Sell Kunena forum access using Akeeba Subscriptions

With the release of Akeeba Subscriptions 2.1, a few new options have been added to offer you even more options. One of the “new features”‘ is an integration with Kunena, a creation (courtesy of Roland Dalmulder) This integration does not work as you would expect, though. It allows you to assign users to “Ranks”, based on their subscription.

The reason of this, is that Kunena plugs into the ACL of Joomla.  If you want to sell “access levels” to your subscribers, you might be better off using the J! 2.5 integration of Akeeba Subscriptions instead. In this tutorial we’ll explain you how to combine Akeeba Subscriptions and the Kunena Forum to sell access levels.

First things first

Before you get started, you’ll need to configure your Joomla site properly. Since this isn’t a topic on “How to configure Akeeba Subscriptions / Kunena” we’ll be brief in this section.

  1. Install the Kunena component.
  2. Install the Akeeba Subscriptions Component
  3. Configure the Kunena forum as you see fit.

Create a Subscription level in Akeeba Subscriptions.

When you’ve got the basics covered, it is time to prepare your subscription for Kunena. As we mentioned, we are not going to use the new Kunena Integration plugin. Instead, we are going to use the old “User groups plug-in” for Joomla.

Instructions

1. Go to Users > Group > Add New Group (We’ll need a new user group for Kunena). Create your “Kunena Group” under the Public level.

2. Go to Kunena. We’re now going to restrict the forums so only people of the User Group Kunena can access the forums. The fastest way to do this is the following:

  • Open Kunena
  • Go to “Category Manager”.
  • Open your Main Category (or categories).
  • Under the “Permissions” tab, set the Primary User Group to “Kunena” (or the user group you chose to use).

The category and all categories below it will now only be accessible by people of the “Kunena” category – or managers, administrators and super users.

Your Kunena configuration is now done. Now, we’ll move on to the Akeeba Subscriptions side of things.

3. Go to the “Akeeba Subscriptions – Joomla! 1.6 Usergroups Integration” plug-in. In the “Add to Joomla! 1.6” box, add the following:

Nameofyoursubscriptionlever=nameofyourkunenausergroup

Both Akeeba Subscriptions and Kunena are now set up, and you’ve created the following scenario:

  • Regular registered users can’t access the Kunena Categories.
  • People who buy your subscription will be added to your new Usergroup. They will have access to all Kunena Categories. You can now start to sell access to your Kunena Forum!

Akeeba Subscriptions is a free component to sell subscriptions on your Joomla! website and is developer by Akeebabackup.com. Kunena is a popular forum component for Joomla! 

1 thought on “Sell Kunena forum access using Akeeba Subscriptions”

  1. Very useful info! Akeeba is one of the top Joomla developers so I’m glad they came out with something like this. It’s just what I’m looking for.

Comments are closed.

Discover more from PowerUser Guide

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading