How to list only members subscribed to a specific subforum?

[svAbhinava]

I'm a newbie who has just created his first phpBB (3.3.2) forum 2 weeks ago to consolidate multiple Yahoo! Groups that were shut down this Dec. 15. I'm delighted at my then still uncertain choice, and am now thoroughly enjoying the rapid learning experience of this powerful fine-grained platform.

The previous Yahoo! Group showed all the subscribers, when they joined, username, etc., in a single listing with a total. Where can I find similar functionality within the ACP, i.e., to list members specific to a subforum (that corresponds to the old Yahoo! Group)? This will help me better focus my energies, e.g., which subforums to prioritize for posting, which to grow, etc., to name but a couple of reasons.

I've searched on this support board and also on Google but could pull up no relevant information. Could you please point me to the right place?

Thanks in advance,

Newbie

[svAbhinava]

The member listing closest to my requirement is what we see at Manage Users, under Pre-defined Groups, clicking on Members in the (Newly) Registered Users row. This shows Approved Members listed in alphabetical order with date Joined & number of Posts. However, it's not possible (unlike in Yahoo! Groups) to click on these headers to (re-) sort the listing by date joined (or number of posts), for the purpose of analysis.

Worse still, it seems impossible to list only the members of a specific subforum, without first adding all of them to a new separate group created specifically for this purpose. Not only does this seem unnecessary, the adm would have to find each user, one-by-one, to add to this new group.

Am I asking for too much by requesting such (basic) functionality? Right now I have to maintain an external Excel workbook, with separate worksheets listing members of each subforum, date joined (or added), email address, etc., which is easily sortable by any column. I had to create this workbook anyway to manage the transition from Yahoo! Groups, but now I'm still obliged to maintain and update it because phpBB cannot.

Is there an extension that might serve my need, even if only partially (before subsequent phpBB versions integrate this core functionality)?

Thanks.

Sunthar

[warmweer]

Am I asking for too much by requesting such (basic) functionality?

You could request an extension, or
Propose an Idea (e.g. an extra option under Create group : copy selected members from Group A to new Group B)

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

keep in mind that you are coming from a totally different platform. what you considered "basic functionality" in Yahoo groups
may or may not be anything you would find in any bulletin board software like phpBB.

having said that, it is entirely possible that you can recreate many, if not most, of the functions of yahoo groups by using the
built in permission/group/forum/ system in phpBB.

luck,
robert

[stevemaury]

What does it mean to be a "member of a specific subforum" and how is such membership created?

[svAbhinava]

You could request an extension, or
Propose an Idea (e.g. an extra option under Create group : copy selected members from Group A to new Group B)

I'm not sure copying a subset of the group of (newly) registered users to another group defined by subforum membership would be a satisfactory solution, for I'd still need my spreadsheet to identify the legacy members of that subforum in the first place. Since the User logs (under ACP | Maintenance) don't show a record of subscriptions, I wouldn't even know to which subforums new users have (self-) subscribed.

Surely the database must be tracking which users are (un-) subscribing to which subforums and when? Why is this record not being made available to an admin with full access? (In which case, I could do without my Excel sheets). I'm assuming that this is by design, rather than due to technical challenges. Why not leave it to the site admin and Founder to decide whether to allow access to this data and to which groups?

Though the scholarly discussions at our phpBB site revolve around (these interrelated) subforums, we have no access to their separate lists of subscribed members that should ideally be accessible to all (except perhaps newly) fellow members.

Thanks.

Sunthar

[svAbhinava]

[...] it is entirely possible that you can recreate many, if not most, of the functions of yahoo groups by using the built in permission/group/forum/ system in phpBB.

The problem here is of identifying all the members of a group (those subscribed to a specific subforum) that the phpBB system must be knowing and keeping track of (e.g., the link to toggle between Subscribe and Unsubscribe) and is yet not exposing to the site admin, neither through corresponding inbuilt groups (i.e., without my having to create a group) nor in User logs. Even before permissions, etc., come into the picture.

Ideally, I'd like to click somewhere within a subforum to see a list of all its members. And click a username to see all their subscribed forums.

Thanks,

Sunthar

[svAbhinava]

What does it mean to be a "member of a specific subforum" and how is such membership created?

When a registered user clicks on Subscribe at the bottom of a subforum he joins the group of its members, until he clicks the same link which now shows Unsubscribe instead. Typically, those who join the board decide for themselves which subforums to (un-) subscribe.

In our case, legacy members of the corresponding Yahoo! Groups were registered at the new integrated phpBB board (using the Add User ACP extension) and then subscribed to the same forums by logging in temporarily with their assigned usernames (FirstnameLastname or Yahoo! UserID). Everyone was informed of this procedure beforehand and many requested it due to unfamiliarity with the new environment. Separate membership lists were sent to all former members of each forum, so they all know who else is with them (most did not even know this earlier).

Otherwise, users knew of fellow forum members only if and when posts were approved. Only a fraction exchange (scholarly) posts, for the silent majority are there, by their own admission, primarily to learn. We can't encourage them to participate more without knowing who they are.

Thanks.

Sunthar

[david63]

I'd like to click somewhere within a subforum to see a list of all its members. And click a username to see all their subscribed forums.

I would suggest that you either post that requirement in the Extension Requests forum or if you are willing to pay then post in the Wanted forum.

Creating that as an extension is, I would guess not too difficult.

[warmweer]

What does it mean to be a "member of a specific subforum" and how is such membership created?

When a registered user clicks on Subscribe at the bottom of a subforum he joins the group of its members, until he clicks the same link which now shows Unsubscribe instead. Typically, those who join the board decide for themselves which subforums to (un-) subscribe.

Subforums, like forums and categories don't have members.
Membership means either:

- you are a registered user on the board , or
- You are in a board group (member of a group - certainly of the Registered Users Group).
As mentioned elsewhere subscribing to a forum or topic results in you getting notifications in one way or another when a reply is posted.
You should have a readthrough of the User Guide

[stevemaury]

The database keeps track of who is subscribed to what forum. An SQL query could produce a list, but you'd have to run it often as subscribers changed.

Code: Select all

SELECT username FROM phpbb_users WHERE user_id IN(SELECT user_id FROM phpbb_forums_watch WHERE forum_id = N)

Executing SQL Queries in phpMyAdmin

If your table prefix is not phpbb_ change accordingly. N is the id of the forum or subforum, which is displayed in the browser status bar when you hover over the forum name in the breadcrumbs.

[svAbhinava]

I'd like to click somewhere within a subforum to see a list of all its members. And click a username to see all their subscribed forums.

I would suggest that you either post that requirement in the Extension Requests forum or if you are willing to pay then post in the Wanted forum.

Creating that as an extension is, I would guess, not too difficult.

Yes, I'd request an extension to display a link in each subforum that, when clicked, lists in real time all its subscribers (rather than 'members') in alphabetical order or by date of subscription. This I suppose would be done by running the SQL query that Steve has formulated above.

Also, another link, perhaps within Manage Users, that when clicked lists all the forums to which that user is currently subscribed.

Of course, I'd have to keep updating my static Excel sheets based on these dynamic listings (which would be better than nothing at all).

Thanks.

Sunthar

[svAbhinava]

>
Subforums, like forums and categories don't have members.
Membership means either:

- you are a registered user on the board , or
- You are in a board group (member of a group - certainly of the Registered Users Group).

Thanks for this clarification that has helped me better understand how phpBB works beneath the hood.

Yes, I'm aware the User Guide speaks of subscribing only in relation to being notified of new activity in the concerned forum. I was wrong to assume phpBB is somehow adding all subscribers to some (unnamed) 'group' (that was for some reason not being exposed to administrators).

But wouldn't it greatly enhance functionality if phpBB were to indeed maintain actual groups based on forum ID that would include not only names but also date of subscribing (and perhaps other relevant information, such as number of posts to that particular forum)? When a user (un-) subscribes, this could trigger an event that automatically updates the group membership. This data would be exposed to (admins and) especially forum moderators, whose responsibility (at least in our svAbhinava board) goes beyond approving posts to nurturing and growing their flock.

This would render meaningful your earlier proposition of an "extra option under Create group: copy selected members from Group A to new Group B." IOW, without having to deal with the registered users as a whole, selected forum members could be managed better for permissions, etc.

Thanks,

Sunthar

[david63]

wouldn't it greatly enhance functionality if phpBB were to indeed maintain actual groups based on forum ID

That again would not be too difficult to make into an extension but the main problem with it would be from a maintenance point of view if, say, you had 100 or more fora.

[P_I]

I'm a newbie who has just created his first phpBB (3.3.2) forum 2 weeks ago to consolidate multiple Yahoo! Groups that were shut down this Dec. 15. I'm delighted at my then still uncertain choice, and am now thoroughly enjoying the rapid learning experience of this powerful fine-grained platform.

The previous Yahoo! Group showed all the subscribers, when they joined, username, etc., in a single listing with a total. Where can I find similar functionality within the ACP, i.e., to list members specific to a subforum (that corresponds to the old Yahoo! Group)? This will help me better focus my energies, e.g., which subforums to prioritize for posting, which to grow, etc., to name but a couple of reasons.

Just thinking out loud on what you are trying to do. I understand the Yahoo! Groups shutdown and that you are trying to consolidate several groups.

However given how phpBB works, I'm not sure I understand why you expecting members to 'belong' to a subforum? Or subscribe to specific subforum(s)? Won't members be free to view and read any of the subforums that you are offering?

The phpBB community is a good example, I visit often enough that I only use the one of the Quick links, typically search.php?search_id=unreadposts as my main navigation method. I'm second choice is often search.php?search_id=active_topics.

I generally don't rely on the phpBB functionality to subscribe (or bookmark) topics and/or forums. That's generally how I navigate ALL boards (communities) where I'm a member and where the board is using phpBB.

If you want to see which forums are generating traffic and posts, the index.php page shows the number of topics and posts in each subforum.

Apologies if I've derailed the discussion or totally missed the point of what you are trying to accomplish.