CommBull (Community Bulletin)

[grandeur_69]

vb3.5 Commbull (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=1086364)
vb3.6 Commbull (www.octanedev.com/commbull.php)

Note:
The 3.6 version is a commercial product, any queries on it should be submitted to: vb3.6 Support Site (www.octanedev.com/commbull.php)

THIS THREAD IS FOR SUPPORT FOR 3.0 VERSIONS ONLY. PLEASE VISIT THE APPROPRIATE FORUMS (links above) FOR THEIR SUPPORT

[valid point]
it's been brought to my attention that not everyone knows what this is ... fair enough: This hack is considered a "weekly newsletter" by the fact that it will email members (only sent by an admin) who have opted to receive it new posts, hot threads, etc ... basically a summary of what has been going on since the last time the newsletter was sent out. However there is a vast number of options, and I won't go into detail of all of them ... you can view the the images that I've attached, but u will only get a full idea by installing it.
I would say that there is 0 risk of this installation doing any damage to your current install as these are the changes that it does (manually and automatically):
- change profile.php and admincp/index.php
- add a couple columns to user table (receivebulletin and receivebulletin_type)
- add some phrases to phrase table (receive_email_from_commbull, type_email_from_commbull, newsletterformat, commbul)
- add a row to datastore table (commbull)
- add some html to nav template for admin side
So, if you are unhappy with the install. you can just ignore that it's there and it'll never cause any problems ... your next upgrade will overwrite any changes to the index and profile pages and the extra columns in the DB won't be an issue

[mods that i've added from vB2 version]
- to change languages, comment/uncomment line 22 and 23 to switch from English to German
- save prefs (option)
- skip to page X in case of mailout freeze
- auto redirect to next page (option)
- adding personalized text to top of newsletter w/out searching through the two text & html fields ... u'll c what i mean :ermm:

[INSTALL]
drop the 3 files into the admincp directory and then go to admincp/commbull.php ... follow the instructions and you are good to go.
If you find that the option isn't showing up on the control panel after the install, then it's because you aren't using the default phrases. Go into phrase manager, search for 'commbull' and update the fields appropriately.

If something goes wrong, don't worry .. it checks for already completed updates to the database to avoid redundancy ... enjoy!!

[MrNase]

Very nice, i will use this :)

(One little typo on the third screenshot -> "Number of hreads to include [...]")

[sabret00the]

is a screenshot of the email available?

[The Realist]

Ignore: Read it wrong.

[The Realist]

Installed and working 100%.

Well done.

[The Realist]

One problem when it posts the final bulletin to the forum.

Its all over the place and it sticks huge gaps between the sections.

[Prince]

I just found another problem in the HTML vesion (text version is fine):

In the "user info" section it reads "New Info:" instead of "User Info:" and I cannot find this phrase anywhere. I have looked through both PHP files.

[Action-N]

So am I to understand you are now useing vBulletin to handle the phrases, I certianly hope so. I only got V,s when I tried the beta install. If you are then I'll give it another try.

Just gave it a shot, even though I already had parts left from beta installed. Installation went smooth with no errors. Best part is it all works great, but I think I may want to customize the html email format. Great job, definately worth the effort to install this

[grandeur_69]

HTML post to forum: vB adds <br /> after each /n /r even when viewing HTML, but i think i've repaired that

HTML version: hmm, i'll look into it. It might be that i grabbed the phrase (or combination of phrases) from the vBphrases ... yup, found it! thanx

vb phrases: i'm using both, same as before. I use vB phrases wherever i can, but it didn't want to enter the data directly into the DB because of possible conflicts and different configurations between each user's vB.

Note: found a glitch with the saving of features ... recommend updating all three files

[adhari_com]

perfect work .. thanx grandeur!

[Intex]

Superb work grandeur_69. I was waiting for this :cool:. I'll add to my install list.

[mikeB]

Is there an easy mod to make it auto click the next page button? in the last one there was and when you have 30,000+ members that next button becomes a task - thx!

[mikeB]

I get this error:

Invalid SQL: SELECT a.dateline, u.username FROM adminlog a LEFT JOIN user u USING(userid) WHERE action='sent bulletin' ORDER BY dateline DESC LIMIT 0,1
mysql error: Table 'XXXXX.adminlog' doesn't exist

and on install it errored on the top 2 commands

[mikeB]

User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ...Already Update

[grandeur_69]

Mikey ...
1. - to your first post, yes ... you didn't look hard enough because it's an option.
2. - why don't you have an adminlog, it's part of vB3?
3. - that's normal if u've tried to install it twice, or you had it installed with vB2

[mikeB]

weird - I don't know now that you mention it - anyone have a tutorial or way to rebuild adminlog - and yes I had it in VB2

[dndog]

What does this hack do?

Thanks.

[grandeur_69]

good point ... guess it's an assumption by people who've been around vB for awhile. I'll post it in the first post.

[badpacket]

Great stuff grandeur!.. installed :)

[mikeB]

any idea why I'd get this error: Fatal error: Call to undefined function: html_entity_decode() in /home/httpd/vhosts/bakermedia.com/httpdocs/learn/admincp/commbull.php on line 554

when I hit Preview Mailing?

[grandeur_69]

yup ... u have a version of PHP < 4.3 ... didn't realize that this function was part of such a recent build ...

try it now (have to say try, cuz i don't have a version less than 4.3) ... just grabbed what someone wrote specifically for this reason on the php.net site

[mikeB]

yup ... u have a version of PHP < 4.3 ... didn't realize that this function was part of such a recent build ...

try it now (have to say try, cuz i don't have a version less than 4.3) ... just grabbed what someone wrote specifically for this reason on the php.net site

I rrepleced the ones I had uploaded - Now Im getting this:
Parse error: parse error in /home/httpd/vhosts/bakermedia.com/httpdocs/learn/admincp/commbull.php on line 1383

[grandeur_69]

my bad ... uploaded the wrong file ... not very good at multi-tasking, i guess

[ImportPassion]

well, there is one unnecessary query I found in profile.php

instead of doing this

$receivebulletin = ($commbull) ? 1 : 0;

$DB_site->query("
UPDATE " . TABLE_PREFIX . "user SET
receivebulletin = $receivebulletin
WHERE userid = $bbuserinfo[userid]
");

$receivebulletin_type = ($commbull_type) ? 1 : 0;

$DB_site->query("
UPDATE " . TABLE_PREFIX . "user SET
receivebulletin_type = $receivebulletin_type
WHERE userid = $bbuserinfo[userid]
");


do this

$receivebulletin = ($commbull) ? 1 : 0;
$receivebulletin_type = ($commbull_type) ? 1 : 0;

$DB_site->query("
UPDATE " . TABLE_PREFIX . "user SET
receivebulletin = $receivebulletin,
receivebulletin_type = $receivebulletin_type
WHERE userid = $bbuserinfo[userid]
");

[grandeur_69]

and, i'm sure you will find others. As i've been putting it together piece-by-piece and working out bugs, i haven't done a lot of optimizing.

[mikeB]

works now for me, thanks!!

[Blackbeard]

User table altered... sucessfully.
User table altered... sucessfully.
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)... sucessfully.
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)... sucessfully.
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)... sucessfully.
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ... sucessfully.

You may now proceed to use the Community Bulletin Script

In order to allow your users to unsubscribe from the bulletin, you will need to make the following alterations to your existing code and templates:

Upload admin/index.php and profile.php to your server, then go to your Admin CP and look for the "Send Community Bulletin" option under "Users" If you find that the option isn't showing up on the control panel, then it's because you aren't using the default phrases. Go into phrase manager, search for 'commbull' and update.

done all changes, could not find send community bulletin in users section, searched in phase manager for commbull and got this

No Phrases Matched Your Query

whats gone wrong????

iam running PHP v4.3.5

[grandeur_69]

be sure to check "Phrase Variable Name Only" when searching

[ImportPassion]

i tried sending to 3 ppl and it timed out

[Blackbeard]

be sure to check "Phrase Variable Name Only" when searching

Cheers that work great

[dethfire]

Doesn't work for me. I click "preview mailing", it looks like it's processing, but after 1-2min the browser status bar says done and the page hasn't moved or done anything, no preview.

[grandeur_69]

bizarre. Can't say i've ever had an issue like that. This happen more than once? What browser/OS are you using? Did u view the source code to see if anything was printed to the screen?

[dethfire]

bizarre. Can't say i've ever had an issue like that. This happen more than once? What browser/OS are you using? Did u view the source code to see if anything was printed to the screen?

winxp, firefox, it's a very large forum (not sure if that matters)

interestingly enough I did successfully install and use it on a few other smaller forums, so I am at a loss too. Nothing prints out, it stays on the newsletter config screen. It looks like it's loading for 1min and then just stops, never getting off the config screen.

[grandeur_69]

size of the forum would only matter if the server that you are hosting on can't handle the load properly. But, the preview pain is not a very complicated query window, so it shouldn't freeze there. I've had the mailout itself freeze a few times with large (> 10,000 members) and with small ones alike, but it's never froze at the preview stage.

[trainer]

quick question regarding this hack

if i edit the preview html window to add a few things, is that saved and sent out to all?

i tried it and it only seemed to work for the first page of emails that it was sent to, after that anyone who recieved the email got the un-edited version.

did i do something wrong? any suggestions? is this how the script works?

would we be able to re-work this so it is possible to send out custom information on top of some of the recent threads, most viewed threads etc.

[sabret00the]

installed and went very smoothly, even the preview works fine, however i have to wonder, if you save the css as a file will this mess up?

[grandeur_69]

trainer: the same html should be sent to everyone as it's passed into a form field after each submit

sabret: u could manually do it with your own, but most people have the css saved in the DB instead of having vB create a file. Therefor, to keep the css set to each client's current vB settings, it must be printed out in it's entirety.

[trainer]

ok put in the edit text box on the main setup page, one thing is $username didn't work. in the actual email it is blank.

[grandeur_69]

ok put in the edit text box on the main setup page, one thing is $username didn't work. in the actual email it is blank.
i tried to explain in the text field that if you want something like current date, then the variable u input will be like: $date .. however, if you want something that is created dynamically with each email, you have to use /$username

[Vman]

I have installed everything, it seems to work fine except for this:

#1 When creating a newletter to go out, and its sent out, I don't get it and neither does anyone else...

#2 When I go back to View Installation Instructions I see this at the top of the screen:
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ...Already Update

Now is it not working because the User Tables is screwed up and if sooooooo What must I do to correct this?

Thanks

[grandeur_69]

no, the user table can't be altered twice, so once u have done the installation, u will always get that message. I suppose I could add a select to select the fields ... but, i'm not :) At any rate, the only reason that I can think that it's not working is that you don't have a valid email address for your administrator (so sendmail balks when trying to send it out) or ur sendmail just isn't functioning ... or, it's also possible that whatever SPAM setup u have is blocking it as the sending address and reply-to address are different ... funny enough, that server setup is to AVOID SPAM, but when sending out mailings using PHP, it's one of ur only options.

[adhari_com]

Is the article include feature still under development?
as I can see it's just commented out!

Please advice.

[trainer]

strange, must be missing something here because i can't seem to get the /$username or $username to work properly. the "/" show up but nothing else?

any suggestions? am i missing or didn't do something correctly?

[konstance]

I don't know if it matters or not, but I use "\" instead of "/" and it works just fine.

[armani1072]

Great Hack! just a few questions. Is it possible to edit the table size of the email being sent? or is that dependent on the forums settings.

in the extra info box $username and \$username do not output the users name just a blank.

any help would be appreciated thanks :)

[TTG]

Clicks install .. very useful tool .. thanks grandeur_69

Installed nice and easy .. no errors on a well hacked forum. http://www.thetechguy.co.uk/smilie/icon_exclaim.gif

[Highlander]

is tehre a possibility to make an user option for the users, so they can choose between daily newsletter and weekly newsletter or for example every monday, wednesday and friday?

it would be really a great future, cause many users dont want a daily newsletter .. and also many users dont want receive old news with the newsletter..
cause our forums is using it for game news wich should be nearly daily to be almost actual...

anyway user would have a great option for this newsletter :D

[Mr. Brian]

Great piece of work!

*Mr. Brian clicked install*

[heynurse]

wonderful, clicked install!

[Holidazed]

I installed this, but I had to create the "combull" phrase myself. Your install did not do it and your instructions did not mention it.


Question: How do I know who is subscribed?
Question: How does one subscribe to the bulletin?

[David_McPherson]

I 'think' I've read everything.....

Does this work with 3.0.3? I have an unhacked version of 3.0.3.

[albamaster]

as far as i know it works with 3.0.3

[Diva]

Hi! I installed the hack with no problem. My only issue is that the colors dont show in my hotmail account. When I sent it to Outlook it looks great. But since most people use some free sort of service I would like them to be able to see it. Right now it's all white.

[grandeur_69]

1) u would have to do a manual query to see who is subscribed, but by default everyone is
2) if u followed the instructions, there is an option in the usercp that allows them to un/subscribe to the newsletter

... hotmail will remove any css style sheets, but there is no way around this because it's the only way for the bulletin to grab the colors of your forum. I had it done manually, but it was a pain in the derrier for everyone to make the changes manually to match their forum. Sorry.

And, as for as compatibility, considering the internal workings of the hack, it will continue to function with all future vB upgrades unless they do some major changes to their function calls or the DB ... neither of which is likely in the near future.

[Pseudomizer]

Hello Grandeur,

i have a biiiig problem. After having sent many newsletters to my members ( 1400 members ) many of them complained that they never received one. Now we found out why. GMX especially put all Newsletters into the SPAM folder. Also the spamassasin on our own server put the newsletter into the SPAM folder.

After talking to some email gurus they told me that our header is not ok and due to this our newsletter is declared as SPAM. Do you have the same problem ? Do you know how to fix this ? This is a major problem for my domain. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

[David_McPherson]

Seems to be missing something with an install....

Its a fresh unhacked version of 3.0.3 and I am missing the HTML ok or whatever it is.... Note the picture. I believe I followed the instructions exactly.

[Mr. Brian]

Hello Grandeur,

i have a biiiig problem. After having sent many newsletters to my members ( 1400 members ) many of them complained that they never received one. Now we found out why. GMX especially put all Newsletters into the SPAM folder. Also the spamassasin on our own server put the newsletter into the SPAM folder.

After talking to some email gurus they told me that our header is not ok and due to this our newsletter is declared as SPAM. Do you have the same problem ? Do you know how to fix this ? This is a major problem for my domain. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

True. I'm getting the same problem, because of this I've got to disable my spamassasin.

[Pseudomizer]

Seems to be missing something with an install....

Its a fresh unhacked version of 3.0.3 and I am missing the HTML ok or whatever it is.... Note the picture. I believe I followed the instructions exactly.

The check for HTML is case sensitive. Please check your changes again. It works for all other people. I doubt that this has something to do with 3.0.3. It works with 3.0.0 and 3.0.1.

Cheers,

[Pseudomizer]

True. I'm getting the same problem, because of this I've got to disable my spamassasin.

This is not an option. I can not disable Spamassasin otherwise i will have 500 emails more in addition to my existing ones per DAY !!!

Any solution here ?

Cheers,

[David_McPherson]

This is what is in my modifyoptions template....

<td><br />$vbphrase[newsletterformat]<br /><label for="commbull"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull_type" value="1" id="commbull_type" $checked[receivebulletin_type] />$vbphrase[type_email_from_commbull]</label></td>

?? Thoughts?

[Pseudomizer]

This is what is in my modifyoptions template....

<td><br />$vbphrase[newsletterformat]<br /><label for="commbull"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull_type" value="1" id="commbull_type" $checked[receivebulletin_type] />$vbphrase[type_email_from_commbull]</label></td>

?? Thoughts?

I have a javascript in my source code to enable or disable HTML. The quoted source code from you is correct.

Cheers,

[heynurse]

Seems to be missing something with an install....

Its a fresh unhacked version of 3.0.3 and I am missing the HTML ok or whatever it is.... Note the picture. I believe I followed the instructions exactly.I'm getting the same thing that David_McPherson (in post 56 (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=534319&postcount=56)) is getting, a blank arean in the modify options screen, mine looks exactly as his sceen shot shows. I am also using 3.0.3

Has anyone found a workaround or fix for this?

[heynurse]

For those of you with the spamassasin and getting emails blocked, you may want to read this article to help figure it out: Avoid the Spam Filter http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/3649.asp

[grandeur_69]

usercp: hmm, i just noticed that i'm having the same problem with one of the forums I just upgraded ... i'll look into it.

email problem: this can be fixed if you add the -f option in the header and create a wrapper for sendmail function. However, some hosting companies don't allow you to do this, so I didn't write it directly into the code. Fortunately, I am also the administrator of the servers that most of the forums that I manage are on and I have circumvented it

[grandeur_69]

k, i need some help here. I can't figure it out. I figured out that once you do an upgrade, you must re-install the phrases as the old ones are wiped out. However, I can't figure out why it still doesn't work. 1 of the 2 phrases for the usercp works, but not the other. I printed out some debugging info and the phrase isn't being loaded into the vbphrase array ... but the phrase is exactly the same as the other in the DB, so in theory, it should show up.

[Pseudomizer]

k, i need some help here. I can't figure it out. I figured out that once you do an upgrade, you must re-install the phrases as the old ones are wiped out. However, I can't figure out why it still doesn't work. 1 of the 2 phrases for the usercp works, but not the other. I printed out some debugging info and the phrase isn't being loaded into the vbphrase array ... but the phrase is exactly the same as the other in the DB, so in theory, it should show up.

Perhaps a bug in 3.0.3 ?

Sorry but i have to come back to the point of the spamassasin problem. I do not have sendmail. I have qmail installed. What changes do i need to do then please ?

Cheers,

[Mr. Brian]

Been trying hard to figure that out.

[RetroDreams]

Any idea why birthdays and calendar events are not showing up?

[LadyBeth]

I want to use this with v3, latest version. I am sorry but I can't read through 5 pages of thread right now... :(

Will this work with v3?

Beth :)

[Pseudomizer]

I want to use this with v3, latest version. I am sorry but I can't read through 5 pages of thread right now... :(

Will this work with v3?

Beth :)

Yes, it will.

Cheers,

[Blam Forumz]

/me installs this uber hack

[trackpads]

I would love to see an option so that we could send this as a Mass PM instead. I prefer that to haggling with the emails.

Then if a user has a PM notfication they can just come online and view it.

Thanks again for all the work,

-Jason
(clickety instally :-) )

[Pseudomizer]

I would love to see an option so that we could send this as a Mass PM instead. I prefer that to haggling with the emails.

Then if a user has a PM notfication they can just come online and view it.

Thanks again for all the work,

-Jason
(clickety instally :-) )

There is a hack for Mass PM. Copy and Paste the Preview HTML code into your Mass PM text window. Problem solved. :smoke:

Cheers,

[RetroDreams]

Any idea why birthdays and calendar events are not showing up?
Has this been resolved by anybody?

[Robert Basil]

I've used Commbull on VB2 and loved it. But until the spamassasin (with Qmail) problem is resolved I cannot install this hack. :(

Anyone resolve this issue yet?

[Pseudomizer]

I've used Commbull on VB2 and loved it. But until the spamassasin (with Qmail) problem is resolved I cannot install this hack. :(

Anyone resolve this issue yet?

Hi Sportbikeworld,

spamassasin problem with qmail? We are running qmail + fprot + clamav + spamassasin and we have no problems with this hack. What problem are you experiencing?

Cheers,

[grandeur_69]

well, if ur already using vb3, then u have no Community bulletin, so you might as well run it and find out if you have problems on your machine. It may be something like setting the proper permissions on your server so that the mailings don't get considered spam (like disabling the warning that gets attached to some mailings about the reply not matching the sender address by adding PHP or Apache or whatever object is used to send out the mailings on your server)

[memobug]

Just a couple notes concerning installation. I had previously installed this vb2.x of this hack.

1. I entirely missed the installation instructions link amongst the credits and so forth. However since I already had a prior version installed, my test newsletter was emailed.

2. When I did catch that little installation instructions link, it made a lot more sense.

3. one of my phrases vbphrase[type_email_from_commbull] got messed up somehow. It wasn't showing in the options template and came up blank even though I could see it in the phrase manager. Finally when I happened to modify vbphrase[receive_email_from_commbull] in the phrase manager, it popped back into view.

Q: Is there supposed to be a combull option in the admincp main, or do we always execute this by browsing admincp/commbull.php

That's it for now,

Matt

[memobug]

Any idea why birthdays and calendar events are not showing up?I have the same problem, and perhaps I do have an idea...

1. I ran the calendar query from this hack against my database and didn't have any events show up. I think the reason is that the query has the dates described as 27-Sep-2004 and the database has them in a numeric form:

Query:
SELECT * FROM event WHERE dateline_from>='27-Sep-2004' AND dateline_to<='12-Oct-2005' AND visible=1 ORDER BY dateline LIMIT 0,14

Database (just an example)

dateline_from: 1025697600
dateline_to:1025787600


Anyway, that is my idea.

A Question

1. Does anyone running 3.0.3 have calendar events showing?
2. How does it decide which template CSS to use for the HTML layout?
Comments:

2. Since 3.0.3 supports multiple calendars, there should really be a way to select which calendars are used.
3. ...And possibly send individuals their own private events, too


Regards,

Matt

[TTG]

Q: Is there supposed to be a combull option in the admincp main, or do we always execute this by browsing admincp/commbull.php

That's it for now,

Matt

admincp>>users>>Send Community Bulletin

[memobug]

Thanks TTG
Here's my update
1. I found a minor bug in the HTML printout that causes Thread block 4 to be labeled the same as thread block 3. You might want to edit it
replace

$HTML_threadspreview4 .=" <td colspan=\"7\"><b><i>$title3</i></b></td>\n";

with the following:

$HTML_threadspreview4 .=" <td colspan=\"7\"><b><i>$title4</i></b></td>\n";


It's somewhere around line 850 - I have added so much I can't be specific, but about midway down in the block that starts "if ($numtopics4)"

2. I have added the user-selected articles header back in. The text version is working well but for the HTML version to be usable I would need to have a way of ensuring that truncating the message doesn't split HTML tags or tag pairs, or it could mess up the rest of the message.

update - I got around this by using a tag like -MORE- right in the post. Then I made the commbull trim the article right at the tag, and there is no danger of cutting in a bad place!

3. I got rid of 222 lines of code in commbull.php by removing the redundant iterations of the same code for thread blocks 2, 3, 4 as were used in block 1.

4. I found a problem when I designated some 24 forum members in a special public group called proofreaders. When I tried to send the newsletter to them for proofing commbull complained that there were no users. I had to fix two queries to enable it to recognize the auxilliary user groups.

All in all, with the exception of not having any calendar or birthday events working, it came off pretty well. I sent out 2800 newsletters this afternoon.

Matt

[traderx]

[INSTALL]
drop the 3 files into the admincp directory and then go to admincp/commbull.php ... follow the instructions and you are good to go.
If you find that the option isn't showing up on the control panel after the install, then it's because you aren't using the default phrases. Go into phrase manager, search for 'commbull' and update the fields appropriately.


I did a 'commbull' search in my phrase manager and NOTHING came up. now am I to add this phrase? A little more info would help this rookie, as I don't see it in my ACP as it shows in the first post attachment.

EDIT
I did a search with "Phrase Variable Name Only" on 'commbull' and it showed:
Control Panel Global Phrases Containing 'commbull'
commbull - Standard Phrase - Send Community Bulletin this is correct?

But still isn't showing up.



Other then this so far, install went smooth
Thanks
Coll

[Toneboy]

I don't have commbull shown as a phrase. Even did a manual search for it but no luck!

Can someone with php MyAdmin please enter the following command:

SELECT * FROM 'phrase' WHERE varname = 'commbull'

And let me know what is displayed please?

Thanks.

[joergh]

Seems to be missing something with an install....

Its a fresh unhacked version of 3.0.3 and I am missing the HTML ok or whatever it is.... Note the picture. I believe I followed the instructions exactly.

I do get the some error in a fresh vb3.0.3 install.

Did anyone has a hint?

joergh

[joergh]

Upps, problem solved? Seems to have something to do with the phrases. After a reload it is okay and says:

Format of the Newsletters

[] HTML if checked. Plain Text if unchecked.

thx!

joergh

[memobug]

Upps, problem solved? Seems to have something to do with the phrases. After a reload it is okay and says:

Format of the Newsletters

[] HTML if checked. Plain Text if unchecked.

thx!

joergh
I had the same thing happen, as I documented above (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=556973&postcount=78)

If you want to change any of the phrases, I think you go right into the language attachment file and change them there.

Regards,

Matt

[Toneboy]

BTW I've uploaded the files but haven't sent a new bulletin as yet, is that why I don't have commbull shown as a phrase?

I don't have the option to send it from the admincp either. As well as that users don't have the option to subscribe/unsubscribe from their control panel. Will these appear after a Community Bulletin has been sent?

[memobug]

BTW I've uploaded the files but haven't sent a new bulletin as yet, is that why I don't have commbull shown as a phrase?

I don't have the option to send it from the admincp either. As well as that users don't have the option to subscribe/unsubscribe from their control panel. Will these appear after a Community Bulletin has been sent?No, but have you made the template and script modifications shown when you click on the link that says Installation instructions?

[xug]

Just hard code it if you still have problems ;)


<td>Format of the Newsletters<br /><label for="commbull"><input type="checkbox" name="commbull_type" value="1" id="commbull_type" $checked[receivebulletin_type] />HTML if checked. Plain Text if unchecked.</label></td>

[breathwork]

How can I automate the production of the community bulletin to run say every Monday morning at 06:00 hrs?

:speechless:

[Sal Collaziano]

How can I automate the production of the community bulletin to run say every Monday morning at 06:00 hrs?

:speechless:
I can't imagine what I did wrong but my newsletters aren't being sent out in HTML.. I sent it to myself and when I opened it in Outlook, it's all text.. Any ideas?

Great mod!!

[memobug]

I can't imagine what I did wrong but my newsletters aren't being sent out in HTML.. I sent it to myself and when I opened it in Outlook, it's all text.. Any ideas?

Great mod!!
Hi Sal,

What is your USERCP setting for newsletter type? checked or unchecked?

And while I have you on the line...

Are you getting any events or birthdays showing in the output? This same question has been asked by myself and others, but no one seems to know or care...

Regards,

Matt

[Sal Collaziano]

Hi Sal,

What is your USERCP setting for newsletter type? checked or unchecked?

And while I have you on the line...

Are you getting any events or birthdays showing in the output? This same question has been asked by myself and others, but no one seems to know or care...

Regards,

Matt
Yeah, I do have the option checked in my control panel. HTML and all.. That's what's got me confused. I can't figure out why I'd get the email in text only...

Otherwise.. All I get is the header for events.. Nothing beneath it in regards.. So I have the same problem too..

[sully02]

I am getting this error...

Database error in vBulletin 3.0.3:

Invalid SQL:
UPDATE vb3_user SET
styleid = 3,
showvbcode = 2,
pmpopup = 0,
maxposts = -1,
daysprune = 0,
timezoneoffset = '-6',
startofweek = 1,
languageid = 0,
threadedmode = 0,
autosubscribe = -1,
usereplacementscensor = ,
options = 3799
WHERE userid = 11

mysql error: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '
options = 3799
WHERE userid = 11' at line 12

mysql error number: 1064

Date: Friday 15th of October 2004 12:31:37 PM
Script: http://sports-boards.net/forums/profile.php
Referer: http://sports-boards.net/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions

==================================

Any suggestions?

[rex_b]

It's only sending to 400 out of my 1100 users.

Any ideas on why or how to fix?

[breathwork]

WHERE userid = 11' at line 12

mysql error number: 1064

Date: Friday 15th of October 2004 12:31:37 PM
Script: http://sports-boards.net/forums/profile.php
Referer: http://sports-boards.net/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions

==================================

Any suggestions?

There is a missing quote preceeding the number 11, should read :

WHERE userid = '11'

hope it helps

[memobug]

Yeah, I do have the option checked in my control panel. HTML and all.. That's what's got me confused. I can't figure out why I'd get the email in text only...
That does seem like a mystery. How does the HTML preview look? When it mails stuff out, if memory serves, I think it tells the type of newsletter it's sending HTML or text . Maybe that was the previous version, though. Do you have anything like that?

Regards,

Matt

[theArchitect]

*theArchitect Clicks Install*.

A sensational hack. Your work is most appreciated.

[Sal Collaziano]

That does seem like a mystery. How does the HTML preview look? When it mails stuff out, if memory serves, I think it tells the type of newsletter it's sending HTML or text . Maybe that was the previous version, though. Do you have anything like that?

Regards,

Matt

Yeah, it does say "html" when mailing out.. But even more strange, I guess, is - I don't see any html in the preview. The way I see the preview is the way I get it - text only.. Even more strange now?

[theArchitect]

Yeah, it does say "html" when mailing out.. But even more strange, I guess, is - I don't see any html in the preview. The way I see the preview is the way I get it - text only.. Even more strange now?
Does anyone know how to comment out a section of HTML that one does not want to appear in the post?

I have used the { which stops it from appearing in the post, but the { then appear in the e-mail version.

[rex_b]

It's only sending to 400 out of my 1100 users.

Any ideas on why or how to fix?


anyone?

[Kentaurus]

For the spanish talking people, I think you might find this useful.
Replace the commbull_phrases.php with this custom one for having it translated into spanish.

[rex_b]

anyone?


No thoughts?

[theArchitect]

No thoughts?
Not really. Are you sure it is only going to 400 of your members. Generally vB breaks the mailing list across multiple pages to avoid timeout errors. It is possible that your browser is not auto forwarding to the next page in this process.

I know that TAZ use this to send bulletins to their 1500+ members and as far as I know they haven't had any problems. I only have a small board 225 members, but it has worked fine for me.

[memobug]

We sent around 3000 last month. Since it was our first mailing, I set the count to 100 per page. rex_b really hasn't provided a very clear idea of the failure and his environment. How many bulletins are you sending at a time and what is the failure mode? Does it just stop, or does it complete and some of them just aren't sent?

Regards,

Matt

[grandeur_69]

i have a forum (abnehmen.com) and it has over 9,000 members ... never had any problems with it ... just takes forever.

[welo]

Quick observation on a mini bug here. In commbull.php you have paths hardwired to the admincp dir, which naturally break if people have this set to something else ($admincpdir var in includes/config.php). Lines 56, 57, and 1385 of commbull.php should have admincp/blah.php changed either to $admincpdir/blah.php (while requiring includes/config.php), or some other settable ACP var in commbull.php itself.

[rex_b]

All it does is says I have 2 pages of users 1/2 and 2/2 and it sends to those people.

NO failure notice or anything. It just doesn't send to everyone.

I'm confused.

[Trigger351]

Hi guys, just a quick question. I was wondering if anyone can tell me how I can force this hack to use a different forum style when mailing out?
In the commbull.php file I suspect its this line
$sql = "SELECT * FROM ". TABLE_PREFIX."style WHERE userselect > 0 LIMIT 1";
that needs to be altered but I'm having troubles.
Any helps would be great
thanks :)

[traderx]

I would like to change how the html email looks completely.... how do I do this?

[dethfire]

one of my large forums the email refuses to preview, it runs for awhile and then just quits

[konstance]

Hello everyone,

This is rather bizzare... every time I send out a ComBull, the recepient sees random exclamations marks throughout the newsletter text. Some images fail to show up, because that exclamation gets inserted into the path! And it's totally random...

anyone has that problem?

[wirewolf]

Installed CommBull and after some editting of the commbull.php and the phrases.php (mainly language and html), got it working. A note for some users. My host had a limit of no more than 50 emails per hour from our server, but apon request they increased it to 500 for my site. They just wanted to know if I offered my users an "Opt out" from receiving the Newsletter. So if you have any problens with email flooding, check with your host. Most will accomodate you for a higher email output.
I also found that (for my site anyway) setting the email output to about 25 at a time with a one minute wait in-between seemed to work out quite well.
The only problem is that the emails will still not show Calendar events. And does anyone know how to make a cron job for this script?
John
Ps; Here's a sample of my finished html CommBull (http://shipmodeling.net/forumnewsletter.html)
And thanks grandeur_69 for the script!

[wirewolf]

I would like to change how the html email looks completely.... how do I do this?
Hi traderx,
Look in the commbull.php file around line 339 down to line 357. You shound see this at line 339: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html><head>. This is the start of the html part of the email. From that point on look down the file for html tags like <table>, <tr>, <td>, etc. Those are not all in the same place in the file as in between there are sql guerys, conditional statements, and php sript, etc.
What I did was to copy the original email html script from the Admin, place it in my html editor, make changes, and then carefully locate the appropiate place in the commbull.php file and substitute the changes. (make sure you save a backup of the original, just in case!)
Some of the language changes have to be made in the commbull_phrases file and there are a few in the commbull file itself.
Good luck,
John

[welo]

Maybe it's just me, although after messing with this one line (around 42) for well over an hour I still see no way whatsoever to absolutely link the stylesheet. No matter what I add or adjust it still comes out:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-b82af0f5-00004.css" />

...with no corresponding http:// path. What's everyone doing to solve this?

[wirewolf]

Include the entire path url, like
http://yoursite.com/forum/clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-b82af0f5-00004.css
Don't forget, it's an email, not a web page. It's going to be read by the users email client on thier computer. There is no folder for the email to read with the css file in it on thier computer. The path to the css file has to be full. You will have to write in the whole url yourself in the commbull.php file at that line. If you store your css as files rather than in the database, I suggest saving the css file in a separate file that the email url can "see" all the time. Because, if you change one little thing in the stylesheet from the Admin panel, the reference number for the stylesheet will change, and the emails won't get the correct css file. Besides, this way you can customize the email style separately from your board.
John

[welo]

Okay, I figured it out. After another hour or two of useless code playing and searching to figure out exactly how the stylesheet was sourced, it finally ocurred to me to look in the database. Duh.

Lo and behold, a css field resides in the prefix_style table with the entire <link rel= style statement, which will look something like this:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-bcb1922cb-00104.css" />

All you have to do is go into phpMyAdmin and prepend the existing href= with the http path to your site. F.ex.:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://my-forum-site.com/clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-bcb1922cb-00104.css" />

Note this will also create an absolute path for the url to the stylesheet for the whole board. Like John pointed out however, soon as you change your CSS in the ACP this will be written over and you have to go back in and prepend the url again. From what I can see however, it doesn't mean you lose your CSS for already sent emails. Even if the CSS is changed the clientscript/vbulletin_css directory will still contain the old files (unless you go in and delete them).

[joeychgo]

SOmeone asked this question before, with no respoonse.

Does anyone know how to automate this to be sent out every week ?

[Toneboy]

I've run the script, sent out my first bulletin, but now the option to change settings within the "editoptions" screen isn't there.

Does anyone know which templates I need to change to allow this?

(Besides that, the script is great. It is the first time I've run the HTML version and it looks terrific.)

[memobug]

I've run the script, sent out my first bulletin, but now the option to change settings within the "editoptions" screen isn't there."Now...?" Do you mean it was never there, or it disappeared?

The install instructions are a little hard to find. There are links at the top and bottom of the page when you run the commbull.php script. I missed it the first time I ran it too.

Regards,

Matt

[Toneboy]

Yeah, the option was there previously. I'll check the links when I get a moment.

A readme.txt file in with the .zip file might be a useful addition to this hack.

[Cheertobi]

Hi,

did someone know how to fix the event & birthday problem?

Also the "last topic" on forum home is not shown, when sending the newsletter into a selected forum...

Regards,

Tobias

[Europeanlee]

I just want to confirm that this hack still currently works with VB 2.3.2?

Regards,

Lee

[Toneboy]

Versions of this hack for vB 2.*.* are here:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=32129 and
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=16290

In regard to the vB3 version I'm going to take a look through the installation instructions tonight and make sure I've changed all the templates appropriately. I missed that before, so apologies for that.

One last request: with the new thread style here this hack is currently shown as mod version 1.0.0. On my script this is shown as "Community Bulletin Email Generator version 2.4" - could the mod version be changed so that we can refer back to here to see if we're using the most up-to-date version of this hack? Thanks.

[Toneboy]

Okay within the installation instructions I see the initial message:
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ...Already Update
I've made the edits as shown below that, and I now have the Community Bulletin option back on the user's options page, but I only have a checkbox and no text where I presume the format of the message is meant to be?

Still nothing under the links within the admincp either - by the looks of things that it is to do with the phrases. What exactly should I be looking to edit there?

By the way, if it helps I went into the properties of my user table and it shows the following.
CREATE TABLE user (
userid int(10) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment,
usergroupid smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
username varchar(50) NOT NULL default '',
password varchar(32) NOT NULL default '',
email varchar(100) NOT NULL default '',
styleid smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
parentemail varchar(50) NOT NULL default '',
homepage varchar(100) NOT NULL default '',
icq varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
aim varchar(20) NOT NULL default '',
yahoo varchar(32) NOT NULL default '',
usertitle varchar(250) NOT NULL default '',
customtitle smallint(6) NOT NULL default '0',
joindate int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
daysprune smallint(6) NOT NULL default '0',
lastvisit int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
lastactivity int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
lastpost int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
posts int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
timezoneoffset varchar(4) NOT NULL default '',
pmpopup smallint(6) NOT NULL default '0',
avatarid smallint(6) NOT NULL default '0',
options int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
birthday varchar(10) NOT NULL default '0000-00-00',
maxposts smallint(6) NOT NULL default '-1',
startofweek smallint(6) NOT NULL default '1',
ipaddress varchar(15) NOT NULL default '',
referrerid int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
receivebulletin smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '1',
pmtotal smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
pmunread smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
passworddate date NOT NULL default '0000-00-00',
salt char(3) NOT NULL default '',
showvbcode smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
msn varchar(100) NOT NULL default '',
avatarrevision int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
membergroupids varchar(250) NOT NULL default '',
displaygroupid smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
reputation int(11) NOT NULL default '10',
reputationlevelid int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '1',
languageid smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
threadedmode smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
emailstamp int(10) unsigned NOT NULL default '0',
autosubscribe smallint(6) NOT NULL default '-1',
birthday_search date NOT NULL default '0000-00-00',
receivebulletin_type smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL default '1',
PRIMARY KEY (userid),
KEY usergroupid (usergroupid),
KEY username (username),
KEY birthday (birthday),
KEY birthday_search (birthday_search)
) TYPE=MyISAM;
I take it that's correct?

[memobug]

I just want to confirm that this hack still currently works with VB 2.3.2?

Regards,

Lee
No, it doesn't You want to go back and search on COMMBULL and find one of the vb2.x.x versions. the one I was using way back was not a hack (it didnt' change or modify any vb scripts) but a standalone called commbull.php that went in the admin folder. It worked great for what it was. Actually it worked better than this 3.x.x version, which doesn't actually do events, birthdays or let the admin select specific posts to include in the newsletter.

Regards,

Matt

[wirewolf]

Hi,
did someone know how to fix the event & birthday problem?.............................
Regards,
Tobias
Ditto. No one seems to have an answer for this. Please someone! :disappointed:
I finally had to add a hard coded link in the html version for my forums' calendar for the users to click.

[memobug]

EVENTS

I have taken a crack at fixing the event problems. They are related to the fact that the database as of 3.0.3 now has the dates stored as an integer timestamp (big number) and this combull script expects them to be stored as a MM-DD-YYYY date format. There is also an issue related to the fact that there are now start and end dates associated with each event, and a separate issue related to the possible existence of private calendars.

If someone wants to PM me with their email address I can send instructions on how to modify the script to print events. This will help debug it. If you can't use an editor to modify the script and test the results, please don't bother PM'ing at this point. This is for debugging purposes only. I will send you a piece of code that replaces the CALENDAR section of commbull.php. It is ugly because it has the existing lines commented out with corrections inserted. We'll test it then clean it up before publishing it.

BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays are more messed up. The storage order MDY changed around and the script also has a bug in it that would prevent it from working properly if the birthday window (30, 60 days) wrapped a year end. I got it printing the current month's birthdays, but with 3500+ users, there is basically no point for me in taking the birthday thing any further. I am not going to acknowledge 300+ birthdays in the monthly newsletter anyway.

I suspect that there is a way to reuse code from the forumhome to do that, I might look at it if I have the chance but I have a lot of important things pressing.

PLEASE CONTACT ME BY PM ONLY, so we don't clutter this thread until we have a solution. Include your EMAIL address if you want code to test.

Regards,

Matt

[grandeur_69]

hi everyone ... i'm going to look into fixing some of these bugs, including all the calendar stuff, but i am currently traveling/working in Europe and won't be back till January. I now have it running on over 30 vB's (all on a couple of our servers) and it works really well ... we send out about 100,000 mailouts between all the forums.

[dethfire]

hi everyone ... i'm going to look into fixing some of these bugs, including all the calendar stuff, but i am currently traveling/working in Europe and won't be back till January. I now have it running on over 30 vB's (all on a couple of our servers) and it works really well ... we send out about 100,000 mailouts between all the forums.

grandeur_69 thanks, my 13k member forum still times out before preview

[memobug]

grandeur_69 thanks, my 13k member forum still times out before preview
Does it preview ok if you deselect the Registered members and just leave Admins or Moderators?

Regards,

Matt

[dethfire]

Does it preview ok if you deselect the Registered members and just leave Admins or Moderators?

Regards,

Matt

yeah it works if I uncheck registered

[sfowler39]

How do we make this an automation procedure? Can this be a schedule task to run weekly or daily or monthly? This question has been asked now 3 times.

[grandeur_69]

currently there is no way to run it automated ... at least i haven't tried a way ... i guess the easiest way would be to use a javascript.submit if a certain value is passed through the url ... but, this could cause security issues as you would have to disable the check if you are logged in and someone could send out your newsletters whenever they want ...

... anyone have some other ideas?

[joeychgo]

one wish- is that I can send it only to specific usergroups ---

[Pseudomizer]

one wish- is that I can send it only to specific usergroups ---

Please install the hack and then go into the options and just use them. This feature is already implemented.

Cheers,

[NorwayKid]

hi there,
great hack but i think it still can be improved much, like having a WYSIWYG editor for the extra text, and also having the forums header also, and also to have the latest topics of the news forums shown out completely not just as links,

by the way how can i uninstall this hack !

regards and thank you for a good job.

[SilverBoy]

how I can add this script to Scheduled Tasks to work one time at a week, and seending only 100 email at once (coz of server resources).

[grandeur_69]

there is no uninstall, but if the extra tables in your database don't bother you, just delete the commbull files from the /admincp/

SilverBoy ... please read prevous posts ... this question has been brought up way 2 many times

[joeychgo]

How about the ability to send a TEST email out?

[welo]

How about the ability to send a TEST email out?
Assign yourself to your own usergroup, uncheck everyone else, send test email.

[joeychgo]

I guess that would work -- thanks for the idea.

I think I found a bug --- at least I might have --

If I store my CSS as a file - I lose the style in the newsletter -

[grandeur_69]

yea, i actually just discovered that myself ... as 99.9% of the users of vB don't do this, it's not something i was in a rush to fix

[joeychgo]

yea, i actually just discovered that myself ... as 99.9% of the users of vB don't do this, it's not something i was in a rush to fix


I found it cuz im also trying to speed up my board

[welo]

This should help with that (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=569126&postcount=117). :)

[futureye]

can any body write here
the modify the profile.php

but the steps are not clear to me
am adminstarting an arabic site
right to left

[grandeur_69]

permanent fix for using css as a file:
in includes/adminfunctions_template.php

find: if (preg_match('#^<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="(clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-\w{8}-0*' . $styleid . '\.css)" />$#', $csscontents, $match))
replace with: if (preg_match('#^<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="'.$vboptions['bburl'].'/(clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-\w{8}-0*' . $styleid . '\.css)" />$#', $csscontents, $match))


and, find: $QUERY[] = "css = '" . addslashes("<link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\$cssfilename\" />") . "'";

replace with: $QUERY[] = "css = '" . addslashes("<link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\"{$vboptions['bburl']}/$cssfilename\" />") . "'";

cheers

[welo]

Tested and confirmed. Thanks man. Works like a charm.

[Toneboy]

Another question (different from my usual, recurring one!), which template do you need to edit to change some of the standard text?

Specifically I want to permanently change the line, "Currently, community updates are sent weekly." to "Currently, community updates are sent monthly."

Thanks.

[grandeur_69]

you'll find all the phrase information in the file commbull_phrases.php

[docvader]

Installed quite easily. Excellent job to all who contributed.

[docvader]

It's working great. Truly impressive. But, one question, and it really isn't important; I was just curious. I've got five styles on my board, one parent, four children. The email goes out in the parent style, which was my old default style. Is there any way of sending it out using one of the children's styles, which also happens to be my current "default" style???

[CSS59]

installed and I am almost done. but I can't figure this out:

Go into phrase manager, search for 'commbull' and update

What do you mean by update?

I cant see "Send Comm Bull" in my cp

[memobug]

The combull is in the USERS part of AdminCP
The Phrase Manager is a different tool, used to manage phrases, also in AdminCP

Regards,

Matt

[CSS59]

The combull is in the USERS part of AdminCP
The Phrase Manager is a different tool, used to manage phrases, also in AdminCP



I understand matt, however, I am having this problem:

Upload admin/index.php and profile.php to your server, then go to your Admin CP and look for the "Send Community Bulletin" option under "Users" If you find that the option isn't showing up on the control panel, then it's because you aren't using the default phrases. Go into phrase manager, search for 'commbull' and update.

I do not see it under USERS so I must go into the phrase manager and update? Im not sure how this update is done?

[memobug]

Well, I did not have that problem (you are expanding the Users block and not just looking beneath it) but if you go into Languages&Phrases under it you will see Search In Phrases and in there you can type in commbull (two mm!), click Phrase Text AND Variable name and see if anything comes up.

For instance, if you click receive_email_from_commbull you should see the phrase "Receive Community Bulletin Newsletter (Approximately 1 per month)" which, by the way is a question someone was asking here. Sometimes if you simply Save it with no changes it will fix up the phrases. I don't know why.

particularly you want to be sure you have this:

Control Panel Global Phrases Containing 'commbull'
Varname $vbphrase[commbull]
Text Send Community Bulletin

Hope that helps. Sorry it is not a problem I had so I am a little amiss as to how to fix it.

Regards,

Matt

[CSS59]

. Sometimes if you simply Save it with no changes it will fix up the phrases. I don't know why.



Thank you! I went and edited each one saving w/o changes and now it works :) thank you

[Viks]

I am going to instal this hack on my forum.

- Can anyone here pls let me know if is this works ok with vB3.0.3?
- also do i need to back any other file besides profile.php and admincp/index.php?

- any known issues with vb 3.0.3? sorry but cant really go through all 10 pages of messages.

I did come across few post where users were having issues with vb3.0.3! question - does it come with uninstaller as well?

[docvader]

I had no problem installing it on 3.03. It was easy, and it functions superbly.

[memobug]

I am going to instal this hack on my forum.

- Can anyone here pls let me know if is this works ok with vB3.0.3?
- also do i need to back any other file besides profile.php and admincp/index.php?

- any known issues with vb 3.0.3? sorry but cant really go through all 10 pages of messages.

I did come across few post where users were having issues with vb3.0.3! question - does it come with uninstaller as well?There are some issues with operation, but not many problems with installation. Mainly, the coming events and birthdays don't work under vb3.0.3 You just don't get anything. I also documented a minor bug affecting the sort of one of the listings

For your own education & safety, you should really read through the past posts before installing a hack. Ten or twelve pages is almost nothing. Some of the more popular hacks have many, many more.

I would backup my database. The stock vb scripts you can restore quite easily.

Regards,

Matt

[sfowler39]

You have it set to default apparently when a person installs this - that everyone is to get the newsletter - and if they dont want the newsletter then they have to opt out of it. Is there a way to do this in the opposite way - as to if they want the newsletter they can opt in - i looked at the table and I have appr 500 people and everyone is set to 1 - apparently meaning they get the letter sent via email to them - I have had people say it should be something that they would want to opt into as opting out of.

So my question to you is - is there a quick way to make everyone (500 people ) in my table a 0 instead of a 1 in the receivebulletin field. If there is a quick way to do this - is that the only field that needs to be changed? I would hate to have to go in and change it manually to every record - to a 0 - would take hours.

[memobug]

Hi sfolwer39,

Yes you can do it through phpMyadmin quite easily. I don't know your table prefixes and don't want to give you a bad query but it would take just a second or two to make a change like that across 500 users.

I don't know what type of forum you're running, but unless it is a real privacy concern, I would go ahead and send your first newsletter and test the water. Newsletters aren't sent to anyone who has Receive Admin Email disabled and your newsletter is an admin mailing, so it should be legit.

Be sure to include at the top of your newsletter an instruction similar to the following

This bulletin is emailed (monthly/weekly/whatever) to members of the whatever community. If you are receiving more than one copy it is possible that you have multiple registrations. Instructions at the bottom of this message detail how you can adjust your newsletter settings. If you are unable to do this, please forward a copy of the newsletter to newsletter@whatever.com and let us know if you want to unsubscribe or remove your registration entirely. We have a zero tolerance policy toward spam.

Regards,

Matt

[sfowler39]

Hi sfolwer39,

Yes you can do it through phpMyadmin quite easily. I don't know your table prefixes and don't want to give you a bad query but it would take just a second or two to make a change like that across 500 users.

I don't know what type of forum you're running, but unless it is a real privacy concern, I would go ahead and send your first newsletter and test the water. Newsletters aren't sent to anyone who has Receive Admin Email disabled and your newsletter is an admin mailing, so it should be legit.

Be sure to include at the top of your newsletter an instruction similar to the following



Regards,

Matt
Thanks memobug for your input. I did manage to get all users to be a 0 using phpmyadmin. I have also posted on the homepage that if they want a newsletter emailled to put a checkmark in the box of there cp and then they will get it. I had a lot of users complaining that they didnt want it.

We are on a intranet, and no one really actually went thru the process of signing up to the bb. I imported all the users to a text file from the primary domain controller user manager and then hacked it up for the import along with email addresses and stuff.

So that why all the employees here were confused as to why they are getting this newsletter along with there daily email. Now they can opt in as to opt out.

Thanks again

[joeychgo]

Is this going to be updated?

A few things I would like to see:

1. Send Test Newsletter (or display test newsletter)
2. Ability to send automatically (like every monday or first of the month)

[interfx]

This works great! Installed it, and it worked just perfectly...

One question, how do I modify the html template so that it shows the header logo *.gif file... I can manually edit it in the html preview page - but would like to have this automatically inserted?

Any ideas out there?

interFX

[Pseudomizer]

This works great! Installed it, and it worked just perfectly...

One question, how do I modify the html template so that it shows the header logo *.gif file... I can manually edit it in the html preview page - but would like to have this automatically inserted?

Any ideas out there?

interFX

This is easy. You have the ability to enter additional HTML code at the bottom of your config page. Just enter your logo in there and it will show up at the top. And you do not have to enter this code every time because you save the settings.

Cheers,

[interfx]

Thanks... Now I know what "extra text" means...

Missed that...

[interfx]

One more question, and I try to customize some of the output for this great module...

How would I change the background color for the HTML email beign sent? I found the <body> tage in the commbull.php - add the bgcolor=#FF88FF" - but no background color showing?

Any ideas?

interFX

[Pseudomizer]

One more question, and I try to customize some of the output for this great module...

How would I change the background color for the HTML email beign sent? I found the <body> tage in the commbull.php - add the bgcolor=#FF88FF" - but no background color showing?

Any ideas?

interFX

Grandeur implemented the CSS style. The newsletter should take your CSS style of your vbulletin.

Cheers,

[KW802]

Grandeur implemented the CSS style. The newsletter should take your CSS style of your vbulletin.

Cheers,HHhhhmm..... I'm having the same problem. Does it have an impact if we're saving our CSS as files instead of in the DB?

[Pseudomizer]

HHhhhmm..... I'm having the same problem. Does it have an impact if we're saving our CSS as files instead of in the DB?

Sorry, please ask the author of this hack. I do not know this.

Cheers,

[KW802]

Sorry, please ask the author of this hack. I do not know this.

Cheers,No problem. :)

For now I've solved my problem. First I did the changes here....

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=575783&postcount=147

So that the full paths are picked up. Then I changed "commbull.php" by replacing:$sql = "SELECT * FROM ". TABLE_PREFIX."style WHERE userselect > 0 LIMIT 1";... with $sql = "SELECT * FROM ". TABLE_PREFIX."style WHERE userselect > 0 ORDER BY 'displayorder' LIMIT 1";so that the style selected is the one with the lowest display order.

This solves my problem becase my default is set to be lowest so that it shows up first in the drop-down box. :)

Thanks,
Kevin

[sabret00the]

heh i changed that query so that it displays a random skin :D

i also added a header into it and also redesigned the commbull so it displays the new threads vB style

if anyones interested let me know, i'll chop out the header and post up the new commbull.php

[traderx]

heh i changed that query so that it displays a random skin :D

i also added a header into it and also redesigned the commbull so it displays the new threads vB style

if anyones interested let me know, i'll chop out the header and post up the new commbull.php

Pls do post

[interfx]

Has anyone implemented this with VB Advanced and some of the new modules they have developed (ie. VBa Links, ...) Same question on ReviewPost - I incorporated using xpostincluder...

I would ideally like to have the newest links also included in the newsletter type email sent.

Anyone implement something like this?

interFX

[sabret00the]

Has anyone implemented this with VB Advanced and some of the new modules they have developed (ie. VBa Links, ...) Same question on ReviewPost - I incorporated using xpostincluder...

I would ideally like to have the newest links also included in the newsletter type email sent.

Anyone implement something like this?

interFX
i was gonna add a photopost module but in the end coudln't be bothered for today lol

[sabret00the]

Pls do post rightio here you go :)

[diettalk]

Thanks.. it looks great.

rightio here you go :)

[sabret00the]

Thanks.. it looks great.
not a problem, i just needed a cleaner look myself so thought it's good to share, it's a less cluttered loook and makes it easier for me to add add-on's like photopost and stuff like that

[interfx]

I also just tried your version... Like it alot...

Let us know when you add in other add-ons like photopost, etc...

InterFX

[traderx]

Thanks for the upload sabret00the.....

Will there ever be an update so that it will be able to be put on a schedule?

For some reason I am not getting any formatting like my forum, it's all white (see gif). I did change it to be able to use my css as a file thinking that was it, but it wasn't... see sig for site layout

Thanks

[sabret00the]

I also just tried your version... Like it alot...

Let us know when you add in other add-ons like photopost, etc...

InterFX will do :)

[sabret00the]

Thanks for the upload sabret00the.....

Will there ever be an update so that it will be able to be put on a schedule?

For some reason I am not getting any formatting like my forum, it's all white (see gif). I did change it to be able to use my css as a file thinking that was it, but it wasn't... see sig for site layout

Thanks
you can't use css as files as it doesn't realise that it should download the file, for that you'd have to put in a large enough image for your email client to ask if it can download the file, the short version is that you'd be better off using css normally.

i had an idea of making it check how you're using css switching it then switching it back after use but i forgot, the hack author will probably do this though.

regarding sending it as a scheduled task, i've not looked into it although it's an idea, it would also require stripping all of the settings half of the hack.

[traderx]

regarding sending it as a scheduled task, i've not looked into it although it's an idea, it would also require stripping all of the settings half of the hack.

Ok... I think that this would be a core feature of this hack, I just wonder why it hadn't been thought of from the get-go

[sabret00the]

Ok... I think that this would be a core feature of this hack, I just wonder why it hadn't been thought of from the get-go simply because it's a newsletter so they expect you to put in information, rather than a subscription which is already available

oops forgot to say i tried to consolidate some of the space, i'm thinking of adding a right column that will hold a features member, featured forum and then below you could add add-on's like latest arcade score, latest quiz, latest journal entry, and ofcourse latest photo (from your gallery) good idea? bad idea?

does the hack author wanna save me the effort and do it instead :lol:

[traderx]

simply because it's a newsletter so they expect you to put in information, rather than a subscription which is already available

oops forgot to say i tried to consolidate some of the space, i'm thinking of adding a right column that will hold a features member, featured forum and then below you could add add-on's like latest arcade score, latest quiz, latest journal entry, and ofcourse latest photo (from your gallery) good idea? bad idea?

does the hack author wanna save me the effort and do it instead :lol:
I think that is a great idea. I have just install the journal hack and think it would be a good addition to the news letter. On my site (4xtraders.com/forum) I have added a left and right column to my whole site (use header and footer), could there be a way that this could be included in the html email of your commbull.php that you created. I looked around yours and was getting lost as to where/how I could do this.

Just wondering, could it be possible to pull whats send in the emails to my www.site.com/index.php? I would to have some of these items on my main page. I have created a vb powered page but have no clue how to pull those items into it..... just an idea

Thanks
Coll

PS.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!!!

[memobug]

yeah it works if I uncheck registered
I changed my ISP, and commbull started timing out for me during the mailing. I have users-at-once set to 300 users at a time, as I did before.

I noticed that sometimes scripts time out after 30 seconds. It looks like there is a php setting you can make to allow scripts to run longer than 30 seconds - up to 900 seconds, for example.

set_time_limit(900);


Maybe adding that in near the top would help? I tried it in online.php for example, which sometimes times out on me and I didn't get any errors.

I have just sent my newsletter this month, so I can't test this but if someone who's having timeout problems wants to give it a try... Please let me know if it helps.

Regards,

Matt

[sabret00the]

I think that is a great idea. I have just install the journal hack and think it would be a good addition to the news letter. On my site (4xtraders.com/forum) I have added a left and right column to my whole site (use header and footer), could there be a way that this could be included in the html email of your commbull.php that you created. I looked around yours and was getting lost as to where/how I could do this.

Just wondering, could it be possible to pull whats send in the emails to my www.site.com/index.php? I would to have some of these items on my main page. I have created a vb powered page but have no clue how to pull those items into it..... just an idea

Thanks
Coll

PS.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!!!
yeah it would be easy to port the code over :)

[sabret00the]

I changed my ISP, and commbull started timing out for me during the mailing. I have users-at-once set to 300 users at a time, as I did before.

I noticed that sometimes scripts time out after 30 seconds. It looks like there is a php setting you can make to allow scripts to run longer than 30 seconds - up to 900 seconds, for example.

set_time_limit(900);


Maybe adding that in near the top would help? I tried it in online.php for example, which sometimes times out on me and I didn't get any errors.

I have just sent my newsletter this month, so I can't test this but if someone who's having timeout problems wants to give it a try... Please let me know if it helps.

Regards,

Matt
i would recommend that you set it to 100 users max (at a time) in all honesty.

[memobug]

i would recommend that you set it to 100 users max (at a time) in all honesty.
100 would be fine if there were an autorefresh capability. I have about 4000 users and better things to do ;)

I did hear back from the ISP:

Thank you for writing in. There was a setting in the server for time out as 30 seconds. We have increased it to 300 seconds. So you will not face the problem any more. Please feel free to contact us for any further assistance.
Regards,

Matt

[sabret00the]

100 would be fine if there were an autorefresh capability. I have about 4000 users and better things to do ;)

I did hear back from the ISP:


Regards,

Matt
that ability is in there already, set it to do em every 60 seconds and it'll do it ;)

[Viks]

Hi Grandeur_69,
I installed the Commbull today... and did recieve a bulletin on my 2 test aco++++s so it appears that it is working.
1. However, i got the following error during installation -

User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ...Already Update

2. When I click on 'send email' or 'send' to send out the commbull - then after a while i get "your request timed out" page - does this mean that the commbull did not go to all folks on the forum??

overall.. a realy COOL hack.

<thumbs up>

[jamesk]

I'm not sure if I missed this question,but is there any way to automate it?

[traderx]

Originally Posted by traderx
I think that is a great idea. I have just install the journal hack and think it would be a good addition to the news letter. On my site (4xtraders.com/forum) I have added a left and right column to my whole site (use header and footer), could there be a way that this could be included in the html email of your commbull.php that you created. I looked around yours and was getting lost as to where/how I could do this.

Just wondering, could it be possible to pull whats send in the emails to my www.site.com/index.php? I would to have some of these items on my main page. I have created a vb powered page but have no clue how to pull those items into it..... just an idea

Thanks
Coll

PS.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!!!!yeah it would be easy to port the code over :)

Mind sharing how this might be done for us php newbies such as myself:) I looked around the commbull.php but got lost. I have been playing around with vb powerd template pages (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=62164&page=17&pp=15) and would like to add these items from commbull, so some examples on how I can do it would be great

[sabret00the]

Mind sharing how this might be done for us php newbies such as myself:) I looked around the commbull.php but got lost. I have been playing around with vb powerd template pages (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=62164&page=17&pp=15) and would like to add these items from commbull, so some examples on how I can do it would be great
none of the additions are in the code yet, but although i'm not quite sure as i haven't looked i'm pretty sure all vBindex and vBadvanced add-on's can work on any vB powered page.

[traderx]

none of the additions are in the code yet, but although i'm not quite sure as i haven't looked i'm pretty sure all vBindex and vBadvanced add-on's can work on any vB powered page.


Really... I had thought you would need to have them installed, will look into it

[sabret00the]

Really... I had thought you would need to have them installed, will look into it
let me know how it goes :)

[jluerken]

Is there a way to send out a newsletter automatically once every 1 of a month?

The template says: Currently, community updates are sent weekly.
Is this really done automatically or do I have to change this text?

[docvader]

I have a few styles on my board. Any way of choosing which style this bulletin gets sent out in? Right now, it emails out as my parent style.

[jluerken]

permanent fix for using css as a file:
in includes/adminfunctions_template.php

find: if (preg_match('#^<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="(clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-\w{8}-0*' . $styleid . '\.css)" />$#', $csscontents, $match))
replace with: if (preg_match('#^<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="'.$vboptions['bburl'].'/(clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-\w{8}-0*' . $styleid . '\.css)" />$#', $csscontents, $match))


and, find: $QUERY[] = "css = '" . addslashes("<link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\$cssfilename\" />") . "'";

replace with: $QUERY[] = "css = '" . addslashes("<link rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\" href=\"{$vboptions['bburl']}/$cssfilename\" />") . "'";

cheers


Its working for the newsletter hack now but my normal pages are not working anymore now.

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.clanforums.com/forum/http://www.clanforums.com/forum/clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-63c43471-00090.css" />

but it should be
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.clanforums.com/forum/clientscript/vbulletin_css/style-63c43471-00090.css" />

How can I fix this now for all normal pages?

[jluerken]

Ok I found the problem.

If you have photopost installed DO NOT include this part into your global.php
http://www.photopost.com/members/forum/showthread.php?t=110185&highlight=stylesheet

[wirewolf]

Guys, don't mess with your forum stylesheets for the commbull html mail. Leave your current storage alone system for your forum. (uness you want to change it for your forum itself). As for the commbull email html calling for a stylesheet, you make a copy of your default stylesheet, rename it (something like - vb.css, as I did), place it in a different folder outside of your forum's directory ( I out it in a folder in my site root, also did the same for my forums' logo), and then in the html preview section of the commbull.php file, type in the full url path to these two files.:
example:
http://yoursite.com/bulletincssfolder/vb.css
http://yoursite.com/bulletincssfolder/logo.gif
Around line 318:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://yoursite.com.net/bulletincssfolder/vb.css" /> //hard code in your stylesheet - I copied my defalut forum sheet, renamed it as vb.css, and placed it in a different folder - note full url - did same with full url to my logo too - see below
</head>
<body><br />
<img border="0" src="http://yoursite.com/bulletincssfolder/logo.jpg" width="80" height="80"><font size="4" face="arial,helvetica"><B>&nbsp; <a href="{$vboptions['bburl']}">
{$lang['mailsubject']}</a></b></font><br /><br />
Once you have established your site sytlesheet enough, you shouldn't have to make too many changes to this commbull email html sheet. Even if you do, just recopy your new forum sheet, naming it as the vb.css, and replace the old vb.css one.
I played enough with this stylesheet and logo thing, and I found this to be the easiest answer. You have to remember, the user is calling for the stylesheet and logo from their email client, not directly from your site.
John

[sabret00the]

Is there a way to send out a newsletter automatically once every 1 of a month?

The template says: Currently, community updates are sent weekly.
Is this really done automatically or do I have to change this text?
where does it say that? it is hardcoded though and not automatically.

[sabret00the]

Ok I found the problem.

If you have photopost installed DO NOT include this part into your global.php
http://www.photopost.com/members/forum/showthread.php?t=110185&highlight=stylesheet
i've got zachery's version of that installed, hence why i could use css at files even for this.

[sabret00the]

Guys, don't mess with your forum stylesheets for the commbull html mail. Leave your current storage alone system for your forum. (uness you want to change it for your forum itself). As for the commbull email html calling for a stylesheet, you make a copy of your default stylesheet, rename it (something like - vb.css, as I did), place it in a different folder outside of your forum's directory ( I out it in a folder in my site root, also did the same for my forums' logo), and then in the html preview section of the commbull.php file, type in the full url path to these two files.:
example:
http://yoursite.com/bulletincssfolder/vb.css
http://yoursite.com/bulletincssfolder/logo.gif
Around line 318:

Once you have established your site sytlesheet enough, you shouldn't have to make too many changes to this commbull email html sheet. Even if you do, just recopy your new forum sheet, naming it as the vb.css, and replace the old vb.css one.
I played enough with this stylesheet and logo thing, and I found this to be the easiest answer. You have to remember, the user is calling for the stylesheet and logo from their email client, not directly from your site.
John
you shouldn't even need to do that, if you're storing css as files and have a large enough image, then your email client will download the stylesheet (with the help of zachery's hack) automatically, else it will use it as part of the page generation at which rate you get it anyway.

[jluerken]

where does it say that? it is hardcoded though and not automatically.

Its in the commbull phrases file but I don't see a sheduled task or something like this which will run the commbull really once a week.

[wirewolf]

Editing the html email in the commbull.php file.
In the commbull.php file look for (line numbers are approx.):

// line 44
// get css file// comment out
//$sql = "SELECT * FROM ". TABLE_PREFIX."style WHERE userselect > 0 LIMIT 1";
//$cssrow = $DB_site->query_first($sql);
//$css = $cssrow['css'];
// add full site url to gradients, etc in css
//$css = str_replace(' url('," url({$vboptions['bburl']}/",$css);


//line 309
//$uselogo = $cbgLogo ? "<img src=\"$cbgLogo\">" : ''; // comment out


// line 317
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> // start here!!
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://yoursite.com.net/folder/vb.css" /> //hard code in your stylesheet - I copied my defalut forum sheet, renamed it as vb.css, and placed it in a different folder - note full url - did same with full url to my logo too - see below
</head>
<body><br />
<img border="0" src="http://yoursite.com/folder/logo2.jpg"><font size="4" face="arial,helvetica"><B>&nbsp; <a href="{$vboptions['bburl']}">
{$lang['mailsubject']}</a></b></font><br /><br />
<table class="tborder" width="80%" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="1"> // note table width - you have to set this in about four places as you will see in the other tags below
<tr>
<td class="alt1Active">$extramaterial_parsed</td>
</tr>
</table>
<br />
<table class="tborder" width="80%" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="1">
<tr>
<td class="tcat" colspan="2"><font size="3" face="arial,helvetica"><b>
Current Forum Activity</b></td> //typed this phrase in directly - planning to add a phrase variable
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="alt1Active">$lang[todaysdate] $todaysdate1.<br />{$lang['activitysincede']} $todaysdate2 $lang[activitysince]</td>
</tr>
</table><br />


// line 359
$HTML_footer = "<font size=\"2\">$lang[tounsubscribe]
<a href=\"{$vboptions['bburl']}/profile.php?do=editoptions\">{$lang['unsubscribelink']}</a>. //didn't change anything here except for language
$lang[changeprofile]
<br /><br />
$lang[bestregards]<br /><br /><br /></body></html>";

// line 513 - the other sections - most replies, most views, etc. follow this format. it's the table width that counts here.
<table class="tborder" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="6" width="80%">
<tr>
<td class="tcat" colspan="7"><b>{$lang['latestthreads']}</b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1Active">
<td><b>{$vbphrase['title']}:</b></td>
<td><b>{$vbphrase['thread_starter']}:</b></td>
<td><b>{$lang['threadstartdate']}:</b></td>
<td><b>{$vbphrase['replies']}:</b></td>
<td><b>{$vbphrase['views']}:</b></td>
<td><b>{$vbphrase['last_post']}:</b></td>
<td><b>Last Post by:</b></td> // typed in directly. planning to add a phrase variable
</tr>

// line 918
<table class="tborder" border="0" width="80%"> // note width
<tr class="tcat">
<td><font size="2" face="arial,helvetica"><b>{$lang['upcoming_events']}: <a href="http://yoursite.com/forum/calendar.php?">Click here to
view this Months' Calendar</a></b></td> // note hard code to calendar
</tr>

// line 1064
<table border="0" class="tborder" width="80%"> // note width
<tr class="tcat">
<td colspan="2"><b>{$vbphrase['user']} {$vbphrase['info']}:<b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td><b>{$lang['userdetails']}</b></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td>{$lang['yourusername']}: "\$username"</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td><a href="{$vboptions['bburl']}/login.php?do=lostpw">{$lang['forgotpass']}?</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td>{$lang['youhave']} \$posts {$vbphrase['posts']}</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td>{$lang['youregistered']} \$joindate</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt1">
<td>{$lang['yourlastactivity']} \$lastactivity</td>
</tr>
</table><br />
Try to keep the html email simple and as small (file size) as possible. Users get pissed (as I do) with over sized html emails. Mine is only about 15 kb's
I didn't mess around with the poll sections. I only have three on my forum, and thay don't update much. But if you want to edit the html for these, or any part of the html, just look in the commbull.php file for any <table>, <tr>, <td> start tags.
Basically, the html output is a bunch of table structures, but they are spread out in the commbull.php file. I'm going to experiment with making a commbull html email template with the variables in it, and just have the commbull.php script call it up. Language changes are easy, just go to the commbull_phrase.php file (thinking of switching that over to phrase variables too!)
As always, MAKE and save a copy of the file prior to editing. Make your changes a little at a time, then send the bulletin to yourself (admin) and take a look. I must have sent myself at least twenty before I was satisfied.

Here's my how my final edit html email bulletin looks like:
http://shipmodeling.net/forumnewsletter.html

[wirewolf]

you shouldn't even need to do that, if you're storing css as files and have a large enough image, then your email client will download the stylesheet (with the help of zachery's hack) automatically, else it will use it as part of the page generation at which rate you get it anyway.
Haven't seen zachery's hack. What does it do?
I didn't feel like muking around with other files. This works quite nicely. I do have my froum css's stored as in file (s). My image is small too.

[CtrlAltDel]

thanks man, great to have this back on the vb3 board

[rex_b]

I have this hack installed and it has been working but now whenever I send something it thinks for a minute then brings up a page saying "The page cannot be displayed" . Any ideas on what is going wrong?

[sabret00the]

Haven't seen zachery's hack. What does it do?
I didn't feel like muking around with other files. This works quite nicely. I do have my froum css's stored as in file (s). My image is small too.
basically makes sure you can use full urls's for on-file stylesheets :)

I have this hack installed and it has been working but now whenever I send something it thinks for a minute then brings up a page saying "The page cannot be displayed" . Any ideas on what is going wrong?have you installed any hacks since this?

[rex_b]

To be frank, I have no idea. I'm sure I have. Should I just reinstall this?

[sabret00the]

To be frank, I have no idea. I'm sure I have. Should I just reinstall this?
would be a good idea :)

worth a try anyhoo.

[trackpads]

I really want to keep using this but so many of my emails seem to keep getting blocked by spam blockers like Yahoo I instead decided to send it out via PM. The problem is that there is no VBcode option.

Is there a way to make the text version (or html) format for vbcode so I could the mass pm hack to send this out instead?

thanks again,

-Jason

[sabret00the]

I really want to keep using this but so many of my emails seem to keep getting blocked by spam blockers like Yahoo I instead decided to send it out via PM. The problem is that there is no VBcode option.

Is there a way to make the text version (or html) format for vbcode so I could the mass pm hack to send this out instead?

thanks again,

-Jason
you could convert the block that makes a new thread so it sends out pm's instead :shrug:

[Pseudomizer]

you could convert the block that makes a new thread so it sends out pm's instead :shrug:

Or just use the Mass PM Hack for VB and copy and paste the preview email from this hack into the PM field to all users. :classic:

Cheers,

[jackiewill]

My Comm Bull has never shown up in my Admin CP although it works well. How can I get it to show up in my Admin CP?

I was able to send one out but now that time has passed I can't remember how I did it!! Sorry to be such a sclub.

Thanks,
JW

[sabret00the]

in your admincp/index.php

find

construct_nav_group($vbphrase['users']);
}
// ***
if (can_administer('canadminpermissions'))
{


and above it add
construct_nav_option($vbphrase['commbull'], 'commbull.php', '<br />');

[memobug]

My Comm Bull has never shown up in my Admin CP although it works well. How can I get it to show up in my Admin CP?

I was able to send one out but now that time has passed I can't remember how I did it!! Sorry to be such a sclub.

Thanks,
JW
1. You might have never actually completed the installation. There are links at the top and bottom of commbull.php when you run it that are in a small font and hard to see, mixed in with the credits. Either of those links will install the phrases and put commbull in your admincp

2. You might just have a hard time finding it. It's in the admincp User menu, if you expand it and look toward the bottom.

Regards,

Matt

[H2k]

Hello

After Installing this hack .. i check the Profile .. ther eis one options is blank ihave attach the Pic u can see it blow..

other think i try to send Mailling .. and i t send only for 100 user and i have over then 10000 user why it dont send for all .. it just show me

100

and ALL DONE

and retern me to the Admin Page . :ermm:

[sabret00the]

the second bit, i have no idea what you're on about, but the reason the option wasn't installed was because you never installed the phrases correctly, repease the installtion steps.

[Pseudomizer]

Hello


After Installing this hack .. i check the Profile .. ther eis one options is blank ihave attach the Pic u can see it blow..



other think i try to send Mailling .. and i t send only for 100 user and i have over then 10000 user why it dont send for all .. it just show me

100

and ALL DONE

and retern me to the Admin Page . :ermm:

Depends to what group of people you are sending it to. You can choose this in the configuration menu. If you have done this for all groups and its still sending it only to 100 people then i would check the total number of emails per page and if you have activated the automatic javascript next page option. Perhaps you have disabled javascript in your browser.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

[internetjunkie]

Well, I did not have that problem (you are expanding the Users block and not just looking beneath it) but if you go into Languages&Phrases under it you will see Search In Phrases and in there you can type in commbull (two mm!), click Phrase Text AND Variable name and see if anything comes up.

For instance, if you click receive_email_from_commbull you should see the phrase "Receive Community Bulletin Newsletter (Approximately 1 per month)" which, by the way is a question someone was asking here. Sometimes if you simply Save it with no changes it will fix up the phrases. I don't know why.

particularly you want to be sure you have this:

Control Panel Global Phrases Containing 'commbull'
Varname $vbphrase[commbull]
Text Send Community Bulletin

Hope that helps. Sorry it is not a problem I had so I am a little amiss as to how to fix it.

Regards,

Matt


that worked for me as well. thank you very much!!!

[skizzy203]

I dont think that my phrases installed correctly either because I had both issues with the installation: memobugs "community bulletin option" not showing up in admin CP. - It constructs the table, but there is no text in the table because the phrase is not available (installed correctly).

Can someone check on this as I have noticed that there are a few people that are having this problem and it should be resolved so that everyone can take advantage of this excellent hack.

Fixing this "phrase installation issue" would address the concerns about the blank subscription options in the user profile.php as it is refrencing phrases that aren't installed as well.

- As for the phrases being installed, there is not an option to do this once your files are online, i go to click install instructions and get the following:

User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
User table altered... Failed (Possibly already updated)
Phrase table updated (profile.php 1 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 2 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (profile.php 3 of 3)...Already Update
Phrase table updated (admincp/index.php) ...Already Update

When I search for commbull in the phrase manager, I only find 3 phrases...

How can I reinstall just the phrases without manually adding them all..

- Nevermind... I went back into those 3 phrases and resaved without editing them as suggested memobug... now the options show up.

Sidenote: I would really like to see someone come up with a solution to the "Upcoming Events" issue as well because this feature would be very useful on my bulletin because I post many car events.

[Reeve of shinra]

Question: we are creating our own weekly newsletter. We're adding alot of hot stuff, whats going on around the forum, etc and some of the info in this hack would be a perfect compliment. Is it possible to output the info on a page, so our staff can copy/paste it into thier thread rather than emailing it out to everyone? Thanks!

[Pseudomizer]

Question: we are creating our own weekly newsletter. We're adding alot of hot stuff, whats going on around the forum, etc and some of the info in this hack would be a perfect compliment. Is it possible to output the info on a page, so our staff can copy/paste it into thier thread rather than emailing it out to everyone? Thanks!

Sure. It should work like this:

- Create a hidden forum where your staff has access
- Create a user for the newsletter with access to this forum
- in the commbull options check the create a thread with user blabla in subforum xyz
- uncomment in the commbull PHP file the mail command

Solution: Thread will be created, your staff can copy and paste it wherever they want, and no emails will be sent out

Cheers,

[Reeve of shinra]

Simple enough =) Thanks.

[jzewatsky]

Great Hack.... I too had an issue with Admin CP phrase not showing up and found that it was actually there, it was just covered by the box around it. Searching for the phrase and saving it again brought it into view....same for the user CP. I'll be watching this thread for additons specifically a way to select a certian number of threads out of a specific forum and the ability to automate the bulletin...great hack.

[Viks]

Having issues with Events and Calender not showing up in bulletins.. if anyone knows how to fix.. please share!

thanks

Vik

[LadyBeth]

We have that issue also... :(

[LadyBeth]

We also have problems emailing since updating to 3.0.6 and readding the hack. It used to work. Now even set as low as 50 users we get the following....see attached.

I really love this hack and really need it to work again. Please help.
Thank you so very much!!! :)

LB~

[iSpanish]

Nice hack

installed when i using vB 3.0.1

and now using 3.0.6

*installed*

[LadyBeth]

Please help...really want this hack to work again.
LB

[joeychgo]

I jsut installed it on 3.06 last night - smooth install

[Viks]

Hi guys,
I do not show upcoming event in the CommBull newsletter. im running vB3.0.3. My settings are ok..i've checked that.

As per this thread there is an known issue with events not showing up in the newsletter. Has anyone been able to fix that??!?

thanks,

Viks

[tormodg]

Hi guys,
I do not show upcoming event in the CommBull newsletter. im running vB3.0.3. My settings are ok..i've checked that.

As per this thread there is an known issue with events not showing up in the newsletter. Has anyone been able to fix that??!?


thanks,

Viks
Works fine in 3.0.6.

*clicks install*

[tormodg]

Sorry, didn't mean to quote Viks. I forget that the quick reply creates a quote in this forum. :devious:

[tormodg]

Hm...it worked fine during testing with my mods and admins, but when I start sending out the commbull to all my members, I have to set the limit to 5 per page to avoid a 30 second timeout (default at my host).

After 3 pages I get this error:

Warning: Division by zero in \admincp\commbull.php on line 1127
Sending mail to users .... .... (page 1/0)

The previous page read "page 3/165". I have about 880 members.

What is causing this?

[tormodg]

Ah...here is the MySQL error:

Invalid SQL: SELECT * FROM vb_user WHERE receivebulletin=1 AND IF (options & 16,1,0)=1 AND usergroupid IN(2,3,5,6,7,18) LIMIT 0,
mysql error: You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 1

mysql error number: 1064

[tormodg]

Took out this bit and now it works:

AND IF (options & 16,1,0)=1

This is the check for "receive admin emails".

[Viks]

Any help on event and calender section from folks here!?

grandeur_69, is it becoz the way dates are handled by commbulll?

[Viks]

can someone here pls help me with the calender events... also how can I fix the newsletter further, i need to make it look a little more neater. pls PM me. thanks.

[Viks]

thanks memobug for helping me out with calender issue.

I have noticed that for some odd reason, Commbull is also picking up threads older than the cut off date i specify during mailout!!
is someone else also having this issue??

not sure wat is wrong

vik

[Lee Wilde]

Thanks for a BRILLIANT hack grandeur_69 - this will make life much easier for me.

I apologise if this question has already been raised. I searched the thread but haven't found the answer I need.

I would like to remove the html version altogether and send to everyone in plain text.

I tried simply deleting everything in the preview HTML field....but that only results in receiving a blank email.

Thank you, any assistance/suggestions would be appreciated.

[memobug]

thanks memobug for helping me out with calender issue.

I have noticed that for some odd reason, Commbull is also picking up threads older than the cut off date i specify during mailout!!
is someone else also having this issue??

not sure wat is wrong

vik

As you've found, commbull is designed to select threads opened or replied to during the reporting period. I didn't like that too much because I keep getting the same ancient threads, particularly in the Most Replies and Most Views areas, so I changed it to use only threads started during the reporting period

My commbull.php is pretty hacked up but generally you want to

1. Look for a line that looks like this

$datesql = "AND (lastpost>$olddate OR dateline>$olddate)";
and replace it with this:
$datesql = "AND (dateline>$olddate)";

2. You'll also need to check the box in the commbull setup titled "Select Items to include in your mailing.... Only include threads that have been started or replied to since this date? YES

Let me know if this produces the desired result.

Regards,

Matt

[memobug]

Thanks for a BRILLIANT hack grandeur_69 - this will make life much easier for me.

I apologise if this question has already been raised. I searched the thread but haven't found the answer I need.

I would like to remove the html version altogether and send to everyone in plain text.

I tried simply deleting everything in the preview HTML field....but that only results in receiving a blank email.

Thank you, any assistance/suggestions would be appreciated.

Find this bit towards the bottom of commbull.php
if ($user[receivebulletin_type] == '1')
{
/*
$htmlmail = new send_mail($user['email'],"$bbtitle Mailer",$webmasteremail,$subject,$HTML_mailbody);
$htmlmail->changetype('html');
$htmlmail->send();
*/
if (DEBUG_COMMBULL == '0')
{
mail($user[email],$subject,$HTML_mailbody,$htmlEmailHeader);
}
echo ' html ';
}
else

and right before it, insert the new line:
$user[receivebulletin_type]=0;
That should force everyone to text regardless of their setting.

Regards,

Matt

[Lee Wilde]

That works brilliantly! Thanks so much :-)

[Blam Forumz]

Hey guys, love this hack, just a bit of a problem

in the html version that gets psoted automatically, it doesnt include the stats of the user it simply saus

$username, $whatever etc

[diettalk]

Don't forget about us.. we would like to have a functioning calendar too.

thanks memobug for helping me out with calender issue.

vik

[jp2]

Does this hack work on 3.0.6?