Creating a clickable listing in a thread

[FearlessWeeder]

We'd like to have one sticky thread at the top of this particular forum where we list all downloadable seedpacks in alphabetical order so members can find them easily.

http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=97

Currently, the seed pack designs are laced throughout oodles of threads as attachments.

What we would like would be one post that contained a listing of what we currently have for members to download that could be edited as members create more and we'd like the name of the plant to be clickable so that it goes right to the file where the document is of the seed pack members could print off for themselves.

Example:

Aster
Black-eyed Susans (type of flower)
Broccoli
Carrot
Coneflowers
Columbine

Example of a seedpack design in this thread in the second post-
http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=517

I can create the list, I can't figure out how to make the above plants clickable right to an associated attachment.

Would people share ideas of how best to do this?

[Powlo]

Im not sure if i understand this completely but you want a list of plants that are clickable.
To me thats sounds like simple bbcode.

Like this..

[ url=http:www.yoursite.com/yourthread]Aster[/url]
[ url=http:www.yoursite.com/yourthread]Black-eyed[/url]

Ive added spaces to the code so that it displays for you. Hope that is what you were meaning.

[FearlessWeeder]

If you don't understand this, the problem is on my end in relaying to you what kind of help we need.

I think what you typed for me is exactly what we were looking for. Thank you Powlo. Beginning to learn a little bit about this.

Where are the attachments stored so I can get to them so that when a member clicks on the hyperlink, they're projected right to the .doc or .docx? We're on vb3.7.4.

[dismas]

I think I know what you mean.

Using the attachment number and the attach bb code should work for you. I wanted to give it a try on your forum but I don't see a forum where I can test it out to show you.

Basically you would use the ID number of the attachment. Using your example, [ attach]614[/ attach]

See here (http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode) for an example.

[FearlessWeeder]

Oh My word! I get it.

If I hover over the attachment, the # of the attachment appears down below. I don't need to know where they are stored. Now all I have to do is use very basic bbcode provided by Powlo and I can create the links. This is what I couldn't find in the manual.

Thank you, both of you.

[Powlo]

So if you wanted your link to be used as a link to the attachment i believe this would do the job..

[ url=http:www.yoursite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=yourattachmentID]Aster[/url]

I'm not totally sure that would work but i think it would.

If you right click on your attachment and select properties you will find the full attachment address.

[FearlessWeeder]

Perfect, that will work for us.

I thank you very kindly Powlo.

[TimberFloorAu]

I think a better system, is using TEDS, notices.

The notice will then remain on top of the thread view.

Within the notice, you could have 3 or 4 coloumns, with LINKS and icons, hyperlinked to various areas / downloads of your site.

Very Very easy to code too :)

Need any help, shout me ( but get Teds Notice system ) would seem to work perfect for your request.

Ste

[FearlessWeeder]

We did it. Our very first links!

How exciting.
http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=532

Thank you TimberFloorAu. Questions for you or anyone else in a position to comment please. The above was difficult enough and we're talking it was time to uncork the bubbly. We are going to move to vB 3.8 at some point in time for the enhanced security. That TEDS is an add-on, right? Should people like us who are nothing more than a bunch of scientists out to build a site to offer educational materials be playing around with any more add ons than what is absolutely necessary? Sincere question as we don't quite know all that the add-ons we have do as of yet and I believe we have about five. There are a total of ten of us. Only five are active at the site and the rest aren't even members but lurk and watch to get a feel for the types of materials (lesson plans, power point presentations, articles, etc.) to create to offer to educators in the future but they also lurk online reading threads like this. We see an awful lot of add-ons that aren't updated to new vB versions and a lot of designers who disappear leaving them unsupported and vB isn't exactly incorporating these add-ons into their base software. We're concerned about migrating to vB 3.8 and getting stuck with a bunch of add-ons/hacks that aren't supported, don't function, or aren't compatible with the new version. We believe we would be up the creek without the proverbial paddle were that to happen to us. Are our concerns unwarranted?

[dismas]

I don't know what mod Timber is referring to. If you're talking about this Ted S (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member.php?u=45618), I don't see where he has released any "notice system" mod.

And to FearlessWeeder, your fears aren't completely unfounded. Yes, the add-on/mod/hack (or whatever you want to call it) that Timber is referring to, is just that, an add-on. You're right in thinking that you shouldn't go crazy with the modifications though I think you'd have an extremely hard time finding very many people at all who haven't modified their boards with some sort of hack.

And yes, sometimes coders do drop projects. After all, they're not paid to put them out (usually), so if their priorities change, then that's that. But there's also the chance that mods for 3.7 would work for 3.8. There are many mods that work in 3.7 that were designed for 3.6.

Your vB license allows for a test board to be set up. As long as it's password protected and kept out of public view, you can set a second board up in a subdirectory to test out whatever you like.


If you have a valid Software license, you may set up an additional test forum in order to test code, template and database modifications. To make this clear to us and our license verification procedures, place it in a directory called 'testvb' and be sure to password protect it. It must not be accessible by the general public.


And being unfamiliar with setting up and running a site isn't unusual. There are many photographers, off-roaders, antique collectors, etc. around here that weren't originally site admins and just learned as they went.

vB does incorporate some of the more popular mods into the base system though. Parts of the PM system and the social groups system have been mods that were incorporated in. As well as the Question/Answer human verification system.

Getting back to the original topic though, the attach BB code isn't going anywhere. It's part of the base system and you're fine with using it.

Sorry if I rambled a bit. Your last paragraph there had a lot of questions and wonderings. :)

[FearlessWeeder]

Me personally, I would have gone wild adding hacks and add-ons. So many look so enticing and I admit to liking to experiment regardless of the outcome. The reins were pulled in on me when my colleagues began reading online. I began reading online and decided it wasn't such a good idea to add more than what was necessary lest I crash our forums which would not be a good thing. Not a swift move to experiment with reckless abandonment after a forum goes live. We now have some good people guiding us and the others are now the ones who want hacks and add-ons gallore and I'm the one who no longer wants to take the Indiana Jones approach to the forums. Funny how things change. Your advice is sound dismas. It parallels the advice of the people who are guiding us.

We had a test board. I have no idea what happened to it.

Think for now we'll stick with the BBCode even though the others were chomping at the bit to add that hack. The BBCode is safe.

[dismas]

One thought did just occur... You guys are making regular backups of your database, right?

[FearlessWeeder]

One thought did just occur... You guys are making regular backups of your database, right?

no we haven't been (hangs head in shame). we don't know how.

[dismas]

Being "just a bunch of scientists" or however you put it, I didn't figure you had. :)

Check this: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1670071&postcount=4

As always, if you have questions, ask them or look in the manual.

[FearlessWeeder]

We found her post a few months ago. Don't have the confidence to try it. Have been pushing that to a back burner and we shouldn't have done that. Her instructions overwhelmed us the first time around and the manual wasn't much help other than to familiarize us with the terms. We'll try to get help this weekend. It was good of you to mention backing us up. This needs to be addressed.

--------------- Added 1231598265 at 1231598265 ---------------

That was relatively painless.

I found the back up provided by vB in the Maintenance area of the Admin Panel. One of the only add-ons we had was a backup hack. I thought that was one of the add-ons we decided to keep. We now know how to back up two different ways and have it backed up to two different computers.

Thank you for bringing this up dismas.
Thank you for walking us through how to back up Powlo.