Meta’s Lounge category and scattered mentions of the deprecated feature sometimes spark a user’s interest. This how-to is aimed at those folks. I’ve tested the processes, but the writeup is a beta. Feedback invited!
Intro
In times past, Discourse came by default with a Lounge category available to users who reached and maintained Trust Level 3. Meta itself still has the Lounge category.
Today, the Lounge category – and the related permissions and messaging upon reaching TL3 – are no longer included with new Discourse installations. But if you’d like a Lounge, you can re-create the concept. Below are two approaches to choose from.
(We’ll call it “Lounge” here but name it as you like.)
Solution A mirrors the original setup, simply granting TL3 users access to a Lounge category.
- Lounge access is lost when TL3 status is lost – based on activity and an adjustable timeframe.
Solution B adds TL3 users to an additional user group with access to a Lounge category.
- If a user drops out of TL3, they will not be removed from the user group with Lounge access.
- Non-TL3 users can be manually added to this group.
Each solution is self-contained. You don’t need to combine steps from both.
When considering these options, remember that TL3 includes certain administrative privileges for the site — not just Lounge access: Trust Level Permissions Reference
Solution A: Lounge for TL3 users
1. add Lounge category
- Go to All Categories
- Click the wrench control and select New Category.
- Name the Category “Lounge” or whatever you like.
- Set Security: remove the default permissions for “everyone”, and give See, Reply, Create permissions to the group trust_level_3
2. edit Regular badge description
When a user reaches TL3 they receive the Regular badge, and a notification taking them to the badge page. You can edit the badge description to mention Lounge access:
- Go to Admin → Appearance → Site texts
- Search for
badges.regular.long_description - Edit the description for the Regular badge to include a reference or link to the “Lounge” category.
(You could also use Discourse Automation to set up a “You’re promoted” PM, but it seems extra.)
3. optional — extend TL3 and Lounge access
If you want to make it easier for users to hang on to TL3, they’ll also retain access to the Lounge. There are many TL3 criteria you can adjust.
- Go to Admin → All site Settings
- Search for “TL3” and review/adjust requirements.
- To simply make it permanent, change the setting
TL3 promotion min durationto 10,000 days or something.
Following is an alternate approach to assigning and preserving Lounge access …
Solution B: Lounge for a new user group to include TL3
As Nate suggests, you can add TL3 users to a separate group with access to the Lounge category. If TL3 is lost, the user remains in the separate group and can continue to use the Lounge.
A side benefit is that you can manually add someone to that group if they’re special but haven’t reached TL3 (and if you don’t want to promote them to have all the other TL3 privileges.)
1. add “Loungers” user group
- Go to Groups, or
/g - Click New Group button.
- Name it “Loungers” or whatever you like.
Review/edit the Group default settings. Some suggestions:
Visibility: Who can see this group?– “Group owners, members and moderators”Visibility: Who can see this group's members?– “Group owners, members and moderators”-
Allow users to leave the group freelyshould be left disabled. Enabling this could lead to confusion, as the automation we create below will re-add T3 users to the “Loungers” group each time it runs.
2. add Lounge category
- Go to All Categories
- Click the wrench control and select New Category.
- Name the Category “Lounge” or whatever you like.
- Set Security: remove the default permissions for “everyone”, and give See, Reply, Create permissions to your new “Loungers” group.
3. optional – edit Regular badge description
If you intend to set up an automated welcome PM to all Lounge users (part 4.2 below) you can probably skip this.
When a user reaches TL3 they are given the Regular badge. The user gets a notification taking them directly to the Regular badge page. You can edit the description of this badge to mention Lounge access:
- Go to Admin → Appearance → Site texts
- Search for
badges.regular.long_description - Edit the description for the Regular badge to include a reference or link to the “Lounge” category.
4. configure Discourse Automations
The Discourse Automation plugin is included in forums by default.
4.1 - add TL3 users to the new “Loungers” group
- Go to Admin → Plugins → Automation
- Click: Add Automation
- Choose: User Group Membership through Badge
- Set Name: “Add Regulars to Loungers” or similar
- Set Trigger: Recurring
- Set Recurrence: Use your judgment. Every 1 day may be sufficient. (Every 1 minute is nice for testing.)
- Set Badge: Regular
- Set Group: Loungers or whatever you named your new group earlier.
4.2 - optional — create welcome PM automation
New TL3 users get a notification taking them directly to the Regular badge page. There they will see the badge description you had the option to edit earlier.
But if you think you might add some non-TL3 people to “Loungers”, note that they will not receive such a notification.
That may not be a problem if you’re communicating with people directly.
If you do want an automated PM sent when anyone is added to “Loungers”, you’ll need Discourse Automation again:
- Go to Admin → Plugins → Automation
- Click: Add Automation
- Choose: Send PMs
- Set name: “Welcome to Lounge” or similar
- Set trigger: User added to group
- Set Tracked Group: “Loungers” or whatever you named your group
- Set PMs sender: an admin account or system should be fine
- Set Title and Body: create the message contents
This PM is sent when any user is added to Loungers, whether manually or via TL3 promotion. So if you do this, you might skip editing the Regular badge text in Step 3.
If you spot issues or outdated info in this doc please reply here or make a wiki edit.