What is the purpose of the REPOST button?

Does the repost button allow members to repost photos and the like on the timeline and outline? In other words, is it simply a facility to "BUMP" photos and the like.

If so, I wish to get rid of it pronto. Can some nice person tell me how to remove it without having to spend money on yet another module?

I would assume that these so-called features are not for everyone and it would be good if the Module settings allowed the admin to select which ones they do and don't want. The "SHARE" button is a perfect example. I can just imagine members of porn and dating sites sharing stuff on Facebook and Twitter. Someone would be stupid enough to do it.

I've figured out some of this myself but my head is literally spinning! As I predicted, the Repost button allows people to bump photos on to the timeline whenever they feel like it. There is some kind of control for the Timeline itself, but not for the Repost button on the photo view page.

Firstly, I thought a Timeline was just that, but not with Dolphin. Members can post the same photo to the Timeline endlessly until someone reports them or gives up and goes elsewhere.

I find all of this shear madness, but obviously a few people must think the Repost button is a great idea.

If you head off to the Member's Permissions section in Admin, it seems you can control how many times a member posts their photo, or you can disable the "feature" completely. Sadly, that still leaves the icon in every timeline entry and it continues to look as though it works. You can still click it, the counter counts, but the photo doesn't appear. How useless is that? I've tried to remove the Icon, but haven't figured it out yet.

The situation is worse in the Photo section unless I've missed something. I had to go to the database and remove the (Action) button. That can be very risky for people with limited computer knowledge.

Ho Hum - another four hours wasted.

isnt that the same as the share button on facebook? i am not sure - but there is not limitations on sharing on facebook either - is there?

I thought Share was a means of sharing the photo or prose in emails or on other sites such as Twitter. That makes sense is some small way, but to repeatedly post the same photo on a Timeline which is meant to be a record of events, is something different again.  I don't use Facebook, but I'd imagine the Dolphin Share, which I also wish to get rid of is similar.

If you read https://www.boonex.com/n/profile-timeline-in-dolphin-7-1-osho, you will find that the timeline is 2 things, it used to be called a wall.

 with facebook - if you see a post that you like - you can share that post within facebook - same as the repost feature (probably just named differently so as not to be looked at as copying - i really dont know).This is a common feature - regardless of what it is called.

Now, with that being said - there are some improvements that could be made - such as a filter for the timeline on the homepage. As on the profile page - you can select what you want to see in your profile timeline - this would be great on the homepage as well - especially for those that repost stuff.

@sohopa that link brings on a 404 error. I'd like to read it.

@Professor, from what I can see, Admin and Members have different options even after I've disabled the Timeline Repost

Admin. seems to have a repost option on every photo/item regardless of who posted it. I'd imagine that if admin clicked the item, it would appear in all admin's friends timelines but who knows? That's part of what I'm trying to find out.

Members only have the Repost option under their own posts in the Timeline. Thus they can only repost their own stuff - over and over and over, depending on the permissions settings I assume.

To me the whole thing is a shambles and I feel that in the wrong hands it's a disaster waiting to happen. I want to completely STOP people reposting  because there's no need for it and remove the button. Unfortunately the button doesn't seem to be in the database actions section and it looks live even when deactivated.

When content is shared (reposted, or whatever label is used), do subsequent posts reference the same file or is a new copy created each time?

@sbg101, that's another question. I'm assuming that it links to the original post but?

However, I still ask: "What is the value of this so-called feature?" I fail to see any!

Demmy, if sharing doesn't generate a new file, then it is only an irritant to see the same thing repeatedly. 

"'What is the value of this so-called feature?' I fail to see any!"

If everyone had the same friends list, then sharing once would be enough. Since that isn't the case, then you have multiple people wanting to share the same thing with their particular lists of friends. The more mutual friends one has with others, the more often they will see the same content posted. Over and over and over.

@sbg101, I'm not sure if your analogy works here. From what I can see, the Repost button is only available to the person who posted the original article/photo. That means they can only Repost it to their own timeline which can also be seen by their friends. If a friend likes it, they don't have a button to re-Repost it to their friend's timelines as far as I can see. (Note last pic)

Sorry about the sideways pic, but it saves vertical space. This is a screen shot of a member's page and the timeline they can see. Two lots of photos have been reposted.  I admit they're on the same day, but they may still appear this way if posted a week or month apart.

the second screenshot is a closeup. Notice that photos posted by me don't have a Repost button on my friend's timeline. Thus, they can't repost these photos so that their friends can see them.

Thus, Repost has limited value other than bombarding your friends with REPOSTED pics and articles.

Call it an irritant if you will, but I see it as a timebomb.

i guess it would depend on the type of users you have on your site - facebook uses the share and it s not as scary as you think it is. If your site is one that is tryint to build and maintain a reputation - your users should be those to further that. And honestly - I do not see it being a big deal - unless you only have a few members on your site - then it can probably get annoying. but if you have hundreds of users, reposts are a great way to get more people to see a particular post. there is so much going on that things will get lost. the repost allows for a post to become relevant again. and i think a lot of people want that.

That's the point @Professor. Horses for courses!

1. My site will have 500-1000 users maximum, but not all will be squeaky clean. If they can push their barrow, they will - and they'll do it with a vengeance.
2. My site is also a specialist site, not exactly a dating site, but what happens in Vegas, needs to stay in Vegas.

Sharing on other sites could and probably will lead to legal issues and I want no part of that.

I know I'm not the only one building a private site but I wonder if others realise the ramifications of offering a Share facility which can't be switched off. (Another story).

Dolphin is NOT facebook, nor should it never be a facebook clone. Just because facebook has it, does Dolphin need it? The best thing the Dolphin developers can do for the next release is make sure all options can easily be switched ON or OFF. Judging by what they've done so far, that shouldn't be hard.

It would also make Dolphin a far more adaptable script.

sharing has been around for years - it is a natural part of any social network. Not sure what you exactly mean by private, but with 500 to 1000 members - you may have more people ask why is it not there - than those who you feel will abuse the repost.

     I think we're on a different tangent.  I'm dealing with grown adults. On one side there are reasonable people and on the other - idiots! The idiots will repost and repost until the cows come home because they're infatuated by their own photos. No rules will stop them. I've been involved with forums and sites like I'm trying to create here for years and I know! I spent 12 months as a major site moderator deleting "idiot" posts from forums which outnumbered genuine posts by twenty to one. The public never sees this.

      To me a timeline is just that. It allows members to see what other members have posted. If they like what they see, they visit the other member's profile. They don't need to have the same photo of the same baby shoved down their throat every day of the year.

      I'm on several major sites, one boasting 3 million members and I've never seen the repost option before.

      Please don't tell me facebook has it. I'm not trying to re-invent facebook.

Can someone just tell me how to remove the button?  Please!

The comma got caught up at end of link.

https://www.boonex.com/n/profile-timeline-in-dolphin-7-1-osho

Thanks @Sohopa,

I find the Timeline does all I want except for that Repost Button. That makes it a wall. All I want is a timeline as Boonex explained in the article. They don't mention that pesky button. In the same way they have a block for comments, they need to have a block for Reposts. It's in the permissions section but it doesn't work fully. Switching it off is one thing, but removing the button altogether is another.

Still unanswered. Until this button can be easily removed, the Timeline is NOT a Timeline. it's a Wall.

   I've managed to remove it from outline in an agricultural way, but not from the Timeline. I can spend days on this or someone with a little knowledge can help me in minutes.

Any takers?

repost.css - around line 36 (element inspector is a great tool to use) - change:

div.wall-repost div.wall-repost-element-holder, div.wall-repost div.wall-repost-counter-holder {
    position: relative;
    display: inline-block;
    vertical-align: top;
}

to:

div.wall-repost div.wall-repost-element-holder, div.wall-repost div.wall-repost-counter-holder {
    position: relative;
    display: none;
    vertical-align: top;
}

Thanks Professor, it works perfectly.

I do use Element Inspector all the time and I've even written a tutorial about it.  I guess all things aren't perfect and "trust" is not always a good thing. In this instance, Element Inspector let me down. As you can see, display: inline_block; has been switched off, yet the element is still there:

However, I did go to that file several times and before posting yesterday I accidentally entered display_none; instead of display: none; At the same time I think I also left display: inline-block; in and it overrode the error.

Always check and double check.