Update 07.03.2023: Updated and tested with 3.0 stable. The toggle has been moved, for more info, click here.
First, let me say that I am no developer, I only sponsored this work. I will not be able to support this in any way, but I will work with any potential contributors. I am just posting this plugin here to give back to the community.
Plugin description
This plugin adds an autoresponder that’s only available to admins. Since my instance of discourse relies on heavy customer support, having an autoresponder while offline is really handy, keeps the waiting members less nervous while they wait for a response.
Plugin features
- Adds an on/off toggle in the pull-down menu when user icon is clicked (see image below) for easy control.
- Creates an extra field where you can customize your message in Preferrences>Profile
- Auto-responds to users when the plugin toggle is ON.
- Custom time response limiter. You can set a time limit for how many hours shall pass until the next autoresponse message triggers. If a user messages you a few times in a row during the set time limit, he/she will only get one auto-response.
- Admin to admin messages do not trigger the autoresponder.
Known issues
Update: The issue described below seems to be fixed with Discourse 2.2
The easy on/off toggle gets a tad confusing sometimes. When you click the toggle ON, the button switches green (indicating that the autoresponder is on). But, when you close and reopen the pull-down menu, it will be gray again (even though the autoresponder is on). The only way to know for sure whether the autoresponder is on or off is to reload the page. My developer tells me this is because of some technical limitation. So far, we didn’t look for a workaround as it’s a super tiny inconvenience.
Plugin repo
https://github.com/worldismine/pm-auto-responder-for-admins
A big thanks to Discourse community. Enjoy!
