Enable or hide optional forum areas
Where: Admin → System → Features
Before you start
A feature switch is not a deletion or permission exception. Disabled public routes/endpoints answer not found for everybody, including administrators. Management screens remain available so you can turn the area back on. All six switches default on; Reset defaults restores those initial choices.
Step by step
- Review Blog, Knowledge Base, Downloads, Chat, member Groups and member-list switches.
- Turn off only the surfaces your community does not offer.
- Save changes and test their public URLs as guest and administrator.
- Turn an area back on to restore its navigation/content.
Settings and behaviour
A feature switch is not a deletion or permission exception. Disabled public routes/endpoints answer not found for everybody, including administrators. Management screens remain available so you can turn the area back on. All six switches default on; Reset defaults restores those initial choices.
Content
| What the board publishes beside its forum threads. | Control | What to enter / effect |
|---|---|---|
| Blog | Entries, their categories and their comments. Switched off, Blog leaves the navigation and /blog answers "not found" — the entries themselves stay in the database. Initial default: 1. |
|
| Knowledge base | Help articles and the categories they are filed under. Switched off, /kb answers "not found" and no knowledge-base link is drawn. Initial default: 1. |
Downloads & tools
| The library area, and what hangs off it. | Control | What to enter / effect |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads | The download library — listings, categories, paid files, and the endpoint that serves the bytes. Switched off, Downloads leaves the navigation, its pages answer "not found", and the downloader refuses even for a link that was copied out earlier. Nothing is deleted, and the screens that manage listings stay in this bar. Initial default: 1. |
|
| Chat | Rooms and messages. Switched off, Chat leaves the navigation and its page answers "not found"; the messages are kept. Initial default: 1. |
Community
| How members find each other. | Control | What to enter / effect |
|---|---|---|
| Member groups | The social groups members join, with their own pages. Switched off, they answer "not found". Groups & permissions in the admin bar are a different thing and are not affected. Initial default: 1. |
|
| Member list | The list of everyone on the board (/members). Switched off, it leaves the navigation and answers "not found"; profiles stay reachable from the threads people wrote in. Initial default: 1. |
Check the result
Confirm the menu link disappears and a bookmarked public endpoint is unavailable while the feature is off.
Common questions and troubleshooting
Admin cannot see disabled public area: expected. Data seems gone: re-enable the feature before trying to recreate content. Private group settings differ: feature availability and its audience permissions are separate.