I just want users to type the topic title only. Would this be possible?
AI-generated summary
In a discussion titled “Can posts be set to empty?” under the Support category, whitesealblackcat asks if it’s possible to allow users to create topics with only a title and no body content, aiming to build a Q&A-style forum where replies carry the discussion. Thomas_G suggests workarounds like using invisible HTML, but notes no real need for empty posts. whitesealblackcat clarifies the goal is to hide the content box for new topics only. Thomas_G recommends including questions in the post body for better context. whitesealblackcat proposes setting minimum post length to 0. Mittineague suggests this may be better suited for a Q&A platform, noting that detailed content encourages better replies. hawm confirms setting min first post length to 0 is possible with customization, though b481 notes the default minimum is 1 character, which can be inconvenient for image-only posts. renato references a similar use case with the Topic Ratings plugin. Finally, dmitry_fedyuk shares a plugin solution that allows setting min first post length to 0, effectively enabling empty posts when needed.
Your mean a topic set to empty. You can do the following, but I don’t see any need of creating a topic with 0 content:
Example: <div align=center> <characters> </div>
It will appear to public as empty, but inside the post you have that format ^
Thank you.
Well, I want to create a forum where people post short questions only. That’s why I only want people to just type their question in the title.
But then other people can come and answer by replying, just like a normal forum.
So, I would like to hide the content box just for when posting a new topic, but not for when replying. Would this be possible?
I hope you get what I mean.
Why don’t they include the questions in the content post, and a small brief of the question as a title? What you say is not possible.
How about just changing the minimum number of characters in the content post to 0?
It sounds like you may be wanting a Question - Answer app more than an app for Discussion.
eg. title: “What is the best Ember based forum app?”
post content: n/a
vs.
title: “What is the best Ember based forum app?”
post content: “I am looking for a forum app that runs more like a desktop app than a traditional forum experience. My shop knows Ember well so I am leaning more towards Ember. Free would be ideal. Anyone have suggestions and why? TIA”
Which would be more likely to encourage a discussion? Which would be more likely to get meaningful replies?
Granted, I don’t know your community, just saying if you truly need no content posts you may want to give your choice of platform some thought.
Set min first post length(maybe other posting setting, not sure) to 0 and you need to customize the new topic’s composer like hide the content editor or build your own one, I think is possible to do what your say.
the minimum value is set 1, sadly. slightly irksome as people can’t just respond with images and often have to enter a full stop just to meet the 1 character requirement. obviously minor, but it would be nice to at least have the option to customize it to 0, or possibly having images being in a post negate the 1 character rule.
I came across a similar need using the Topic Ratings plugin, where I’d like users to be able to omit the post content entirely if a rating is submitted.
I have solved it with a plugin:
It allows to set «min first post length» to 0.