Kunena 6.2.5 & module Kunena Latest 6.0.7 released

The Kunena team has announce the arrival of Kunena 6.2.5 [K 6.2.5] which is now available for download as a native Joomla extension for J! 4.3.x/4.4.x/5.0.x. This version addresses most of the issues that were discovered in K 6.1 / K 6.2 and issues discovered during the last development stages of K 6.2

Question Deleting user name in "latest post"

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11 years 11 months ago #1 by esotericvision
Hi,

I have kunena set up so the top category is public but the sub categories are only accessible with privileges. I've noticed that the right hand side of the template shows the user name and topic. Many of the threads within the sub categories are potentially problematic if someone should see them. I think at time even the subject line could be damaging. What is the best way to go about removing at least the user name in the template? Is this done through the css or some php doc? Can someone point me in the right direction please?

Best Regards,

Ben

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11 years 11 months ago - 11 years 11 months ago #2 by sozzled
[strike]It seems that everyone has a different idea about how to use the Kunena Latest module.[/strike]

This is my personal opinion. [strike]If you want to show the latest messages posted on your forum on another page (e.g. your site home page) then use the Kunena Latest module.[/strike] If you have restricted categories in your forum (ones that can only be viewed by people after they have logged in) then [strike]Kunena Latest will make sure that messages posted in those categories will not appear in the module. So, in effect,[/strike] this part works.

[strike]If you think there may be problems using the Kunena Latest module then don't use it or, if you do want to use it, only allow the Kunena Latest module to display after your user login to your site.[/strike] If you trust your users to register at your site and to see information after they've logged-in then there should not be any problems.

I agree that some people may see certain information as being potentially hazardous but, again, you have easy choices you can make. You can decide to use or not use software or you can choose to restrict access to that software based on your own requirements.

But I would like to make one point very clear. Kunena [strike]Discuss[/strike] is a free tool [strike](just like Kunena is a free tool)[/strike] and the software may not be perfect to suit everyone's particular taste. This is a self-help forum where members of the community can share their different experiences and, for those who are in a position to do so, they can suggest their own ideas how to work around their particular issues.

[strike]Having written everything above, if it is absolutely necessary for you to not display the username of the person who posted a message (normally displayed by the Kunena Latest module) then add the following lines to the end of your Joomla site template CSS file:
Code:
li.klatest-author { display: none !important; }
[/strike]I hope I have pointed you in the right direction.
Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by sozzled. Reason: Edited and strike out information unrelated to the question

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11 years 11 months ago - 11 years 11 months ago #3 by esotericvision
Here's the screen shot. I'm talking about the latest posts noted on the right side of the index page. I just want to get rid of the user names there.




For example, that post circled in the image is actually in a private sub category. If it were a critical topic under Neighborhood Watch, it could be a real problem. Right now, the US State department is issuing a travel advisory to stay AWAY from where we live. lol.

While it's okay for the bad guy to see his name on the board, I don't want it associated with the person who penned the thread! We do want the top level of the category to be public. Since it's great for alerts, meeting times, public safety information, ect.


Best,

Ben
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Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by esotericvision.

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11 years 11 months ago - 11 years 11 months ago #4 by sozzled
Thanks for clearing up that mystery. I thought you were talking about something entirely different!

A lot of what I wrote earlier (even if I thought we were discussing the Kunena Latest module) still applies here. I've edited my previous message to preserve the important points that I wanted to make.

If you trust your users who login to your site to view the forum then why would you want to hide certain parts of your forum. If you don't trust people to use your forum appropriately then don't allow people to see your forum unless they're registered and they've logged in. Your problem can disappear quite simply by changing the configuration settings:

Forum Configuration » Security » Security Settings » Registered Users Only = Yes

If you do that then the only people who can see who posted the last messages on the index pages are those who are registered users who have logged-in. So, what's the harm in doing that? Where is the danger here?

*** Topic moved to a more appropriate category ***

Aside from what I have just written, I don't know of a simple way to hide this information by "tweaking" some CSS.
Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by sozzled.

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11 years 11 months ago #5 by esotericvision
I really appreciate your answers and time. Thank you. I'll try summarize what we're trying to do with this site.

We want to allow easy access to most of the site/forum where trust isn't too much of an issue. So users should be able to register and just start using the forum unhindered. However parts of the forum are used for sensitive matters like "neighborhood watch groups" where privacy is a good thing.

For example, they want to have a top level category available to the public for announcements, information, and meeting schedules that are available easily. No hassles with registration preferred. There are sub categories you probably didn't see that are for other matters (local criminal activity, tracking, watch patrols and schedules, and discussions) that are only for the members.

So the problem is that we have a public where we trust most of them and MUST allow access to some degree. We also have a core group that must have privacy act effectively. Any suggestion?

Best,

Ben

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11 years 11 months ago #6 by sozzled
Firstly, thank you very much for your explanation about your situation. I understand that there's some element of security distrust that may exist in your community that you wish to address and, yes, I sympathise with what you're trying to achieve both in terms of providing an effective public service while, at the same time, ensuring that members of your community do not feel personally threatened as they go about their daily activities on the forum.

The internet is a wondrous thing, isn't it? Wonderfully good and, in the hands of some people, capable of wonderful wrongdoing. The double-edgeness of the internet, notwithstanding, perhaps the single greatest feature of the internet is the ability to cloak oneself in a guise of anonymity.

And so, to turn to you specific question: can you remove the username from appearing in places where crooks may use that information for whatever nefarious, wrong or other purposes that you may suspect that they could use that information, the answer is, of course, yes. Anything is possible (as I have always maintained) but everything has a cost. If, in the final analysis, the cost of maintaining your forum with Kunena in its present form is too great then you may have to make a difficult decision and go with something else.

But I have a few suggestions you might like to consider:

(1) Lock your forum down; remove contentious topics from the public gaze and secure those things in restricted categories. In the end it's a trade-off between what you consider to be in the broader public interest versus the safety of individuals who may feel concerned about what (and where) they contribute their opinions

(2) As you say, you must allow access to some degree. You can control the degree of that access. Ultimately this needs to be a balanced view, preferably taken after discussion within your community. Make the access too difficult and you risk alienating those whose support you rely upon the most; make the access too easy and you risk your forum sliding into an abyss of confusion.

(3) Allow anonymous posting.

(4) Tighten your registration screen procedures.

(5) If you really need to modify the forum in the ways you have suggested (and I cannot offer you a simple solution) then you need to look at the PHP script that drives the forum and modify it as you need. If you lack the programming skills, and your need for maintaining the heightened layer of security for your members is paramount among all other needs, then you should look to a web programming specialist to undertake the work for you.

Beyond the things I've mentioned, there's not a lot more than I can suggest. As I mentioned earlier, perhaps a web-based discussion forum is not the appropriate communication medium for your group. Perhaps your group, watchful of their need for safety, would be better advised to use paper-based distribution of material, or email, or some other communication medium.

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