1 Topic by zerodean

  • zerodean
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Topic: A step away from purchase, a few questions...

Hello -

I currently manage a private non-profit members only site for business professionals and am currently looking into VLDP as a potential new site upgrade (moving from Joomla).

While it's not "personals" related, the member search functionality and other features would be highly useful. If this works out, I have an additional "social site" that I think VLDP would be perfect for.

If anyone could take a moment to answer my questions, it would be greatly appreciated:

Worth noting: Along with VLDP, I am also considering moving to a fresh isntall of Vbulletin forums and integrating that with VLDP.

* Can I restrict the site, content, and features to "members only"? (The main page would basically just be a login page).

* I know I can I add custom fields for members (such as "company" and "job title"), but can I allow users to search by those fields? (the demo page I'm looking at doesn't make it clear that you can)

* Can I add custom content pages that would be restricted by user access levels? Basically, I would need to add 1 or 2 more main menu items that link to members only content pages.

(Example: Can I make a new menu item like "HELP SECTION", have that be a link that opens up a "HELP" section which contains links to multiple content pages (ie. "Help Part 1", "Help Part 2", "Help Part 3", etc)... All integrated with the site? and basically inaccessible to anyone who isn't a member?)

* Would it be possible to import all usernames and email addresses from my current Joomla database into VLDP and/or vbulletin? (I don't mind losing other user related database content)

* Can I allow users to pick their own usernames, but force the site to display "FirstName LastName"?

* Since I currently have a live site, would it be possible (with little pain) to install VLDP in a directory at the current domain (ie. www.domain.com/VLDP/index.php), customize all the settings, and then relocate the installation to the main index page (ie. www.domain.com/index.php) after I notify all members of the change and then wipe out the currently installed site?

Thank you so much for your time and help.

Sincerely,

Zero Dean

Last edited by zerodean (2008-02-04 23:28:45)

2 Reply by vlad

  • vlad
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Re: A step away from purchase, a few questions...

* Can I restrict the site, content, and features to "members only"? (The main page would basically just be a login page).

Yes.

* I know I can I add custom fields for members (such as "company" and "job title"), but can I allow users to search by those fields? (the demo page I'm looking at doesn't make it clear that you can)

Yes. In the demo go to control panel, click on "custom fields", then click on "manage fields" icon next to "general" group, click on "edit" next to any of the profile fields and you will see available options. One of them is called "load in search". If enabled, field will automatically show up in the search form.

* Can I add custom content pages that would be restricted by user access levels... Example: Can I make a new menu item like "HELP SECTION", have that be a link that opens up a "HELP" section which contains links to multiple content pages (ie. "Help Part 1", "Help Part 2", "Help Part 3", etc)... All integrated with the site?

Yes, although you may need to add a couple of lines to a template file to restrict content from certain member groups.

* Would it be possible to import all usernames and email addresses from my current Joomla database into VLDP and/or vbulletin? (I don't mind losing other user related database content)

I don't see why not. If you're not familiar with php/mysql, we can do this for you.

* Can I allow users to pick their own usernames, but force the site to display "FirstName LastName"?

Yes.

* Since I currently have a live site, would it be possible (with little pain) to install VLDP in a directory at the current domain (ie. www.domain.com/VLDP/index.php), customize all the settings, and then relocate the installation to the main index page (ie. www.domain.com/index.php) after I notify all members of the change and then wipe out the currently installed site?

Sure. Installation is free but we'll need to charge you a small fee for moving the site after that. If you can obviously do it yourself too, it's not too difficult and we can provide you with a step by step guide.

Developer

vlad's Website

3 Reply by zerodean

  • zerodean
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Re: A step away from purchase, a few questions...

Thanks so much for your super prompt response. Much appreciated! Your answers are very helpful.

* Are there any special requirements or issues with regards to adding or deleting profile fields after a site has been established?

* Are there any special requirements (order of install, syncing users, etc) with regards to integrating VLDP with vBulletin?

4 Reply by vlad

  • vlad
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Re: A step away from purchase, a few questions...

* Are there any special requirements or issues with regards to adding or deleting profile fields after a site has been established?

Not really. If you add a new field after some time, the only difference is that it won't have any filled in values.

* Are there any special requirements (order of install, syncing users, etc) with regards to integrating VLDP with vBulletin?

Nope, it's fully automatic.

Developer

vlad's Website