The most common scenario for a private forum is to admit all members of a given organization using a pre-approved whitelist. However, private forums come in several different flavors, described in the table below.
| Type of Private Forum | Description |
|---|---|
| Registration Required | Anyone can register but content is only visible to members who are logged in. |
| Apply | Anyone can apply to join. Site owner approves users before they gain access. |
| Whitelist | The site owner determines who has access. Approved accounts are added to a whitelist. |
| Paid Memberships | Members pay a monthly or annual fee to access the forum or parts of the forum. |
| Hybrid | Users must either (1) pay a monthly fee; or (2) actively contribute to the site (e.g. submit at least one review per month) to access the forum. |
With regards to Paid Membership communities, sometimes it makes sense to make your entire site members-only and offer the forum as a bonus. Other times, it makes sense to keep your main site open to the public and launch a subscription-based members-only forum. Ninja Post supports these scenarios, and most others you can dream up.
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