DNF Update User-group and banner updates at DNForum

[HelmutsHelmuts is verified member.]

I spent part of this morning cleaning up and improving DNForum's (which runs on Xenforo) user-group and user-banner system.

The goal is to make it easier to identify what a member or company account does, while keeping the system useful, readable and manageable as more domain-industry businesses join the forum.

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Ok, let us jump in what has been done:

1. New industry user groups

I added new reusable industry groups, including:

• Expired Domain Platform - mentionable: @Expired Domain Platform
• Domain Appraisal Service - also, mentionable: @Domain Appraisal Service

These groups are intended for official accounts representing a service or company, rather than being named after one particular business.

For example, Expired Domain Platform can be used for expired-domain search platforms, aggregators, auction tools, backorder services and related products.

Domain Appraisal Service can be used for dedicated appraisal platforms, as well as registrars or marketplaces that provide domain valuation services.

These labels describe what the account offers. They do not mean that DNForum guarantees, certifies or endorses the company's services or valuations.

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2. Secondary group structure

Industry groups are assigned as secondary groups.

The user's normal primary group remains Registered, while the industry role is added on top of it.

This means the new groups identify the account without replacing the member's normal forum access, title ladder or standard permissions.

The industry groups are display and identity groups. They do not grant special posting, moderation, advertising, marketplace or administrative privileges.

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3. Public and mentionable groups

The industry groups are configured to be:

• Publicly visible
• Mentionable by other members
• Visible in member profiles and posts
• Not private

This allows members to find and mention relevant companies and services in discussions.

The normal ability to view profiles, view members and use mentions continues to come from the standard Registered group and forum permissions.

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4. Custom banner colours

I also added a reusable set of custom banner colours through the active style's 'extra.less' template.

The colours use DNForum-specific CSS class names, for example:

• userBanner--dnfPurple
• userBanner--dnfTurquoise
• userBanner--dnfNavy
• userBanner--dnfDeepBlue
• userBanner--dnfForest
• userBanner--dnfGold
• userBanner--dnfBronze
• userBanner--dnfBurgundy
• userBanner--dnfSlate

The custom colours are selected in the user-group editor using:

Other, using custom CSS class name

The class name should be entered without the leading dot.

For example:
userBanner--dnfPurple

The public banner also needs a User banner text value. A CSS class by itself does not create a visible banner.

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5. Banner ordering

I reviewed the display styling priorities so that banners appear in a more useful order.

The general order is now:

• DNForum staff and moderators
• Current premium partners
• Official registries and registrars
• Professional services such as lawyers and escrow providers
• Domain marketplaces, brokers and domain tools
• Expired-domain and appraisal services
• Industry memberships and certifications
• Legacy DNForum recognition
• General membership status

The priority is intended to show the most useful current role first, while still preserving important DNForum history where appropriate.

A premium or legacy banner does not automatically mean that the account's industry role should be hidden. Where appropriate, multiple banners can be shown together.

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6. Maximum of three visible banners

XenForo does not provide a standard setting to display exactly three stacked banners.

To keep profiles and posts readable, I added a visual limit in extra.less. The first three banners are displayed, and the fourth and subsequent banners are hidden in:

• Post user information
• Public member profiles
• Member tooltip cards

This does not remove the user from any group and does not change permissions. The full group membership remains available to administrators and continues to work for mentions, access rules and other functions.

The three visible banners are selected according to the user-group display styling priority. This means the priority order needs to be maintained when new groups are added.

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7. Administrative rule going forward

When assigning an industry group to an account:

• Keep Registered as the primary group
• Add the industry role as a secondary group
• Use the broadest accurate industry title
• Add a clear User banner text value
• Use the agreed custom CSS colour where appropriate
• Do not use Never permissions unless there is a specific reason to create a hard denial
• Avoid assigning more public banners than are useful

This gives DNForum a clearer way to identify registrars, registries, marketplaces, brokers, appraisal services, expired-domain platforms, hosting companies, legal services and other domain-industry businesses.

We will continue refining the groups as new types of domain businesses and services become active on DNForum.

See something not working from the above? Please leave a comment and we will look into this.

Have a productive Monday all!!
Helmuts