Add another Privacy Option to Group Settings called “Semi-Private”

[messenlehner]

A Semi-Private Group would be a mix of a Public Group and a Private Group. The only difference between Semi-Private and Private is that all Semi-Private Group content is visible to the public but only group members can make updates or contribute to the group.

Only users who request membership and are accepted can join the group. This group will be listed in the groups directory and in search results. Group content and activity will be visible to any site member.

Request Membership link shows and functions the same way as it does on a Private Group.

Made patches for the following files:
/bp-groups.php
/bp-groups/bp-groups-templatetags.php
/bp-themes/bp-sn-parent/groups/create.php
/bp-themes/bp-sn-parent/groups/single/admin.php

[messenlehner]

Patch for /bp-groups.php to add semi-private group functionality

[messenlehner]

Patch for /bp-groups/bp-groups-templatetags.php to add semi-private group functionality

[messenlehner]

Patch for /bp-themes/bp-sn-parent/groups/create.php to add semi-private group radio button and description

[messenlehner]

Patch for /bp-themes/bp-sn-parent/groups/single/admin.php to add semi-private group radio button and description

[johnjamesjacoby]

This should be possible with a plugin, as the group types and the template are all filterable and have the appropriate actions in the right places.

I'm going to close this for now. If there's lots of interest for this, feel free to open it back up.

[johnjamesjacoby]

Moving closed ticket out of Future Release.

[jomille]

Sorry to open up an old post, but has a plugin been developed to perform the actions of a Semi-Private group listed? I am actively seeking an option exactly for the "Semi-Private" group that is described here.

Thanks

[boonebgorges]

I would really like to separate the different aspects of group status from each other. Privacy is made up of (1) content visibility, (2) directory findability, and (3) membership control. There is no reason why the three should be tied; you should be able to have any combination of the three.

The existing privacy levels (and any additional privacy levels offered by a plugin) can then map onto these levels, as "suggested settings".

I think that this is the best way to handle the issue at hand. That way, admins can have whatever (and however many) privacy levels they would like, via plugins.

[nickharambee]

Sounds good. Do you have a rough idea of a timeframe for the implementation of this feature, as it makes a different to how I set up a site I am working on? Also, in the interim, do you know if the above patches will work with the current version of BP? Thanks, Nick

[boonebgorges]

No rough timeframe. It'd get done faster if someone worked up a preliminary patch.

I haven't tried applying the patches above, but with minor modification, they could probably be made to work. Still, I wouldn't go modifying core files to do this. If all you want to do is keep people from joining certain groups, you should filter out the Join Group buttons from the interface.

[nickharambee]

Thanks for the info. I'm not looking to prevent people joining groups, just looking to prevent them from posting/adding/editing anything in the group if they are not a member, whilst still being able to see all of the content of the group.

[nickharambee]

@DJPaul Does 'wontfix' mean that there will not be a new privacy level added to BP? I am hanging on for this feature!

[DJPaul]

I took wontfix *off* the ticket, because boonebgorges had put it into future release 5 weeks ago and someone else came along and closed it.

[nickharambee]

Ah, thanks for the clarification Paul.

[DJPaul]

This is a very old ticket, and I can see that maybe in a year or two's time, we'll have gotten around to providing more granular options for content visibility for Groups. It's about time someone gets around to iterating on what we have already for Groups, but as we're all volunteers, we can't put any timescale on this.

How much of a user interface we have in core, and how much is controlled via a custom plugin, is a decision for the implementators in the future. I'm going to close this ticket as we're trying to tidy up old tickets from Trac, but be assured the idea's still good and supported.