Threaded Forum Views (Version 3.0)

[Kaitlyn]

Threaded Forum Views (Version 3.0)

This Modification is based on Threaded Forum Views (Version 1.8) for vBulletin 3.0 & Threaded Forum Views (v2.0) for vBulletin 3.5

Version 3.0 should function the same as the previous version. If you notice any quirks or problems please post them here. I took a couple different approaches in outlining the Modifications from the original as well.

-----

Threaded Forum Views will allow the user to display an individual forum or search results in a fully threaded manner. To enable this support the user selects Enable from the new Threaded Forum Views section within Edit Options in the User CP. In addition to the Enable/Disable setting the user may also select Compact or Expanded modes as well as the number of characters to be displayed in the thread/post titles.

Features:
Functionality controlled via the Users CP.
Supports 2 display modes. Single line or Dual line.
Supports variable title lengths.
Works with the display of forums and search results.
Indicates which posts have been read and which are new.
Indicates which posts have attachments.
Handles Sticky posts - limits the thread to the opening post.
Displayed results may be sorted using the existing tools provided by forumdisplay.php
Tested with vBulletin 3.6.0

Caveats:
Some of the Administrator functions (such as thread maintenance on deleted threads) are not available while in this mode. While doing administrative tasks the Admin should disable Threaded Forum Views.

Feedback & Support:
If you have any problems or questions please post them here.

Miscellaneous:

Line numbers have been added, which correspond 'approximatly' to where an item can be found. Line Numbers are based upon previous modifications, so the line number listed in step 2, will be based upon the idea that step 1 has already been compleeted. Do Note these are approximate line numbers to help find certaion locations within the code, don't blindly use them for insertions as exact numbers vary considerably based on how you perform the changes.

To update existing users it is necessary to manually run an UPDATE query. I used

UPDATE userfield SET field5='Enable',field6='Compact',field7='30' where field5='';

to set the default values.

Also, a new field has been added to the search parameters. Because of this it is neccessary to erase the existing cached searches. This can be done using the following query

delete from search;

Instructions for making the necessary modifications to the files and templates are attached as are the 5 new graphics in the ZIP file.

Items to Work on:

- Quirkyness with 'Thread/Forum Read Marking Type' defaults to something akin to "Inactivity/Cookie Based" need to check into "Database (no automatic forum marking)" and "Database (automatic forum marking)"
- Should Verify SEO works well (Limit: Webserver with mod_redirect)

Possible Future Optional Additions:
- Collapsability / Javascript
- View Toggle from Main Forum View Tree
- Option to disable User Selectable Title Length

[Snake]

Very nice! I will install it in a minute...

[redlabour]

Hi, excuse me - maybe you should write above that this is not a Plugin. And after watching the Installdescription i think it has a Installtime up to 1 Hour !!!

[ymy]

nice work ! I will install it

install mod click

[Stoebi]

Hi

I can't find instructions for 3.6.0, and i can't find any default.htm or index.htm. From which html file should i start first? If it Threaded Forums 3.0.html then i can't find any instructions for 3.6.0, only for 3.5.1.

Regards, Stoebi

[Kaitlyn]

Hi, excuse me - maybe you should write above that this is not a Plugin. And after watching the Installdescription i think it has a Installtime up to 1 Hour !!!


This isn't a Plugin, but it does require the use of Plugins, it's a "Forum Display Enhancement" and it is a lot of work *smiles* I don't think I claim it is just a plugin however, the older forums it fell under the "Code Modifications" Catagory.

-K

[Kaitlyn]

Hi

I can't find instructions for 3.6.0, and i can't find any default.htm or index.htm. From which html file should i start first? If it Threaded Forums 3.0.html then i can't find any instructions for 3.6.0, only for 3.5.1.


Regards, Stoebi

Hey Stoebi,

Yes, the default page to look at is "Threaded Forums 3.0.html" if it's a new install, or "upgrade.html" If your upgrading from my previous version, or TGMorris's Original version.

At the top of the Main HTML Page it should say something like:
---
Threaded Forum Views 3.0
vBulletin 3.6.0
---

I just downloaded it again to make certain I didn't screw it up *grins*

It is possible I missed updating a version number somewhere, if that's the case please let me know where and I'll be sure it gets fixed, but this is the version I used for vB 3.6.0

-K

[Stoebi]

Hi,

@Kaitlyn

Thank you very much a lot :)


Regards, Stoebi

[nevetS]

Love it!

I know SO many people who just can't get enough of threaded views, and I really wanted this as an option. vB was the closest I could get with the "threaded mode", but that was seriously lacking.

I do have a couple of complaints...

1) Collapsability. Users should be able to collapse the threads to hide things that are eating up the page if they are not interested.
2) Toggling. I know you can toggle the view easily from within CP, but I want to be able to toggle quickly via a link. Maybe even an alternate page to go to.
3) vbSEO. The post links follow vbSEO's re-written format, but the thread links do not. (i.e. showthread.php?p=69 versus forum-name/thread-title-16/) This should be pretty easy to track down. It seems that you are posting the thread link if there is only one message, but individual post links if there are a bunch.
4) I don't know about giving the users the option to control the title length. Not sure how that affects performance with things like eAccellerator with users who have different settings.

I really like the way the threads are separated by color. The interface is great... The performance seems very strong too (not sure about an active board, but on my test environment I've seen little change).

All in all, I say this is a terrific Mod!

Heck - maybe you could even throw in some ajax post viewing and quick replies as long as I'm asking :)

The install took me about 75 minutes - partially because apparently I can't read and I had to troubleshoot something.

[Omegatron]

Hello

I just installed based on the instructions into a clean vbulletin 3.6 install and see some differences on the file edits especially functions_threadedmode.php and when done and enable this the forum list is blank just empty rows so this modification does not appear to work.

If there are ommissions in the install or updated instructions please post them reason being the instructions state they are for a clean vb 3.51 yet this mod says 3.6?

[Kaitlyn]

Hello

I just installed based on the instructions into a clean vbulletin 3.6 install and see some differences on the file edits especially functions_threadedmode.php and when done and enable this the forum list is blank just empty rows so this modification does not appear to work.

If there are ommissions in the install or updated instructions please post them reason being the instructions state they are for a clean vb 3.51 yet this mod says 3.6?

There shouldn't be, I used the exact ones on the forum I'm running with this on it. Most likly, I've found the usual cause, especially on fresh installs, is that You haven't enabled the Plug-In's, which contain global functionality this hack needs in order to work.

If there's any instance of 3.5.1, it's most likely just a clerical error assuming the right download was obtained, I haven't noticed anywhere I didn't update the version number (Totally not saying it isn't possible!)

But, it works, promise, it's just kinda tricky. I'm using it right now on my own forums without issue.

-K

[Omegatron]

Got It Your Line Numbers Are Off

[Kaitlyn]

Got It Your Line Numbers Are Off

Yes, they are just a guide to help in case people can't find a particular line, it depends greatly on how you add/edit. Always best to put things in by context.

Glad you got it working *smiles*

-K

[nevetS]

Just updated to 3.6.1 - the line numbers in the instructions are a bit off (I redid all the file modifications from scratch), but the instructions are still valid. Works great as far as I can tell.

[Kaitlyn]

Just updated to 3.6.1 - the line numbers in the instructions are a bit off (I redid all the file modifications from scratch), but the instructions are still valid. Works great as far as I can tell.

Absolutly, Even with version 3.6.0 depending on how you insert and replace parts of code the line numbers can be a bit off. I included them simply in case someone is having problem finding a particular line they know about where to look.

Thanks for the trial on 3.6.1! Much Appreciated.

-K

[Surfer]

Has there been anything done to the post status icons? i.e. The statusicon becomes read when read... this didn't work accurately with the previous versions...

Thanks

[Kaitlyn]

Has there been anything done to the post status icons? i.e. The statusicon becomes read when read... this didn't work accurately with the previous versions...

Thanks

It's something I still need to look into, my forums have always used the "Inactivity/Cookie Based" as opposed to either of the database updates for marking posts as read and it's likely that it's been overlooked, and sad to say I haven't had the time to track it down.

I'll add this on my to-do list.

-K

[SRO]

I'd love to install this, but I'd probably wreck my site in the process. Any way to simplify the installation?

[Kaitlyn]

I'd love to install this, but I'd probably wreck my site in the process. Any way to simplify the installation?

Unfourtinatly, not if you want it to work. Pretty much all the changes listed are required for various aspects of it to function properly.

I'd highly recommend attempting it on a private test site/server/locally either with a fresh install or with a recent backup first, that way once you have it working when you go to apply it to your main site, you can simply copy the modified files that you know work, over to your live site, then just make the template & Plugin changes. Seriously reducing the risk of sodding up a live site.

It's how I implement it personally, and I wrote the upgrade *grins*

-K

[bgray]

Kaitlyn,

I want to commend you on an incredible hack! Wow!
I'm really tempted to install but I'd really like to have the collapsable feature first.

Any chance you are working on it now?
I'd be willing to make it a paid addition if you are interested.

[Lionel]

This is great. I'd like to use it, not with userfield, but to force it for specific forums, and display only the linked thread titles in that forum.

Can you help me on that?

Then I'll make it collapsible.

[crocodile]

could someone make this hack to a complete plugin, make it a product
I love this function, and really want 2 use it, but don't want it make forum unstable

[Ata123]

Worked on 3.6.8 PL2 but I have this error:

SEE MY NEXT POST, TOO. DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A REAL OR SERIOUS ERROR

Seems like it cannot match a couple of seemingly random posts from various threads to the thread they belong to. In the 3 default VB thread view options (linear, threaded, hybrid) these "non-matching" posts are at their right place, within the threads they belong to.

I've attached an image to illustrate this. The posts marked with red belong together and into another thread. They are part of a longer thread (each red marked area is part of another, longer thread). They are kind of singled out, and on a side note they aren't connected with those little graphics either.

This is happening with like every 5-7th thread
What could the reason be for this?

(P.S.: This is a board with 100k posts imported from PhpBB. But that shouldn't matter I guess. The threads and posts look alright when viewed with any of VB's default thread options)

SEE ATTACHED IMAGE

[Ata123]

After further evaluation this seems to be causing the "error", which may not be a real error after all:

Seems like it only happens with the default setting "show threads of last 30 days", and within threads that span over more than the last 30 days.

When this is set to longer or "all time" then the problem does not occur anymore.

CONCLUSION: WORKS In 3.6.8 PL2


Thanks for the nice hack, my forum had a strong demand for this.

Now I need to improve the speed.

Feature suggestion:

- Limit each page to 100,200,....1000 posts (instead of VB usual options 10, 20...50 threads). Since all posts within the threads are shown, too, the acutal amount of data per page strongly depends on the size of the various threads therein. A single mega thread (one of those "let's see how long a thread we can create") within the displayed threads does seriously slow down the rendering time of the page.

OR: Option for each user in the user panel to generally skip threads with more than XXX posts. (in the threaded view).

[Ata123]

All the posts are not indented (as shown in the 2nd screenshot from left)

I did the whole installation routine twice but to no avail.

It doesn't indent the posts, and doesn't insert direct answers below the correponding post.

Any idea what could be causing this?

Edit: max threads/page works

[Ata123]

I finally figured it out. It does not indent imported posts, but DOES indent post that were made after the hack was installed. Not sure if it would indent existing (not imported) posts, as I have/had none on that board when I installed this threaded views hack.

Thanks again, and works on 3.6.8 PL2

[Kaitlyn]

I'll take a look, maybe update it for 3.6.8 in the near future. Yea I noticed it will do the non-indenting thing if new posts fall inside the range, and older posts fall outside of the range in the same thread.

It should work with both posts before and after the mod was installed, I've tried it on a few other databases I have without issue really. All the information is already stored within the vBulletin database for their own threaded and hybrid views regardless of if you had this installed before or not (Which is what makes this a much simpler hack than with something like phpBB which doesn't store that information).



crocodile: It's not feasable as a plugin as it does change extensivly how vBulletin itself works and displays things.

(Sorry it took so long to respond to all these)
~K

[shadowevil]

Is is working in 3.7.x ???

[Kaitlyn]

Is is working in 3.7.x ???

Haven't even checked with 3.7 yet, once 3.7 is final I may take a look to see what it gets to working under 3.7, however for the meantime it's at the whim of me updating my support to get access to 3.7 *grins*

So, 'probably' not, depending on what changes they've made... yet *grins*

~K

[cheesegrits]

Did you ever get a chance to check this with 3.7?

-- hugh

[gct13]

Kaitlyn are you around? I sent you a PM.

I tried the modification with 3.7.2, it didn't work. The FORUMHOME worked, but the FORUMDISPLAY and even SHOWTHREAD(?) rendered blank pages. Gotta be something up with one of the file modifications.

I'm not ruling out that I made a mistake somewhere down the the line :) ....I'd be interested to hear if someone else gave it a try!

Feature request - the ability to specify this mod to specific forums.

[vol_freak]

Anyone get this to work with 3.7 or know of a similar mod that will work?

[seax19]

I got it working on a test forum running vb ver 3.7.3 pl1 but it was a pain in the *** getting there...

There are a lot of little errors here and there that all have to be chased down one by one (I cannot list/explain them, I am not a coder, I only got it to work by chasing down problems through trial and error til it finally did, and I didn't document the procedure).

Anyway it IS "possible"... The problem then becomes, once people get going then you have some users viewing in threaded forum views and others in normal vb view which can cause additional confusion (I don't think you'll ever have to say "UserCP>EditOptions" and "Threaded thread view" to users more in your life than with this thing...) I am glad it worked but it is a big tradeoff/double edged sword in actual use.

Also, in the future it is going to present additional problems most every time you have to upgrade you'll have to re-do the affected portions of the hack process if any of those modded files/functions change (good luck having upgrades that don't impact this somehow)...

Still, all in, it is for sure one of the most unique hacks out there for vb... Gotta give props to its creators

[Kaitlyn]

Hijas!

Yea I didn't do an update for 3.7, by the time I had the time to look at it 3.8 was in beta, so.. since 3.8 is out now I'll be taking a look at seeing if I can't provide an update for vB 3.8. Or possibly die trying *Grins*

~K

[gct13]

Hi Kaitlyn, the threaded mod looks great on your site.

I hope you get the chance to update the mod for 3.8.

I'd be nice to have the admin (not users) choose which forums are threaded, plus a modification to showthread where the entire message tree is below the post (and out of that clunky scrolling box).

Thanks :)

[ibautocommunity]

Hi Kaitlyn, the threaded mod looks great on your site.

I hope you get the chance to update the mod for 3.8.

I'd be nice to have the admin (not users) choose which forums are threaded, plus a modification to showthread where the entire message tree is below the post (and out of that clunky scrolling box).

Thanks :)

I am not trying to hijack this thread, however we just launched a 3.7/3.8 compatible plugin for vB that does threaded forum view and has the ability to move the message tree below the post :)

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=209541

[Kaitlyn]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=210265" target="_blank">Updated for vBulletin 3.8.2</a> (finally? yay!)

~K