AboutToday - Bring RSS Feeds and Daily Events to Your Site!

[CyberRanger]

What is AboutToday?

AboutToday provides a central place to bring daily items of interest to your forum visitors. It includes two main components: an RSS Reader System and Local Events database System.

Please NOTE: This mod has been modified for vb ver 3.6.4. It should work on vb ver 3.5.4 and 3.6.x. :)

An RSS Reader system where the admin can enter RSS feeds that will then be displayed on the page. RSS feeds can be set to AUTOMATICALLY create threads or be set so that users can easily create a thread from a feed.. Feeds can be read via fopen or cURL.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

The RSS Feeds are fully intergrated with vbAdvanced and could actually be placed anywhere you want!!

A database system that can hold unlimited categories of "AboutToday" events. For example, you could have a history category (like a Today in History) with sub-categories for different eras in history. Or, you could have a daily joke or software tip of the day, etc.

The "Add Event" feature is intended to help you if you want for example - Sports: Today in History. With the vb calendar, you cannot have categories and you are restricted with how far back the dates can go.

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/addevent-summary.gif


So with the "Add Event" feature, you could have a category tree like:

Hockey
Professional
College
High School

Football
American Football
The Rest of the World (Soccer)

Baseball


with the normal calendar feature, you cannot have categories. And with "Add Event" you can have any date. So, if you want an event like "Jan 1, 132 B.C. - the first ball was invented", you can do that. But, that isn't possible in the normal calendar. Also, the events in "Add Event" are fully searchable.


Installation

Copy the following files to your server in the forums directory:
abouttoday.php
includes/class.csv.php
includes/class_abouttoday.php
includes/cron/cron_abouttoday.php
includes/xml/bitfield_abouttoday.xml
includes/xml/cpnav_abouttoday.xml
admincp/abouttodayadmin.php

From the admincp, import the product file product-abouttoday.xml (Manage Products - Add/Import Product).

REFRESH your admincp window. You should now see a listing in the left column of the admincp for "AboutToday".

Getting Started

NOTE - if this is a new install, a Yahoo RSS Feed and CNN Entertainment Feed have been automatically added to give you a feel for how the product looks.

If you plan to use the RSS Feeds:

1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - RSS Feeds. Add an RSS Feed.
2. From the admincp, select Usergroups - Usergroup Manager. Add permissions so the Administrator group can use the product.
3. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php.
4. If you want the feeds to AUTOMATICALLY create threads, go to admincp - abouttoday - settings. There you must set the userid of the account to use to create the thread. Then, edit the RSS Feed with the forumid of where the threads for that feed should be created!

If you plan to create your own "today in history" type of database:

1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - Categories. Add a category.
2. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php. "Add" your first event to the category you have created!

Version Status
I've tested this product extensively but ... use this totally at your own risk!

Credits
I learned a lot about how to code this and used a lot of the code from what Ron1n did with ecDownloads (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=102383). What I've learned from his code while helping to support ecDownloads has been invaluable.

Sites Using this Product
Visit www.armchairgeneral.com (http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/abouttoday.php) to see this product in action.

Click Install!
Please Click Install if you are using this product. Thanks!

[CyberRanger]

Version 2.0.5 added Aug 2, 2006

Modified to work with vb versions 3.5.4 and 3.6 RC2.


Version 2.0.4 added Jul 21, 2006

Added an option that will hide threads auto-created from the "New Post" and "Today's Post" searches.
"Guest" will be displayed properly if a guest is allowed to start a thread from an RSS Feed.
Fixed problem with description displaying in "Today in History" module.


Version 2.0.3 added Jul 11, 2006

Built in support to use either fopen OR cURL for fetching RSS Feeds. This has been modified to automatically check for cURL and use it if available, otherwise use fopen.
Cleaned up formating in "Today's Events" section so that the font size is the same as events pulled from the calendar.
Moved the automatic update of RSS Feeds from a hook into "Hourly Cleanup #1" to it's own scheduled task called "AboutToday". This is set to run every 15 minutes by default.
Modified how poorly formatted feeds are handled so that one bad feed won't cause the feeds to error out.
Post count will be incremented when threads are started via AboutToday.


Version 2.0.2 added Jun 16, 2006

Built in support to use either fopen OR cURL for fetching RSS Feeds
Added function to change German umlauts into ue, oe, etc.
Fixed possible XSS exploit in the Local Events database system


Version 2.0.1 added May 20, 2006
Fixed bug that was causing duplicate threads to be created

Version 2.0 added May 19, 2006

The biggest change in this release is the ability to have RSS Feeds AUTOMATICALLY create threads!


Version 1.3.1 Gold added Mar 20, 2006

This release fixes a problem with the interaction between this product and the left sidebar product. If the left sidebar product was installed before AboutToday was, the $myfeeds variables would not be available for the left column. I've changed when $myfeeds get evaluated so they are always before the left column. If you already have this product installed, you only need to import the new product-abouttoday.xml for the change to take effect. If you do not use the $myfeeds variables, you really don't need to worry about this update.

Version 1.3 Gold added Mar 3, 2006

Sorry folks! I messed up two items when doing the update - one minor, one critical. It is imperative that you install ver 1.3 or you won't be able to add new feeds!

Version 1.2 Gold added Mar 3, 2006

Be sure to do "Force RSS Update" after if you are upgrading! That will give you the newest look!

I'm VERY excited about this release! I think the new options for displaying the RSS Feeds plus the addition of two more global feed variable for displaying the feeds on vba (or where ever global.php is called) really make this product even more exciting!


2 Minor Bugs Fixes
RSS Updates automatically when edited/added
Two more Global Variables created for placing RSS Feeds anywhere on a vbulletin page. Feeds can now be placed in $myfeeds, $myfeeds2 and/or $myfeeds3 to allow more flexibilty with vba.
The feed display page completely reworked. When a feed is selected, the summaries stay on the side for easy navigation.

Separate option to include feed in "Today's Events"

Local events are turned off if no events have been entered. This makes the RSS Feed display much cleaner.


Version 1.1 Gold added Feb 18, 2006


2 Minor Bugs Fixes
RSS Updates added to cron
Options to run with only locally entered events, RSS Feeds, or Both
Global Variable created for placing RSS Feeds anywhere on a vbulletin page
Direct linking to RSS item added as optional feature
Ability to force RSS update added
vBa (vbAdvanced) Module supported




Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I display the RSS Feeds on a sidebar?
If set "How many rows across for $myfeeds variable?" to a value greater than zero, a variable called $myfeeds will become available. Place this where you want the feeds to appear. Check out the attached example of the feeds displayed in the left sidebar.

2 How do you go about forcing the rss update....i dont see it anywhere?
Once you install the ver 1.1, you will need to go into the usergroup permissions, giving the admin group permission to force an update. Then, that option will appear with the others when viewing abouttoday.php.

[Gio~Logist]

Nice hack you got there. I look forward to see what will become of this :p

[lazyseller]

I dont have a site where this would fit well... but very nice hack....

[docvader]

Nice concept. Are you going to provide links for relevent rss feeds also?

I honestly can't see myself inputting all of this data myself either. Are there databases that one can find or purchase, that will work with this?

[CyberRanger]

Nice concept. Are you going to provide links for relevent rss feeds also?
I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean provide a list of suggested RSS Feeds for admins or have the product come with some feeds already setup?

[docvader]

Well, if you think about it, this is an awesome concept, but, the act of sitting down for the next few years, typing in historical events for every day of the calender year, is not exactly going to make me popular with the ladies.

Are there preconfigured databases that we could import? Or, rss feeds with this "today in history" stuff that we can bring into your hack??

It's an awesome concept, exactly what I've been looking for.

[bashy]

I aggree with what your saying, but aint this what the RSS feed will do?

Well, if you think about it, this is an awesome concept, but, the act of sitting down for the next few years, typing in historical events for every day of the calender year, is not exactly going to make me popular with the ladies.

Are there preconfigured databases that we could import? Or, rss feeds with this "today in history" stuff that we can bring into your hack??

It's an awesome concept, exactly what I've been looking for.

[bashy]

I have installed this....

It wont save the description though.......
I fill in all the details, including a description...
Add Event
and it deletes the descriptin and says Fields marked in RED must be filled in!
and the descriptin is in red...of course cause its frigging deleted it lol...

Also the catergories in the catergoy tree aint clickable???

Whats ya thoughts please.......

[Sooner95]

If I am looking at this correctly, this is a sweet idea.

RSS Feeds are good for boards, but never cared for them fillingup forums with 100 posts a day, ect..

This just simply puts the feeds, and organized nicely, on a seperate page. So if members want to check it outk the can, otherwise they are not bothered.

Very nice..Will be putting this on my site. Kudos!

[CyberRanger]

I have installed this....

It wont save the description though.......
I fill in all the details, including a description...
Add Event
and it deletes the descriptin and says Fields marked in RED must be filled in!
and the descriptin is in red...of course cause its frigging deleted it lol...

Also the catergories in the catergoy tree aint clickable???

Whats ya thoughts please.......
I can't check the description problem right now but will as soon as possible.
The categories in the tree become clickable if that category has events in it ... which, with your problem above, explains why you haven't seen one clickable yet. :classic:

[Sooner95]

It wont save the description though.......
I fill in all the details, including a description...
Add Event
and it deletes the descriptin and says Fields marked in RED must be filled in!
and the descriptin is in red...of course cause its frigging deleted it lol...


Yea, have same issue.

Everything else seems to work just fine tho.

[CyberRanger]

I have installed this....

It wont save the description though.......
I fill in all the details, including a description...
Add Event
and it deletes the descriptin and says Fields marked in RED must be filled in!
and the descriptin is in red...of course cause its frigging deleted it lol...

Also the catergories in the catergoy tree aint clickable???

Whats ya thoughts please.......
Can you load the attached xml file to replace the existing product and let me know if that fixes the problem?

Also, if you use Firefox, do you have the problem?

Thanks!

[Milad]

Can you make it wprk with vBAdvanced CMS?

[Milad]

I have installed this....

It wont save the description though.......
I fill in all the details, including a description...
Add Event
and it deletes the descriptin and says Fields marked in RED must be filled in!
and the descriptin is in red...of course cause its frigging deleted it lol...

Also the catergories in the catergoy tree aint clickable???

Whats ya thoughts please.......

westpointer, did you use $vbulletin->clean-> gpc for this item?

[bashy]

Hi i use IE and all is well with that update..

Thanks alot

Have fun

Can you load the attached xml file to replace the existing product and let me know if that fixes the problem?

Also, if you use Firefox, do you have the problem?

Thanks!

[Sooner95]

Havnt gotten one RSS Feed in. Installed it lastnite at 8PM EST.. so figured i would get some by now. Using a couple of Yahoo Feeds..

I miss something?

[Sooner95]

Btw, your updated corrected the issue. Using FF 1.5.01

[CyberRanger]

Havnt gotten one RSS Feed in. Installed it lastnite at 8PM EST.. so figured i would get some by now. Using a couple of Yahoo Feeds..

I miss something?

Hmm ... I think I know why. I need to make a little fix. Until then, call up http://www.yoursite.com/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss. That should kick off your feeds.

Thanks for the feedback on the description fix. I'm glad that worked!

[CyberRanger]

westpointer, did you use $vbulletin->clean-> gpc for this item?
No, but I reckon I should. I'm using:

$_POST['message'] = strip_tags($_POST['message']);
$_POST['message'] = convert_url_to_bbcode($_POST['message']);

and then using $db->sql_prepare($_POST['message']) when doing an insert or update. Does clean do more?

[CyberRanger]

Can you make it wprk with vBAdvanced CMS?
I'll give it a shoot. I don't have vbAdvanced installed but I'll see if I can figure it out.

[Sooner95]

Hmm ... I think I know why. I need to make a little fix. Until then, call up http://www.yoursite.com/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss. That should kick off your feeds.

Thanks for the feedback on the description fix. I'm glad that worked!

ok did that.. and got this.

Invalid SQL:
SELECT count(id) as events FROM histtd_events
WHERE;

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 2
Error Number : 1064
Date : Tuesday, February 7th 2006 @ 01:32:27 PM
Script : http://www.bulldogbbs.com/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss.
Referrer :

[Lionel]

This is very nice. I've always wanted something like that and I ended up tweaking a calendar for a today in history, but it's in no way as great as yours. That's too bad I am using 3.07. I would have installed it in a heartbeat.

[Danny Diamond]

This plugin wont install from the screen that was suggested. What could the problem be and is anyone else having this issue?

[Snake]

Whoa this is just GREAT!

[CyberRanger]

ok did that.. and got this.

Invalid SQL:
SELECT count(id) as events FROM histtd_events
WHERE;

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 2
Error Number : 1064
Date : Tuesday, February 7th 2006 @ 01:32:27 PM
Script : http://www.bulldogbbs.com/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss.
Referrer :

Here is a new abouttoday.php. Can you give it a try? It appears that for some reason your site is not seeing the "do" when I have it coded as $_GET['do'] but is seeing it as $_REQUEST['do']. The attached file will let me know if that is indeed what is happening.

[This change plus the product change for the description getting lost in IE have been added to the product zip file.]

[CyberRanger]

This plugin wont install from the screen that was suggested. What could the problem be and is anyone else having this issue?

So if you are on the screen pictured in the attachment (with the upload path set to where you have the file product-abouttoday.xml), what happens when you click on "Import"?

[6piston]

hi westpointer

Great script!!

i got it working

but i have this problem,
it was all testing. so i decided to change the RSS url set number of news from 4 to 10
i did that and it didn't display the changes
so i executed the script to get new cache
still no updates on the changed

then i deleted the RSS feed and added a new one

then i executed the script to get new cache
but i got this error:
XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45

i tried deleting the RSS feed again and recache just to clear everything
No errors.

then i added a new RSS feed ran the recache
same error:
XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45

any ideas?

[dirtycrow]

nice! installed.

i accidentally moved a event into Destination: [category] and now i can't delete it :(

[mholtum]

nice! installed.

i accidentally moved a event into Destination: [category] and now i can't delete it :(

When I try to edit the userfroups I get this error
Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:

Invalid SQL:
UPDATE vb350_usergroup SET

### UPDATE QUERY GENERATED BY fetch_query_sql() ###
`title` = 'Administrators',
`description` = '',
`usertitle` = 'Administrator',
`opentag` = '',
`closetag` = '',
`passwordexpires` = '0',
`passwordhistory` = '360',
`forumpermissions` = '1048575',
`attachlimit` = '0',
`pmquota` = '50',
`pmpermissions` = '3',
`pmsendmax` = '5',
`calendarpermissions` = '63',
`wolpermissions` = '31',
`adminpermissions` = '3',
`genericpermissions` = '205520831',
`genericoptions` = '23',
`profilepicmaxwidth` = '250',
`profilepicmaxheight` = '250',
`profilepicmaxsize` = '65535',
`avatarmaxwidth` = '100',
`avatarmaxheight` = '100',
`avatarmaxsize` = '20000',
`emotionpermissions` = '1',
`pagerpermissions` = '13',
`pagerquota` = '100',
`pagerminpost` = '0',
`pagerminpostperday` = '0',
`pagermaxperday` = '0',
`pagersendmax` = '0',
`pagersendmaxchar` = '300',
`journalpermissions` = '34783',
`que` = '4095',
`vbspacecomments` = '0',
`toplistpermissions` = '31',
`abouttodaypermissions` = '255'
WHERE usergroupid=6;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'vbspacecomments' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Date : Tuesday, February 7th 2006 @ 12:05:32 PM
Script : http://www.ravensrealm.net/forums/admincp/usergroup.php
Referrer : http://www.ravensrealm.net/forums/admincp/usergroup.php?do=edit&usergroupid=6
IP Address : 70.162.7.101
Username : mholtum
Classname : vb_database

[The Realist]

Working fine here.

[CyberRanger]

When I try to edit the userfroups I get this error
`que` = '4095',
`vbspacecomments` = '0',
`toplistpermissions` = '31',
`abouttodaypermissions` = '255'
WHERE usergroupid=6;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'vbspacecomments' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Date : Tuesday, February 7th 2006 @ 12:05:32 PM

This is a problem with a different product that you have probably uninstalled that used the field vbspacecomments. (That's not part of AboutToday). Try rebuilding your bitfields (/admincp/index.php?do=buildbitfields) then try updating the usergroup permissions again.

[CyberRanger]

hi westpointer

Great script!!

Thanks!


i tried deleting the RSS feed again and recache just to clear everything
No errors.

then i added a new RSS feed ran the recache
same error:
XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45

any ideas?
This indicates that the RSS Reader is having trouble reading the feed data. Can you post the URL to the feed?

[mholtum]

This is a problem with a different product that you have probably uninstalled that used the field vbspacecomments. (That's not part of AboutToday). Try rebuilding your bitfields (/admincp/index.php?do=buildbitfields) then try updating the usergroup permissions again.


Nope still getting the error.. I guess I cant use this as long as I am using the other hack..

[CyberRanger]

nice! installed.

i accidentally moved a event into Destination: [category] and now i can't delete it :(
ah ... I see what you mean. You shouldn't have been able to do that ... BUG!!!! Okay, let me get back to you with a fix.

[CyberRanger]

Nope still getting the error.. I guess I cant use this as long as I am using the other hack..


EDIT: This is a problem that existed with the "Profile Comments System". See https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=860509&highlight=vbspacecomments#post860509. :
On post 106 It was noted o run this query
ALTER TABLE ".TABLE_PREFIX."usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
from your sql database '
If you do not have a TABLE_PREFIX you'll need to drop that from the code and run this one.
ALTER TABLE usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
this is not on your admincp.you'll need to log into phpmyadmin to do this.
Once there open the database where your forum is stored, On the top sql tap run the query from there, Then manually delete the instance from your product manager, Reinstall the xml file and all should be good.
Edit:As for it not being there, If you got that error then it is there and it most likely is showing in the product manager that is why you need to click edit and manually remove it as posted on post 233

[mholtum]

EDIT: This is a problem that existed with the "Profile Comments System". See https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=860509&highlight=vbspacecomments#post860509. :I uninstalled that plugin awhile ago... Hmmmm... How can I fix it?


SQL query:

ALTER TABLE vb350_usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
MySQL said:

#1091 - Can't DROP 'vbspacecomments'. Check that column/key exists

[CyberRanger]

I uninstalled that plugin awhile ago... Hmmmm... How can I fix it?


SQL query:

ALTER TABLE vb350_usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
MySQL said:

#1091 - Can't DROP 'vbspacecomments'. Check that column/key exists
It seems like your board still thinks the product is installed. I think we can resolve this quicker if you post in the "Profile Comments" thread: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=103881&page=1&pp=15

[dethfire]

is there an easy way to make this a sidebar instead of at the bottom?

[KW802]

Nice concept. I like the idea of showing the TV schedules in the Today section. :cool:

* KW802 clicks install to play with on a future date.

[Sooner95]

Here is a new abouttoday.php. Can you give it a try? It appears that for some reason your site is not seeing the "do" when I have it coded as $_GET['do'] but is seeing it as $_REQUEST['do']. The attached file will let me know if that is indeed what is happening.

[This change plus the product change for the description getting lost in IE have been added to the product zip file.]

ok, tried that.. but I got the same error as before when running the abouttoday.php?do=rss

[dirtycrow]

anyone noticing high server loads and mysql crashes since installing this?

[dethfire]

anyone noticing high server loads and mysql crashes since installing this?

I haven't noticed anything odd since installing, have had it running for nearly 6 hours

[dirtycrow]

I haven't noticed anything odd since installing, have had it running for nearly 6 hours

cool, thanks.

[6piston]

Thanks!


This indicates that the RSS Reader is having trouble reading the feed data. Can you post the URL to the feed?

hey man, it worked!!

The url is really wrong, i replaced the url and it worked like a charm!

Guys: Do not put in the wrong RSS url
it will prompt XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45 error

Thanks westpointer.

Tom

[CyberRanger]

hey man, it worked!!

The url is really wrong, i replaced the url and it worked like a charm!

Guys: Do not put in the wrong RSS url
it will prompt XML error: not well-formed (invalid token) at line 45 error

Thanks westpointer.

Tom
In the future I plan to have any RSS errors written to a separate field that is only displayed for admins. For now though, you will get the error above if the feed is bad.

[CyberRanger]

I uninstalled that plugin awhile ago... Hmmmm... How can I fix it?


SQL query:

ALTER TABLE vb350_usergroup DROP vbspacecomments
MySQL said:

#1091 - Can't DROP 'vbspacecomments'. Check that column/key exists

Couple more ideas to help you here (cause you really do need to fix this our your won't be able to change any usergroup permissions)

1. Check you includes/xml folder for any xml files associated with the "Profile Comments" system. Remove any if you find them then rebuild your bitfields.

2. Trick the system! Add the field vbspacecomments back into the usergroup table. (ALTER TABLE usergroup ADD vbspacecomments INT( 10 ) UNSIGNED DEFAULT '0' NOT NULL)

[This isn't an issue caused by AboutToday. I don't want first time readers to be confused and think it is or was.]

[CyberRanger]

ok, tried that.. but I got the same error as before when running the abouttoday.php?do=rss
I registered on your board. Can you up my usergroup permissions so I can run the AboutToday scripts?

[6piston]

In the future I plan to have any RSS errors written to a separate field that is only displayed for admins. For now though, you will get the error above if the feed is bad.

Hi Westpointer,

you've created one of the least problematic or even problemless plugins i've used. It's simple but very contributing for not so techie VBulletin users like me.

uhm, if you can tell me if there's a way to quickly integrate this into VBAdvanced, i'd love it!

i need to make my site look busier :)

Thanks
Tom

[Sooner95]

I registered on your board. Can you up my usergroup permissions so I can run the AboutToday scripts?


Hey, its working! yay! I have no idea why it wasnt before..but it is now..

Looks cool too!

[Sooner95]

Man this is cool. Thx for an awsome hack man.

Only thing i could see as a good addition to this, and I think someone else brought it up, would be a Module for the vBadvanced CMPS.

[dethfire]

Only thing i could see as a good addition to this, and I think someone else brought it up, would be a Module for the vBadvanced CMPS.

and to be able to move it to a sidebar on forum home

[mholtum]

Seems to have installed correctly. Except when I try to add a comment it refreshes and nothing shows.

[CyberRanger]

Seems to have installed correctly. Except when I try to add a comment it refreshes and nothing shows.

Not sure what you mean. Are you trying to add a category in the admincp? If yes, that's what it should do. If you click on the category edit drop-down, you'll see that the category now exists.

[venomx]

Small HTML error...

When you click Add theres a > there that shouldnt be...

AboutToday| Category Tree| Search | Add | My Events | Manage Events | Load File
>

[CyberRanger]

Small HTML error...

When you click Add theres a > there that shouldnt be...

AboutToday| Category Tree| Search | Add | My Events | Manage Events | Load File
>
Oops! How in the world did I miss that?? Look for an update later today.

:-)

[CyberRanger]

Version 1.1 Gold added Feb 18, 2006


2 Minor Bugs Fixes
RSS Updates added to cron
Options to run with only locally entered events, RSS Feeds, or Both
Global Variable created for placing RSS Feeds anywhere on a vbulletin page
Direct linking to RSS item added as optional feature
Ability to force RSS update added
vBa (vbAdvanced) Module supported

[CyberRanger]

Can you make it wprk with vBAdvanced CMS?

ver 1.1 includes vBa support: :up: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=108274

[Oddjob]

Version 1.1 Gold added Feb 18, 2006


2 Minor Bugs Fixes
RSS Updates added to cron
Options to run with only locally entered events, RSS Feeds, or Both
Global Variable created for placing RSS Feeds anywhere on a vbulletin page
Direct linking to RSS item added as optional feature
Ability to force RSS update added
vBa (vbAdvanced) Module supported


How do you go about forcing the rss update....i dont see it anywhere.

[CyberRanger]

How do you go about forcing the rss update....i dont see it anywhere.
Once you install the ver 1.1, you will need to go into the usergroup permissions, giving the admin group permission to force an update. Then, that option will appear with the others when viewing abouttoday.php.

[CyberRanger]

BTW - if you are a vbAdvanced user, you could add your own site into an RSS feed and then easily display a summary of the last forum posts on your vBa index page. :)

[chairman miaow]

Thanks - this is a superb mod even if you just use it to display an RSS feed on your homepage (as someone else said , much better than cluttering up your forums with postings)

[tuanluu]

does this mod have a clean up schedule?

[CyberRanger]

does this mod have a clean up schedule?
I'm not sure what you mean by that so let me just explain what it does have. One of the plugins is fired by the cron_script_cleanup hook. So, by default, when the "Hourly Cleanup #1" runs, the RSS Feeds are updated. If you check (within Scheduled Tasks) to log the "Hourly Cleanup #1" tasks, the detailed results of the RSS update will be logged.

[tuanluu]

thanks that I got it.

[Dennis B]

Exactly what I was looking for. A few RSS feeds anywhere but in a forum. Thanks!

[Dennis B]

westpointer,

Under "Edit RSS Feeds", the option "Title" [Optional: Leave blank to use the title from the RSS Feed] doesn't seem to be working. It's always pulling the feed's original title...

Thanks.

[CyberRanger]

westpointer,

Under "Edit RSS Feeds", the option "Title" [Optional: Leave blank to use the title from the RSS Feed] doesn't seem to be working. It's always pulling the feed's original title...

Thanks.
k, I'll check it out, thx!

[CyberRanger]

westpointer,

Under "Edit RSS Feeds", the option "Title" [Optional: Leave blank to use the title from the RSS Feed] doesn't seem to be working. It's always pulling the feed's original title...

Thanks.I've tried this a few times, changing the Title in the admincp then forcing a refresh. The new title is displayed. When I go back into the admincp to edit the RSS Feed, the correct "Title" is populating the field.

Not sure what's going on with you. If you can point me to a url for your site, I'll sign up and see what I can figure out.

[CyberRanger]

BTW - I plan to release a small maintenance update next week. The main change will be that when a feed is displayed, a summary of other feeds will stay on the left column. I think this will make it easier to navigate the feeds. See the attached pic to get an idea of what I mean.

[YLP1]

Hi everyone, I installed this mod to my 3.4.3 vb.

When I click on the About Today "settings", I get all the settings.

When I click on the About Today "categories", I get a 400 error (this is the link: http://www.lincolnparkforums.com/admin/abouttodayadmin.php?do=category)

When I click on the About Today "rss feeds", I get a 400 error (this is the link:http://www.lincolnparkforums.com/admin/abouttodayadmin.php?do=rss)

I don't have the first clue on how to fix this and hope that someone can help me with this.

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Dennis B]

I've tried this a few times, changing the Title in the admincp then forcing a refresh.I wasn't forcing the refresh, thought it would change just by editing. Anyway it's working now, thanks. :)

[CyberRanger]

Hi everyone, I installed this mod to my 3.4.3 vb.

When I click on the About Today "settings", I get all the settings.

When I click on the About Today "categories", I get a 400 error (this is the link: http://www.lincolnparkforums.com/admin/abouttodayadmin.php?do=category)

When I click on the About Today "rss feeds", I get a 400 error (this is the link:http://www.lincolnparkforums.com/admin/abouttodayadmin.php?do=rss)

I don't have the first clue on how to fix this and hope that someone can help me with this.

Thanks in advance for your time.Greetings! Can you make sure that the file abouttodayadmin.php has been uploaded to your forum admin directory? The problem seems to be that it has not.

[CyberRanger]

I wasn't forcing the refresh, thought it would change just by editing. Anyway it's working now, thanks. :)
Good point! I was thinking about that today. I need to add an automatic refresh when a new feed is added.

[chairman miaow]

BTW - I plan to release a small maintenance update next week. The main change will be that when a feed is displayed, a summary of other feeds will stay on the left column. I think this will make it easier to navigate the feeds. See the attached pic to get an idea of what I mean.

Looks good ! :up:

[hotwheels]

very nice job man, here you can see it at work on my site/ http://www.insanemustangs.com/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss

[prettyboi]

What is a beta? Sorry, I'm all so new to all of this? Will this work for vbulletin version 3.5.1. and vbadvance?

[CyberRanger]

What is a beta? Sorry, I'm all so new to all of this? Will this work for vbulletin version 3.5.1. and vbadvance?A beta indicates that the program may still contain some bugs or isn't completely tested. AboutToday is no longer in beta; it's ready!

Yes, it will work with any version of 3.5 and includes a vbadvanced module.

[Dennis B]

westpointer,

Any idea why the font size is not consistent across the RSS feeds (see pic)?
When I force an RSS update the font size is the same for all feeds. Next time I login or when it updates automatically it's like in the pic.
Is it maybe left alone in the script? In that case can't you set the font size?

BTW, in the main .../abouttoday.php page it's working fine.

Thanks,

[CyberRanger]

westpointer,

Any idea why the font size is not consistent across the RSS feeds (see pic)?
When I force an RSS update the font size is the same for all feeds. Next time I login or when it updates automatically it's like in the pic.
Is it maybe left alone in the script? In that case can't you set the font size?

BTW, in the main .../abouttoday.php page it's working fine.

Thanks,
I noticed that the other day too. I'm tied up this weekend with a family event but I'll look at it in detail first thing Monday. Thx!

[CyberRanger]

I've noticed that many of you are only using the RSS Feeds component of this program and not the feature that lets you add your own events (like a today in history program). That's great but I would recommend in the admincp that you disable local events. It will make the mod look much cleaner on your site. :)

Remember, if you have full admin permissions for AboutToday, this change won't seem to do anything. You'll need to view it as a normal user to see the difference.

[bashy]

Hi peeps
Are there any databases to use with this hack please?
Such as the day in history? and so on?

[CyberRanger]

Hi peeps
Are there any databases to use with this hack please?
Such as the day in history? and so on?
I don't know of any but if you have one, you could easily create a flat file that could be imported into this product.

[venomx]

When I have the time I want to start adding "on this date" stuff.. I looked for a database but cant find any. The only thing I can think of is to start adding them every day from the news paper...

[Kyderoy]

I can't seem to get this feed to work....

http://booknote.blogspot.com/atom.xml

[CyberRanger]

I can't seem to get this feed to work....

http://booknote.blogspot.com/atom.xml

You are using the formatted feed. Try this instead: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NoteFromTheBook

[ubblite]

Nice extension, Westpointer.

However, I'm having one problem:

If I set "Number of RSS events to display on "Today's Events"" to 0, it still displays 1 event, which is strange and then when I click on "About Today" it only shows that same one event, even though the "Number of RSS events to display on the main AboutToday page" is set to 4, so something weird is going on. :ermm:

[CyberRanger]

Nice extension, Westpointer.

However, I'm having one problem:

If I set "Number of RSS events to display on "Today's Events"" to 0, it still displays 1 event, which is strange and then when I click on "About Today" it only shows that same one event, even though the "Number of RSS events to display on the main AboutToday page" is set to 4, so something weird is going on. :ermm:
Have you tried "Force RSS Update"? I think that should fix what you are seeing.

[ubblite]

Have you tried "Force RSS Update"? I think that should fix what you are seeing.

Yes, I have tried that many times but I still end up with 1 feed in both locations. I have even tried deleting old feeds & replaced them with new ones, so I'm not exactly sure what's causing the problem.

[Synth]

westpointer your kung foo rocks!!

*INSTALLS*

[Kyderoy]

You are using the formatted feed. Try this instead: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NoteFromTheBook


Thanks that worked great.

I have a few other feeds that are doing the same thing, how do I figure out the correct format?

[CyberRanger]

Nice extension, Westpointer.

However, I'm having one problem:

If I set "Number of RSS events to display on "Today's Events"" to 0, it still displays 1 event, which is strange and then when I click on "About Today" it only shows that same one event, even though the "Number of RSS events to display on the main AboutToday page" is set to 4, so something weird is going on. :ermm:
I've confirmed this as a BUG! I'm on the road today, and about to sign off, but I'll try to send a fix late tonight or early tomorrow.

[CyberRanger]

Thanks that worked great.

I have a few other feeds that are doing the same thing, how do I figure out the correct format?
Really the only way to figure out if it is the correct format is to put the URL in your browser and see what you get. You should get something that looks like the attached image. If instead, it looks more like a regular web page, that isn't what you want.

[CyberRanger]

Version 1.2 Gold posted! I really, really like this update. :)

(grrr ... just read my update email notice ... I hate how primative that feature is! Sorry for the messed up looking email.)

Be sure to do "Force RSS Update" after if you are upgrading! That will give you the newest look!

[chairman miaow]

Done the uprgade - works superbly ! Big thumbs up to ya :up: :up: :banana:

[bashy]

Hi

Done the update thanks :)

How do i do this
"Be sure to do "Force RSS Update" after if you are upgrading! That will give you the newest look!"

[CyberRanger]

Hi

Done the update thanks :)

How do i do this
"Be sure to do "Force RSS Update" after if you are upgrading! That will give you the newest look!"

First, from the admincp, make sure that the usergroup you are in has permissions to force an update:

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/forcerssupdateadmin.gif

Then, go to your abouttoday.php page. You should see an option to "Force RSS Update".

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/forcerssupdate.gif

[bashy]

Great m8, sorted now thanks :)

[OrangeFlea]

Is there a way to display the feeds on the Forumdisplay area of a board? Each of the forums we have on the board revolves around a distinct and separate topic, and we would like for the news to correspond with the appropriate forum on our board.

[CyberRanger]

Is there a way to display the feeds on the Forumdisplay area of a board? Each of the forums we have on the board revolves around a distinct and separate topic, and we would like for the news to correspond with the appropriate forum on our board.
Not really by design. You do have three variable ($myfeeds, $myfeeds2, and $myfeeds3) that you can assign feeds to. You could then hack your forumdisplay templates to show these variables based on the forum id.

I think I'll make an option in the next release to assign a feed to a specific forum(s).

[CyberRanger]

I screwed up an sql in ver 1.2. Please be sure to update to ver 1.3

Sorry!

[ubblite]

Version 1.3 has some nice upgrades - the layout is now even nicer on the forumhome display & text size is the same, regardless of the RSS feed. Keep up the good work, Westpointer!

[Dennis B]

westpointer,

Nobody asked about $myfeeds yet in this thread. I tried to get something out of it but so far nothing. I've tried 1 and 2 in the rowsacross setting in the ACP and then I put $myfeeds in the right column I set up in my index page, but it's empty. I've tried refreshing the feeds several times, so that's not it. And I'm using 1.3.

Any hints? Thanks.

[CyberRanger]

westpointer,

Nobody asked about $myfeeds yet in this thread. I tried to get something out of it but so far nothing. I've tried 1 and 2 in the rowsacross setting in the ACP and then I put $myfeeds in the right column I set up in my index page, but it's empty. I've tried refreshing the feeds several times, so that's not it. And I'm using 1.3.

Any hints? Thanks.

Did you assign any RSS Feeds to $myfeeds? If yes, please load the attached script into your forums directory and let me know what you see. It will display the contents of the three myfeeds variables.

[MorrisMcD]

I like the change on the abouttoday page, but is it possible for us to do something to slim down the look on the forum home?

Its a tad bulky looking on my page

[CyberRanger]

I like the change on the abouttoday page, but is it possible for us to do something to slim down the look on the forum home?

Its a tad bulky looking on my page

Could you post a pic of what your forum home looks like and another that shows what you would like it to look like?

Thx!

[MorrisMcD]

Could you post a pic of what your forum home looks like and another that shows what you would like it to look like?

Thx!

See the first feed named Cincinnati Enquirer - Local Sports....

That is how they all used to look.. After the upgrade (which improved the about today home page immensely imo (good job)) they looked like this...

:D

If I can get them all to look like the first one on the forumhome, I would be a happy camper... Thanks for the hack btw... The cmps module also looks like this and its great to have realtime news on my front page... Excellent hack

[CyberRanger]

See the first feed named Cincinnati Enquirer - Local Sports....

That is how they all used to look.. After the upgrade (which improved the about today home page immensely imo (good job)) they looked like this...

That is weird. Can you try deleting the "Cincinnati Enquirer - Local Sports" feed, see what the forum home looks like, then add the feed back and check forum home again?

Thx!

[MorrisMcD]

That is weird. Can you try deleting the "Cincinnati Enquirer - Local Sports" feed, see what the forum home looks like, then add the feed back and check forum home again?

Thx!


It said there was nothing to delete... So I disabled it.. Yes.. It still exists.. No idea why it thinks it isnt there :) But I did get this

XML error: Empty document at line 1 when I tried to edit the RSS to be disabled.. Once I clicked on RSS Feeds again to refresh, it WAS disabled.. But I recieved the above error. When forcing an update, I get this also

Anyway.. Once disabled, it just disappeared and the other stuff remained the same as in the screen shot

I have all my settings the same for the feeds..

Maximum length 0
RSS Summary 1
RSS Detailed 5
updated 60
yes, yes, yes, yes, no, no, no

Then for the $myfeeds variable, its set to 5.. 0 for 2 and 3 though... I didnt quite know if I had THIS part right... :shrug:

[CyberRanger]

It said there was nothing to delete... So I disabled it.. Yes.. It still exists.. No idea why it thinks it isnt there :) But I did get this

when I tried to edit the RSS to be disabled.. Once I clicked on RSS Feeds again to refresh, it WAS disabled.. But I recieved the above error.

There was a problem with feeds in an earlier version. I wonder if this is a hangover from that. If possible, can you go into phpmyadmin and manually delete the feed? It is in the table histtd_rss.

I have all my settings the same for the feeds..

Maximum length 0
RSS Summary 1
RSS Detailed 5
updated 60
yes, yes, yes, yes, no, no, no

Then for the $myfeeds variable, its set to 5.. 0 for 2 and 3 though... I didnt quite know if I had THIS part right... :shrug:
Those settings look good.

On forum home, did you in general prefer the bullet look over the table rows look?

[MorrisMcD]

There was a problem with feeds in an earlier version. I wonder if this is a hangover from that. If possible, can you go into phpmyadmin and manually delete the feed? It is in the table histtd_rss.

Those settings look good.

On forum home, did you in general prefer the bullet look over the table rows look?

I will delete that from the db directly.. Thanks... I reenabled that one and it didnt come back, but the rest are fine, so its probably just that one.

And I like the table rows on the cmps module and the abouttoday home page, but yes.. I personally like the bullet look better on the todays events on the forum home.. If something can be done, cool.. If not, thats cool too :D Just an inquiry

[jjj0923]

is it possible with this to post the retrieved rss information in a specific forum?

[CyberRanger]

is it possible with this to post the retrieved rss information in a specific forum?
Not right now. I plan to do that as part of the next release in a week or two.

[photongbic]

I installed AboutToday v1.3 and use it for the RSS feeds feature (I have turned off Events). It worked fine initially but I have been getting database errors...

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:
Invalid SQL:
UPDATE histtd_rss
MySQL Error : Lost connection to MySQL server during query
Error Number : 2013
Script : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss&id=6
Referrer : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php
Classname : vb_database

Any thoughts?

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

wow. this looks awesome and just what I need.
gotta finish a couple updates then I'm definitely gunna try this out.

but first the most important question for me:

--> is this fully phrased??

[CyberRanger]

I installed AboutToday v1.3 and use it for the RSS feeds feature (I have turned off Events). It worked fine initially but I have been getting database errors...

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:
Invalid SQL:
UPDATE histtd_rss
MySQL Error : Lost connection to MySQL server during query
Error Number : 2013
Script : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss&id=6
Referrer : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php
Classname : vb_database

Any thoughts?

Normally, that can of error is unrelated to the program. Instead, your server hiccupped.

[CyberRanger]

wow. this looks awesome and just what I need.
gotta finish a couple updates then I'm definitely gunna try this out.

but first the most important question for me:

--> is this fully phrased??

Yes, I'm pretty sure anything you would want phrased is phrased.

[photongbic]

Quote:
Originally Posted by photongbic
I installed AboutToday v1.3 and use it for the RSS feeds feature (I have turned off Events). It worked fine initially but I have been getting database errors...

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:
Invalid SQL:
UPDATE histtd_rss
MySQL Error : Lost connection to MySQL server during query
Error Number : 2013
Script : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php?do=rss&id=6
Referrer : http://blah-blah/forums/abouttoday.php
Classname : vb_database

Any thoughts?

Normally, that can of error is unrelated to the program. Instead, your server hiccupped.

Yeah but it only happens when a user tries to access the RSS feeds or cron tries to update them.
???

[CyberRanger]

Yeah but it only happens when a user tries to access the RSS feeds or cron tries to update them.
???hmmm .... I dunno! If you PM me your site info with an admin login for vbulletin, I'll see what I can find.

[Bukusami]

HI,
Just installed as per install.txt and had to uninstall/install the product.xml a few times ot catch this error, ended up with print screena s it is only there for a second.

Is this error going to cause a issue? i havnt gone any further yet as a previous hack allready took up a day so i wanna go slow on this one.

44402

[CyberRanger]

HI,
Just installed as per install.txt and had to uninstall/install the product.xml a few times ot catch this error, ended up with print screena s it is only there for a second.

Is this error going to cause a issue? i havnt gone any further yet as a previous hack allready took up a day so i wanna go slow on this one.

44402

That's odd. I don't think it will cause a problem yet I'm not sure why you'd get that. If you currently have the hack installed, try adding an RSS Feed and see if it works. I promise you that your time spent will be under five minutes. Just set the usergroup permissions for the admin group, add a feed, and see what you get on the abouttoday.php page.

[Bukusami]

seems to be working ok, thanks!

/me clicks install

[venomx]

When I upgraded I got the same error. But I reinstalled and it worked fine...

[hadog]

I have been getting the same error too..... I re installed and over wrote

when I go to admincp and abouttoday I get a page not found error for rss feeds and categories

Any solutions for this.
I checked and I think I followed the directions properly.

[CyberRanger]

when I go to admincp and abouttoday I get a page not found error for rss feeds and categories

Any solutions for this.
I checked and I think I followed the directions properly.

Can you check to make sure the file abouttodayadmin.php is in your admincp directory? If it is and you are still getting that error, please try reloading the file (abouttodayadmin.php) again.

Thanks! Let me know how it goes.

[CyberRanger]

HI,
Just installed as per install.txt and had to uninstall/install the product.xml a few times ot catch this error, ended up with print screena s it is only there for a second.

Is this error going to cause a issue? i havnt gone any further yet as a previous hack allready took up a day so i wanna go slow on this one.

44402

I pinned down this little error (which was so stupid on my part ... I simply had a comment done wrong for ver 1.3). The attached version has know had that fixed. I don't think it would cause anyone a real problem but to be safe you may want to download the attached product again and reimport the xml file.

[hadog]

Hi
Solved it...and it was my fault...in my haste I didn't copy the admin.php to the proper area :surprised:

I do have one other question......I have looked but still am a little lost....an rss feed I know what it is but where do I get one? Trying to track down info on this leads to some very confusing stuff.

[beansbaxter]

This is running just fine on my 3.5.2 forum...will the RSS feeds update automatically or do I need to always force the RSS updates.

[ubblite]

This is running just fine on my 3.5.2 forum...will the RSS feeds update automatically or do I need to always force the RSS updates.

They will update automatically. Default settings make the RSS update every 60 minutes but you can change the setting for each RSS feed in your AdminCP/AboutToday settings.

[10JQKA]

I have tried everything to get the sidebar to show the rss feeds, but to no avail. I have added the php script to the forums directory like stated ion a previous post. I have set the myfeeds to 2 in settings like it says. I have also added the $myfeeds variable to the sidebar template. I have also added th evariable myfeeds to the rss feed aswell and still nothing. I also made sure that the usergroups premissions allow them to view the feeds. and still NOTTA
please help

[CyberRanger]

I know exactly what you have happening! If the left sidebar hack was installed before AboutToday, the left sidebar gets evaluated before the AboutToday information.

I know how to show you to fix it but I'm not on a computer where I can do so. Give me about 12 hours and I will be.

[beansbaxter]

The only thing I dont understand is why would I want to use this plugin's Add Event feature versus vbulletin's Calendar feature. I made the categories and can add events into them, just not sure the benefit of this.

I do love the RSS feed, I can take motorcycle-related RSS feeds and add them to my motorcycle-related forum. Whooohoooo!!

[CyberRanger]

I have tried everything to get the sidebar to show the rss feeds, but to no avail. I have added the php script to the forums directory like stated ion a previous post. I have set the myfeeds to 2 in settings like it says. I have also added the $myfeeds variable to the sidebar template. I have also added th evariable myfeeds to the rss feed aswell and still nothing. I also made sure that the usergroups premissions allow them to view the feeds. and still NOTTA
please help

I've uploaded an updated product that should solve this issue for you. Basically, it makes sure that the $myfeeds are evaluated before the left sidebar gets evaluated.

For you techies, the plugin abouttoday_myfeeds has been moved from the global_start hook to the cache_templates hook.

[CyberRanger]

The only thing I dont understand is why would I want to use this plugin's Add Event feature versus vbulletin's Calendar feature. I made the categories and can add events into them, just not sure the benefit of this.

Great Question! The "Add Event" feature is intended to help you if you want for example - Sports: Today in History. With the vb calendar, you cannot have categories and you are restricted with how far back the dates can go. So with the "Add Event" feature, you could have a category tree like:

Hockey
Professional
College
High School

Football
American Football
The Rest of the World (Soccer)

Baseball


with the normal calendar feature, you cannot have categories. And with "Add Event" you can have any date. So, if you want an event like "Jan 1, 132 B.C. - the first ball was invented", you can do that. But, that isn't possible in the normal calendar. Also, the events in "Add Event" are fully searchable.

[10JQKA]

is it just me, or is the new file not there for download?

[Holidazed]

is it just me, or is the new file not there for download?
No, I do not see it either. There is no downloadable file except the vbA addon.

Westpointer, can you help out here?

[CyberRanger]

No, I do not see it either. There is no downloadable file except the vbA addon.

Westpointer, can you help out here?

Oops! How'd that happen??? The file is there now.

[MorrisMcD]

Upgraded without issues... Thanks

wp... Did you ever think of a way I could have it display it bullet style instead of in tables on the forumhome?

[10JQKA]

is the only thing different the xml product file?
or do I have to upload all the other files aswell?

[MorrisMcD]

is the only thing different the xml product file?
or do I have to upload all the other files aswell?

I uploaded the entire folder.... It shouldnt hurt even if not NEEDED

[CyberRanger]

I uploaded the entire folder.... It shouldnt hurt even if not NEEDED

Correct, but the only thing you need to do if upgrading from 1.3 is import the xml.

[CyberRanger]

Upgraded without issues... Thanks

wp... Did you ever think of a way I could have it display it bullet style instead of in tables on the forumhome?

sorry, I've been busy with some other projects but I'll crank that out this week.:banana:

[beansbaxter]

Great Question! The "Add Event" feature is intended to help you if you want for example - Sports: Today in History. With the vb calendar, you cannot have categories and you are restricted with how far back the dates can go. So with the "Add Event" feature, you could have a category tree like:

Hockey
Professional
College
High School

Football
American Football
The Rest of the World (Soccer)

Baseball


with the normal calendar feature, you cannot have categories. And with "Add Event" you can have any date. So, if you want an event like "Jan 1, 132 B.C. - the first ball was invented", you can do that. But, that isn't possible in the normal calendar. Also, the events in "Add Event" are fully searchable.
Thanks for the explanation. While this particular feature does not benefit my forum's intended application simply only because my the standard calendar suffices (I just list the motorcycle races as they come up).

But I can see how this can be a useful feature now in the right forum. Thanks for shedding some light on that. I would recommend posting something similiar to that in your first post of this thread so that others know how this can benefit them and their forum.

I have way too many RSS feeds I have to manage now haha

[CyberRanger]

I would recommend posting something similiar to that in your first post of this thread so that others know how this can benefit them and their forum.
Done! Thanks for the idea. The irony is that this product originally was for just the "Add Event" feature. A friend suggested adding the RSS Feeds, which has become what I think almost everyone actually uses!

[CyberRanger]

The irony is that this product originally was for just the "Add Event" feature. A friend suggested adding the RSS Feeds, which has become what I think almost everyone actually uses!
Here is a good example of a site that uses both features: Armchair General (http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/abouttoday.php?)

[MorrisMcD]

sorry, I've been busy with some other projects but I'll crank that out this week.:banana:
Not critical.. Take your time... Just wanted to make sure you read my last response about it..

Thanks

[Dennis B]

westpointer,

1.3.1 solved my problem with the sidebar as well, thanks again for the great support this hack has. :up:

[klaush]

Hello Westpointer,

thanks for this hack!

I noticed that even if a usergroup has no permission to add an event it is possible for this group to add one?

[CyberRanger]

Hello Westpointer,

thanks for this hack!

I noticed that even if a usergroup has no permission to add an event it is possible for this group to add one?

That shouldn't be true. Can you post what the AboutToday permissions are for the group? Maybe I left an opening somewhere??

[klaush]

That shouldn't be true. Can you post what the AboutToday permissions are for the group? Maybe I left an opening somewhere??

Usergroup-ID 2


Can View AboutToday? YES
Can Add Events to AboutToday? NO
Can Edit Own Entries? NO
Can Edit ALL Events? NO
Can View Disabled AboutToday? NO
Include link to image button on editor? NO
Can load events from a delimited file? (Use with CAUTION!) NO
Can View RSS Feeds? YES
Can force all RSS Feeds to update? YES

Thanks for your fast reply!

[CyberRanger]

Thx! I can't check it out right now but I will within the next 24 hours.:)

[CyberRanger]

Usergroup-ID 2


Can View AboutToday? YES
Can Add Events to AboutToday? NO
Can Edit Own Entries? NO
Can Edit ALL Events? NO
Can View Disabled AboutToday? NO
Include link to image button on editor? NO
Can load events from a delimited file? (Use with CAUTION!) NO
Can View RSS Feeds? YES
Can force all RSS Feeds to update? YES

Thanks for your fast reply!

My testing shows that a user with those permissions cannot add a new event. Are you sure the user can?

BTW - I normally would only give "Can force all RSS Feeds to Update" to admins.

[bashy]

Hi

Just got this error when trying to setup a RSS feed, I aint done 1 since the
move to a new host, could this be the reson, if so what do i need to do please?

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT INTO histtd_rss(`name`, `desc`, `title`, `url`, `updatetime`, `maxlengthevent`, `todaynumber`, `mainnumber`, `enabled`, `useimage`, `directlink`, `displaytodayevents`, `myfeeds`, `myfeeds2`, `myfeeds3`) VALUES('Sky News Headlines', '', '', 'http://www.sky.com/skynews/rss/article/0,,30000-1-100,00.xml', '60', '', '2', '4', '0', '1', '0', '1', '1'), '0'), '0');

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''0'), '0')' at line 1 Error Number : 1064
Date : Wednesday, April 12th 2006 @ 11:41:01 AM
Script : http://www.bashys-place.com/forums/admincp/abouttodayadmin.php
Referrer : http://www.bashys-place.com/forums/admincp/abouttodayadmin.php?do=rss

[CyberRanger]

Hi

Just got this error when trying to setup a RSS feed, I aint done 1 since the
move to a new host, could this be the reson, if so what do i need to do please?

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.3:

Invalid SQL:
INSERT INTO histtd_rss(`name`, `desc`, `title`, `url`, `updatetime`, `maxlengthevent`, `todaynumber`, `mainnumber`, `enabled`, `useimage`, `directlink`, `displaytodayevents`, `myfeeds`, `myfeeds2`, `myfeeds3`) VALUES('Sky News Headlines', '', '', 'http://www.sky.com/skynews/rss/article/0,,30000-1-100,00.xml', '60', '', '2', '4', '0', '1', '0', '1', '1'), '0'), '0');

MySQL Error : You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''0'), '0')' at line 1 Error Number : 1064
Date : Wednesday, April 12th 2006 @ 11:41:01 AM
Script : http://www.bashys-place.com/forums/admincp/abouttodayadmin.php
Referrer : http://www.bashys-place.com/forums/admincp/abouttodayadmin.php?do=rss


I think this was a problem in an earlier version. Can you please reload the newest version?

[bashy]

Cheers m8, updated and works fine now, thanks

[bashy]

Did any databases ever come to light for this hack,
i.e. on this day in history and the like?

[CyberRanger]

Did any databases ever come to light for this hack,
i.e. on this day in history and the like? I don't think so. That is sort of the idea behind the local events (day in history) portion of this program. It lets you build your own database (with the help of who ever you give access.)

[bashy]

Thats a big shame, its gonna take forever and a year to get it half full and thats with help lol :(

[Krose]

thanx a lot for a very nice hack! *clicked install*

[CarpHunter]

Installed it and like it very much :cool: INSTALLED

I encountered one little error though.

Database error in vBulletin 3.5.4:

Invalid SQL:
ALTER TABLE `histtd_rss` ADD INDEX `name` ( `name` );

Also found the error in the XML.

At line 180 its says:
$db->query_write("ALTER TABLE `histtd_rss` ADD INDEX `name` ( `name` )");
Change this to:
$db->query_write("ALTER TABLE `" . TABLE_PREFIX . "histtd_rss` ADD INDEX `name` ( `name` )");

This should fix the error.

[CyberRanger]

Installed it and like it very much :cool: INSTALLED

I encountered one little error though.

Thanks for catching that. I'll be sure to include the fix in my next release.

[CyberRanger]

The biggest change in this release is the ability to have RSS Feeds AUTOMATICALLY create threads!


https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/list-view.gif

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/newsreader.gif

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/createtalk.gif

[FleaBag]

A fantastic update! I had recently installed this and wondered where the thread creation option was (having viewed the demo link) - very pleased to see this emerge! For some time I thought I was missing an option. ;)

Great work and thanks for the continued updates, I plan to make this a big part of my site's appeal!

[MorrisMcD]

Looks good.. But all I am getting now is this

XML error: Empty document at line 1

[Benedict]

top work :) I'll install the update sometime this weekend :thumb:

[CyberRanger]

Looks good.. But all I am getting now is this


XML error: Empty document at line 1

Well, that's not good! Is this a new install? My guess is that it is and that your server doesn't allow fopen, but that's only a guess.

For now, go into admincp -> About Today -> RSS Feeds. If this is new, delete the Yahoo and the CNN feeds. That should stop the error. Now, add a feed and see what happens.

If this an upgrade, did you recently add a new feed? If yes, that feed may be bad. Check the URL in your browser and see what you get.

[CyberRanger]

I've temporarily REMOVED version 2.0. A last minute change I made can cause duplicate threads when a feed is set to auto-add threads. I should have a fix later today (May 20).

If you have already installed ver 2, please do not set feeds to auto-add a thread.:cross-eyed:

[CyberRanger]

I've temporarily REMOVED version 2.0. A last minute change I made can cause duplicate threads when a feed is set to auto-add threads. I should have a fix later today (May 20).

If you have already installed ver 2, please do not set feeds to auto-add a thread.:cross-eyed:

Ver 2.0.1 loaded to fix the problem cited above. Also, if you now add an invalid RSS Feed URL, you will receive an error message letting you know that.

[MorrisMcD]

Well, that's not good! Is this a new install? My guess is that it is and that your server doesn't allow fopen, but that's only a guess.

For now, go into admincp -> About Today -> RSS Feeds. If this is new, delete the Yahoo and the CNN feeds. That should stop the error. Now, add a feed and see what happens.

If this an upgrade, did you recently add a new feed? If yes, that feed may be bad. Check the URL in your browser and see what you get.


This is an upgrade... All my feeds from the previous version are still there.. Should I readd them?

My server is Windows 2003.. Is that a problem?

[CyberRanger]

This is an upgrade... All my feeds from the previous version are still there.. Should I readd them?

My server is Windows 2003.. Is that a problem?

Win2003 shouldn't be a problem, especially if you already had active feeds. Install the AboutToday 2.0.1 files then delete and readd your feeds one at a time. That should help you find the problem feed.

[GrendelKhan{TSU]

gREAT HACK!!
but strange (minor) problem:

I have it set to create thread (talk about)....
but when it does it posts the link and some remnant code...
ie output to created reads like this:
--------------

Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 2007 - Ve3d.com[URL=

--------------
the link works fine. but what's the "[url="?
any ideas how to get rid of it...or what's it SUPPOSED to look like?

PS. how do you change the ORDER in whick the RSS feeds and About Today are listed?? :/
I added a new RSS...but it appears in the middle of the list and I want it at the end. Is there a way to do this?

[CyberRanger]

PS. how do you change the ORDER in whick the RSS feeds and About Today are listed?? :/
I added a new RSS...but it appears in the middle of the list and I want it at the end. Is there a way to do this?

The RSS Feeds "Name" determines the sort order. If you look at the image below, the sort order of the feed is determined by 1. What will display as the feed "Title" is 2. If you leave the "Title" blank, then the "Name" is also used as the display title.
http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/rssfeed-name-title.gif

but strange (minor) problem:

I have it set to create thread (talk about)....
but when it does it posts the link and some remnant code...
ie output to created reads like this:
--------------

Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 2007 - Ve3d.comurl=

--------------
the link works fine. but what's the "url="?
any ideas how to get rid of it...or what's it SUPPOSED to look like?

When the feed is created into a thread, any html img tags are converted into bbcode IMG tags. I find that the feed image tags tend to contain dynamic url's. Unless you have set vbulletin to allow dynamic img tags (admincp -> vbulletin options -> Message Posting and Editing Options -> Allow Dynamic URL for IMG Tags), vbulletin will convert the dymanic bbcode IMG tags to bbcode URL tags. But ... that conversion seems to not always work. If it's not an img, then the conversion from an html a tag to a bbcode url has not worked right.

Can you give me the url to the RSS Feed? That will let me better examine what is happening in your situation.

[TRR]

I don't get any RSS feeds. :(

I even deleted out the defaults and added the
http://feeds.feedburner.com/NoteFromTheBook
feed that was in this thread. I run the cron job, and force the rss feed update, and nothing. No errors or anything. :(

[TRR]

Does anyone know how I might go about troublehooting the ^^ issue? :nervous:

[CyberRanger]

I don't get any RSS feeds. :(

I even deleted out the defaults and added the
http://feeds.feedburner.com/NoteFromTheBook
feed that was in this thread. I run the cron job, and force the rss feed update, and nothing. No errors or anything. :(

My guess is that your server doesn't allow fopen. If you check your phpinfo, is allow_url_fopen set to yes?

[TRR]

Good call; it is set to "no". I am on the phone with my support dept. people while they scratch their heads and try to figure out what I am talking about. lol

[TRR]

Well, I am officially educated. It was just a simple change in the php.ini file to turn it on. Thanks; this has to be one of the greatest mods I have used.

[CyberRanger]

Well, I am officially educated. It was just a simple change in the php.ini file to turn it on. Thanks; this has to be one of the greatest mods I have used.
Awesome! Glad you were able to get the ini change done.

[j1mmy]

You guys seems to be way ahead of me, but im trying to install it on 3.5.4 and no luck so far. I dont know what im doing wrong, i think this is the first time ive installed a mod. Could up provide some guidance please..anyone??

[Nathan_R]

Edit: I found that my feeds updated one time then stopped. In light of this, I'm removing my code modifications until I can get the cURL subs working again.

[CyberRanger]

As a Dreamhost user, I'm affected by my host's disabling of allow_url_fopen ... This is how I replaced fopen with cURL:

Very interesting post, thx! In my next version, I think I'll give the admin an option of using either fopen or cURL.

[CyberRanger]

You guys seems to be way ahead of me, but im trying to install it on 3.5.4 and no luck so far. I dont know what im doing wrong, i think this is the first time ive installed a mod. Could up provide some guidance please..anyone??

Okay, what have you done so far? Did you follow these directions:

Installation

Copy the following files to your server in the forums directory:

abouttoday.php
includes/class.csv.php
includes/class_abouttoday.php
includes/plugin_abouttoday.php
includes/xml/bitfield_abouttoday.xml
includes/xml/cpnav_abouttoday.xml
admincp/abouttodayadmin.php

From the admincp, import the product file product-abouttoday.xml (Manage Products - Add/Import Product).

REFRESH your admincp window. You should now see a listing in the left column of the admincp for "AboutToday".

If yes, what do you get when you open abouttoday.php?

[Nathan_R]

westpointer-- I made some grave errors in my cURL substitution code that caused the feeds to work once, then stop. I've rewritten the cURL code a dozen or so times, but I can't get it to work again. If you could modify your code to allow cURL, it would be greatly appreciated. As it stands, I just don't have the capacity to make the cURL mod work. :(

[TheBlackPoet]

I Dont Think That A Lot Of People Are Aware Of The Power/potential Of Rss... I Do!! I Added This Hack To My Site... And I Love It.. My Members Are Going To Get A Kick Out Of It In The Morning When They Log On!!
I Have To Learn A Few Things About It... Such As Grouping The Various Rss Into Categories Like The Events...
Either Way.. You Made A Great Hack Buddy And I Appreciate It....

Install?? Absolutely!!

[klaush]

Thanks, Westpointer for this fantastic stuff.

How can manage, that letters as "ä", "ö" in the German language are written as those?

[CyberRanger]

Thanks, Westpointer for this fantastic stuff.

How can manage, that letters as "?", "?" in the German language are written as those?
hmmm ... not sure! I'll check into that. How do they appear now?

[CyberRanger]

I Have To Learn A Few Things About It... Such As Grouping The Various Rss Into Categories Like The Events...
Either Way.. You Made A Great Hack Buddy And I Appreciate It....

Install?? Absolutely!!
Glad you like it! Regarding the categories, that's one feature I don't have right now that I've been considering: adding the ability to create categories and then group the feeds by categories. Does that sound useful?

[CyberRanger]

As it stands, I just don't have the capacity to make the cURL mod work. :(Okay, I'll see what I can do!:)

[j1mmy]

Okay, what have you done so far? Did you follow these directions:

Installation

Copy the following files to your server in the forums directory:

abouttoday.php
includes/class.csv.php
includes/class_abouttoday.php
includes/plugin_abouttoday.php
includes/xml/bitfield_abouttoday.xml
includes/xml/cpnav_abouttoday.xml
admincp/abouttodayadmin.php

From the admincp, import the product file product-abouttoday.xml (Manage Products - Add/Import Product).

REFRESH your admincp window. You should now see a listing in the left column of the admincp for "AboutToday".

If yes, what do you get when you open abouttoday.php?

Okay, its working but im not sure if i did everything right, could you please check this through and let me know if it might casue me problems later.

I first uploaded the individual files to the forum directory (not the whole folders). I uploaded the product via teh admin CP. I then refreshed the browser and nothing happened, there was no new title on the left.

So then i i deleted all or most of the individual files in the forum directory. I then uploaded all the files again BUT this time i uploads the WHOLE 'includes' folder as it was in the zip file, so i didnt take the files out individually to upload as to the forums directory. I then closed and re-opened the browser and
the 'AboutToday' title was there on the left :)
I did the same with the adminCP folder, uploaded that too

Im not actually sure if the second procedure is what you meant (by uploading the whole folder).
Please tell me if this is correct? Thanks.

[j1mmy]

Also, in that includes folder in the forum directory, the total file and folder count has come to 81. I think this is the result of an successful install?

[ubblite]

j1mmy, you did it correct the second time. All files are supposed to be uploaded into their proper folders in your FTP. The only file which is uploaded to your forum root directory is 'abouttoday.php', and the rest go into the directories as westpointer mentioned. The easiest way to do this is by dragging your folders from your AboutToday unzipped files into your forum root, making sure they copy over (which I believe you did in your second attempt).

[ubblite]

Just to let people know, this great hack is working with vBulletin 3.6.0 Beta 1.

[j1mmy]

Alright thanks ubblite for the comfirmation. By the way, im having trouble with the RSS feeds ans getting it started. Im trying to use.

For example, i want to use the feeds shown here:http://www.2rss.com/rss_35132.html

...onto my site, but how would i implement it into AboutToday? Ive tried coping and pasting it but i get an errors saying something about the feed's script. Im not sure if im doing the write thing.

[CyberRanger]

Alright thanks ubblite for the comfirmation. By the way, im having trouble with the RSS feeds ans getting it started. Im trying to use.

For example, i want to use the feeds shown here:http://www.2rss.com/rss_35132.html


Your example isn't an RSS feed, it's a normal web page. A feed would look like this: http://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition.rss.

[CyberRanger]

Just to let people know, this great hack is working with vBulletin 3.6.0 Beta 1.
Cool! I hadn't checked it yet myself.:banana:

[j1mmy]

Your example isn't an RSS feed, it's a normal web page. A feed would look like this: http://rss.cnn.com/rss/edition.rss.

Oh, im trying to look for a directory full of those things sorted by category. Are there any that you know?

[XFSImperial]

Great mod, running fine. I would recommend an easier way for setting permissions...I've got like 30 usergroups....lots of clicking for enabling.

*clicks install*

[CyberRanger]

Great mod, running fine. I would recommend an easier way for setting permissions...I've got like 30 usergroups....lots of clicking for enabling.

*clicks install*
I'm not sure if there is any way to do it differently. The problem is that vbulletin only allows default usergroup permissions to be set to "no". So, you have to enable it for every usergroup.

Maybe I should change the question for viewing RSS Feeds to more of something like "Deny Viewing RSS Feeds" so that a "No" would let the group view the feeds. Of course, that would mean changing the settings for those who have already installed the mod.

What do you think?

[klaush]

hmmm ... not sure! I'll check into that. How do they appear now?

Eröffnungsfeier (must be) Er?ffnungsfeier

Gäste (must be) G?ste

fühlen (must be) f?hlen

and so on...

[Nathan_R]

Fixed my problem.

Here's how to get this working with cURL (at least the direct feeds portion):

In abouttoday.php

find:

$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "startElement", "endElement");
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "characterData");
if (!($fp = @fopen($file, "r"))) {
$rssopened = 'no';
}



while ($data = @fread($fp, 4096)) {
if (!xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($fp)))
{
die(sprintf("XML error: %s at line %d",
xml_error_string(xml_get_error_code($xml_parser)),
xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser)));
}
}

xml_parser_free($xml_parser);



and replace it with:

// begin cURL sub

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $file);
curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
$store = curl_exec ($ch);
$data = curl_exec ($ch);
curl_close ($ch);

$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "startElement", "endElement");
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "characterData");

// ignore EOF while ($data = @fread($fp, 4096)) {
if (!xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, sizeof($data)))
{
die(sprintf("XML error: %s at line %d",
xml_error_string(xml_get_error_code($xml_parser)),
xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser)));
}
// }

xml_parser_free($xml_parser);
// end cURL sub

[CyberRanger]

Eröffnungsfeier (must be) Er?ffnungsfeier

Gäste (must be) G?ste

fühlen (must be) f?hlen

and so on...

Okay, I have a fix. It won't show the umlauts but they should be properly converted int say oe, ae, etc. If you PM me your email addy I'll send you two updated files to test out.

[CyberRanger]

Fixed my problem.

Here's how to get this working with cURL (at least the direct feeds portion):


Awesome, I'll check it out and add it to the next version (option to use cURL or fopen)

[klaush]

Okay, I have a fix. It won't show the umlauts but they should be properly converted int say oe, ae, etc. If you PM me your email addy I'll send you two updated files to test out.

Thanks! On it?s way! :-)

[j1mmy]

Okay, ive installed the AboutToday properly. Ive enable the RSS feeds already set, CNN Entertainment, but nothing seems to be happening. I told it to make new threads, ive specified both the username and thread IDs. Why cant i see anything working?

[Xoxideforums]

Okay, ive installed the AboutToday properly. Ive enable the RSS feeds already set, CNN Entertainment, but nothing seems to be happening. I told it to make new threads, ive specified both the username and thread IDs. Why cant i see anything working?


I have exactly the same problem

Also - I've noticed that when I enter a username that when i click the "edit" aka submit button that on page reload it resets itself back to '0' where I would expect the name to be that I just entered. I'm thinking this is the problem but I don't know why.

my abouttoday.php page is rendering perfectly!

[Canis Firebrand]

That cURL fix was exactly what I needed.

Thanks.

My host disabled fopen stuff.

[CyberRanger]

I have exactly the same problem

Also - I've noticed that when I enter a username that when i click the "edit" aka submit button that on page reload it resets itself back to '0' where I would expect the name to be that I just entered. I'm thinking this is the problem but I don't know why.

my abouttoday.php page is rendering perfectly!

Okay, ive installed the AboutToday properly. Ive enable the RSS feeds already set, CNN Entertainment, but nothing seems to be happening. I told it to make new threads, ive specified both the username and thread IDs. Why cant i see anything working?

Are you both seeing the feeds correctly on the abouttoday.php page? If "yes", I think the problem is that you entered a "username" for the auto thread creator. You need to enter the userid not username.

[j1mmy]

Actually the ive fixed it, i can view the feeds.

Cant i bring the 'talk about it' button on the index page where it says the feeds at the bottom in the 'Upcoming Events for the Next 5 Day(s)' box?

[CyberRanger]

Cant i bring the 'talk about it' button on the index page where it says the feeds at the bottom in the 'Upcoming Events for the Next 5 Day(s)' box?No, sorry but it's not designed to work that way.

[j1mmy]

do i need to edit the usergroup 'members' at all for them to access AboutToday?

[CyberRanger]

do i need to edit the usergroup 'members' at all for them to access AboutToday?

Yes, just like you had to for the Administrator group. Of course, you won't give normal users the same level of permissions. If you are only using the RSS portion of AboutToday, the typical usergroup permission would look like:

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/typical-permissions.gif

[j1mmy]

Thanks.

Also, is it possible to change the location of where it is? Is it possible to list them on one of the sides of the forum at all?

Say, if a member clicked on the title of a sub-forum, vB will take them to a seperate page with only that sub-forum on it. Is it possible to show AboutToday on that page aswell - with a copy of coding from the eindex page?

[CyberRanger]

Thanks.

Also, is it possible to change the location of where it is? Is it possible to list them on one of the sides of the forum at all?

Say, if a member clicked on the title of a sub-forum, vB will take them to a seperate page with only that sub-forum on it. Is it possible to show AboutToday on that page aswell - with a copy of coding from the eindex page?

If you mean have the feed display on a forum page like it does at the bottom of forumhome, yes it can be done. Each feed has the option of being assigned to three different variables ($myfeeds, $myfeeds2, $myfeeds3). You assign the feed to that variable (using manage RSS Feeds) then place the variable where you want it to appear. Of course, you could use conditional logic to make it only show on the forumid you want. But ... showing you how to do that is beyond the support I can provide here.

[j1mmy]

Well i really would like it to do that, also, if thats possible, this must be possible aswell:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=118274

[CyberRanger]

But ... showing you how to do that is beyond the support I can provide here.Actually, let me show you an example of how you can do this. I'm going to make some of the feed summaries show on one forum under the navbar. I think that would be a good example to help everyone realize some of what they can do with this mod.

The end result is going to be this. I've selected two feeds to show at the top of the Main Forum using the $myfeeds variable:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

On other forums, we'd won't see the feeds:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

Here are the steps:


In admincp->abouttoday->settings, change the "How many rows across for $myfeeds variable?" to two.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/
For the two RSS Feeds you want to display, in admincp->abouttoday->RSS Feeds, set "Include this Feed in $myfeeds variable?" to "Yes"
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/
The final step is to place the $myfeeds variable in the navbar template. We'll place it all the way at the bottom of the template with a conditional to only appear on the main forum (id of 2)
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/


Done!

[j1mmy]

How about making them viewable anywhere else but the top?

[CyberRanger]

How about making them viewable anywhere else but the top?
LOL ... at some point you really need to just play with it yourself.

Okay ... bottom of the forum:

Edit the template FORUMDISPLAY. We'll do the $myfeeds2 variable this time:

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/forumdisplay.gif

Will give you this at the bottom of every forum page (but not forumhome)

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/rss-bottom.gif

This is with $myfeeds2 set to have two columns and the four feeds displayed set to be included in $myfeeds2.

Now ... go forth and play with it!:banana:

[j1mmy]

Just one more thing, ok so i know how to move it about. But i also like that box around it, could i move that box with it where ever it goes? Or just the text?

[CyberRanger]

Just one more thing, ok so i know how to move it about. But i also like that box around it, could i move that box with it where ever it goes? Or just the text?
Sorry, I missed your question yesterday. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'll show you how to do it tomorrow.:banana:

[DanGarion]

So does this use CURL or FURL? I've had problems with the use of FURL with my host because I have to run in CGI mode. I've installed this and it's not getting any feeds so I'm figuring this is the problem.

When I update the feeds the abouttodat.php just shows no news articles.

[CyberRanger]

So does this use CURL or FURL? It uses fopen. If you need to use cURL, I believe this thread will let you successfully do that:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1007174&postcount=200

[DanGarion]

It uses fopen. If you need to use cURL, I believe this thread will let you successfully do that:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1007174&postcount=200

Yeah I found that edit. :) Seems to work now. Great plugin. I've always ran into this problem after Dreamhost decided to disable fopen, and was never able to use news/rss plugins.

Thanks!

[CyberRanger]

Version 2.0.2 added Jun 16, 2006

Built in support to use either fopen OR cURL for fetching RSS Feeds (set in admincp->About Today->Settings) [see attached image]
Added function to to change German umlauts into ue, oe, etc.
Fixed possible XSS exploit in the Local Events database system


I don't think hardly anyone uses the "Local Events" feature but if you do this version is important to fix a possilbe XSS exploit. Otherwise, you don't really need this version unless you have German feeds or need to use cURL instead of fopen.

[j1mmy]

Whats this curl, furl and fopen?

Do i need to know this?

[CyberRanger]

Whats this curl, furl and fopen?

Do i need to know this? Nope, if your current install is working fine, you are good to-go. If you do decide to use the "Add Events" (Today in History) portion of the program, you should upload the latest version first.

[BitMite]

Is it possible to add a nofollow tag to the links?
Thanks

[CyberRanger]

Is it possible to add a nofollow tag to the links?
Thanks
Would you want them to be globally applied to all the links or be able to control which feeds get nofollow added?

[BitMite]

Would you want them to be globally applied to all the links or be able to control which feeds get nofollow added?

All the external links.

[CyberRanger]

All the external links.
Okay, I think though I'll add it as a per feed option in the next release. I can see situations where you would not want the "nofollow" as part of the tag. For example, it may be a site that you are partnering with.

(I was going to show you where to change the code but I'm afraid the changes are a bit too numerous to do so.)

[BitMite]

Okay, I think though I'll add it as a per feed option in the next release. I can see situations where you would not want the "nofollow" as part of the tag. For example, it may be a site that you are partnering with.

Exactly, I'm eagerly awaiting the next release :classic:
Thanks for the follow up.

[G_Man]

Exactly, I'm eagerly awaiting the next release :classic:
Thanks for the follow up.


Ditto!!

I just don't believe that I missed this all this time!

One of the finest hacks/mods I've seen yet!!

[Al-Fateh]

the only bad thing about this feeds, is that they flood your forum and kills the member posting

[dj_deswab]

I have installed this, but I don't see anything on my page and I don't understand number 3

If you plan to use the RSS Feeds:

1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - RSS Feeds. Add an RSS Feed.
2. From the admincp, select Usergroups - Usergroup Manager. Add permissions so the Administrator group can use the product.
3. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php.
4. If you want the feeds to AUTOMATICALLY create threads, go to admincp - abouttoday - settings. There you must set the userid of the account to use to create the thread. Then, edit the RSS Feed with the forumid of where the threads for that feed should be created!

[G_Man]

the only bad thing about this feeds, is that they flood your forum and kills the member posting


You don't have to have them posted and you can actually decide which feeds the member can select for posting.

I think it is the opposite. The members can read the news or whatever and if they are interested press a button and viola! Its in your forum as a new thread. Then when someone else comes across that same article on the AboutToday page they see a button to join the thread that was already started.

This Hack does with RSS what forums need done, in my opinion.

[G_Man]

I have installed this, but I don't see anything on my page and I don't understand number 3

If you plan to use the RSS Feeds:

1. From the admincp, select AboutToday - RSS Feeds. Add an RSS Feed.
2. From the admincp, select Usergroups - Usergroup Manager. Add permissions so the Administrator group can use the product.
3. From your forum directory, bring up the file abouttoday.php.
4. If you want the feeds to AUTOMATICALLY create threads, go to admincp - abouttoday - settings. There you must set the userid of the account to use to create the thread. Then, edit the RSS Feed with the forumid of where the threads for that feed should be created!



I think that is in the wrong order. The first thing I would do is go to your User Group for Admin and scroll all the way down. You will see a bunch of options for AboutToday. I set those all to yes for myself and just clicked the View Options for my other UserGroups.

After you set the permissions you will see more options for you on the AboutToday Page.

That should get you started. ;)

[dj_deswab]

Great got it to work. Hey there anyway to move this to the feed to the top of my page and how?; right now they are at the bottom.

[G_Man]

Great got it to work. Hey there anyway to move this to the feed to the top of my page and how?; right now they are at the bottom.


Not sure what you mean? Got a link?

[CyberRanger]

The members can read the news or whatever and if they are interested press a button and viola! Its in your forum as a new thread. Then when someone else comes across that same article on the AboutToday page they see a button to join the thread that was already started.
I couldn't have said it better myself! Note too that you can set how often a feed gets updated. So, even if you have a feed set to automatically create threads you can still decide how often that feed will be updated.

[CyberRanger]

Great got it to work. Hey there anyway to move this to the feed to the top of my page and how?; right now they are at the bottom.
I think you are talking about how summaries can be displayed at the bottom of the forumhome page in the "Today's Events" section. That cannot be moved. However, you could set you feeds so that none of them display in that section and then use some of the $myfeeds variables to get a more customized look. This is a bit more of an advanced usage of the program. See this thread for more details:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1007367&postcount=213

and this:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1007391&postcount=215

and this:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1007476&postcount=217

[Canis Firebrand]

I can't figure out why I don't see the buttons like in this image.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

[G_Man]

I couldn't have said it better myself! Note too that you can set how often a feed gets updated. So, even if you have a feed set to automatically create threads you can still decide how often that feed will be updated.


EXACTLY!! :D


I have a Random Quote RSS feed that I only update every 1440 minutes and have a post made from it. One post...

My Mods are stoked,too!! I had a seperate forum for all the news posts and made them clean it up before!! :lol:

[G_Man]

I can't figure out why I don't see the buttons like in this image.
http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/summary-view.gif



I am guessing from this little info that your permissions in your UserGroups aren't set.

[Canis Firebrand]

I am guessing from this little info that your permissions in your UserGroups aren't set.

The buttons my post was talking about, I tried to edit it after I posted it, but that is when vbulletin.org/.com went down, were the Talk about it buttons on the right portion of the above image.

In my usergroup manager, all the options for AboutToday are set to yes for the administrators group, which my login into the board is using.

The registered users group has them all set to yes except

-Can edit all events
- Can view disabled about today
- Can load events from file
- Can force RSS update.

[gasxtreme]

I keep getting random errors when I try to add a feed.... The error is "XML error: Invalid character at line 20" and "XML error: Invalid character at line 76"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.
-steve

[G_Man]

The buttons my post was talking about, I tried to edit it after I posted it, but that is when vbulletin.org/.com went down, were the Talk about it buttons on the right portion of the above image.

In my usergroup manager, all the options for AboutToday are set to yes for the administrators group, which my login into the board is using.

The registered users group has them all set to yes except

-Can edit all events
- Can view disabled about today
- Can load events from file
- Can force RSS update.


Pretty much how mine are set up... the options you need are here:

AdminCP->AboutToday->RssFeeds


In the Add feeds area, third option from the bottom you will see a box where you can put a forum number in. Set that to the forum you want each feed to be posted in. That will cause the buttons to appear so members can post them.

You can use the Edit Feed Area to change this for the feeds you are already running. :D


Let me know if that is what you meant.

[Canis Firebrand]

Pretty much how mine are set up... the options you need are here:

AdminCP->AboutToday->RssFeeds


In the Add feeds area, third option from the bottom you will see a box where you can put a forum number in. Set that to the forum you want each feed to be posted in. That will cause the buttons to appear so members can post them.

You can use the Edit Feed Area to change this for the feeds you are already running. :D


Let me know if that is what you meant.


That did it.. Thank you much.

[G_Man]

That did it.. Thank you much.


You have no idea how good it feels to be able to actually help someone else around here! Glad it worked.

[Ambie]

I keep getting random errors when I try to add a feed.... The error is "XML error: Invalid character at line 20" and "XML error: Invalid character at line 76"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.
-steve


I am getting the same errors all the sudden. It worked good for a day or two and now I'm just getting these errors.

[CyberRanger]

You have no idea how good it feels to be able to actually help someone else around here! Glad it worked.

Thanks for helping out! I was off-line for a couple days so I really appreciate it!

I keep getting random errors when I try to add a feed.... The error is "XML error: Invalid character at line 20" and "XML error: Invalid character at line 76"

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You.
-steve
This kind of error always indicates a problem with the RSS Feed itself. I've struggled to develop a good way to handle this. For now, if you know what feed is making the error, copy the feed url into your web browser and see what happens. If you don't know what feed is causing the problem, I'm afraid you'll need to do that with each feed's url. What you SHOULD see in the browser is something like the included image.

http://www.brentandmary.net/images/abouttoday/rawfeed.gif

You should NOT see a normal looking web page.

[gasxtreme]

They don't look like normal pages..... Here are the two that don't seem to work:
http://www.superchevy.com/rss/nonstandard_rss.xml
http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/rss/nonstandard_rss.xml

Thanks
-steve