Sidebox visible- but not accessible unless logged in

[btolly]

I read the thread about hidinga sidebox until a customer logs in- but is it possible to let customers see the sideboxes but not access them until they log in?

[stevesh]

If you mean that visitors could see, for example, the category names in the Categories sidebox, but couldn't click on them (the names wouldn't be links) until they were logged in, I'm sure you could do that, but I'm not coder enough to tell you exactly how.

If you don't mind my asking, why would you want to?

[btolly]

I am not selling products at this time- I am promoting other companies, services, and educational resources for an on-line community. I would like them to log in to create a comprehensive customer database.

BT
Berkley, MI

[Kim]

... So I see something in a sidebox I am interested in, I click on it and get sent to the login? As a user, I would be outta' there so fast ...

[btolly]

Kim -

I appreciate your concern- but until you understand the users I am targeting and why please don't post unless you can give me some meaningful coding direction.

So can you give me some direction to make this happen or is it impossible?

Respectively submitted-

BT

[stevesh]

You haven't mentioned how skilled you are at programming, so there's no way to know if you need code written for you, or a nudge in the right direction.

As I said, I'm not a coder, so if I wanted to do that, I'd search the forums for require login to see if someone else had asked a similar question and had received a useful reply.

You might also post in the Commercial Help Wanted forum.

BTW, you'll find that the devs and the people who hang out here don't see this forum as a you-ask-a-question-we-answer-it sort of thing. We view it as a community, and if you're proposing something that doesn't seem like a good idea, we're likely to say so. Part of the deal.

[btolly]

Thanks for the response and the search suggestion- sometimes it is hard to think the right search words to fine tune what you are looking for.

I looked into the Customer Shop Status- which gives a variety of "out of the box" options - which could possibly be just as frustrating to a user.

There is a website called "lynda.com"- you may be familiar with. It is for software training etc. - they allow access to certain tutorials within a subject title and show an additional list that you can have access to if you sign-up for a membership. I'm not charging for a membership- just want the user to see what else is offered if they sign-in. Maybe I can handle that by a EZ-Page explaining the benefits of membership and then turn on a box once logged in.

I am not a coder by any means- I understand what the code is basically doing but not literally doing- at best.

BTW-I have no problems with questions and opinions- you posed a question and I answered it- they help all of us work out ideas and problems and maybe even straighten out our irrational thinking- but an opinion without any type of attempt to understand why or an attempt to help- is useless for everyone. Dev or not.

Thanks for the help.

[Ajeh]

I tend to agree with Kim on this ... but if you gotta do it this way, decide if you want the links when not logged in to just be text with a headline ... login to access or something ...

Then customize the links to either be active or go elsewhere if the customer is not logged in ...

[stevesh]

Another way might be to create two copies of the Blank Sidebox mod. One would have a list of the subscriber-only content, but not links. That one would be active only when the user is not logged in. After he creates an account and logs in, the second sidebox, with links to the content, would be active.

I think there are several threads discussing how to make sideboxes appear/disappear depending on login.

[gjh42]

Yes! That would be far easier than trying to make individual links change their behavior on login status. You could also make a dummy categories-like sidebox which would switch with the real categories sidebox on login status, etc.

Just provide clear notes about what is happening so users don't get frustrated when things that look like they ought to be links don't do anything.