hey richard,
if you're using a category as a container and don't want people to select it (to avoid the problems you shared) there's a setting for this:
in your easydiscuss backend go to categories and click on the category that's used as a container. then click on the permissions tab where the first option "Who can select this category when creating a discussion" is handling exactly this. there you can add or remove certain user groups and define who's allowed or not allowed to use it. http://screencast.com/t/j7KzveFub

hope that helps and have a nice day

I thought the permissions would solve the problem as well Alex as I had been using them to set up the correct structure and access to the forum but (unless I have missed something) unfortunately they are not suitable for this issue because if you prevent access to create a new discussion in a container parent (they are almost always parent) category, access is removed from all sub categories as well because they do not appear in the category dropdown for a new discussion.

The parent and sub categories are also removed from the search category dropdown list and the Subscribe to Feed, Discussions and Moderators information does not appear in the toolbar category list for the parent container category (it should and normally does if not a container).

I did try different ways to get a solution with the permissions before posting my issue, but was not successful.

Solution

If you move the container tab to YES, the ONLY actions it should take are to prevent posting to that category and provide a pop up message stating New Discussions are not allowed in this category if it is selected from the dropdown menu. The Subscribe to Feed, Discussions and Moderators information should not be affected by moving container to YES and permissions should be left alone to do what they currently do correctly.

The permissions process can remain as it is, allowing access to select, view, reply, view replies and moderate, with search and create dropdowns acting correctly.

Access

I have created a 'Public Area' category as a container with all access removed and a sub category called 'General' with access to all to show you what I mean, feel free to access to see the impact on search and new discussion dropdowns as well as the toolbar category list feed information and amend as required if you wish to test anything.

hey richard,
yes that's right. the suggest way is suitable if you're using the container-categories as spacers but not when they contain sub-categories.
which categories do you want to use as containers later? then I can check if there's a different issue at your end because from my testing the container should work fine (not allowing posting/selecting) as you can see with my changes to your test-category "public area".

My apologies Alex, I have raised an issue where there is no issue....

I know why, still silly of me though for not trying a different category (see image).

I used the Information category (the first category i set up in the forum a while ago) to test container at YES and went straight to New Discussion. The category appeared in the select a category bar automatically, without any need to use the dropdown or select, I assume now because it is ID 1 and I have categories set to run in ID order.

I tried to make a post, clicked submit and nothing happened.

I tried different access (all, some none) permutations with the Information category, checking the dropdown, but because the Information category is ID 1 and auto appeared on the category bar it was also highlighted in blue when it appeared in the dropdown, so I didn't notice it was a faded colour when container was set to YES during my tests.

Therefore I made my post about the 'issue'.

When you replied and I went back to test with a new 'Public Area/General' category/sub-category, I was testing with no user access on category selection because I did not want anyone to be able to post and having 'tested' on the Information category before, this seemed to be the only way of achieving the outcome from your first reply.

Sorry again for wasting your time Alex, soooo embarrassing...............

hey richard,
no worries about this, we're always glad to help you out
great to hear that your issue's resolved but if you encounter any problems in the future feel always free to contact us anytime. have a nice day