Topic: Inter-Forum Posting

[rick.ca]

I'm a user of a software support forum running on SMF 1.1.8. There are actually two forums, one for English users and one for Russian. The two forums are pretty much identical in structure and devoted to the same subject, but otherwise completely separate. Relevant to my question, I suppose, is that the memberships are completely separate.

I wonder if there is a way to facilitate some communication between the two user groups. However this might be done, I assume it would require a bilingual moderator to do or assist with translation—so my question does not involve translation. I imagine a board simultaneously hosted by both forums—so members of either can post to it, and see replies from users of the other forum. Is that possible?

Is there a level of moderation that requires moderator approval before posting—so the moderator can add a translation before a message is posted?

If the answer to both questions is "no," suggestions for alternate solutions would be much appreciated.

[Deaks]

if both are on same db but under a different prefix then yes it would be possible

[rick.ca]

Sorry, as a user, I'm not familiar with the database structure.

The URL's are
hxxp:www.videodb.info/forum_en/index.php? [nonactive] and
hxxp:www.videodb.info/forum_ru/index.php? [nonactive]

...might this indicate they are on the same database?

If so, is there any documentation relevant to how this would be set up? I would like to be able to make a recommendation to the administrator, and point him in the right direction.

Thanks!

[rick.ca]

bump

[IchBin™]

You're likely to get more input if you post in the proper section of the board. If you post in support, more support people will see your questions. This is a board for discussion on feedback to SMF about what you think about the product.

[rick.ca]

Perhaps I wasn't clear (enough). I'm not a SMF user in need of support, I'm a user of forum running on SMF. My questions are about the existence of certain features, not how to implement them. Seems like "anything SMF related that doesn't fit elsewhere" to me.

[青山 素子]

I wonder if there is a way to facilitate some communication between the two user groups. However this might be done, I assume it would require a bilingual moderator to do or assist with translation—so my question does not involve translation. I imagine a board simultaneously hosted by both forums—so members of either can post to it, and see replies from users of the other forum. Is that possible?

Possible via a few different methods. You could use 2.0's redirect boards and have that board based on one of the sites, with a redirect when followed from the other. However, as the membership is not shared, you'd run into the issue of members needing to register on the other board.

You could potentially also do some code changes to try and share the board, but conflicting member IDs might be a problem.

What you are asking for is in-between a full merge of the two forums and complete separation, call it a half-hearted merge. There is no easy built-in option to easily do this type of thing.

Is there a level of moderation that requires moderator approval before posting—so the moderator can add a translation before a message is posted?

Yes, in 2.0 you can require posts to be approved before being displayed publicly. We use it on a few boards here.

[rick.ca]

Thanks very much, Motoko-chan. That's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Now we can think about our options. Or start learning Russian.