Online Meeting checkbox rule too strict

The reason the rules are strict is so that we can put meeting links into mobile apps (i.e., Meeting Guide for AA).

That said, since the first version that supported the online meeting type, admins have been able to set $tsml_conference_providers = array(); say, in their child theme functions.php, and turn off the validation of URLs. I’m pretty sure this will allow you to leave conference_url blank, or set it to something else that works for you.

However, you may want to consider just putting the conference provider (i.e., zoom.us) without any meeting info so that when people do click on the button (Ok, I’m assuming it will still show. I’ll try to test that) it does something. Entirely up to you of course.

We’re a bit behind on updating our FAQ which is why this option isn’t covered there. Unfortunately, it was probably easy to miss in the release announcement/subsequent threads. My apologies for not making it clearer.

Please let me know if this does/does not solve your concern.

I just tested out putting zoom.us into the URL field and that’ll do me for now. It does give us the button that then opens the general Zoom page. I guess it is better than nothing and because that URL is accepted, the online flag also appears.

I am hesitant to use a child theme, because I have heard conflicting reports about it. I am not a developer at that level and from what I understand, each update of the plugin might undo whatever I do in a child theme. So I will stay away from that.

As a database developer it does not make complete sense to me to make the check box content dependent on the button vice versa. The flag is shown when the check box is on ‘online meeting’. That makes total sense. The button is shown when there is a valid URL. that makes sense to me as well. If there is no link between these two, then it depends, as it should imho, on whether the admin actually checks that box.

But… this might be a matter of preferred approach. I can live with this work around. Thanks for suggesting it and keep up the good work!

The reason you want to use a child theme is so that updates don’t overwrite your changes. Admins who make changes directly to the main plugin functions.php will see their mods overwritten when plugin updates are released.

Child themes are the WordPress recommended approach for making local modifications to plugins and themes.

I admit there exists a small amount of politics in the decision to tightly couple the online meeting checkbox and the conference_url field, but the major reasons for the approach are ease of use and security when the data gets to the Meeting Guide app. For AA (educate me on how Al-Anon does it?) the Online Intergroup (aa-intergroup.org) is the agreed upon repository for “normal” online meetings, which can include chat rooms, video conferencing, email, etc.. Therefore, it is desired that plugin users keep these temporary online meetings tied to physical locations, and that we expect these will start dropping out of the app when things start opening back up. Also, if we didn’t require people to add the URL in the conference_url field, that would leave it more likely they put them in other fields, and those can’t be links when it gets to the app. Again, security and ease of use are the primary drivers of the decision. For groups that overwrite the $tsml_conference_providers array, their online meetings will not show up in the Meeting Guide app, although I realize that doesn’t affect you.

Thanks for using the plugin!

Gotcha. I think in Al-Anon our WSO (our equivalent of your GSO) manages ‘official’ and permanent online meetings. For the current situation they do not require us to register the temporary meetings with them. We also, as you probably already know, don’t have an accompanying app for the meetings.

I would say that the logic could possible be adjusted the other way around:
Leave the check box where it is or is not, and only force-fill it when a valid URL is entered. That would give us the freedom to check or not check it, without the risk of the plugin overruling us.

Like I said: the workaround is fine for now, as it does give me the flags that I was after… ??