Help > Forum > Categories > Forcing guests to login before allowing access to a category

Forcing guests to login before allowing access to a category

Your forum can be configured to require a user to log in or sign up before being allowed to view a specific category, all of the categories, or the entire forum.

To require users to log in before an individual category is viewed, follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account.
2. Click the Categories link.
3. Click the Manage link next to the category of your choice.
4. In the Manage menu, click the Privacy link.
5. Turn the Not Signed Up / Not Logged In user group off.
6. Close the Category Privacy dialog box.

To require users to log in before any of the categories are viewed, follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account.
2. Click the Users link in the main menu.
3. Click the Manage link next to the Not Signed Up / Not Logged In user group.
4. In the Manage menu, click Permissions.
5. Turn the View Category permission on or off.
6. Save your changes.

Notes:

• Alternatively, you can require users to log in before any page of the forum is viewed.
• You may also want to review the permissions for the Pending Email Verification and Pending Approval user groups depending on if you have the Email address verification and the Approve new signups options enabled in the Settings -> Security section.
• Forcing guests to log in when viewing content will also prevent access to search engines. If you would like search engines to be able to access your content, you may want to force guests to log in when posting content rather than when viewing content.

If you still need help, please contact us.