those, if you so chose).

As Admin, you would still be able to see who is in each group, but others viewing any particular forum would only be aware of those you understand to be actively involved in your forum, either because of their posts or appearance under the "People" link.

it'd be easier if i could just get rid of accounts that i know won't be coming around anymore, or i know belong to unwelcome folks...and i don't mind doing that whenever i have to, instead of having my inactive and banned lists grow and grow.

But, as I said, making a registration "disappear" would put you back in the position where you could be "attacked" again or annoy those who thought that they were still members and post again after a long period. You do need to be able to manage those that have encountered the forum at some point, even if it's just to hive them off into a group that makes them invisible to the users you wish to encourage.

[augidog]

shuffle some groups and permissions: that's exactly where my thinking has taken me, too...i can handle that no problem.

i consider myself pretty good at getting into the macros, but i too can't find anything to change the "advanced settings" template. hopefully a staff member will have the time to steer me straight.

meantime, Greg, thanks for your input.

[Pedro]

Hi, I will investigate it.

[Hugo <Nabble>]

The "invisible mode" is just a cookie that we set in the user's browser. So one way to disable it is to add an override like this:

<override_macro name="js_basic_site_functions" requires="servlet">
	Nabble.deleteCookie('visible');
</override_macro>

This will not remove the feature from the advanced settings page, but will make it unusable. Whoever tries to become invisible will be forced to be visible again when the next page loads. Is this good enough? The advanced settings page hasn't been templated yet, so customizations are not possible.

[augidog]

sure is good enough...thank you!