I was able to get around it by pushing all files to heroku git instead of mentioned files in documentations
So, instead of,
git add -f Procfile config.json package.json build && git commit -am "adding Procfile and configs for Heroku"
I did,
git add . && git commit -am "adding Procfile and configs for Heroku"
This solved my problem.
However, I have moved away from Heroku and deployed my forum on GCP.
It worked ! Thanks a lot 
Oops! Mobile screen and floating save button...never scrolled down.
I will try enabling it.
@PitaJ Thanks a lot for such detailed post.
I tried both options. I had to write this JS in ACP->Extend->Widgets->global->Global Header section to execute. Writing it in custom-js didn't work.
Also, solution worked intermittently. Sometimes I got "ReferenceError: $ is not defined" and other times got "ReferenceError: ajaxify is not defined".
Thanks again for taking time for replying.
Nodebb 1.7.0 on GCP (Ubuntu 16.04)
I am not able to configure "Welcome" page for guest/unregistered users.
I have created a "welcome" page using "nodebb-plugin-custom-pages" plugin.
I want to route guests/unregistered users to welcome page and already registered/logged in users to categories page.
I have referred to this 2014 post in this forum and tried to implement suggestions but it didn't work.
I have tried including below in "categories.tpl" under header section in Extend->Widgets
<!-- IF !loggedIn -->
<!-- IMPORT welcome.tpl -->
<!-- ELSE -->
<!-- IMPORT categories.tpl -->
<!-- ENDIF !loggedIn -->
All users, whether logged in or not, are routed to "categories" page or "welcome" page, whichever is configured as "home page" in General -> Home Page.
I see some issue with the IMPORT statement as page is not displayed.
I have also tried including above code in "welcome.tpl" header section as well.
Any suggestions on how this could be achieved?
Hope, I was able to convey my problem clearly 
.
I was able to get around it by pushing all files to heroku git instead of mentioned files in documentations
So, instead of,
git add -f Procfile config.json package.json build && git commit -am "adding Procfile and configs for Heroku"
I did,
git add . && git commit -am "adding Procfile and configs for Heroku"
This solved my problem.
However, I have moved away from Heroku and deployed my forum on GCP.
Has anyone successfully deployed nodebb v1.6.1 + mongodb on heroku ?
I am getting below errors on heroku
Steps ---
git clone -b v1.6.1 https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB.git nodebb
cd nodebb
npm install
node app --setup
echo 'web: node loader.js --no-daemon' > Procfile
git add -f Procfile config.json package.json build loader.js && git commit -am "adding Procfile and configs for Heroku"
git push heroku master
Logs---
2017-11-13T17:06:16.000000+00:00 app[api]: Build succeeded
2017-11-13T17:07:04.004170+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command node loader.js --no-daemon
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592423+00:00 app[web.1]: module.js:544
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592435+00:00 app[web.1]: throw err;
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592436+00:00 app[web.1]: ^
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592437+00:00 app[web.1]:
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592437+00:00 app[web.1]: Error: Cannot find module './src/file'
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592438+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:542:15)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592439+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (module.js:472:25)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592439+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.require (module.js:585:17)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592440+00:00 app[web.1]: at require (internal/module.js:11:18)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592441+00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.<anonymous> (/app/loader.js:11:12)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592441+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module._compile (module.js:641:30)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592442+00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:652:10)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592442+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.load (module.js:560:32)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592443+00:00 app[web.1]: at tryModuleLoad (module.js:503:12)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.592444+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (module.js:495:3)
2017-11-13T17:07:06.757409+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
2017-11-13T17:07:06.760518+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from crashed to starting
2017-11-13T17:07:06.679819+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 1
2017-11-13T17:07:12.412941+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Starting process with command node loader.js --no-daemon
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670348+00:00 app[web.1]: module.js:544
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670364+00:00 app[web.1]: throw err;
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670365+00:00 app[web.1]: ^
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670365+00:00 app[web.1]:
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670366+00:00 app[web.1]: Error: Cannot find module './src/file'
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670367+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:542:15)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670368+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (module.js:472:25)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670368+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.require (module.js:585:17)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670369+00:00 app[web.1]: at require (internal/module.js:11:18)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670370+00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.<anonymous> (/app/loader.js:11:12)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670370+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module._compile (module.js:641:30)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670371+00:00 app[web.1]: at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:652:10)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670371+00:00 app[web.1]: at Module.load (module.js:560:32)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670372+00:00 app[web.1]: at tryModuleLoad (module.js:503:12)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.670373+00:00 app[web.1]: at Function.Module._load (module.js:495:3)
2017-11-13T17:07:14.743570+00:00 heroku[web.1]: Process exited with status 1
2017-11-13T17:07:14.770746+00:00 heroku[web.1]: State changed from starting to crashed
