How the shoutbox is presented in your forum is up to you. Please note that when TinyPortal is first installed your Shoutbox and the Left Panel are already on and set to 'Display on all pages and sections'. You can change it to your liking, move the shoutbox to other panels or suppress it completely.

In this description we will give you a step-by-step description to create an extra Shoutbox block in the right panel.

Go to "TinyPortal > Panels and Blocks" to go to the main Blocks admin page.


In the Blocks admin page you will find an overview of all blocks that have been defined in your forum, grouped by Panel. There are two options available to create a new block. The first is by pressing the [ADD BLOCK] button at the top of the page, the second is by using the [Add block] link found next to each panel.


This will bring you to the 'Add block' page, where you will need to define several items:


The title
This is a descriptive name for your block. It will also be showing in the forum, so choose a description that is also meaningful to your users. In this example we entered 'New shoutbox' as the title for the new block

Choose panel
This assigns the block to one of the TinyPortal panels. Because we choose the link next to the Right panel in the blocks overview page, the right panel is pre-selected. You can always changes the panel assignment later.

Choose the type of block
To create a shoutbox block you must select the option 'Shoutbox'
Then scroll down and click on 'Save'

Your block is now created, but because you have not yet configured the block you are immediately presented with the Edit Block screen, which will allow you to set all details for the shoutbox.


Place a fixed message or announcement at the top of the shoutbox (BBC allowed):
This text will be displayed for users accessing the Shoutbox, right above the area that displays the messages.
Options: [Text area]

Shoutbox ID
The shoutbox ID is introduced in version 2.1.0 and is a very important item if you want to have different shoutboxes with separated access: up to 9 different ID's can be used in TinyPortal. You can create multiple blocks that use the same ID though. Each shoutbox block will only show the shouts for the ID used. This way you can create shoutboxes for certain audiences.

For example: if you want to create a shoutbox that can only be used by admins, then choose a different shoutbox ID for this block and only give admins permissions to see the block. This way you can create up to 9 shoutboxes with their own content in your forum.

Height of shoutbox in pixels
Set the height of the box based on where you display the box.
Options: [Entry field]

Shoutbox layout
Choose how you want the shoutbox to display. There are multiple layout options to experiment with. Some are more suited to be used in a sidebar, some look better in a top or bottom bar on your forum.
Options: [Multiple layout examples]

Scrolling down on the block page you wil now find the standard bock options. These block options are described in the pages on Block settings (https://www.tinyportal.net/docs/index.php?page=Block-settings)

Important is to note that you can here assign the membergroups who can see this shoutbox block. If you want to exclude certain groups of access (like in the case described with the admin shoutbox) make sure that ony the correct membergroups get access to the new shoutbox block.




When you are done with the settings, make sure to press the [Save] button.
Now your Shoutbox should be available in the forum.

There are two important settings to consider, because they will affect the newly created shoutbox block, and that is 1. the panel setting and 2. the shoutbox permissions

Panel settings
You can create a new block in a panel that itself is not set to show in the forum. If you find that the new block is correctly defined, but is missing in the forum page where you expected it, make sure that the corresponding panel is configured to show. Check your Panel Settings, making sure that the desired Panel is turned on.

Permissions
Defining a shoutbox block to show for certain membergroups does not automatically give them permissions to post messages. Without the correct permission the members will only be able to see the shoutbox, but not 'shout' in it.
Check your TinyPortal permissions, making sure that the desired membergroups can actually Post shouts.

For more information go to these Docs:
What Are Panels?
Panel Settings.
Block Settings

Doc Written 12/06/2015 By: Ken.
Additional Edits 12/06/2015 By: Illori
Last updated 09/01/2022 by @rjen