In need of stripped down CMS hack...

[Tolitz]

I know that vBPortal is currently being developed, and Beta 3 isn't gonna be out for "another few days" as was said on their page. But anyway, I looked at the feature set and I think it's a little too "bloated" features-wise for me to consider it.

Before I switched to VB2 I was using UBB6, and it had a nice feature called SlashUBB, which basically just pulled posts from a specific forum and posted them on the front page using simple SSI. It was simple yet very effective.

Now I don't know if there are similar hacks for VB2 (I'm new), but all I need is a hack that does just that - pulls posts from a forum and puts them on the front page like a new script, and people can reply to it like they would a forum.

vBPortal has WAY too many features that I won't be taking advantage of. And along with its generic template, it would be a hassle just to modify it to match my site's new layout. One good thing about it is that it uses the same principle as phpwebsite, but it has too many features In don't really care about too much...

So this is what I was hoping someone can help with - a stripped down version of phpwebsite or vbportal that just pulls posts from a forum and makes them available for inclusion in the front page via SSI .... just that. If the Beta 3 of the vBPortal will allow a toggle to just use this feature, then I'll wait for it. Otherwise, I need a simpler solution than vBPortal....

I just need to post news using VB2 :)

[Wayne Luke]

You can do a search on Active Topics and or BFC_weblog. Both will give you a start on what you want.

[wajones]

I know that vBPortal is currently being developed, and Beta 3 isn't gonna be out for "another few days" as was said on their page. But anyway, I looked at the feature set and I think it's a little too "bloated" features-wise for me to consider it.

vbPortals is just a bunch of hacks put together to create somewhat of a portal for those in need of such a thing. But it's easy to just pull what you need from it. So just take what you need, the existing download should have what your asking for and I don't mind at all. If you need help using just a certain part of it send me or MrLister a note and we'll help as much as we can.

[Tolitz]

This may be the one I need (BFC_WEBLOG) ...

Question tho ... while searching, I have found that people were asking if this was compatible with VB2 ... no one really gave a clear answer except to try out vBPortal (which I said is too much for my needs)... any word on whether this (BFC_WEBLOG 1.3) is compatible with VB2? Thanks again...

[Tolitz]

Thanks for replying ... to put it bluntly, I just need the news posting feature of VbPortal ... with the conglomeration of integrated hacks, and my apaprent "newbieness" to PHP, digging what I want is kinda awkward, hehe ...

I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me which files actually control news posting and active topics, and I'll just incorporate those ... was just afraid that the collection of hacks in vBPortal may be too tied in with each other that removing the hacks I don't need will render the whole vBPortal hack useless ...

[wajones]

I don't understand, I just looked at your site http://www.opentechsupport.net/homebase.shtml and it seems like your already doing what your asking for. Maybe I'm :confused: as to what your asking?

[Tolitz]

I am switching servers, and I plan to get rid of all UBB inclusions on my site ... the domain you visited (.NET) is still hosted at the old server, and is using SlashUBB for UBB5.4x/6x ... my VB2 forums (.COM) are already hosted on the new server, and I wanted to make sure everything is set up properly before I move my .NET domain to the new server ... hence I wanna make sure a VB2 news posting scheme is in place before I switch servers...

Sorry for the confusion...

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by Tolitz
This may be the one I need (BFC_WEBLOG) ...

Question tho ... while searching, I have found that people were asking if this was compatible with VB2 ... no one really gave a clear answer except to try out vBPortal (which I said is too much for my needs)... any word on whether this (BFC_WEBLOG 1.3) is compatible with VB2? Thanks again...

This script and its older versions do work on vBulletin 2.0. You can see it in action at vBulletin.org though I think it is working on BFC_weblog 1.2

vBPortal uses BFC_WEBLOG as the basis for its news component as well.

[Tolitz]

Okay, so I'm trying to incorporate BFC_WEBLOG 1.3 into VB 2.0.1, but I'm having some roadblocks with the updated code in VB2 ...

The instructions for BFC_WEBLOG were only good for VB 1.x I guess ... and since you guys said you don't want to "reinvent the wheel," I doubt you'll give in to my request to AT LEAST give some instructions on how to make this work in VB2, but I will ask anyway ... can anyone give updated VB2 instructions for WEBLOG?

I know you'll all say "WAIT for VBPORTAL 3" but I am kinda strapped for time here, and vbPortal has too many things I don't need incorporated into it. And since I'm working with my own

Is there ANY chance at all that the vbPortal creators can give instructions on how to CHOOSE which set of hacks to include and which not to, I'd really appreciate it ... I haven't tried it yet, but is there a set of options in the CP to choose which hacks you want to enable? Or is it all in there by default?

Please :( I hate to plead, but I just want to post news in the front page using VB2. Just news ... no polls, no calendar, no generic menus ... just news ...

[kicks]

In the admin interface, you can turn off the headline grabber, weblinks, and downloads by simply doing a few clicks.

You can also remove whatever you links from the main menu you want via the admin cp.

There is also a config file where a lot of the settings are stored. In that file you can turn off the other features such as active topics, news, or polls.

[kicks]

btw, nice looking site layout

[Juan]

Hi,

Take a look at:

http://christopherleeweb.com

I'm using a hack called "Generic vBull Comunity Page". IMPO, the best script there is. It's an addon as oposed to a hack, so you don't need to modify any of your vBulletin files.

It's in this thread for download:

http://161.58.84.213/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16377&highlight=news+script

I too tried Vportal and didn't suit my needs. Furthermore, you need to modify a lot of Vbulletin files and each time you upgrade, you loose all the features. Also. a real pain if you have different news categories and language sites.

[kicks]

not playing favorites, but with a lot of the different hacks out there you have to make changes :)

The next release won't have all of the text files that the first one had, it will be quite a bit easier. No one is saying that you have to use vbportal, or the script imperitus wrote. :D

Just so you know, before I started being interested in using vbportal I took a look at the one Imperitus wrote and it wasn't for me. Each person has their own needs. But that's the great thing about choice

I wish vbportal could have made a Monday release, but I was tired and didn't get the scripts modified in time and then 2.0.1 came out and we had to make sure none of the changes would affect it :)

btw, I'm not bashing anyone
just stating opinion

[Tolitz]

I already posted this at phpportals.com, but I'm gonna try my luck here...

I already have a layout for my site, and since vBPortal has a generic layout in itself (left column, middle column, right column), Iwould not be able to implement it to my site.

Hence, I would like to ask if there was a way to strip just the news off the vBPortal and include it via SSI or other into my homepage.

http://128.241.196.123/images/vbportal.jpg

The one encircled in red is the only thing I need. I like how it is integrated and laid out, but unfortunately I do not need a portal. The news needs to fit my layout, and make use of VB, and vBPortal is the nearest thing to the one I want.

I am not sure it is very possible to strip the left and right columns, but I am sure the news itself can be called up in on PHP file (I may be wrong). So what I need to know is what changes do I need to make so that I can isolate the news, and include it in my homepage.

http://128.241.196.123/images/otsnet.jpg

Since vBPortal follows the style of the VB forum, the colors will automatically match my layout.

So I just need to know how to strip the news off. vBPortal makes the best use of news integration for VB2, so I am asking you guys instead of trying to download PHPNuke, PHPWeblog, or some other portal script...

I hope you can help me :(

[Steve Machol]

Tolitz,

Others have mentioned the Community Bulletin Hacks in these forums. Wouldn't one of these do what you're asking?

[Thurian]

Hello Tolitz, I need exactly the same thing. I wish to have a page that includes the latest posts from eight specific threads - nothing else. Please let me know if you find a good solution and of course I will do likewise.

[kicks]

Tolitz there is a way (or least I'm pretty sure there is)

Check the response I gave you on phpportals.com :)
hopefully this will help out a bit, but I was successfully able to turn off all of the left column info by editing the cfg file

due to the width of your forum, you could possibly leave the poll and buddy list settings on (they disappear when you enter the forum) ;)

[kicks]

Tolitz, in the settings file for vbportal you can specify which forums you don't want to include :)

[Tolitz]

I think I can get this thing to work with my site layout... Just need to customize some of the templates and disable column blocks, but all in all it's something I can finally work with.

Thanks to everyone for the help. Thanks for bearing with me kicks, and kudos to wajones for creating vBPortal and for that VERY nifty autoinstall and great customization features... you just made my Friday :)


p.s. Oh, one question tho - how do I have the root domain automatically redirect to my forums? Like, if they typed in "www.opentechsupport.net" they will be redirected to "www.opentechsupport.net/forums" instantly ... tried it once with the meta refresh=o but it disables the back button, and some users hate that ... thanks again :)

[Robert Basil]

Originally posted by Tolitz
p.s. Oh, one question tho - how do I have the root domain automatically redirect to my forums? Like, if they typed in "www.opentechsupport.net" they will be redirected to "www.opentechsupport.net/forums" instantly ... tried it once with the meta refresh=o but it disables the back button, and some users hate that ... thanks again :)

Do you have access to your servers httpd.conf file?

If so send me a PM and I'll show ya how to do it.

[Dark_Wizard]

Originally posted by Sportbikeworld


Do you have access to your servers httpd.conf file?



Why not an .htaccess file instead? Try this in the file:


Redirect http://www.opentechsupport.net/forums/index.php

[JamesUS]

Or put a PHP file called index.php in the root folder with this inside:

<?php
header("Location: http://newurl.com/forums");
?>

[kicks]

And the easiest to do a forward award goes to...... :)

JamesUS!!!!!!!!!!!
All kidding aside, that's very very handy.
I think I may use that for my site James, thanks

Tolitz: hey no problem, glad to see it working out and the end product looks great!

I may personally move my mini-calendar to the right side and try to mimic the way you have your new layout (so don't get mad at me if I ask you questions ;) )