Instant E-Mail Notification Subscription for Forums (not just threads)

[محروم.كوم]

REQUEST
I need the ability to allow users the "choice" to subscribe to a "Forum" with "instant e-mail notification" (not just the ability to subscribe to a "thread").

REASON
The reason this is necessary for my group is that I have a "Stock Tips" site that shares investment ideas on the latest "hot" stock of the day. Members post their ideas to a forum called "Hot Stocks", for instance, which may generate discussion about that merits of this stock. But in order to even generate discussion … our members need to be made "aware" of this new thread. Currently, vBulletin is limited to only allowing "instant notification" on "threads" … not to "forums".

In this case (as I'm sure in many other cases from what I've read on vBulletin.com and vBulletin.org) … it is CRITICAL to allow members the ability to subscribe to a "forum" mainly because so many of them don't have the time or patience to sit in front of a computer all day waiting to see the next post.

If members were made aware of new threads in a subscribed "forum" via e-mail … not only would this convey information in a more timely fashion … BUT it would also PROMOTE the site and therefore highlight its value!

Personally, I find the idea of getting the "daily" or "weekly" summaries next to useless. I mean seriously, "weekly" ??? Wouldn't the user simply log-in to the website sooner than getting that "weekly" e-mail about new threads (it's almost laughable).

OPT-IN Approach
And of course, I'm talking about an "opt-in" ability to subscribe to forums with instant e-mail notification. No one wants to overwhelm users with e-mails they didn't want.

BACKGROUND
I currently run my site on Yahoo Groups. My members love the "ability" to receive these instant e-mail notifications … which is indeed a feature at Yahoo Groups. They are excited to move to a Message Forum … but some now are hesitant because of this missing functionality.


OPINION
I'm telling you guys ... and I'm new here ... but these kinds of limitations will be the downfall of commercial products like vBulletin that cannot adapt to the times (unlike open-source solutions like phpBB or WordPress). The reason this is necessary is because people are so "mobile" today and don't have the time to "stay logged-in" to a Forum. Much better to get notifications (via email or IM, etc.).

SUMMARY
I hope this can be resolved soon. In searching around, I found a "mod" that seems like it would have solved this problem … but it no longer is supported for the latest version of vBulletin. I know there is a need out there … and a "mod" shouldn't be the answer.

Thanks!!! __DEFINE_LIKE_SHARE__