Daily Crossword Puzzle for your site

[davidw]

I just found a neat online crossword puzzle that you can add to your site and I thought, it would be really easy to just make a page to put this in. So, I did just that and made a vbadvanced page as well. https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=141333

Step 1: Upload vbcross.php to your forum root
Step 2: Go to your admincp => Plugins & Products => Manage Products => Add/Import Product
Import product-christianb_vbcross.xml

And they are looking for spanish and french translators as well.
See this page (http://www.onlinecrosswords.net/) for details.

Demo location: http://www.christianboards.org/vbcross.php

This is loaded in an iframe so it is coming from the source site. Because of this there can be a 1-15 second delay.

You can put a link to it in the navbar by doing something like this...

Go to Styles & Templates => Style Manager => Style Choice Drop down All Style Options and choose Edit Templates - Click Go.

Navigation / Breadcrumb Templates >> => navbar

Find:

<td class="vbmenu_control"><a href="faq.php$session[sessionurl_q]" accesskey="5">$vbphrase[faq]</a></td>

Add after:

<td class="vbmenu_control"><a href="vbcross.php$session[sessionurl_q]">vB Crosswords</a></td>

Changes

V. 1.1 Added support for Who's Online

[OrangeFlea]

If you can make a 3.5 version, I'll love you long time.

[davidw]

Try this (use the vbcross.php file of course though)

[TheBlackPoet]

i installed... it works great.... it doesnt do good on fixed themes.. at least on mine. it broke it up at the bottom.... but on a fluid screen it was fine... i think my members will appreciate your contribution as they are word griots....

[davidw]

For that, editing the product may fix that:

find<iframe src="http://www.onlinecrosswords.net/externalplay.php?code=74c8e8d6301cf9a5fbc16c12d31d 9dcf&lang=EN" width="750px" height="700px" name="Crossword"></iframe>and edit the width there (to 725 or 700).

[Jeordie015]

I was excited about this until I discovered, like TheBlackPoet said, it doesn't really work on fixed skins. If it was about 20 pixels narrower, it would have been perfect.

[davidw]

Try this (3.6 version)

Edit: I've updated the zip file with this new one as I've reduced the width by 50px

[Hornstar]

Pretty cool, although I've never seen a harder cross word then the one that I just got on your demo site. No way that my members would even attempt that lol

[davidw]

It gives you word solves (when you are on a word, click on the right [solve word] button will help you :)

[Neutral Singh]

How to remove that goodle adsense from the right site. great addon.

[davidw]

Unfortunately, if I could remove it, I would, but it is on the page that the iframe calls. Of course, you might make it disappear by playing with the width on the product... <whistles>

[Neutral Singh]

yeh!! it worked!! ;)

[rjmjr69]

Where does it appear on the forum?

[Alpe]

Is there a german language pack.

[davidw]

Where does it appear on the forum?It appears where you uploaded the vbcross.php file. If you uploaded it at the forum root, you could go to http://www.yoursite.com/vbcrsoss.php and find it there.
Is there a german language pack.No, but part of the text can be translated. (Please forgive me as I am Dutch and had to use German translation service for the following).
Find and replace this
Instructions: Click on a clue below the puzzle to activate the word in the puzzle.<br />
You can also click on the puzzle location to activate the word and the clue will be highlighted below.<br />
To enter the word, start typing.

With something like this
Anweisungen: Klicken Sie einen Anhaltspunkt unter dem R?tsel an, das Wort im R?tsel zu aktivieren.<br />
Sie k?nnen auch den R?tselort anklicken, das Wort zu aktivieren, und der Anhaltspunkt wird unten hervorgehoben werden.<br />
Um das Wort einzutragen, tippend Anfang. This should give some idea of what it should be like.

[Kaleem]

The adsense easily disappeared in this without scroll bar .If u want u can add this

DEMO > http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/vbcross.php

[TheBlackPoet]

i tried to edit the width.... but i realize its not the width of the crossword that is the problem.. its the iframe.... if you scroll over the gui.. in your browser, you will see what i mean.. it will highlight the actual width of the iframe which breaks the table... i'm still going to keep this hack.. and yeah.. this is for advanced crossworders....

thanks...

[LadyHoney]

i installed on my 3.57 board and its working well.. thanks :D

[blind-eddie]

Very nice, clicks installed....

[deezelpope]

VERY nice!! Installed, thank you!!

[oberheimhaven]

Thxs Installed works great!!!

[Mys]

Like buttuh...

Thanks much, David!

:D

[wizardan]

Does the puzzle ever change?
Otherwise, I find it hard to call it a 'daily'.
Excellent product, though;)

[davidw]

There's a new one every day (I'm not sure what time of day they put a new one out but it does change).

[wizardan]

Well, the date has changed, but it's still yesterday's puzzle.
Strange.
I'll keep an eye out.

[Atakan KOC]

Thanks........

[basilrath]

use eclipse you can design your own clues and make your own puzzles providing you run the java applet file on you server ...the crossword can be then relative to your site ie your clues your members names or whatever you like as you make the puzzle.

demo in sidebar

www.thebigfatsofa.com

[davidw]

I used to use eclipse and had thought about porting a vb version as I used it for php-nuke years ago. Good stuff :)

[basilrath]

i may put something together .......just time as we all know !

[samsee]

will this strain the server ?

[davidw]

all you are doing is calling another page via iframe - so no, I don't see how.

[BadgerDog]

The adsense easily disappeared in this without scroll bar .If u want u can add this

DEMO > http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/vbcross.php

Installed....

Very nice.... thanks ... :)

Regards,
Badger

[renderit]

Well, the date has changed, but it's still yesterday's puzzle.
Strange.
I'll keep an eye out.

Mine has not changed for 3 days.

[davidw]

If it does not change, then there is an issue with the site onlinecrosswords.net where the crossword is being pulled from. As per their site:

If you're a webmaster or blog owner, you can now offer your visitors a daily crossword puzzle, absolutely free. Here's what we have to offer:

* Absolutely free!
* Entertain your visitors with new crosswords everyday. We take care of adding new crosswords everyday. You don't need to worry about it.
* No references to us - Looks like part of your website!

[davidw]

Update: I emailed them today after I checked a 24 hour difference and noticed it had not been changed - they emailed me back notifying me it was updated and - they had done so :)

[lefthome]

I really like this hack and have installed it and am sure it will become as, if not more popular, than our arcade, but I have a couple of questions to ask and a comment to make.

Please don?t get angry, but some of us have no idea how to use these hacks and we are not going to type in things like http:?yoursite/forum/vbcross.php every time we want to use this program. Anyway, for us ?dummy types? might I suggest you include a link in the navbar, maybe in the product file, so I don?t have to think...:confused:

I?m not a programmer and I have no idea if I did this right, but since it worked fine, I used it in my navbar template so my members could access the program by clicking on the link.

<!-- Crossword -->
<td class="vbmenu_control"><a href="vbcross.php$session[sessionurl_q]">Crossword Puzzle</a></td>
<!-- /Crossword -->


My question, assuming you are not terribly annoyed that I have made a possible negative comment about your "hack," I fixed the width to 595 and now I would like to know how, if possible, to get rid of those nasty scroll bars so our members don?t see things that are unnecessary. I understand some stuff but couldn?t figure that out. Can you help?

[Videx]

Any chance we can get the Who's Online fixed? Right now it's showing 'Unknown Location' for people in vbcross.php.

[davidw]

Please don’t get angry, but some of us have no idea how to use these hacks and we are not going to type in things like http:…yoursite/forum/vbcross.php every time we want to use this program. Anyway, for us “dummy types” might I suggest you include a link in the navbar, maybe in the product file, so I don’t have to think...:confused:Usually I do have something, but I must have missed that - I will add something today.

My question, assuming you are not terribly annoyed that I have made a possible negative comment about your "hack," I fixed the width to 595 and now I would like to know how, if possible, to get rid of those nasty scroll bars so our members don’t see things that are unnecessary. I understand some stuff but couldn’t figure that out. Can you help?

You should be able to edit the iframe by adding scrolling="no"

Btw, asking how to do something like this is no problem :)

Any chance we can get the Who's Online fixed? Right now it's showing 'Unknown Location' for people in vbcross.php.I'll have to figure this one out.

[davidw]

I've updated to include Who's online support.

[deezelpope]

I'm probably asking what's obvious to everyone else, but to update, I just need to re-upload the php and re-import the xml, right?

[Videx]

I've updated to include Who's online support.Thanks. Working fine.

I uploaded the .php file, then uninstalled vbcross and installed back the new one.

[davidw]

I'm probably asking what's obvious to everyone else, but to update, I just need to re-upload the php and re-import the xml, right?
You can, but all that is necessary is just reimport the xml file.

Thanks. Working fine.

I uploaded the .php file, then uninstalled vbcross and installed back the new one.Great to hear its working, don't forget to click install :)

[deezelpope]

Ok, thanks David!:)

Looks great!

[Expat]

Do we get the advertisements with the plugin too?

[davidw]

The advertisements are on the other site (where the crossword puzzle comes from), however see this: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1198500&postcount=16

Btw, don't forget to click install if you use this.

[Expat]

The adsense easily disappeared in this without scroll bar .If u want u can add this

DEMO > http://www.friendskorner.com/forum/vbcross.php

Installed without the adverts. :D

[aztecboi2003]

Installed without the adverts. :D

How? I tried and just couldn't figure it out. :confused:

[davidw]

<a href="https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1309741&postcount=45" target="_blank">https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showp...1&postcount=45</a>

[aztecboi2003]

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1309741&postcount=45

I did that but somehow the adsense still appears on the right. :erm: I uploaded the 1.0.0 version from that thread.

[davidw]

Can you pm me a link to your crossword puzzle so I can see what's going on?

[hackspy679]

will this reomove all adsense ads from the posts?

I had adsens appearing in the first post bu tnow they are gone.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Hack

[davidw]

The adsense is on the page that the crossword is on, it cannot be removed (only hidden by the ways mentioned in this thread).

Don't forget to click install.

[kollam003]

Installed without the ads

[Videx]

I wonder how I can get my Inferno vbShoutbox to appear with the crossword?

I've tried inserting "<!--{%SHOUTBOX%}-->" all over the vbcross template but it never shows.?

[davidw]

That's something I tried a while back as well, but was unsuccessful.

[NukeOZ]

For that, editing the product may fix that:

find<iframe src="http://www.onlinecrosswords.net/externalplay.php?code=74c8e8d6301cf9a5fbc16c12d31d 9dcf&lang=EN" width="750px" height="700px" name="Crossword"></iframe>and edit the width there (to 725 or 700).

I tryed that..This is what I got...

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /forum/admincp/template.php on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Apache/1.3.37 Server at fdgamers.net.au Port 80

I have the same prob with loading an Team Speak Mod too...
They say it is possibly because my provider doesn't allow certain ports to be open..
If anyone can shed any light on this I would be most appreciative.

Regards NukeOZ

[davidw]

Have you tried editing the xml and the reimporting it? Rather than editing something on your site (through your admincp) you are only editing a file and then adding it to your site. This would be a workaround until you contact your support (submit a ticket) to get your issue resolved on your site.

[Videx]

I'm not seeing mine change either. #1 Across has been "Take into a count" for a couple weeks now.

[davidw]

Ok, let me see if I can get ahold of the crossword creator and let him/her know.

[davidw]

I still haven't heard anything back from the crossword creator in a week.

[Videx]

Hey. My crosswords changed. I wonder if it'll be daily? 1 across is now "pint-sized".

Any idea how we can get our shoutbox to appear somewhere near the crossword?

[davidw]

It is supposed to be daily, but if it doesn't rotate they may have had an issue, forgotten, or something else.

I gave up on the Inferno shoutbox myself. I still use the vbshout (patched and altered).

[Videx]

Nope. Still "pint-sized".

[theparentpack]

Unfortunately, if I could remove it, I would, but it is on the page that the iframe calls. Of course, you might make it disappear by playing with the width on the product... <whistles>

yeh!! it worked!! ;)

How is this done? What width worked to hide/eliminate the ads?

[deezelpope]

How is this done? What width worked to hide/eliminate the ads?
In this line of code: <iframe src="http://www.onlinecrosswords.net/externalplay.php?code=74c8e8d6301cf9a5fbc16c12d31d 9dcf&lang=EN" width="700px" height="700px" name="Crossword"></iframe>


Change the width...I changed mine to 600px.:)

[technom8t]

For anyone wanting it, this is the Xml file with hidden adverts ( no scroll bars ) and the location with ''who's online'' sorted :-)

[davidw]

What was altered with who's online?

[tigrattack]

Very nice work :up:

[Videx]

Very nice work :up:Really? Is it changing now?

[tigrattack]

Nope...didn't realize that when I made that post...maybe edit the product with a different feed

[davidw]

I am guessing that the crossword creator has abandoned this project. I still support my work, but cannot support the works of others (the crossword creator's). The best I could do was email him and let him know but those emails have gone unanswered. This is why I never released anything for 3.7 - there wasn't really a point.

[davidw]

This modification is no longer supported.
This modification has been marked re-usable.

[BucShot]

I replaced the puzzle code (address etc) with code from this site. (http://www.bestcrosswords.com/) It required a little tweaking but all seems to be working well.

[davidw]

I was actually looking at that site a couple weeks ago as I was considering restarting this project with a site that works.

[Videx]

So, is the zip fixed yet? I saw someone else put this new site in a post, but I prefer the way this mod did it.

If you update it, you should add code for the Template Modification System so we don't have to set up that edit ourselves.

[davidw]

No, due to the nature of what transpired, I stopped working on the 3.6 version. I also marked this as reusable so anyone can update/work on it and release it, provided they credit me.

If no one does continue working on it, I might later but I have a lot of work ahead of me at the present.

[BucShot]

I don't think anyone expects support for older mods to last forever David and it's certainly not your fault that the original crosswords site went dormant. It happens, but some us old 3.6 hacks like this mod and it's easily fixed with a simple template edit.

First go to bestcrosswords.com and click on the web syndication link.
Register an account and you'll see 2 options, the code generator and the customization guide. I would recommend adding code from both of these to your "vbcross" template.

Next edit your vbcross template.
Find:
<iframe src="http://www.onlinecrosswords.net/externalplay.php?code=6d2e501ce15b4416853f64e62a63 55e2&lang=EN" width="570px" height="700px" name="Crossword" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="alt2" style="text-align:center">
Instructions: Click on a clue below the puzzle to activate the word in the puzzle.<br />
You can also click on the puzzle location to activate the word and the clue will be highlighted below.
To enter the word, start typing.

Replace that with the code from bestcrosswords.com and tweak the customization code to match your site. You should be good to go.

[edytwinky]

Anybody ever update this for 3.7 or 3.8?

[davidw]

I may have some time in the near future to update this. The past few months have been tight with time for me.

[Glynn58]

I may have some time in the near future to update this. The past few months have been tight with time for me.

Tagging this and waiting for the 3.82 cheers David

[Dave234]

I would LOVE to have this as a mod for vbulletin 4.

[Videx]

Wow, a three year bump! I'm pretty sure that's a record. I had completely forgotten about this. I imagine now it would be fairly easy to embed in the CMS, though not so easy in a forum block.

Amazingly, this site seems to still be working, though the copyright is still showing as 2006. Not sure what that means.

[Dave234]

That is something -- how about that? Three years. Surprised that more people aren't asking for a daily crossword puzzle mod. It would ensure that people would come back to the site just about every day. It would be AWESOME!!!

Please elaborate about embedding it in the CMS.

I would love to have this as a tab for vbulletin 4. Wouldn't want it in the forum section.

Please, does anyone know if we can get this mod for vBulletin 4??? This one won't work for mine (it says vBulletin 3 here).

[Videx]

Once you have the embed code you should be able to simply paste it in a CMS widget. Or, use a mod like https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=274643 to have it on a separate page, then read around for instructions how to add it to a menu.

A bigger problem might be finding one that is acceptable and actually works without a lot of spam. A quick web search on "embed daily crossword" turns up a lot of things - it will take time to go through all of that.

Be sure and report back if you find a good one.

[Dave234]

Videx, I really appreciate your help. What is a CMS widget? How can I add the crossword puzzle code to a CMS widget? Please excuse my vbulletin novicedom.

About the problem of spam, couldn't I use the code mentioned in post #77 on this page? Does that one not work?

[Videx]

There is some information on CMS widgets in the manual (search for 'widget'): https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/ Lots of other stuff here and at vb.com. Assuming you have the suite, of course.

Post 77 may refer to some specific tweak to the embed code given at this particular crossword site. However, it has not yet been shown that this one is still active. I uninstalled it 3 years ago when it stopped updating. The spam I was refrring to would be a site that surrounds the crossword with annoying ads or sends you a deluge of emails.