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Everything you need to know about ranks v3.x

Description: All the information you need to know about how to add ranks.

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[url=https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.3/kb/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ranks-v3x/]Knowledge Base - Everything you need to know about ranks v3.x[/url]

Ranks

What is a rank?
A rank is a little title or image under your username.

Image

They are used for two main purposes. To give people a title based on their post count or to denote specific people in a particular 'group' or with a level of power.

Special ranks are used to denote levels such as administrators and moderators, so you know who is in charge of the forum if you have a problem, but importantly, they have no level of power associated with them. Just because you have a moderator rank does not make you a moderator. That is a permission setting. However, they also have a couple of other useful and fun roles on the forum. As on phpBB.com they can denote people in certain groups, such as the Support Team or Developers. They can be given to particular users who have some significance, such as donators or guild members. They can be also given out for fun, such as Idiot of the Week or Competition Winner etc etc.

Non-special ranks are given to users based on their post count. When you pass a certain post total you get a new rank.


How do you give someone a rank?
Ranks don't need to have an image. You can just give someone the title and leave the rank image option empty. If you want to have an image as well, there are many in the styles database ranks section, a simple Google search for 'rank images' will net you a lot of links to look through too. You can request ranks in the Styles Development image request thread or you can make them yourself. They can be any size you like but 90x15 and 100x20 pixels are fairly typical for ranks with a text title in them. Ranks with some sort of descriptive image such as a cog to denote a developer or a paint pot for a graphic artist can vary quite a bit.

Next you need to upload/FTP the rank image to the server (if you're on a free forum host you will have to ask them if they can upload the ranks for you). The default installation of phpBB already has an /images/ranks folder to put them in.

Upload the graphic (a gif, jpg or png) to the ranks folder.

Now go to the Administration Control Panel > Users and Groups tab > Manage Ranks

In the main panel you will see a list of all the ranks created so far. A default installation as a Site Admin rank with no image already set.
On the right you have a green cog icon to edit any rank and a red X icon to delete any rank.
At the bottom of the list is a button to create a new rank.


Image


Rank Title: This is the wording that appears under your username.
Rank Image: This is a drop down list of the available images in the ranks folder. If new images are uploaded while you're on this page you must refresh it to see the new images on the list. Any images already assigned to a rank will show as 'in use'.
Set as Special Rank:
Yes - The rank can only be given to specific users or groups
No - The rank is based on a post count threshold. When selected, the post threshold will be displayed
Minimum Posts: The post count at which the non-special rank will be assigned



Here is an example of a special moderator rank.
Image


Here is an example of a non-special rank
Image
In this example, when the user makes their 800th post they will automatically become a 'Major Contributor' and get the rank image in question.

You can set the post count thresholds, rank names and images to whatever you like. It's common to make them relevant to the forum subject in some kind of proportion to rank greatness! For example if your forum was about cars you might have low ranks as cheap models like Kia and high ranks as Lamborghini and Rolls Royce.

If you set a rank as special you will also need to assign it to a specific user, users or group.

To assign it to a user:

Administration Control Panel > General > Manage Users
Look up their username.
On the right of their profile page is a drop box. Choose rank.
Select the rank from the list and submit.

To assign it to a group:

Administration Control Panel > General > Manage Groups
Click 'settings' next to the group you wish to assign the rank to
Half way down the page is the group rank option. Choose the one you want.
Note: If a users is in multiple groups, the rank will only apply to their default group. This is also the one that determines their username colour.

Can you have 2 ranks?
There's a MOD that will do that.

There is a simpler way. Why not just make a rank image with two ranks in it?

For example, I have a moderator who happens to be a 'top photographer' too so I just made this rank of the two put together.
Image
Easy!

Can I remove the rank name and just have the image?
Yes. This is a very simple edit.

Open your forumfolder/styles/stylename/template/viewtopic_body.html file

FIND (around line 180)

Code: Select all

{postrow.RANK_TITLE}
Delete it.

Can I change the order of the name, avatar, title and rank?
Yes, this is also a very simple edit.
Open your forumfolder/styles/stylename/template/viewtopic_body.html file

FIND (around line 170 - note that this is the prosilver version, other styles may vary)

Code: Select all

			<dl class="postprofile" id="profile{postrow.POST_ID}">
			<dt>
				<!-- IF postrow.POSTER_AVATAR -->
					<!-- IF postrow.U_POST_AUTHOR --><a href="{postrow.U_POST_AUTHOR}">{postrow.POSTER_AVATAR}</a><!-- ELSE -->{postrow.POSTER_AVATAR}<!-- ENDIF --><br />
				<!-- ENDIF -->
				<!-- IF not postrow.U_POST_AUTHOR --><strong>{postrow.POST_AUTHOR_FULL}</strong><!-- ELSE -->{postrow.POST_AUTHOR_FULL}<!-- ENDIF -->
			</dt>

			<!-- IF postrow.RANK_TITLE or postrow.RANK_IMG --><dd>{postrow.RANK_TITLE}<!-- IF postrow.RANK_TITLE and postrow.RANK_IMG --><br /><!-- ENDIF -->{postrow.RANK_IMG}</dd><!-- ENDIF -->

		<dd>&nbsp;</dd>

		<!-- IF postrow.POSTER_POSTS != '' --><dd><strong>{L_POSTS}:</strong> {postrow.POSTER_POSTS}</dd><!-- ENDIF -->
		<!-- IF postrow.POSTER_JOINED --><dd><strong>{L_JOINED}:</strong> {postrow.POSTER_JOINED}</dd><!-- ENDIF -->
		<!-- IF postrow.POSTER_FROM --><dd><strong>{L_LOCATION}:</strong> {postrow.POSTER_FROM}</dd><!-- ENDIF -->

		<!-- IF postrow.S_PROFILE_FIELD1 -->
			<!-- Use a construct like this to include admin defined profile fields. Replace FIELD1 with the name of your field. -->
			<dd><strong>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_NAME}:</strong> {postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_VALUE}</dd>
		<!-- ENDIF -->

		<!-- BEGIN custom_fields -->
			<dd><strong>{postrow.custom_fields.PROFILE_FIELD_NAME}:</strong> {postrow.custom_fields.PROFILE_FIELD_VALUE}</dd>
		<!-- END custom_fields -->
Here, you can see all the values displayed in the profile panel of the post.
{postrow.U_POST_AUTHOR} is their username
{postrow.POSTER_AVATAR} is their avatar
{postrow.RANK_TITLE} is their rank name
{postrow.RANK_IMG} is their rank image
{postrow.POSTER_POSTS} is the number of posts they have
{postrow.POSTER_JOINED} is the date they joined
{postrow.POSTER_FROM} is their location
{postrow.custom_fields.PROFILE_FIELD_NAME} is any custom profile fields you may have set
If you want to change the order in which they are displayed, simply change their order in that part of the code. Each of the fields has its own line or block of code associated with it. You can just change the order of those lines or blocks to change the information order.


My ranks don't show up.
The most common cause for this comes from users who are running Rokbridge. The path it uses for ranks is different to the default phpBB3 installation. To solve this problem you should consult the authors of the bridge.