We are trying to add a second forum to our web site. Forum 1 is a general use forum while Forum 2 is to be a restricted access forum only for the Praise Team. We set up Forum 2 using Forum 1 as a template, but created a new forum 2 storage folder (pid=281) and specified this folder/pid as the Frontend user storage folder PID and the Starting Point folder. When a Praise Team member tries to access Forum 2, they receive a "You have attempted to view a page which either does not exist, or to which you do not have access." error message below the forum header (where the posts would normally appear.) If we point the Frontend user storage folder PID and the Starting Point folder for Forum 2 to the existing Forum 1 Storage Folder (pid) 31, access is enabled, but the Forum 1 messages appear in Forum 2. (Note: Users are stored in the pid 31 folder.) Some help would be appreciated.

Al,

I am sure we can address this issue, but to start, it might be better to add a private forum to the existing working CHC forum page. This is how we do this at our church and it seems to work very well. It is easier because it allows everyone to go to just one place. If they are logged in and have access then they will see any private forums that they have access to. We have many private forums done this way.

Here is how this is done in CHC Forum (please verify which forum system you are using):

- In the folder containing the other forum records, add a new Forum Groups record for your private group. Add all the frontend users who will have access under the field "All frontend users selected here belong to this group." Fill in other fields as desired. This defines the private group.

- Add a new forum by adding a new Forum Conferences record. Under the "Forum group(s) allowed READ and WRITE access to this conference" add the new group. Fill in other fields as desired.

The forum should only be listed when a person with access is logged in. Otherwise it will not display at all.

Hope this helps.

In Him,
Mark




In Him,
Mark

Mark,
Thank you for your response. We are using the CHC Forum. We want to have Forum 2 separate from Forum 1 as it will be part of a collection of other material pertinent only to the Praise Team. We have created the Group and Conferences records as you identified in your response. Where our knowledge runs out in understanding the entries on the page where the plug-in for Forum 2 is; specifically, 1) where should the Frontend user storage folder PID point to (the general storage folders where the users are defined?), and 2) what should be identified as the Starting Point? We are working under the assumption that a separate folder needs to be created to "house" the forum posts/threads - is this correct?

Okay Al,

1) where should the Frontend user storage folder PID point to (the general storage folders where the users are defined?

Yes, General Record Storage should be set to the system folder with the Frontend Users.

2) what should be identified as the Starting Point?

The System folder containing the forum records should be set in the starting point field.

3) We are working under the assumption that a separate folder needs to be created to "house" the forum posts/threads - is this correct?

Yes. That is how the records from the different forums are separated.

I hope this helps.

In Him,
Mark

Mark,
Somehow, it still isn't right. Following your suggestions, we were able to have the Praise Team Forum (Forum 2) show up under the General Discussion forum. Then we tried to create a new forum in the "open" (not under any log in required area.) We created a new folder and gave it the properties as a Sys Folder. Then, using the CHC Manager, we added a Forum Category, Forum Conference, and Forum Group to the new Sys Folder. The Forum Thread field now appears in the new Sys Folder and we were able to post a message from the Sys Folder. We pointed the plugin on the forum page front end user to the General Storage Folder (pid 31), and the Starting Point to the new Sys Folder. In the front end, when you select the new forum from the menu, the result was the same: an error message about either must log in or the page is missing. The interesting thing is that you can click on the areas above the forum header (e.g. Users) and they work properly. It appears that there is still a problem with displaying the messages.

We have found that the CHC Forum user's manual from the typo3.org web site doesn't provide much enlightenment to our situation. Further help would be appreciated.

Al,

Okay. After looking again, I see that under the Required tab there is an option for "Frontend user storage folder PID" and that is where the 31 should be entered. The General Records Storage does not matter here.

If that does not work, if you can send me a username and password to my e-mail in the header of this message then I can login and take a look.

In Him,
Mark

Al,

To update the list. I think we have the second forum working. I think the main issue was the Forum Group field “Users belonging to ALL groups selected here also belong to this group.” More than one group was added here. Users must belong to ALL groups when groups are added to this field. It is a pain but you end up creating one forum group per FE User group. Then you can add one or more forum user groups to a conference or category. That is a common error I have made too, so I mention it here for other CHC Forum users.

In Him,
Mark

Thanks to Mark for resolving our second forum issue. As Mark indicated, our problem was listing two groups in the access list. We thought that this field was an "or" scenario when it is really an "and".

Some things I learned along the way and will pass along:
1) Each forum must have its own storage folder for that forum's posts and threads.
2) The forum plugin's "Front end user storage folder pid" must point to the storage folder where the users and groups are defined. The "Startingpoint" must point to the storage folder where the posts are to be stored.
3) The Forum Categories, Conferences, and Groups have to be defined in the storage folder for that forum.