Default Profile Privacy

Hi all,

Recently got a license for Dolphin and for the most part have been impressed.  However, the privacy settings are super confusing, for both admin and user alike.  More documentation would be helpful.  I've been up and down these forums piecing together my understanding, but there is one thing I still have not been able to figure out.

I want to do something very simple and very basic.  I want it so that when someone signs up and activates their account, their profile privacy is automatically set, by default, to 'friends.' [Ie, hidden until someone befriends them.]

There appears to be no admin setting for this.

Now, under the privacy settings in the admin panel I have everything marked as 'default', and do not have the 'public group' enabled.  As I understand it, all this does is allow the user to create their own default settings, and won't let them set their profiles to public.  It does NOT specify what that default setting actually is to begin with. 

Setting aside why there would not be a setting like this from the admin side, its also confusing to the users, who see that their profile privacy is set as 'default' but don't have an intuitive way to change that, either.  (If it isn't the option in member_privacy.php, then I still don't understand it myself.  Very possible.)

That leads me hunting for the 'allow_to_view' option, per what I found in this thread:

https://www.boonex.com/forums/topic/Umm-Friends-Only-By-Default-for-New-Accounts.htm

Except when I view the field in phpmyadmin there isn't any 3 to change to 5.  There isn't any number listed at all in the field.  So, I haven't run the SQL query, as I'm not convinced it applies to my situation, even though its the only 'allow_to_view' field in the entire database.  (I think the SQL refers to a previous version; I'm running 7.3.5)

Thanks in advance. 

(And if anyone can point me to documentation of the entire privacy system, I'd be super thankful.)

I would say look at: https://www.boonex.com/m/admin-tools

If that is not what you are wanting have you looked at: https://YOURDOMAIN/administration/privacy.php

That does have the profile settings to set Allow to view blocks.

If that is not it sorry I am trying to help..

And a good link to start at for documentation is at: https://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/wiki

Might not show what your looking for but has some useful info for starters.

Thanks, I'll look into that admin-tool mod. 

Aren't the options in privacy.php only to set what the user is able to do, not set their default upon signing up?  If they are supposed to set what the user's default option for privacy is, its not working that way on my site.  If I make changes there it changes the sys_privacy_actions field, and if I set those blocks to 'friends', it does update the values, but even if they are set to '5' (friends), this is not reflected in the user's profiles.  Which I find very confusing, because I really thought that would do the trick.

This is what the wiki has for the privacy documentation:

https://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/wiki/DolphinAdminPrivacySettings

"Allows you to enable/disable default privacy groups. If you uncheck a group for example Friends than this option will not be available in user's privacy settings." 

Not very extensive, but for what I understand it to be saying, it seems to be saying that it lists only what my members can choose, it doesn't choose it for them initially.

Thanks for your help!

Privacy is a very grey area I'm afraid. Dolphin stacks everything in favour of the user and it's possible to have a site with 400 hidden profiles and nothing Admin can do about it.

I'm confused by your description, but that's as much fatigue as anything else.

I'll read it again later but there are a couple of things you can look at in the meantime.

Somewhere on the Account page, a member can set his/her profile to public, members friends or personal. Why I'll never know, but the settings are there.

Every profile block has a little yellow key above it. A member can click those keys and make certain blocks invisible to others. 

Modzzz has a series of modules that offer different privacy levels. Spend some time reading his extensive descriptions and maybe one will suit you.

I refuse to run a site where people can make their profiles invisible, so I have everything switched off. In some instances this has involved hacking, but one day Dolphin will put the driver in charge of the machine and not the passengers.

-------------------------------

I did read one bit of your first post and if you're confused, you should see me! If all profiles are hidden when a member joins, how in the blazes is he or she able to make a decision as to who they want to befriend. Sorry, I just don't understand the logic behind that. They'll enter a site and be faced with dozens of blank pages.

I gave up.

If I set the default privacy for profiles to 'friends' the timeline remains hidden, even after they become friends.  I can't see why it should work that way.  Maybe I've missed a setting or there is something I still don't understand, but I'm thinking there might be a bug in there somewhere. 

It seems like a really bad idea to make people's timelines 'public' by default, but that's the only way the timelines remain visible after someone becomes a friend.  (The fact that I can make the default setting 'public' tells me that this really is the place to be in the admin panel.)  I am making a notation in the FAQ emphasizing that they should visit their privacy settings before doing anything else, which looks to be about the best I can do. 

Whether or not I revisit this depends on how many complaints I get, I suppose.

I did install that Admin Tools.  Its a nice mod, and I'm going to keep it, but of all the places where I could set default privacy settings, the profile was not one of them!  Ah well.  Still a nice mod, as I said.

Thanks all for your help!

There's nothing wrong with Dolphin as it stands. it's quirky, but there's no glaring bugs as such.

I think you need to question what you're trying to achieve and how that fits in with the script you purchased. We must all understand that it can't do everything for everyone.

On reading your first post, it seems you want people to sign up and enter an empty site because all other profiles a inaccessible until someone befriends you. But how will they know whether they want to become friends because they can't see you and you can't see them? Their their images may appear in the members section, but you should never judge a book by its cover.

I think you need to give some thought to that, buy you're not alone. I noticed in your link someone else wants to do the same thing.

The timeline shouldn't present a problem because it's divided into two parts. The part on the home page covers everyone and the part on your account page coves friends only. So remove the timeline block from the home page in Pages Builder and that way, only you can see your friends timeline on the account page. 

Once again in the accounts page a member can block their profile to friends only "if they wish"

As fare as the profile is concerned, go to:

admin/settings/privacy settings/profile/ and set it to friends only.  (see image) Don't forget to save. I don't have friends set up on my test site but I guess you need to flush the cache etc.

Always keep in mind that Admin has special privilages and in most instances they can overview everything.

You need to sign up as a member to see it from the members perspective. It may be quite different.

"But how will they know whether they want to become friends because they can't see you and you can't see them?"

This is where I thought there may be something buggy going on.  In point of fact, in my install, if I set my profile privacy default to 'friends' people could still see the information block about them (although not their profile pic--so no concerns about judging a book by the cover, here).  From what you are saying, it sounds like they shouldn't have even been able to see that.  And if that were the case, that would be one thing. 

But this is quite another:  having people's personal timeline contributions posted to the 'public.'  I'm pretty sure no one wants to leave their timeline posts public just so that folks can get to know them.  ;)  So, basically what I wanted by default is what most users are going to ultimately go for anyway:  visible profile blocks to nearly everyone, but invisible timeline except to friends or select groups.

Everything pointed towards this being doable right from the privacy settings, but it didn't work that way.

Of course I've already signed up to see it from a members perspective.  That just goes without saying.

As for the "can't do everything for everyone", well, yes.  Somehow, I knew someone was going to say that  I've been following Boonex for almost 10 years--I registered on this site in 2009.  Since then, I've tried multiple platforms, and did so again more recently, and was impressed with how far Dolphin has come along.  I'm giving it another go, with reason to think its going to fly this time. 

That said, in nearly 20 years of working with developers, it seems to always be the case that they hard code in things that are best left to the end user.  The creativity of the end user, the differing uses that someone can put the same product, etc, cannot be anticipated by developers.  In my case, for my use, it is not an "empty site" that will be filled with random individuals (at least, not for a long while).  It will be visited, and indeed is already being joined, by invited individuals who are considering using it for their own purposes.  They have certain expectations.  One of them is that their timeline comments are kept just between friends, right from the beginning.

It would have been nice to deliver on that expectation by default.  Perhaps its a flaw in my install, but apparently I can't.  Theoretically, they're all bright lads, and they'll figure out what they need to do (with a little prompting by myself) but as anyone who has administered a lot of users know, even bright lads sometimes end up muddling around until they get help.  :)

Unfortunately, many of those people are just going to give up on my site before seeking help.  This is what I'm trying to avoid.  I'm already seeing people join and not use the site, and I think this is one reason why.

Anyway, you can think of my post here as one of those 'bright lads' muddling through.  The answers are out there, I just have yet to secure them!  :)

Hopefully you're doing all this on a test site or you have some really faithful members.

Most things can be done either at admin level, using modules which I've already suggested you look at, but you have yet to comment, or using the services of someone like AntonLV who knows Dolphin's every nut and bolt.

It was the diversity of Dolphin that attracted me to it, but not knowing PHP or how Dolphin is coded doesn't help.

On a squeaky clean test site, one that has ALL the defaults set to Dolphin's way of thinking, try this:

Install  the Photos Module (not Avatars)
lnstall Timeline and go to settings. There you can see whether photos should be shown. As you add more modules, more settings will appear here. Change them as you (admin) see fit.

Go to Admin/Builder/Pages Builder/Home Page

Drag the Timeline and Outline blocks into the Inactive Blocks section if they're not already there. This will stop all members from seeing both.

Go to Admin/Builder/Pages Builder/Account

Drag Friends Timeline into the active section if it's not already there. This will enable you to see your friends timeline and for them to see yours. For that to happen, you must be friends. As other members can't see your account page, they won't be able to see your friends timeline either.

That's one problem instantly solved and that's the way you should do it - one problem at a time!

Your comment that: I'm pretty sure *no one wants to  leave their timeline posts public just so that folks can get to know them.  ;) is so wrong. Most social media sites work this way. You join the site because you have a common interest with "every" other member, thus seeing their posts helps a member decide if they wish to become a friend with someone.

*(Timeline posts are essential for an active social media site. They're like billboards that say "Come and visit my profile and maybe we'll become friends") What you don't make clear, is your alternative to this, or is it some kind of game site where you choose a random friend? You really do have me very confused.

Without sounding rude, I have several members on my site who think the same way as you, or so it would seem. - Np profile, no photo, no details, but they want you to be a friend. To me, it's like becoming a friend with someone behind a closed door. No thanks!