Manual - Amazon S3 · Manual Simple:Press Forum Attract Clients and Grow Your Business Work with me...

ManualSimple:Press Forum

Attract Clients and Grow Your BusinessWork with me and become an Online Rock Star

ErnoHannink.com

Table of ContentsWhy a Forum........................................................................................................ 4Why Simple:Press................................................................................................. 5What is Simple:Press............................................................................................. 6Setup your Forum..................................................................................................7

Start with creating one or more User Groups......................................................... 9Now create a new group................................................................................... 10Create a new forum and add it to your group....................................................... 12Add users to the user group.............................................................................. 15Administrators................................................................................................. 17Add administrators........................................................................................... 19Forum Look & Feel........................................................................................... 20Simple:Press plugins........................................................................................ 23Global Settings................................................................................................ 26General Display Settings................................................................................... 28Content Settings.............................................................................................. 29Member settings.............................................................................................. 30Manage Permissions......................................................................................... 31Email Settings................................................................................................. 33Login and registration....................................................................................... 34Search Engine Optimization for your Forum.........................................................35

Copyright 2012 Erno Hannink

http://ernohannink.com/

File uploader settings........................................................................................36Topic Status.................................................................................................... 37Members view................................................................................................. 38Hide administrators from members view..............................................................39

Work with your Forum.......................................................................................... 40Start a topic in a forum..................................................................................... 42Reply on a topic............................................................................................... 46Admin bar....................................................................................................... 48Subscribing to vs watching a topic...................................................................... 49Private Messaging............................................................................................ 50Edit Profile...................................................................................................... 51Reply Options.................................................................................................. 53Login / Logout................................................................................................. 54

Erno Hannink...................................................................................................... 56Free Information................................................................................................. 58Questions?..........................................................................................................59



Why a ForumA forum is a place on the web where you can have (closed) discussions with the members of your program.

You can also have closed discussions in a closed group on Facebook. This is convenient for people that already spend a lot of time on Facebook. They do not have to switch to your forum to join the conversation or ask a question.

The advantage of a forum over a closed group on Facebook is that you will always have it on your own domain. You are the owner and keeper of the content, the topics and the discussions.

For the members of the forum it will also be easier to find their discussions, topics they replied to and searching in general in your forum is easier.

A forum on your domain will also brand this domain with you, with your expertise.

A group on Facebook will always have the Facebook look and feel. When Facebook changes something to the groups that you don't like you will have to learn to live with it.



Why Simple:PressWordPress is my favorite Content Management System (CMS). I have been working with it since end 2005 and never had problems with it. The sites I build with WordPress always give good results in the search engines.

All my websites, hubs, blogs are build wit WordPress and I only use WordPress for my clients hubs, blogs and sites.

There are a number forum plugins available that you can use for WordPress. These plugins add a forum to your website. For example, Tal.ki forums, bbPress, Zingiri Forum, Simple:Press and more.

Using the Simple:Press forum for your client programs has a number of advantages.

• You can create user groups – for each program you start a separate user group

• You can create groups of forums for specific user groups

• You can hide admins from the member lists



What is Simple:PressSimple:Press is a WordPress plugin that you can add to your WordPress site. The latest version of this plugin can be found on simple-press.com

You can add plugins to the Simple:Press forum to get some extra features and there are a few templates available. You can easily customize one of these standard templates to your needs.

The basic theme of your website is used and in the page section (with or without sidebar) the forum will be visible. So the forum is styled in your website layout.

By default a forum has:

• Admins

• Moderators

• Members

• Guests

We use Simple:Press 5.0. You can download it here. Upload the plugin with your favorite FTP software to /wp-content/plugins/, activate the plugin and click 'Install Forum' in the Forum section. It will create the directory /wp-content/sp-resources/ with subdirectories.



http://simple-press.com/download/

http://simple-press.com/download/

http://simple-press.com/

Setup your ForumFirst you need to go to the Forum section in the admin part of your website. Click Forums in the main menu.



The Forum admin menu on a new Forum



Start with creating one or more User Groups



Now create a new group



The group we just created. Now we can add forums to this group.



Create a new forum and add it to your group



Create a new forum – after you selected the group:



Example of groups and forums



Add users to the user groupManage user groups



Add users to the group. These are existing WordPress users (member, author, editor...)



AdministratorsWhen you have a small membership forum it is good to be notified when someone publishes a post or topic. Set this here.



Global Admin options



Add administrators



Forum Look & FeelSelect a color scheme and activate your theme



This is what the theme of the forum looks like – the basis is the Genesis theme (aff)



http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=242694&u=402609&m=28169&urllink=&afftrack=

With some expertise of PHP and searching the Simple:Press Support Forum you can easily create your own forum theme.

Copy one of the themes that comes with the Simple:Press zip file. Now you can personalize your forum theme. These are some of the modifications we have done:

• Buttons in your hub or website theme colors.

• You can remove 'Home' in the bread crumbs, so they will not go back to the homepage and stay in the forum section.

• You can remove all kind of forum information on the bottom for the users and keep it visible for the admins.

• Remove the administrators from the members list



http://simple-press.com/support-forum/

Simple:Press pluginsSimplePress has a number of cool plugins that you may want to add to your forum.



Plugins we use

The Admin Bar helps to manage the administrators postbag of new forum posts and posts awaiting moderation as well as add optional Akismet support to help identify and quickly deal with spam posts

Custom Profile Fields - for creating custom profile fields

Editor (TinyMCE - Rich Text) - Rich Text Editor using TinyMCE similar to what WordPress is using.

File Uploader (using Plupload) – you need this when you want to upload documents for your program members and you want your members to upload their home work. You can limit maximum upload file size.

Post Ratings - for allowing rating of posts

Private Message System – so members can send each other direct messages.

Profile Display Control - a plugin that adds an admin panel for turning off profile elements (edit forms)

Subscriptions - for allowing subscription of topics

Tags – you can add a topic for each topic

Topic Status - Assign a status to topics from a selected list



Watches - allowing watching of topics

Who's Online - showing who is online around your forum

When your forum grows in size or is more open these plugins are helpful:

Profanity Filter - for filtering profanity or other key words out of post content

Remove Spam Registrations - removing spam registrations (users who registered by never posted)

Report Post - reporting a post with questionable content, let the members help you to keep it clean.



Global SettingsSince we have added and activated the Editor (TinyMCE - Rich Text) plugin, we can make that default for the forum members.



This is what the members see while using the TinyMCE editor



General Display SettingsYou can select thumbs up/down or Stars ratings for topics (Post Ratings plugin).



Content Settings



Member settingsYou can set default user groups new members are automatically added to. This is important when you use membership plugins like MemberWing.



Manage PermissionsIn the menu Permissions – Manage Permissions you can add permissions like uploading files to the Permission Sets. These are the default settings for 'Full Access'



This is how you can give the permission set 'Full Access' more permissions so they can upload their home work, delete own posts, send private messages and watch topics.



Email SettingsThese settings allow you to tailor emails sent to new users following registration to your site and forum. You have full control over both the Email Subject Line and the content of the Email Message.



Login and registrationWhen people can register and login on your Forum, or point them to the (paid) registration options.



Search Engine Optimization for your ForumYou need this when you have an open Forum



File uploader settingsAvailable when the File Uploader plugin is activated. Increase maximum file size and add extensions like docx, xls, odt or what you need the members to upload.



Topic StatusA 'Topic Status Set' is an optional list of flags - or 'status' that a topic can go through. For example, if your forum is used as a support tool, a new topic could be flagged as, for example, 'New Issue'. The first response could change the state to 'Unresolved' and when the problem is dealt with, 'Resolved'.



Members viewMembers can look at the members in the forum, using the 'Members' button



Hide administrators from members viewFor some forums, trust and privacy is really important. As the program manager you can mentor a small group of people. When the topics that you cover in your program are private you want only the members to see each other.

For example you do not want the members to see administrators. This can be done with styling.

In discussion with the developers of Simple:Press each user group has its own css class. This way you can hide specific classes in the style sheet.

Class = spUsergroup-admins

Add to the theme in \wp-content\themes\your-theme\style.css/* Hide admins from Simple:Press */.spUsergroup-admins {display: none; }

Now the administrators are not visible in the members view.



Work with your ForumThis is how the forum looks when you are logged in as administrator.



This is what the forum looks like when you are logged in as member. This person is member of user group one and not any other groups.



Start a topic in a forum



Enter the Topic



Add documents to topic



This is what this topic looks like in the forum



Reply on a topicA member can reply to a topic and upload files, for example home work



The reply with the attached home work posted



Admin barHere you can get a quick update on what is happening in the forum. Unread post: the number of posts you did not read since your last visit. Click 'View new posts' to read.



Subscribing to vs watching a topicWhen you subscribe to a topic, you are notified of all new posts to that topic.

When you watch a topic, you are really just flagging the topic as something you want to come back to or want to watch. There are no notifications.

Additionally, admins can set a watch on a topic for other admins in order to indicate to the other admin they need to look at that topic.



Private MessagingSending a member of the forum a direct message. Like sending an email. The Private Messaging plugin needs to be installed and activated for this option.



Edit ProfileEdit information and settings in you profile. Like profiles for social networking sites, signature (message below each reply), avatar. Options for posting, time zone, editor.



Reply with a automatic signature and profiles for social networking sites. This makes it easier for members to connect with you in other networks and to connect with other members that completed their personal profile.



Reply OptionsYou can Lock a topic after you added a reply or topic. You can pin a post so it shows as the first post in a forum. Edit the time stamp of a post, i.e. give a post an earlier date.Subscribe to this topic, receive messages in your email inbox when replies are postedWatch the topic, it will be in your watch list. You will not get email updates.



Login / LogoutLogin to the forum on your forum page to reply and post topics.



Logout



Erno Hannink

Erno is a mentor, author and speaker on Attracting Clients.I help independent professionals use the internet to get more clients. Attracting your ideal client is the key to success.

Author of 2 books that are published by A.W. Bruna:Laat de klant naar jou komen (Attracting clients) – 2009 2nd printKies je doelgroep (Pick your target audience) – April 2012

You will get highlights of my book Attracting Clients for Free when you subscribe to my newsletter. http://ernohannink.com/newsletter/

Founder of Hannink Online Media – a network company http://hanninkonlinemedia.com

Initiator of Social Media Club in the Netherlands, SOBCon Europe, WordCamp Netherlands, Social Media Event

co-organizer of the Social Media Club Amsterdam and SOBCon Europe.



http://hanninkonlinemedia.com/

http://ernohannink.com/newsletter/

I write informative articles on ErnoHannink.nl (Dutch) and ErnoHannink.com (English) on how to get more clients. Here you will find tips and tricks on blogging, newsletter, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and more.

With my newsletter alone I am already helping more than 6.000 people how they can attract clients using the internet. Stop Selling - Start Attracting Clients and enjoy your family




http://ernohannink.nl/

Free InformationTo get weekly tips on how you can attract clients and grow your business, just subscribe to my free newsletter. Join over 6,000 subscribers.


You can also find free information on my Facebook page:Erno Hannink - Social Media for Independent Professionals

And of course on my blog:http://ernohannink.com/blog/



http://ernohannink.com/blog/

https://www.facebook.com/ErnoHanninkEN


Questions?For questions you can contact us via

• @ernohannink • facebook.com/ErnoHanninkEN • ernohannink.com • [email protected]

Erno is a mentor, author and speaker on Attracting Clients.I help independent professionals use internet to get more clients.


This is a product you paid for, it’s not cool to share it with other people.All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording, without prior written permission from the author except for the inclusion of brief quotes in a review.

Photo by Karin Mollemans 2011 http://zakelijkportret.nl




http://www.facebook.com/ErnoHanninkEN

http://twitter.com/ernohannink

http://zakelijkportret.nl/

Manual - Amazon S3 · Manual Simple:Press Forum Attract Clients and Grow Your Business Work with me...

Documents

Transcript of Manual - Amazon S3 · Manual Simple:Press Forum Attract Clients and Grow Your Business Work with me...