Set up Flarum forum for private community

ethanosullivan

I'm currently configuring my new Flarum forum for a local community. Is there a way I can achieve the following through Flarum? I've searched around here and haven't found the best solution.

Note: I'm hosting my form through FreeFlarum which limits my access to extensions since they are pre-approved.

1. Set up a "request access" form that notify admins/mods.

The only workaround that I can think of is a Google Form and other similar platforms. Ideally, I'd like to use a native Flarum form to cut down on the workflow of requests. I did find an extension called Formulaire, but it's not on my list of extensions and it's not free.

2. Admins/mods approve access and create account.

This would rely on a native Flarum form, which isn't a deal-breaker as long as an admin/mod can create a new user manually. So far, I was able to find the Create User Modal extension, but only admins can set up the user account.

3. Admins/mods set the username for the new member and prevent members from changing their usernames.

Once the user is created from point #2, members shouldn't be able to change their username. That's because all usernames are going to follow the firstname-lastname. The only workaround us applying a custom CSS to prevent editing:

input[placeholder=Username] {
  pointer-events: none;
  background-color: #C4C4C4 !important;
  color: #939393 !important;
}

If there's a better way, let me know.

PascalBoschma

I think that for what you want you would heavily rely on extensions. I don't think you can get the complete picture "out of the box". For forms you would definitely need a plugin (Formulaire is the best one for Flarum. Get it!) or use an external service like Google Forms or JotForm.

I think your second wish should be possible permission-wise, but I cannot confirm this. I'm not able to test this at the moment.

Hiding things with CSS isn't really a solution. I'm not sure, but you should be able to prevent username edits permission-wise. Otherwise you could use requests for username changes, which you'll need to approve manually.

ethanosullivan

PascalBoschma Looks like I'll need to use a third-party form. Like I mentioned above, my FreeFlarum hosting doesn't have that as an option and I'm trying to keep the cost low (AKA $0).

I've gone back and forth through the permission several times and don't see anything about disabling members form changing their username. May you double-check on your end so I can compare? Same for admins/mods creating users manually.

askvortsov

ethanosullivan don't see anything about disabling members form changing their username.

By default, users can't change their usernames if they can't edit other users. There's a "Change Username" extension that allows users to submit username change requests though?

ethanosullivan

askvortsov I used a test account that is set to a member, you're right. I thought users were able to change by default. Thanks.