Gating system similar to Scribd

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I am planning to build a university student community platform using Discourse. My core value proposition (USP) involves detailed student profiles and access to a library of study materials (lecture notes, past exams, project reviews, etc.).

I would like to implement a content gating system similar to Scribd for high-value documents (PDFs/DOCX). Specifically, I need to know if Discourse can natively or via existing plugins support the following two access methods simultaneously:

  1. Paid Access (Paywall): Users pay a subscription fee to join a specific group, which then grants them access to a Category containing premium documents.
  2. Contribution Access (Upload-to-View/Points System): Users who upload a certain number of approved, high-quality documents (e.g., 3 project reports) are automatically promoted to a Contributor Group, which also grants them access to the same premium document Category.

The Discourse Subscriptions Plugin seems to handle point #1. But is there an existing, stable, and easily configurable plugin/feature that handles the automated logic for point #2 (tracking user uploads/contributions and granting group access) without requiring extensive custom development?

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I moved this to a new topic since this doesn’t really have to do with the inline pdf component.

The automation plugin might help, but I don’t know that it has a trigger that will do that.

I think you’ll need a custom plugin or a custom trigger for the automation plugin.

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Perhaps something with gamification for the points? Likely a plugin for this.

For the approval part, maybe topics in that category need to have manual approval, then listen using something like this to add to a group?

And check if the user has 3 or more topics in that category to allow the PDF viewing.

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Oh! I forgot about that. It might be possible with that and automation.

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Thank for advising on Subject: Implementing a Scribd-like Pay-Per-Document / Upload-to-Unlock Credit System on Discourse.

I am Implementer setting up a specialized student community platform focused on detailed academic documents (PDFs, project reports, past exams). My monetization and contribution model requires a system where access to high-value file attachments is controlled per document, not per category.

I need the system to function as follows:

  1. Credit/Point System Required: A mechanism to track user credits (a consumable currency).
  2. Payment Option: Users can purchase these credits (e.g., via Stripe integration, outside of standard subscriptions).
  3. Contribution Option (Upload-to-Unlock): Users who successfully upload and have a new, approved document (PDF) grant them a specific amount of these consumable credits.
  4. Gating Mechanism: When a user attempts to view or download a protected PDF/attachment, their credit balance is checked, and a specific number of credits are deducted to unlock access to that individual file.

My question is:

Are there any existing, stable, or third-party plugins (commercial or open-source) that specifically handle a consumable point/credit system and can gate access to individual attachments (PDFs/DOCX) on a pay-per-view/download basis?

The standard Discourse Subscriptions Plugin only handles category-level access for recurring fees, which does not meet the per-document credit exchange requirement. I am trying to avoid extensive custom development if an existing solution or integration already exists.

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To my knowledge, I don’t believe there is a plugin that does consumable credits. You can browse through the Plugin category just to be sure.

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Proposal for “ScholarDocs Pro” - A Global, Credit-Based Academic Annotation Suite

This suite, tentatively named ScholarDocs Pro, integrates advanced document management with social collaboration and a monetization model.

:glowing_star: Key Features Required:

Feature Description & Rationale
DocuCredit Gating System Implements a consumable Credit/Point system (like Scribd). Users are awarded Credits for Contributing Documents (Upload-to-Unlock) and must spend Credits to access premium materials.
Inline Social Annotation Enables users to provide contextual, paragraph-level comments directly on PDFs and long Discourse Topics. This is intended to mimic the collaborative depth of Google Docs Comments but utilize native Discourse Reply/Quote functions for discussions.
Advanced Document Management Must support the Import & Outline of very long academic papers (100–200 pages). Documents should be automatically outlined using Discourse TOC for effective navigation.

:globe_showing_europe_africa: Global Vision & Scalability (Multi-Domain Focus):

The long-term strategy requires leveraging Discourse’s architecture to build a federated network of independent university domains (e.g., Bangkok.edu, Jarkata.edu, globaluni.net). The goal is to:

  1. Connect Multiple University Instances: Link these separate domain communities together.
  2. Synchronize Academic Categories: Use this connection to synchronize shared Category-based learning (e.g., Economics, Computer Science, Law) across all participating domains.

This structure allows students, faculty, and mentors from various institutions (Asia, Europe, etc.) to seamlessly enter the platform via their respective university domains but collaboratively discuss and critique the same global academic content.

Commercial Viability:

This is currently a personal need, but due to its strong economic potential and global scope, I am interested in purchasing a commercial license for this plugin if it were developed.

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hopefully this plugin will help. I recommend installing it on a test site to be sure it works for @huynhthai824

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