Board Drop Box?

[Porter]

Hi all. I am facing an unusal problem. I have a board in my forum that has restricted access (to a single Member Group), but I very much would like to allow any user to start a new topic in the board without actually being able to ever see the board itself. Sort of like a "Suggestions Drop Box" you would see at a restaurant or something, where you fill out a card and drop it in a box-- you can't see the rest of the cards in the box, or how the owners of the restaurant "reply" to your comments, but you can still submit your thoughts. I don't want everybody to see the thread or the thread index, jut want registered users to be able to start a new topic in the board.

I'm familiar enough with the YaBB code to know this is outside my own programming expertise. It would be easy enough to generate a link in the Board Index that takes you to  "Start new topic" form for the given board-- that's all passed in the GET info from the URL-- but what that won't be able to get around is the user verification the restricted board does to prevent unathorized posting.

So I could use a mod that allows setting a board as "Drop Box" ready in the Admin Center, and that makes the board use that flag to allow anyone to sart a new topic from outside the board with a link to the "post new topic" form from the Board Index.

I hope I am explaining this clearly enough. Is there hope for this idea? Do any of the venerable mod creators here think they have the time/energy/desire to try this?

Many thanks, in any case, for your time if nothing else!

[Spaceman-Spiff]

tell people to send you an IM (instant message), or make a link somewhere in the template to send you IM
if then you want to share the suggestions to other admins, just make a restricted board for admins and post the IMs there
if you want to create custom questions, you'll need to make a form page

So I could use a mod that allows setting a board as "Drop Box" ready in the Admin Center, and that makes the board use that flag to allow anyone to sart a new topic from outside the board with a link to the "post new topic" form from the Board Index.

i don't understand this

[haase]

This should be possible with a small amount of modifications.

First, make the board hidden.

Then make a direct link somewhere on your site called Suggestion Box.  The link should be a something like

Code Select Expand

http://www.yabbse.org/community/index.php?board=3;action=post;title=Start%2Bnew%2Bthread except you put your own site address and the board number in there.

The last bit is the hard part.  We need to work on the validation a bit for the post form so that it allows someone to start a new thread but not to reply to one.

[Porter]

First, make the board hidden.

Not a problem: already done on my forum.

Then make a direct link somewhere on your site called Suggestion Box.  The link should be a something like

Code Select Expand

http://www.yabbse.org/community/index.php?board=3;action=post;title=Start%2Bnew%2Bthread except you put your own site address and the board number in there.

Easy enough to do to. It would be great if this would show up next to the board name in the Board Index, but this requires two bits of coding. The first bit would be to get a hidden board that is set to have a Drop Box to show in the Board Index no matter who is looking at it, but without making the name a link to the actual board contents for people who aren't part of the Restricted Access member group. (Right now YaBB SE hides the board entirely, without even printing the name of it in the Board Index.) Second, you'd have to code in the link generation next to the board name in the Board Index.

The benefit to this is that YaBB will automatically create the link I need to the "create new topic" form for any board set to have a Drop Box.

The last bit is the hard part.  We need to work on the validation a bit for the post form so that it allows someone to start a new thread but not to reply to one.

Yeah, I figured this would be the trickiest part. The permissions work kind of like reverse annoucement-boards. Instead of only restricted people being able to post and anyone reply, anyone can post but only restricted people can reply (or view the board). And as I kind of mentioned before, a boolean flag in the board index database table that said whether the board had a drop box or not would be enough to control the code for user validation and the link creation in the Board Index. (Would need to remember to add code to the board management section of the Admin Center to toggle that boolean on and off though too.)

I know what needs to be done, but I've never created a mod before, and even so I'm not familiar enough with YaBB's code to try it myself.

[gandolphxx]

Since you would have to jury rig the action url anyway, just add a variable like sb=yes to the url and let Post.php use that as a bypass for the locked board tests - that way it would work with whatever mods were installed - a little tricky, but not too bad.

There is no reason why an IM couldn't perform the same function to a ficticous username of suggestion_box.

[Porter]

...so...I guess I should try writing it on my own then?

[haase]

Don't use gandolphxx's suggestion about adding a URL to the variable.  It's not that secure.  Anyone who figures out what that the URL should be can spam any of your private boards that way.  You need to authentication on the back end.  That *does* make it a little more complicated, because you'll need something stored in the database that designated a hidden board as a dropbox board.

Are you in a hurry, or can I think about it some more?

[gandolphxx]

Don't use gandolphxx's suggestion about adding a URL to the variable.  It's not that secure.  Anyone who figures out what that the URL should be can spam any of your private boards that way.  You need to authentication on the back end.  That *does* make it a little more complicated, because you'll need something stored in the database that designated a hidden board as a dropbox board.

Are you in a hurry, or can I think about it some more?

The addition of an action code doesn't preclude authentication in the Post2 section.

[Porter]

Are you in a hurry, or can I think about it some more?

Not in so much of a hurry that I couldn't wait for somebody far more talented than I to craft a more robust solution than I myself could muster.

I was thinking that adding to the URL wouldn't be that secure either, but that's how YaBB figures out what it's supposed to be doing on a given page anyway. As long as the backend still checks to make sure the user is a registered forum member (etc, etc) I don't see any issue with it, as gandolphxx said.

Perhaps if I explain the context: I have a Counter-Strike game server set up with a fairly old (3 years) community that frequents an associated website, which naturally includes a yabbse forum. We have an admin team that polices the game server, and has a private forum to discuss cheaters and hackers from the game. We want the average player to be able to let us know about any problems they've had with cheaters in the game, but we don't want them to have access to the discussions our Admin Team has about it after the report is made. This is where I got the idea of a drop box-- a place where any forum member can start a new topic in a board that is otherwise readable and reply-able only by a certain membergroup. This way the community can report trouble directly to the Admin board while still prtecting the confidentiality of the admins' discussions.

You can check out the site if you're interested at www.csreloaded.com.

Thanks for all your help so far guys!

[Porter]

Just curious: It's been a while and I was wondering if anybody has had the chance/desire to investigate this mod further, or if interest has unanimously died.