Moderate Topics & Posts

Moderate Topics & Posts This is a very special and smart loop, due to the following:

  • It is not listed in the Loops menu, because it wouldn't make any sense to do so. This is strictly a frontend operation that only applies to selected topics or posts. Which means that if you do not run a discussion board and there are no topics/posts selected, you will never see the light of it!
  • It adjusts its options dynamically, according to:
    - the context (topics or posts)
    - the number of items selected (one or more), and
    - your chosen action (see screenshot)
  • It has moderator permissions and appears - whenever applicable - by clicking the icon in the user toolbar.

Please, recall that there are three distinct views in a discussion board context:

  1. Forums
  2. Topics of a certain forum
  3. Posts of a certain topic

Discussion Board
Forum
Topic
Post

The icon is displayed only under the following conditions:

  1. You are viewing topics or posts (case 2 or 3 above)
  2. You have selected at least one item (topic or post), in the respected view - no matter where (it can be on a different page than the one you are currently viewing)

You select/deselect items by Alt-Clicking on them.

You should pay attention to the loop's (window) title, as it reflects its context. It specifies both, items (topics or post) and quantities (how many).

The loop contains the following fields:

  • Action
    A drop-down list of actions, depending on the context: selected item (topic or post) and quantity. For example, the action “Change Title” appears only when a single topic is selected.
    The following actions are supported:
    • Change Title
      Allows you to change the selected topic's title, by editing the relevant field on the right. The current title is already copied. If the selected item is a post, then this action won't be available.
    • Merge
      Allows you to merge the selected topics or posts, provided that they belong to the same forum or topic respectively. If the selected items come from different sources, then this action won't be available. When merging, the oldest item takes precedence, no matter the selection or the display order! Pay special attention to this, especially when the items about to be merged have different authors!
    • Change Status
      Allows you to change the status of the selected topic(s) or post(s), by checking the appropriate options in the list below. The current status will be already checked, provided that it is common to all selected items.
    • Move
      Allows you to move the selected topic(s) or post(s) to another forum or forum/topic respectively. Selected items must share a common source, exactly as in merging. Obviously, topics can only be moved to another forum. Posts, however, can be moved to either another forum or another topic in the same forum. Here is how the program defers between those two options:
      1. If the title field is empty, it means that there was either no one or more than one topic selected, prior to post moderation. In this case, a new topic will be automatically created, having the title you specify here, in the forum you select below. The topic's author will be set to the same one as the first (oldest) post been moved.
      2. If the title field is not empty, it means that you have previously selected the target topic. You will recognize it by a special prefix: the topic's id enclosed in square brackets (“[####]Title...”). If you leave the title field as is, the program will move the posts there. You do not need to select a forum (it will be ignored, anyway).
    • Delete
      This is actually a masqueraded move operation, using the “Delete in Topic” Community setting as an implicit target. If that setting is unset then this action won't be available.
    • Deselect
      Deselects all currently selected items, both topics and posts.
  • Title
    In a topic view, it displays the title of the first selected topic. In a post view, it displays the title of a single selected topic, prefixed by the topic's id enclosed in square brackets. This special notation denotes a target for moving posts.
  • Status
    Displays the selected items status (if common) and allows you to change it (if applicable).
  • Forum
    Displays the forum hierarchy and allows you to select one for moving selected items.

Fields title, status and forum are enabled/disabled dynamically, based on the chosen action. This helps you understand whether they are relevant to your choice or not.

Selected items are tracked via a session cookie. This means that a) your selection is lost whenever you close the browser, and b) you can select as many items as a cookie value can hold. There is no standard for the maximum length of a cookie value, so it depends on the browser. Commonly, it is around 4KB. Zoglair needs 1 (one) character for the item's type (T for topics, P for posts) plus as many decimal characters the item's id is.

(C) Nick B. Cassos - All Rights Reserved
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