IMPORTANT: Private Forums feature is LIVE - Page 35

Posted: 1 years ago

In private forum can we not tag a member in our posts whom we have sent an invite link but the member hasn't been still added to the private forum??

Posted: 1 years ago
Originally posted by Sunaina7


In private forum can we not tag a member in our posts whom we have sent an invite link but the member hasn't been still added to the private forum??

If you want to tag a member in a private forum, she/ he should be already a member of that forum. Otherwise, tagging a non-member is not possible in Private forums.

Edited by Viswasruti - 1 years ago
Posted: 1 years ago

I am a member of a private forum where the Creator organized a writing contest and requested members to raise awareness of it on the outside: "Do tag and PM & share the links too in other threads. Since its a private forum, you need to invite people whoever might be interested." So, in a public forum that was meant to cover the subject of the private forum, I quoted the Creator's announcement "welcoming all" to the contest, with a link to join the private forum.


The public forum's Moderator replied in my topic: "[This] is a public forum.  Respect privacy of Private forums. Do not share any content from there without concerned DT's permission. Do not comment about other forums here. Topic closed."


This reply concisely ignores three Catch-22 problems:

1. Private forums cannot advertise publicly, but they must generate enough interest to earn the reward of being made public.

2. Knowing that private forums have no identified DT, the outside Moderator can be sure that no one can fulfil the requirement to get permission of "concerned DT" after the Creator gave permission.

3. India Forums' business depends on members from one forum crossing over to another forum, but that must happen without anyone commenting in one forum about another forum.


I suggest that India Forums should explain its expectations concerning private forums to Moderators instead of allowing them to make up their own rules to discourage participation.

Posted: 1 years ago

Two questions:

1. India Forums does not allow links to external websites in general, right? (Except social media that India Forums uses: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.) I have seen this rule followed many times in discussions, but if it's your rule, where is it stated?


Not here:

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/81

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/24

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/30


It could be stated more clearly than "Prohibited Content includes ... Content that ... provides any ... URLs" (as contact information similar to telephone numbers and email addresses) here:

https://www.indiaforums.com/pages/terms-of-use


As the Creator of a private forum, is it my responsibility to edit out links to external websites (e.g. to a Hindu website soliciting donations) whenever someone posts them?


2. Do you still plan to implement the option that Creators can permit everyone to view a private forum before joining it? On a private forum's Configure page, the Key to Forum Permissions defines the All Members option, but this option is not available in the drop-down menu.


Originally posted by vijay


  • India Forums Code of Conduct still applies on all forums and also should not be violating any law. We are soon going to revise our COC so that its simpler and uniform across all forums.

Private forum Creator / Manager needs to ensure our terms of service is adhered to.

Can we check the discussion topics before Joining the forum?
Well it depends on the permission set by the Creator for that forum. Normally members would be able to check the topics. Incase its a Invite only / Approval based, members will have to join the forum before they can view / post in that forum.

Edited by BrhannadaArmour - 1 years ago
Posted: 1 years ago
Originally posted by BrhannadaArmour


Two questions:

1. India Forums does not allow links to external websites in general, right? (Except social media that India Forums uses: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.) I have seen this rule followed many times in discussions, but if it's your rule, where is it stated?


Not here:

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/81

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/24

https://www.indiaforums.com/helpcenter/questions/30


It could be stated more clearly than "Prohibited Content includes ... Content that ... provides any ... URLs" (as contact information similar to telephone numbers and email addresses) here:

https://www.indiaforums.com/pages/terms-of-use


As the Creator of a private forum, is it my responsibility to edit out links to external websites (e.g. to a Hindu website soliciting donations) whenever someone posts them?


2. Do you still plan to implement the option that Creators can permit everyone to view a private forum before joining it? On a private forum's Configure page, the Key to Forum Permissions defines the All Members option, but this option is not available in the drop-down menu.




Thank you for your message. As a community forum, we welcome all members to share their thoughts and ideas. However, we do have guidelines in place to ensure that the forum remains a safe and respectful space for everyone.

In regards to links, we do not allow spammy or irrelevant links that are intended to promote a product, service, or website. We also do not permit links to hate speech, adult content, or any other content that is deemed inappropriate or offensive. 

Our goal is to foster a supportive and informative community, and as such, any links posted should be relevant and add value to the discussion. We reserve the right to remove any links that do not meet these criteria.

Regarding your second question about permissions. Forum creators wont have that access unless they have shown that the can handle the forum well and have reached a certain milestone like 100 Users.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Posted: 1 years ago
Originally posted by BrhannadaArmour


I am a member of a private forum where the Creator organized a writing contest and requested members to raise awareness of it on the outside: "Do tag and PM & share the links too in other threads. Since its a private forum, you need to invite people whoever might be interested." So, in a public forum that was meant to cover the subject of the private forum, I quoted the Creator's announcement "welcoming all" to the contest, with a link to join the private forum.


The public forum's Moderator replied in my topic: "[This] is a public forum.  Respect privacy of Private forums. Do not share any content from there without concerned DT's permission. Do not comment about other forums here. Topic closed."


This reply concisely ignores three Catch-22 problems:

1. Private forums cannot advertise publicly, but they must generate enough interest to earn the reward of being made public.

2. Knowing that private forums have no identified DT, the outside Moderator can be sure that no one can fulfil the requirement to get permission of "concerned DT" after the Creator gave permission.

3. India Forums' business depends on members from one forum crossing over to another forum, but that must happen without anyone commenting in one forum about another forum.


I suggest that India Forums should explain its expectations concerning private forums to Moderators instead of allowing them to make up their own rules to discourage participation.



We are currently working on a solution so that Private Forum creators will not have to promote their forum on other unrelated forums. We understand that this can be time-consuming and potentially spammy.

As part of this effort, we may designate a specific forum where Private Forum creators can promote their forum. However, this is still under consideration and has not been finalized. We kindly ask for your patience while we work out the details.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Posted: 1 years ago
Originally posted by vijay


Regarding your second question about permissions. Forum creators wont have that access unless they have shown that the can handle the forum well and have reached a certain milestone like 100 Users.

Thanks for the explanations. Your original idea that "Normally members would be able to check the topics" [before joining] made sense.


If you had given Creators the option to make private forums open to everyone for reading (but unlike public forums, not open for reacting/posting), membership would have grown naturally: browsing -> reading -> revisiting -> wanting to react/reply -> joining -> test of Creator's ability to manage -> membership reaches threshold to permit public reacting/posting.


Instead, you have a bottleneck: requiring effort from passersby to auto-join a bunch of weirdly named private forums before they may stumble upon a tempting topic in one of them. No sneak peek inside -> no one joins -> publicly visible pathetic scores for topics/followers -> no one else joins.

Originally posted by vijay


We are currently working on a solution so that Private Forum creators will not have to promote their forum on other unrelated forums. We understand that this can be time-consuming and potentially spammy.

Does your phrasing acknowledge that I currently "have to" promote private forums in relevant public forums and whenever someone asks where to discuss a subject? Am I permitted to post links to private forum topics (that are not meant to be secret) until you implement your solution?


I have never spammed unrelated forums, and I don't find it time-consuming to reply to posts that request links to private forums. I think it makes sense that wherever someone asks for directions, the link should be provided right there, not in some other designated forum.


I have a link to my private forum in my signature. Does that count as promoting it on unrelated forums? When your solution goes into effect, will the DT go after me for any post, anywhere?

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Last replied by BrhannadaArmour

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