vbHacker - does it really help you?

[TECK]

I started this thread to see what people think about vbHacker. Please vote and tell us in your own words why you said YES or NO.

UPDATE: I see alot of people viewing this thread, or posting comments but non of them vote. The purpose of a poll is to get statistics. Please express your oppinion by voting above and remember that the purpose of this poll is to see who likes better: the text files, or the actual hack file.

[TECK]

NO. I want to learn PHP and get used more to VB because I want to make my own hacks or even better to help others with thier work.

[E]

No because it has no access to my php files anyway

[TECK]

can you be more specific?

[E]

Well it cant edit my php files.. so i have too do all php edits manualy anyway

[TECK]

hmm i see that alot of people view this thread, but nobody votes. why?

[Recluse]

depends on the hack, even when i do use it, i create the txt file and look over it anyway. to see how it all comes together. i know a little ( very little ) about php, so i do take the time to try and figure it out

[cditty]

No for me. I think it is a really good idea, but I still prefer to do it by hand and be more in control.

Chris

[The Keeper]

No because it broke my hack causing errors.

[Lesane]

Agree's with cditty. No for me because i want to see what's going on and what to do and having more control although it's a great concept for poeple without any php knowlegde and/or newbies. Although i still think its just normal to post a normal txt file aswell because we are forced now to install vbhacker to install the latest hacks by Firefly :(

[cditty]

Yup. I had/have thought about using it, but I want to touch my files. :) And the fact it doesn't work on php3 files.

Chris

[Admin]

Lesane, Chris - the script doesn't have to work for you, there is an option to generate a text file and then you will get instructions.

[cditty]

Oh???? Maybe I need to re-read the thread. Musta missed that one.

Chris

[TECK]

Originally posted by FireFly
Lesane, Chris - the script doesn't have to work for you, there is an option to generate a text file and then you will get instructions. as i mentioned above, in the first post, vbHacker can generate text pages with instructions. however, i prefer the classic way of installations. what i see so far is the fact that people are used to .txt files and they find difficult to upload a file just to transform it into a text file, then review it. let me know if i'm correct.

[MrLister]

Doesn't really help me out too much. Especially since it's highly modified not too many lines are the same and I still prefer the good old hard core way. I do like the generating text file feature but it still means I have to upload the file into there and launch another browser to read the text file.

[Twig Deez]

Originally posted by cditty
No for me. I think it is a really good idea, but I still prefer to do it by hand and be more in control.

agree. :ninja:

[nafae]

Originally I voted no, but I wish I could retract my vote to yes. Here's why: I probably won't use the install feature, just because I enjoy being able to a)monitor my hacks and b)comment them out accordingly (makes updating to a new version much easier) HOWEVER, the text file generation is helpful because it is uniform. So every hack released has the same style of text file, which is nice. So yes, it is helpful in a way.

[TECK]

any mods, can you please change the vote for nafae? thanks. ;)

[TECK]

it's gonna be tight.. ;)

YES(8) - NO(9)

[Neo]

HOLD ME I AM SCARED :(

[TWTCommish]

I think it's a wonderful tool. Even if you like to "be in control," you can still use it to easily and efficiently generate instruction files...which, for me, is always a pain anyway. And it's highly useful for some hacks (especially mid-sized ones) that you need done quickly. I give it 10 thumbs up. :D

[Admin]

(Dropped a vote from NO and added to YES - nafae)

Anyway, I didn't know people don't like it that much. I guess I'll post hack files and txt files when I release new hacks.

[cditty]

I am swaying to the maybe now. I did a hack last night and I must say, I like the standard format of the text file layout. Makes it easier to read.

It's still an amazing hack Chen. You did a GREAT job in creating it.

Chris

[TWTCommish]

Chen: I think some of the results have to do with what is, in my opinion, a poor description in the first post of this thread...with the YES/NO reasons. I don't agree...makes it sound like vBHacker is only for people who don't know PHP or don't care to. A little misleading, IMO.

[TECK]

Originally posted by FireFly
(Dropped a vote from NO and added to YES - nafae)

Anyway, I didn't know people don't like it that much. I guess I'll post hack files and txt files when I release new hacks. that was the hole idea. to see who likes better the text files, or the actual hack. :)
keep on voting you do a great job.

The YES side is gaining terrain!! Keep on voting. Is important to see what people think.

[TECK]

Originally posted by TWTCommish
Chen: I think some of the results have to do with what is, in my opinion, a poor description in the first post of this thread...with the YES/NO reasons. I don't agree...makes it sound like vBHacker is only for people who don't know PHP or don't care to. A little misleading, IMO. is not misleading, in my oppinion. is mentioned there that vbHacker can do several functions. the question is if people like better a simple plain text file without the hassle of uploading the hack, or just to upload the hack and install it. when you do this, there is no control over your work, the hack does everything for you.. and that's exacly where me, personally i'm not comfortable with it. ;)
let me know what you think please.

[TWTCommish]

It is most definitely misleading. Example:

NO. I want to learn PHP and get used more to VB because I want to make my own hacks or even better to help others with their work.
This implies that, if you want to learn PHP and get more used to vB, and make better hacks, and help others, you have to vote for NO, but I want to (and I do) all those things, and I voted YES. Or how about these two?

YES. I'm easy going. I don't care about forcing my brain to learn things.
YES. I prefer to let others do the work for me because I'm only here to download the coolest hacks.
Neither one of those applies to me. I'm not just here to download the coolest hacks, and I don't shy away from learning hard things (at least not always)...and yes these are the two reasons you give for voting YES. That's misleading. Why have explanations at all? Just let the poll speak for itself.

[TECK]

vbHacker was designed with ease of mind. for people that dont want to run complex mods etc. basically it makes your life easier while installing a hack. so what i said is true. people who use it, are easy going, in my oppinion. they prefer to simply run a file and is all done.

how can you learn PHP (even if you look at the text file after) if you didnt code it with your own hands?

[TWTCommish]

It's not true because the world is not black and white. Not everyone who likes to save time with vBHacker is someone who doesn't like to learn hard things. I love PHP-oriented challenges. They thrill me. That doesn't mean I ALWAYS have to do things the hard way, though. Some of these hacks are simple...I could do them myself. I won't learn anything from installing them by hand. So why should I?

Fact of the matter is that you're linking using vBHacker with not knowing PHP, or with not wanting to learn more of it, or with being lazy...and that's not true. It is a timesaver...for both beginners and experts. I know my way, basically, around vB...and I use it. Your four reasons (two for YES, and two for NO) therefore do not apply to me...which means they're not accurate. I'll bet there are others they don't apply to, too.

FireFly may know more about vB than any of us, and he uses it...and not just because he made it either, IMO.

how can you learn PHP (even if you look at the text file after) if you didnt code it with your own hands?
Two things:

1 - You can learn PHP without having to ALWAYS do everything the long way. I know PHP. But according to your voting guidelines, if I like to use vBHacker now and then, I don't really want to help people or learn more about vB.

2 - Not all hacks are something we can learn from. If anything, the experts are the ones who would use it more, because they're the ones who won't learn as much from installing them in the first place.

[TECK]

i personally think there is no long(or short) way in learning. but one more time, this is my oppinion. i will always code using the text file. no matter how long or short will be.

acording to my vote guidelines, if you say YES, you prefer to install, without seeing, a hack. you preffer not to bother analysing the code and understand the mechanism. no matter what you will do after, it will never be the same as you code it with your own hands. that's all.

any piece of php software was not written with aid, but with sweat and logic. that's why i preffer to use a text editor, my coffee and a good Dunhill to do things related to VB... ;)

cheers.

PS. i removed the guidelines, to let people comment on it. ;)

[TWTCommish]

That's not true, though. Someone who uses vBHacker is not necessarily someone who doesn't want to bother with code. It's someone who doesn't ALWAYS want to bother with code. There are programmers here who know more than you do about PHP and vB who use vBHacker, I'd bet. That's my gripe...

..the implication is as clear as crystal in that post: people who know about vB, or want to, don't use it, and the rest do. Maybe you didn't mean to imply that, but you most definitely did. Hey, imply whatever you want. But don't expect me to agree with it. :)

[TECK]

you are right. that's why they dont care to learn. so they like to use vbHacker.
that's not the case for me. i'm a novice in PHP.
so i will never use vbHacker.

[Wayne Luke]

The script has its potential. However I will never use it in an online environment for two reasons...

1) it didn't verify that I was an admin when I just ran it for the first time ever and I haven't logged into the admin control panel during this browser session. If I didn't have .htaccess authorization in place this would be an even larger risk.

2) the fact that it requires you to chmod your files and directories for writing is the most known fact of something you should not do if you are at all interested in the security of your site.

I will use it on my own local machine to generate text files that can then be used by me to apply any hacks I choose. I doubt it would be able to apply hacks to my code any way.

[Admin]

Originally posted by Wayne Luke
1) it didn't verify that I was an admin when I just ran it for the first time ever and I haven't logged into the admin control panel during this browser session. If I didn't have .htaccess authorization in place this would be an even larger risk.
I really wonder why that would happen as that file acts like every other file in vB (requiring global.php and cpheader()). :confused:

[danbc]

Yes

Because of me being a total looser at PHP coding :)

Allthough I?m beginning to understand the basic structure of PHP and Vb, but still.

[hypedave]

yes, I have learned more about how php works by rewriting hacks on the board to work with the vbhacker.php file,

[JulianD]

Yes, becouse I have the option to display a text file with all the modifications required.. I am sure I will never let vbhacker to hack my board automatically.

[NTLDR]

I think yes and no. vbHacker is good if you need to install vb again, you can put the hacks into a file and apply the automatically, saves ou having to perform many hacks if you re-install your board or when upgrading it, also I think the uniform text file that it creates means that all hacks are layed out the same, this stops people from getting confused. Also makes it aalot quicker for performing very quick and small hacks.

I do also agree with nakkid that by manually applying the hacks you learn more about vb and PHP, I certainly have from all the hacks I have had to manually install.

Firefly did a great job in creating this hack and could be used for just applying template edits etc to your board, i'd say both yes and no to the poll.

[filth]

Yes it is an excellent hack as it can save a hell of a long time editing files by hand.

[nuno]

voted no
should have a dunno option
what's vBHacker anyways? :confused:

[kippesp]

Didn't vote.

I think it is a great tool for documentation. It would be an improvement if all hacks were documented like the output of vbHacker. But now showing the entire line is less than desirable.

Personally, I'd be happy with a diff -c output.

You can probably tell I don't let vbHacker change my code or database or templates. 1) I would need chmod my files, 2) I tend to block-comment around installed hacks.

[Itworx4me]

2 Thumbs up for vBhacker

[JediKNight]

It works for me.

This hacks is great since it helps you to organize your installed hacks, and help you keep track of your own hacks too.

I believe many here have made code modifications in their files but forgot to keep track, later on when they need to reload the original files they overwritten their hacks also..

This hack will help more people use your hacks since it's easy for them to install. --> chances are your hacks will be more popular if you follow the format..

If people don't want to use the vbhacker, they can always read the feeder files (*.hack.php) themselves ... well.. to learn and such..

I don't see the point of voting NO on this thread. I don't vote against something that is helpful and can save my time.. :)

This is a great idea and a good work!

Jedi

[roxics]

Yes

Because I'm a newbie and I take 4 times longer then anyone else to install hacks because I'm are scared to death of the code.

[ULTIMATESSJ]

welli voted yes, it can be pretty helpful when you wanna hurry up and install a hack, and if i have the time, i can generate the txt file, it is a time saver, but i don't use it too often, as of the lack of vbhacker hacks there is

[Chris M]

I love vBhacker...

However, I voted No. This is because, even though it is a great script, I want to see the code itself...I prefer .txt files, because I dont have to upload a file to my ftp just to read the code...I like to read what I have to do in advance, and then try and figure out how it works...

vBhacker would be of great help to me if I had the wish to decrease the site's security...I dont want to, and most likely, I would forget to reverse the procedure...

I would prefer it if people posted a .txt file and a vBhacker file...

Even better : Why not generate a text file from vBhacker itself, after creating the hack, that way the .txt files will all look the same, and people will have the best of both worlds...

I simply do not see the need to upload a file simply to read the coding...

Satan

[chr@nox]

Voted :no

However i really like the idea of vBhacker, and it's a GREAT piece of art.

i want to see what code i add/delete/replace so i can understand what happens..

(the better you understand it the better you get right?)

honestly, i never tried vBhacker, i'm pretty sure it's a great hack.
maybe i'll try it sometime soon ;)

i always take the time for adding a hack, even when it's a simple small hack because i fully want to understand what's happening in there.
example : it took me 40minutes to install random quote on forumhome by lesane,
just because i wanted to know what happened in the files

:)

[amity]

i just want to comment to this thread. i voted yes, because i think it is a great idea.

however, i am a newbie to php- and if you don't try something you won't learn. i am no longer scared to death to work on the code and try to learn something about what i am doing. i do hope that everyone takes a little time to familiarize themselves with the code and their hacks... it will be for the best in the long run.

people can't help you all the time, sometimes you have to do a little bit for yourself. ;)

am

[nghiasi]

The hacks is pretty much useful........ but the problem is sometimes Its' can't find the find to edited.
Anyway I think the hack is really help out much. Thanks FireFly :) and other who updates that hacks!

[Bison]

I voted NO because I believe the initial intent was to develop an application that allow users a easier method of installing the hack first and it does a very poor job at that. I've tested the program on a clean set of code and it still couldn't find lines of code to insert the hack. When I generated the text file and searched for the code myself, all tha lines that the program couldn't find were found pretty easy!

I assume that the author knew when developing this application, that a previous hacked board would nullify the process, and put in this alternative method. It's the only part of the program that works ...

So in summary, it doesn't do was it was intially intended to do! The string compare process doesn't compensate for line breaks, and modified code. From what I observed, the file that needs to be modified, HAS to be structured Line, by line with no wrap around functions.

It was a great idea with good intent but better suited for creating text file instructions which is it's strong part.

[Neo]

Its funny... everyone asked for a auto hacker back in the day and now no one uses it anymore. I really think it is useful for people that dont want to ++++ up their PHP files... its to bad....

[Big Kahuna]

I like the concept -- but I'm still having to go in a modifying all of the php files cuz I'm having a problem with CuteFTPs' chmod. It says it is doing it -- but vbhacks says they're still locked.

I have 15 viewing styles (www.moparstyle.net) so it is a real time saver.

[Big Kahuna]

BTW -- we all know my now that being a board admin is a thankless job. Everyone wants stuff, they're usually unwilling to help, and do not appear to appreciate the trouble people go through to give them more features. People just like to complain.

[Erwin]

Just got around to this poll - I voted "no" because I prefer looking at the code I add to files for the following reasons:

1) Security - never now what loophole bad code can create in your forums - so always check the code you add.

2) Improvements - most of the time I can rationalize hacks so that they are more efficient, use less queries and fit better with my site.

3) Debugging - if bugs occur, I know where to look for errors.

[XtremeVigilante]

Where can you dl vBhacker?
lol. Sorry, can't find it!

[kreatiV]

I did not vote because I have not tried vBHacker, however I just tried to install a hack on my local system, this one:

Avatars Hack (Categories & Permissions) for vBulletin 2.2.x
v1.31 (9-29-2002) - 2001,2002 Bad Madman
tested with vB Version 2.2.5 - 2.2.8

And, IMHO, this has by far THE best Instructions and Install Util that I have seen for a hack. Especially the double click on the code that you need to find or to replace. It is simple and clear to understand, even for people that do not know too much about coding ( as myself ).

I wish there were more hacks that installed as easy as this one.

Avatar Hack 1.31 (http://www.vbulletin.org/hacks/index.php?s=&action=showhack&threadid=24997)

[The Quibbler]

Would anyone mind telling me what vbHacker is? Maybe give me a link? Sorry, I'm new around here.

[Dean C]

This is an old thread and if you had searhced you would have found it :)

It's a hack by firefly basically which creates installer php files which automatically install hacks for you. However I haven't seen a hack with it for ages due to the fact that often code changes are made to the same line.

[KuraFire]

I'm building a more comprehensive system similar to the vBHacker, but then one that will still let you (or rather, force you to) make all the file edits yourself. So, the favorite pastime of most people in this thread, as far as installing Hacks goes, is kept the same - you do the file edits manually. It's all the other stuff that gets automated with my system (queries, running custom PHP code, importing phrases and templates, creating menu items automatically, creating template groups automatically, etc.). Oh, and mine is only for vB3 of course... :)

I'll post a big thread about it tomorrow :)