VbAdvanced
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Introduction
The 2.x LDM release contains a number of modules for use with vbAdvanced. These modules have not yet been updated to work with the vBulletin 4.x version of vbAdvanced, and no decision has been made whether or when this will happen.
The available modules include:
- What's New modules list the newest entries (ldm_new.module presents a text list, ldm_new_thumb.module presents icons, ldm_new_media.module presents new media)
- What's Hot modules list the most popular entries (ldm_hot.module, ldm_hot_thumbs.module, ldm_hot_media.module)
- Random Entries provides a list of random entries
- LDM Statistics gives the number of categories and entries in the database, plus hits and bytes transferred in the last 30 days (ldm_tot.module)
- LDM Search provides an advanced search form for LDM (ldm_search)
- Categories lists the top level categories (ldm_cats.module)
- New Categories lists the newest categories (ldm_newcats.module)
- New Reviews and New Reviewers list the most recent entries to have received user ratings and comments (ldm_new_reviews.module, ldm_newly_reviewed.module)
- Tag Cloud generates a keyword tagcloud for LDM (ldm_tagcloud.module
Installing vbAdvanced Modules
The modules are stored in the release/vba_modules subdirectory. Use the vbAdvanced CMPS administration page in your main vBulletin admincp to install these in the normal way. Select Download/Upload Module and complete the relevant fields in the Upload Module section.
Important:
- Modules provided with LDM require version 3.0 or higher of vbAdvanced
- The module directory must have full write permissions
- Take care in how you organise your styles. vbAdvanced modules will not work correctly in styles that are outside the part of the tree structure you select for installation
- Prior to release 2.2.6 of LDM, vbA interfaces were supplied as php files. You must delete these php files from your forums/modules directory before installing the new modules.
Most modules have adjustable parameters settings to control their behaviour. These are set using the vbA administration Edit Module page (to adjust the parameters on all vbAdvaced pages) or Edit Page (for one page only).
Server Efficiency
The server load involved in using vbA to display multiple modules can be quite high. If you plan to construct complex pages including several LDM modules, you may wish to enable display bit caching, see Speed, Security and Server_Load.
Bug Fix for vbAdvanced on Windows Servers
Depending on your version of php, the release code for recent versions of vbAdvanced (3.0.1 and beyond) contains a potential bug in file admincp/vba_cmps_admin.php. This prevents attempts to upload .module and .xml files on Windows servers, and generates a spurious 'this is not a valid module file'.
If you encounter this bug, it can be fixed as follows. Edit admincp/vba_cmps_admin.php, find the lines (around 3400-3600 depending on versin of vbA) and change
if (!$vbulletin->GPC['haderrors'])
{
$modfile =& $_FILES['modfile'];
@chmod('./modules', 0777);
@move_uploaded_file($modfile['tmp_name'], './modules/' . $modfile['name']);
}
to
if (!$vbulletin->GPC['haderrors'])
{
$modfile =& $_FILES['modfile'];
@chmod('./modules', 0777);
// @move_uploaded_file($modfile['tmp_name'], './modules/' . $modfile['name']);
$modfilepath = getcwd().'/modules/'.$modfile['name'];
@move_uploaded_file($modfile['tmp_name'], $modfilepath);
}
Integrating LDM itself within vbAdvanced
In most respects, the main LDM script, local_links.php, can integrate successfully with vbAdvanced, i.e. be set up to appear as the central column on a vbAdvanced page. There is one exception: setting up the LDM Jukebox to launch "within page" creates an unpleasant mess on the screen. Use the "launch Jukebox in new window" option instead.
