Cumulus Support

Is it possible to make the location a mandatory field when a user registers? It is helpful to know where the user is located; it would of course be nice if they also mentioned operating system and weather station

nking wrote:Is it possible to make the location a mandatory field when a user registers? It is helpful to know where the user is located; it would of course be nice if they also mentioned operating system and weather station

Agreed. Recently someone posted some record temperatures but as his location was blank it meant nothing. Only after he was asked to say where he came from did it mean anything.

I fail to understand why some people are reluctant to disclose their location. It's not as if we're going to come round and nick their kit!

I think a sig link to their station, or a sig location would be just as good

nking wrote:Is it possible to make the location a mandatory field when a user registers?

I have no idea. 'Weather station' and 'OS version' are both mandatory, but they are 'custom' fields which I created. 'Location' is a standard field and I don't know if that can be changed. I've just spent ten minutes wandering through the illogical admin section and can't find anything. If you tell me how to do it (and I'd rather not have to hack the code) I'll do it.

This any good?
http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1942685

daj wrote:This any good?
http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=1942685

Well, yes, but as it's a mod it requires hacking the PHP . I'm currently delaying upgrading to the latest version of the board software because I already have a couple of mods installed and it's a pain having to go through and manually edit the files...

I don't see why anyone should be concerned with making their rough location public. If you have a weather station and want to broadcast your weather info on the web then you MUST say where the weather station is, of course. Preferably the exact location. I personally think these worries about broadcasting your location on the web are over-reaction. This is not your postal address so you can't get bombarded by junk mail (nor likely to be robbed).

steve wrote:

daj wrote:I'm currently delaying upgrading to the latest version of the board software because I already have a couple of mods installed and it's a pain having to go through and manually edit the files...

Indeed, the latest update (version 3.0.8) for phpBB has some nice improvements ... but not enough. The problem about installing MOD (modules/extensions) has not been solved - one still has to modify the internal PHP code! Although a new MOD to make installation easy is available, I have not been able to find out how that MOD can/should be installed and once installed, how additional MODs (meeting the requirements of that MOD) can/should be installed...

A new update (version 2.0 RC4) for SMF (Small Machine Forums) has been released and great improvements have been included. One of the advantage of SMF over phpBB is the easy installation of the MODs (modules/extensions) and themes. And there is a MOD that allows the software owner to create registration new/additional fields and make them compulsory.

steve wrote:

nking wrote:Is it possible to make the location a mandatory field when a user registers?

I have no idea. 'Weather station' and 'OS version' are both mandatory, but they are 'custom' fields which I created. 'Location' is a standard field and I don't know if that can be changed. I've just spent ten minutes wandering through the illogical admin section and can't find anything. If you tell me how to do it (and I'd rather not have to hack the code) I'll do it.

Why not create another custom field (call it 'Your Location' to distinguish it from the standard location field) and make that mandatory.

That way you wouldn't have to worry about a phpBB update clobbering a MOD you install.