Is there a way to do something like IPB have "Protected Forum" where guest can see the board but can't view the board inside?
Yes there is but it dose not seem very good as you can still see the titles of the topics that like makes it like a Security issue i think.
okay admin cp > Forum Management > Permissions > edit permissions > Can View Threads Within Forum set it to no
Hmm... is there a way to hide the topic title by saying "Protected Forum"?
The only way I've discovered to do this is to password protect the forum. Anyone can see the forum itself, but they can't see even the threads inside unless they enter the password.
Hmm, I think this will not be effective cause members can pass down the passwords around....
Yeah, but I doubt they can pass it to everyone, let alone guests. No solution is perfect, but this works well on my forum.
Have you tried this?
AdminCP -> Board Settings -> Change -> Forum Home Options -> Hide Private Forums? = No ?