[AJAX] Helpful Threads - Thread Rating System

[Ted S]

After releasing Helpful Answers, a post rating system, many users commented that they wanted a more interactive way to rank and then sort threads. Helpful Threads is an AJAX based system that does exactly that letting users rate individual threads and then lets you sort by those ratings. The addon also switches from a positive / negative rating to a point system with one admin option.

Designed for maximum flexibility:

This addon is built to be flexible and offers several customization options including:

The ability to decide which forums are open for helpful answer ratings.
The ability to customize the AJAX message shown after a post is rated.
The ability to set a minimum post count for users to avoid abuse.
The ability to use a rating system and assign points.
The ability to customize how threads are ranked.
The ability to auto reset votes for thread rankings.
Template driven display that can easily be customized to your forum.Load & Scale:
This addon is designed to work with small to large sites and does not alter any existing tables.

Modification Installation:
This addon requires uploading multiple files, installing a vBulletin product and enabling the feature in any forums you wish. One template modification is required. Please see the included install file for detailed instructions.

If you are not seeing the rating bar double check that you have enabled the feature in the forum you are in and made the template change.

Coming Soon:
Like with Helpful Answers, the initial release is intended to get people exposed to this tool. Coming down the road I will be adding in more complex ranking options, the ability to report on threads, better AJAX support and much more.

Anonymous Stats Tracking (optional):
vBulletin forums reach millions of consumers around the world yet little is known about their habits and opinions. This addon was released to the public out of requests but also to further the research of forum user's behaviors and actions through collecting the most basic data on thousands of sites.

By default this addon will pass basic rating data (positive or negative) to a 3rd party site for statistical purposes. Only the most basic data is captured (the vote and your site name) and no user information or specific forum details are logged, not even an IP address.

While you may disable this feature through the administrative options I ask that you consider leaving it in place to help this research effort and insure the continued support of the addon.

The tracking feature uses the php library cURL on a 5 second timeout. If cURL is not installed this option is automatically disabled.

Updates:
- 08/29/2009 - Release of 1.0.2 stable

Other Versions:
This addon will work with 3.7 and is supported in the same thread.

[Ted S]

Holding for template install

[Ted S]

This addon requires a mandatory template change as follows:

Open the template THREADBIT and find:


<if condition="$show['threadratings'] AND $show['threadrating']"><span style="float:$stylevar[right]"><img class="inlineimg" src="$stylevar[imgdir_rating]/rating_$thread[rating].gif" border="0" alt="<phrase 1="$thread[votenum]" 2="$thread[voteavg]">$vbphrase[thread_rating_x_votes_y_average]</phrase>" /></span></if>

And replace with:
$helpful_threads

-----------------------------------------------------

As an alternative you can add a new cell to your forum display page to improve how voting shows. This is shown in the screen shots in the main post.

Step 1: Open the template THREADBIT and remove


<if condition="$show['threadratings'] AND $show['threadrating']"><span style="float:$stylevar[right]"><img class="inlineimg" src="$stylevar[imgdir_rating]/rating_$thread[rating].gif" border="0" alt="<phrase 1="$thread[votenum]" 2="$thread[voteavg]">$vbphrase[thread_rating_x_votes_y_average]</phrase>" /></span></if>

Step 2: In THREADBIT find <if condition="$show['threadmoved']">

Step 3: BEFORE this code add:


<td>$helpful_threads</td>


Step 4: Open the template FORUMDISPLAY and find:

<td class="thead" width="150" align="center" nowrap="nowrap"><span style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="$sorturl&amp;order=desc&amp;sort=lastpost" rel="nofollow">$vbphrase[last_post]</a> $sortarrow[lastpost]</span></td>


Step 5: BEFORE this add:


<td class="thead" width="150" align="center">Ranking</td>

[1320Nation]

"Step 3) Enable the system in any of your forums by visiting the forum options and scrolling to the end of the page. "

This option does not appear in my forum options for either mod; Helpful Threads or Helpful Answers.

Any idea why?

Also I get a blank grey color space in forumdisplay, and only the thumbs section in threads.

[1320Nation]

I also got the follow error after doing to bulk forum enabler.

helpfulthreads_vote.yesno, helpfulthreads_vote.helpfulthreadid
FROM board_helpfulthread
LEFT JOIN board_helpfulthreads_vote as helpfulthreads_vote ON (helpfulthreads_vote.threadid = helpfulthread.threadid AND helpfulthreads_vote.userid = 4202)
WHERE helpfulthread.threadid = 5;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'helpfulthread.goodrank' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Request Date : Saturday, August 29th 2009 @ 07:43:34 PM
Error Date : Saturday, August 29th 2009 @ 07:43:34 PM
Script : http://*****/forums/showthread.php?t=5
Referrer : http://****/forums/staging-lanes/
IP Address :
Username :
Classname : vB_Database
MySQL Version : 5.0.45

[Ted S]

Disable the addon to avoid errors.

I will review and see what could have caused this bug.

[Hornstar]

Thanks, another great add-on by you. not sure if I will need this yet, but I will keep this in mind if I do.

[1320Nation]

Disable the addon to avoid errors.

I will review and see what could have caused this bug.

Thanks and I appreciate your hard work and efforts.

[New Joe]

"Step 3) Enable the system in any of your forums by visiting the forum options and scrolling to the end of the page. "

This option does not appear in my forum options for either mod; Helpful Threads or Helpful Answers.

Any idea why?

Also I get a blank grey color space in forumdisplay, and only the thumbs section in threads.
I have the same problem.

[Ted S]

I have the same problem.

Have you:

1. Enabled the option in a forum?
2. Added the necessary template code?

[1320Nation]

Ted, any luck figuring this out? Let me know if there is any other info you need.

I also got the follow error after doing to bulk forum enabler.

helpfulthreads_vote.yesno, helpfulthreads_vote.helpfulthreadid
FROM board_helpfulthread
LEFT JOIN board_helpfulthreads_vote as helpfulthreads_vote ON (helpfulthreads_vote.threadid = helpfulthread.threadid AND helpfulthreads_vote.userid = 4202)
WHERE helpfulthread.threadid = 5;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'helpfulthread.goodrank' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Request Date : Saturday, August 29th 2009 @ 07:43:34 PM
Error Date : Saturday, August 29th 2009 @ 07:43:34 PM
Script : http://*****/forums/showthread.php?t=5
Referrer : http://****/forums/staging-lanes/
IP Address :
Username :
Classname : vB_Database
MySQL Version : 5.0.45

[Ted S]

I'm not seeing the field goodrank getting called in your error, is there any more information in the error code?

[ShawneyJ]

nice hack but it messed up my thread order, threads from 2007 appeared from no where lol.

[Ted S]

nice hack but it messed up my thread order, threads from 2007 appeared from no where lol.

It reorders threads by votes if set to do so. Turn off the thread ordering tool and you'll be all back to normal.

[ShawneyJ]

thanks mate ;)

[reddyink]

This will change the way people think about rating...

[reddyink]

1) Does this Mod add points similar to Answers forum (any of VB Plaza, VbCredits, VBExeperince)
2) Anyway to adjust self-rating similar to Answers forum? (default is NO but would like enable it)

Minor - the product link is going to Helpful Answers thread on VB.org instead of this thread.
Minor - Forum Manager doesn't provide an option to enable for a forum, however provide a buld forum enabler.

Looking for this mod to improve to same level as Helpful Answers
1) Rating History & Editing
2) Integration to Points system (Vb Plaza?) or it just replaces default thread rating.

Many thanks for the great MOD.

[Ted S]

1. No. The helpful answers feature does that, it has not been requested in this version.
2 - Not sure what you mean?
3 - Thanks
4 - The forum manger should show this, I will check for bugs.

1 - It's on the roadmap list.
2 - Will definitely look into this.

[reddyink]

Thanks for the reply.

1) I would like to request the feature of adding points. Let me know how can I request for help!

2) Owner of the thread can not rate the thread. Only others can!

4) Forum manager doesn't show... but since bulk rating is provided, we can get by easily.


Add on question: Showthread doesn't show anything. Only shows up in forumdisplay. if someone wants to read the thread and rate they have to go back to forumdisplay. (unlike helpful answers).

Thanks
--
1) & 2) Appreciate your help on these. Let me know how I can help.

1. No. The helpful answers feature does that, it has not been requested in this version.
2 - Not sure what you mean?
3 - Thanks
4 - The forum manger should show this, I will check for bugs.

1 - It's on the roadmap list.
2 - Will definitely look into this.

[Ted S]

2) Owner of the thread can not rate the thread. Only others can!


Rating your own thread seems odd... but I can add that as an option.


4) Forum manager doesn't show... but since bulk rating is provided, we can get by easily.


This will be fixed in the next verison.


Add on question: Showthread doesn't show anything. Only shows up in forumdisplay. if someone wants to read the thread and rate they have to go back to forumdisplay.

Enable the option "Showthread Ranking Box".

[reddyink]

I have already set this to Yes in Vboptions > Helpful threads settings.
But it's not working.

Showthread Ranking Box
If enabled a box will show above threads letting users vote. This adds one query. Yes No




Enable the option "Showthread Ranking Box".

[reddyink]

I want this MOD but looking at Helpful Answers and modifying silightly may give us powerful MOD than this Helpful Threads MOD (HT MOD).
As the author posted on Helpful answers MOD (HA Mod), if we put the code below, HA Mod becomes powerful version of HT Mod.

My question: Why didn't the author take his/her powerful HA MOD and modify it to make it HT Mod? Should I use HA Mod or HT Mod for long term support?

Only missing piece is the you have to have a hook to display is Forumdisplay. But, Modified HA MOD adds all these below and become HT MOD.
The ability to show a user's vote stats in threads
The ability to use image or text ratings.
The ability to offer yes/no or scaled 1-10 point ranking.
The ability to turn off negative ratings for a positive only system.
The ability to decide which forums are open for helpful answer ratings.
The ability to audit the system and identify top users and potential abusers.
The ability to ban specific members from using the system.
The ability to customize the AJAX message shown after a post is rated.
The ability to edit all text and messages through phrases.
The ability to show a page with the top helpful posts.
The ability to show rating stats on a user's profile.
Integration with the reputation system for ratings.
Integration with points systems (VbPlaza and Experience)
Template driven display that can easily be customized to your forum.

posted by Ted S. (to show rating of first post only)
Code:
if($this->registry->options['helpans_hidefirst'] AND $this->post['postid'] == $this->thread['firstpostid']){
$show['helpfulanswer'] = false;
$show['rate_helpfulanswer'] = false;
}Originally Posted by reddyink

Code:
if($this->post['postid'] != $this->thread['firstpostid'] AND ($this->forum['helpfulanswerbits'] == 1 OR $this->forum['helpfulanswerbits'] == 2) ){
$show['helpfulanswer'] = false;
$show['rate_helpfulanswer'] = false;
}Where X and Y are forum IDs to show ratings for only in the first thread.

[Ted S]

Both mods are just about the same at their code. Helpful Answers has existed longer than Helpful Threads and as such has had more time to develop and mature. Like with all modifications, Helpful Threads will grow as people give feedback on what they want to do and may some day outpace Helpful Threads.

For now you may chose to run Helpful Answers on threads but it's not going to work perfectly... the ajax code and many of the voting options in HA are just not applicable to threads which is why there is a different mod.

[reddyink]

Critical feature for this MOD is to
+++
Integration with the reputation system for ratings.
Integration with points systems (VbPlaza and Experience)
+++

this has been done for Helpful Answers but after spending 10 hours, I couldn't make it work for Helpful Threads.

Thank you for the kind help!

[Ted S]

Critical feature for this MOD is to
+++
Integration with the reputation system for ratings.
Integration with points systems (VbPlaza and Experience)
+++

this has been done for Helpful Answers but after spending 10 hours, I couldn't make it work for Helpful Threads.

Thank you for the kind help!

Like with helpful answers this will require participation from the community of those mods, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing it!

[reddyink]

Ted,

I don't think the members are realizing the potential of this. With the power of this MOD combined w/ my requested addition, it will become a Digg like mod that has been requested both Paid and unpaid 50+ times on this board.

I am willing to pay for the development.

Many thanks!
Like with helpful answers this will require participation from the community of those mods, but I am definitely looking forward to seeing it!

[Ted S]

Care to explain a little further? Is there a reason it needs to integrate elsewhere versus more internal features? What's the goal...

[reddyink]

Here is what I am trying to do with your helpful threads/answers MOD.
Posted as a request in Paid work.
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=1905694#post1905694

Care to explain a little further? Is there a reason it needs to integrate elsewhere versus more internal features? What's the goal...

[Ted S]

Got it.

I think helpful threads accomplishes point #2 out of the box and the slick deals mod with a few template conditionals so what's really left for core functionality is the points integration plus styling. Does that sound right to you?

[reddyink]

Exactly!. Many thanks for considering my request.
Please let me know if you can help do this. Your help with will be greately appreciated and properly acknoweldged.

As posted, I am willing to pay for the MOD (if required!)

Got it.

I think helpful threads accomplishes point #2 out of the box and the slick deals mod with a few template conditionals so what's really left for core functionality is the points integration plus styling. Does that sound right to you?

[kalisekj]

Awesome Mod! Thank You Very Much! I have had an issue on My site where users just did not see the ranking for a thread / Movie Page. I have changed the word from points to Stars for the Rating of a movie or content thread.
Example Here : http://freeonlinemoviesforum.com/2009-movies-f126.html?f=126

What I would love to see happen is the ability to actually integrate this with the Thread Rating so That when a person chooses the stars rating for a movie it also displays or changes the thread rating stars. So If a Movie is 8 stars on average the 8 stars show up to the right of the thread and within the thread. Then I can get rid of the VB thread rating altogether and your system will serve in its place. For Now I will just change the thread rating stars as I see the rating on the movie change.
By Doing This you can also incorporate points system for this mod easily.

Account to view threads without survey:
Login: testaccount
Password: fomf

[kalisekj]

For some reason it will not let you rate the first thread in any given forum, of course once that thread gets moved down the list you can then rate it.

[reddyink]

Ted,

Are you planning to integrate points into this system? Please help me out here!

Thanks
Got it.

I think helpful threads accomplishes point #2 out of the box and the slick deals mod with a few template conditionals so what's really left for core functionality is the points integration plus styling. Does that sound right to you?

[COL NIL SATIS]

Reserved!!

[Ted S]

Ted,

Are you planning to integrate points into this system? Please help me out here!

Thanks

I'm up for making changes to bring this mod right into your vision but other mods are not my speciality. I'd prefer to let their communities do the modding. If no one comes up with it and find some good downtime, I'll give it my own shot.

[reddyink]

Ted,

Thank you very much. If you can help on Helpful Threads portion , I can work with others to integrate the solution.

many thanks again.

I'm up for making changes to bring this mod right into your vision but other mods are not my speciality. I'd prefer to let their communities do the modding. If no one comes up with it and find some good downtime, I'll give it my own shot.

[Ted S]

What other changes are you looking for to bring it in line with your goals?

[reddyink]

Ted,

Most of the work deals with Helpful threads only. Points systems is critical. Next is, alignment of thumbs in showthread and forum display.

I already have collapsable post done. Once Helpful Threads portion of the the work is done, it will get to my description https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showt...94#post1905694.

Your help will be greatly appreciated and properly acknowledged.

Thanks
What other changes are you looking for to bring it in line with your goals?

[AllinJac]

Is this mod dead?

Also it appears in Experience that Helpful Threads and Helful Posts are supported by Experience... Is this so?

Thanks!

[Ted S]

Is this mod dead?

Also it appears in Experience that Helpful Threads and Helful Posts are supported by Experience... Is this so?

Thanks!

Not dead, but not a lot of discussion.

I'm not familiar with 'experience'?

[AllinJac]

Not dead, but not a lot of discussion.

I'm not familiar with 'experience'?

it is also known as Xperience a point ranking system in vBulletin that will earn you points based on your activities on the board...

I will post the link here for it...

EDIT:
POSTING LINK,,,

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=199556

Here is the link for what I am referring to... It appears that your product is supported in there points system? Is that true or am I misreading it???

Thanks for your previous quick reply!

[Ted S]

it is also known as Xperience a point ranking system in vBulletin that will earn you points based on your activities on the board...

I will post the link here for it...

EDIT:
POSTING LINK,,,

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=199556

Here is the link for what I am referring to... It appears that your product is supported in there points system? Is that true or am I misreading it???

Thanks for your previous quick reply!

This mod is setup to be supported by other systems if they build it in so it's entirely possible, but not something I coded in or support.

[AllinJac]

This mod is setup to be supported by other systems if they build it in so it's entirely possible, but not something I coded in or support.

Did you look at the link at least to see if this is something that appears to be your product they are referring to?

Thanks...

[Ted S]

Did you look at the link at least to see if this is something that appears to be your product they are referring to?

Thanks...

Sure did. The mod mentions an external tool to support the Helpful Answers feature. Didn't see the threads version directly but the code is similar so it could work.

[James T Brock]

What exactly is the point of the "timed average" feature? When I select either timed average or over-all average threads from years ago are still shown on the first page. In-order for this mod to be useful the sorting needs to be based on a per-page basis.

For instance, when ranks are set as timed average it should ONLY take the threads on an individual page for consideration for votes and new threads should stay on top until after they get a couple ratings. How new a thread is should factor heavily in its rating. That way new threads aren't tossed on page 50 after they're submitted and old threads from years ago aren't stuck on page 1.