Special Topic Forums are special purpose forums created for use by closed groups. A group is open only to certain members who then have private access to their own special topic forum. A special topic forum has the option of being visible (ie, topic is shown in our topics list) but not accessable (ie, cannot be read or posted to) by non-members, or can be hidden from everyone but members of a group. Board Rules of the Versatiledogs.com forum still apply to special topics.
An example of a forum's topic that is visible but the content is available only to members of a certain group was the 'Hardcore Topics Forum' (no longer in use). For permission to enter this group, the moderator had to be contacted. I am currently using a closed-group, hidden special topic forum for our redesign.
If you are a dog or hunting club / organization and would would like your own closed-group special topic forum, please contact me with details and we'll discuss whether we can set this up for you.
Christie