Community homepage enhancements providing forum activity display, artist platform integration, and administrative controls for forum visibility.

Homepage Forum Display

Forum Visibility Control

Administrators can control which forums appear on the community homepage through a checkbox in the forum edit interface.

Admin Interface:

• Located in forum edit pages under "Homepage Display" meta box
• Checkbox: "Show on Homepage"
• Description: "Display this forum in the homepage forum list"

Data Storage:

• Meta field: _show_on_homepage (boolean stored as ‘1’ or ‘0’)
• Applied to bbPress forum post types only

Latest Activity Display

Displays the most recent forum activity from homepage-enabled forums and artist forums.

Activity Sources:

• Forums marked with _show_on_homepage meta field
• Artist profile forums (linked via _artist_forum_id meta field)

Display Format:

• Shows latest topic or reply across all included forums
• Format: "Latest: [Author] [posted/replied to] [Topic Title] in [Forum Name] – [Time Ago]"
• Links to author profile, content, and forum

Performance:

• Single query across all relevant forums
• Optimized with no_found_rows and cache disabling
• Updates in real-time as new content is posted

Artist Platform Integration

Homepage Buttons

Context-aware buttons linking to artist.extrachill.com based on user status and permissions.

Button Types:

Support Forum Button

• Always visible: Links to https://artist.extrachill.com/extra-chill
• Label: "Support Forum"
• Purpose: Direct access to artist support discussions

Artist Platform Button (Logged-in Users)

• Conditional: Only shown if ec_can_create_artist_profiles($user_id) returns true
• Function: Provided by extrachill-artist-platform plugin
• Link: https://artist.extrachill.com/
• Label: "Artist Platform"
• Purpose: Direct access for verified artists

Join Artist Platform Button (Visitors)

• Conditional: Only shown to non-logged-in users
• Link: https://artist.extrachill.com/login/#tab-register?from_join=true
• Label: "Join Artist Platform"
• Purpose: Registration flow for new artists

Integration Points

• Hook: extrachill_community_home_after_forums
• Location: Appears after forum listings on community homepage
• Dependencies: extrachill-artist-platform plugin for permission checks

Usage Context

Homepage features create an engaging entry point for community visitors by:

• Highlighting active discussions from relevant forums
• Providing clear pathways to artist platform features
• Allowing administrators to curate homepage content
• Displaying cross-platform integration options

These features work together to create a dynamic, personalized homepage experience that adapts to user status and forum activity. docs/home.md