We've been using ActiveSocial in various ways for a number of years, but in one of our latest projects have come across a little bit of a problem.  Here's the scenario:

On our website, we are using AS Groups to represent individual companies or organizations.    

If you are an employee of the company, the user should request access or be invited by the AS Group Owner.  

All good so far.

However, we want any users (logged in or not) to be able to browse all the groups (companies) and allow anyone to view each company profile page (whether they are a member or not).  This is where we hit a bit of a stumbling block.  It seems the only options are:

Open - anyone can view company in directory, anyone can view full profile, anyone can join immediately.

Closed - anyone can view company in directory, can NOT view full profile until membership is approved

Private - only members view company in directory and can view full profile.

We need a small hybrid:

- anyone can view in directory

- everyone can view the profile page

- no one can join group without approval or being invited.

The only thing I can think of is changing the templates and taking away the "join group" links, then only allowing invitations.  But this forces group owners to do all the work rather than just approving users who request it.

Any better solutions?

take care,

jasen