A few remarks/suggestions -

LDM is pre-configured to use Jeroen Wijering's media player to handle videos in .flv and mp4/m4v formats, but this player does not handle .swf format.

The error message that you have posted seems to have an incomplete url. It should continue after "stre". I tried looking at your site, but did not find any videos to test.

White blank pages are a sign of internal configuration/code problems, and you need to find out the problem. There are a series of suggestions in the wiki at http://www.eirma.org/wikis/index.php/Common_Problems

There is a (still experimental) extra, ffmpeg-utils, in the release which will extract the first frame from a video to use as thumbnail.

Happy to help further if needed.

thanks...

I removed the videos after they didn't work...
Its only the .swf that didn't but it not a huge deal... most of the videos i get are .fla

I will check the WIKI for the white page problem

Isn't anyone else running into problems with LDM and PHP 5.3? I'm getting a ton of these:

PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 55
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 107
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 111
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 119
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 130
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 134
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 142
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 211
PHP Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in D:\Websites\ToE\Forum\includes\init.php on line 389

Yes, I've experienced this. It also hits vbulletin itself in some situations. (The error messages above are in vb code, not in LDM.)

As far as I understand, the problem will be corrected in php 5.3.1 which is due out quite soon.

Hi,

When im going into the settings for this mod i get a message at the top saying - upload_max_filesize 64M >= post_max_size 64M in php.ini file - Large uploads may fail without warning

I cant seem to find this file in order to change the setting, Any help will be appreciated.

Kind Regards

Rob

These are settings in the php.ini file which controls how your server handles php scripts. You should set post_max_size to a value that is somewhat bigger than upload_max_fiesize. The problem happens if people try to upload files that are very slightly smaller than upload_max_filesize, because the added data that accompanies the upload takes the total data over the total size limit but does not trigger a correct error message.

ok thats cool, However where do i find the file php.ini??

I cant seem to find it??

You need to speak to your server administators - unless you manage your own web server - as this is a systems file. Its location varies depending on operating system (Windows/Linux/etc).

yeah ive just discovered that in my cpanel.

However they have upload_max_filesize grayed out so i cant change it.

Just put in a support ticket hopefully they will change it for me....

ill let you know.

Great mod though by the way!

AndrewD,

some suggestions for future versions, if you don't mind:
a) please oh please split administration/settings page into several! it makes an impression of having been created for superhumans who can remember EVERYTHING. :) some settings options are related to each other and it takes so much time to find them after the page was updated...
b) is it possible to somehow tie file ratings with corresponding thread ratings? i thought it would be just great if someone could rate file right from thread view and vice versa, thread view would display actual file rating.
c) maybe that's too advanced for a simple feature request but it would be beneficial to have means of accepting large file uploads. by large i mean greater than post_max_filesize. i thought, is it possible to implement ftp integration? like, user uploads large file to the server via ftp - this need not involve LDM - and then adds the file in LDM using ordinary "add entry" page. after submitting uploaded file's ftp url in corresponding field, LDM sees that this url belongs to the same server and instead of storing entered url it moves the file from ftp directory to upload_dir with the same name, or alternate name if "Rename" option was used when adding the file. this way we could have both of two worlds: ftp's robustness and minimum overhead with LDM's no-hassle file additions. i hope i described all this coherently enough...

and, um... i know it may sound too bold but have you ever considered overhauling LDM's phrasing in order to make it more fit for localization in languages structurally different from Western ones? frankly i don't know how Chinese people made their translation, i don't read Chinese and can't tell if it's close to English default but trying to make Russian translation proved to be difficult. for example, many phrases have not-too-meaningful names like ll_available or ll_entry or ll_search - there's no telling where those phrases are used and what for. also, i've encountered many phrases that are used simultaneously in different places with apparently different meaning, and this does add to complexity too, 'cause in many languages there are different forms of adjectives and verbs depending on context and trying to fit one phrase everywhere results in kludgy translation... or worse, if i'd translate a phrase for one page where i've seen it first and wouldn't have noticed that it is used on other page with different phrasing it'd just look ugly. mesa donta speeka inglisha. :( an ideal solution, if tedious, would be to ensure EVERY phrase is unique so it can be translated any way needed. LDM is just too great piece of software to be poorly translated and i'd like to do a quality job but it's not easy...

Thanks very much, these are very helpful suggestions and I will see what I can do. I do not plan to make a new release until vb 4.x is available, because this is likely to require a lot of work. I add specific remarks below.

I fully share your impression, and I have felt for some time that the settings page needs further effort. (It is a lot better than it used to be :)) However, is it more difficult that the main vb admin options page? (That's a serious question.)

I think that I should review the entire integration of LDM with vb, and the use of Ajax code to allow this type of feature to work 'on the fly'.

Again, this is a good idea and I will give it some thought.


I have tried to be consistent, but also to keep the number of phrases to a reasonable minimum to limit the memory overhead and the work needed to provide a translation. I will certainly review the separation of menu item/error message/information.

well i didn't intend to force your decisions or something, as i said i just made some suggestions for future versions. whenever they be. :)

yes, i found it quite difficult to configure LDM properly, at least initially. this mod is a system unto itself, its complexity can be easily compared to the main vbulletin forum software and the learning curve after installing this mod is quite steep. vb admin options are divided in several pages, making them a lot more manageable. of course there's an option to display all settings at once but frankly i only use it rarely to find some option if i'd forget on which page it is located. otherwise i always use separate pages, it's much easier to navigate and it takes a lot less effort to concentrate on settings themselves.

well that would be lovely. i, for instance, plan to use thread view extensively and i think it would be much easier for users to see rated files. right now it can be a bit unintuitive, so i think i'd better turn off thread ratings for announcement forums to avoid threads being rated differently from files themselves.

also, i think it would be beneficial to have tighter integration between LDM and vb for comments and discussion. maybe i have something configured wrong in my test setup but it appears that comments are not stored as announcement thread messages but rather as separate entities viewable only on LDM entry page. i'm not sure yet if that can be done without code changes using only templates but it would be good to display thread replies as comments on LDM page and vice versa, LDM comments as thread replies in announcement thread. better yet, store comments as posts in announcement thread and display the same messages both on LDM entry pages and in announcement thread. this way, it would make a perfect place for users to discuss files without undue confusion as to where to post their comments.

thanks. this feature could spare me from constant headache of tracking user uploads, moving and adding them manually with respect to their original uploaders. i think i must elaborate a bit on my setup for you to understand it better: i run an automotive forum dedicated to technical matters, mostly DIY diagnostics and repair. some of my users are very experienced mechanics and they just love to add to the forum, they make up these "do this and that" manuals with lot of pictures, spare parts replacement sheets and such, these documents can get very large - especially when an user is more like auto mechanic than computer literate user, if you get my meaning. :) so Word documents with uncompressed photos within are not that uncommon and they can easily grow over my max_post_size limit that is set by hosting provider. i just don't have time to pre-process all those documents before uploading, i'd rather give users some reliable way to add large documents so they could do that themselves. ftp is good for uploads but i can't control downloads the way i want and i won't give free anonymous access to my ftp. i have an unlimited traffic hosting plan, in theory, but once the traffic from anonymous ftp soared up to 1000 gb in a month i got a bit uneasy and had to stop that. :(

well i'm not php expert but i don't think that making phrases unique will place unbearable burden on servers with regards to memory. LDM phrases are only used on LDM pages, or so i perceive vbulletin's phrase management. also phrases can be divided in more sections to lower memory load. as for work needed to translate a mod, i've done quite a few already and i can tell you, i spend a lot more time trying to think up an elegant way to translate an English phrase when it is used in several places than simply translating sheer bulk of used-once phrases. if i'm sure that a phrase is used only once, like in help sections or admin sections, i just type. it's fast. when i have to stop and think, it consumes time. and with mods this large, it consumes a lot of time. :(

Thanks for the reply. I'll see what I can do.

This has been a living project now for 5 years, and indeed in the past, memory usage for text strings was an issue, perhaps less so now.

Concerning the linkage between LDM and vb features, initially I was determined to keep them completely separate, because otherwise it would be a full time job to keep things compatible (vb today is very different from vb in 2004 both in its features and coding style). A new release of LDM typically takes me a couple of months work, so I want to be quite sure what is happening with vb 4.x before starting the next round!

This is probably a stupid question, but how do you go about deleting files?

Also, is there a file browse feature such as the Downloads II mod?

ldm/edit entry/delete :) Also ldm/admin/mass edits

I don't know what the downloads ii mod feature offers so can't really comment.

Hi, Andrew, that option is turned on and i see the recent uploads downloads as links in ldm blocks (as i have always done), what i'm talking about is when you go to a persons profiel and you have the tabs Visitors. About me, Statistics...etc, click the statistics and you have a series of lightly outlined boxes showing you "counts" from particular locations, this is where i would like to show
LDM Count
My LDM Downloads: xx
My LDM Uploads: xx

Does that make sense?

Makes sense, Simon. I havent implemented this but will add it to the list.

This product is so good i bought a new vB licence just to explore all the possabilitys. Simply amazing and is better then other premiums mods ive purchased for similier atributes. *Installed and Nominated.* I read other mention the backend isnt very welcoming. But i found this to be false. while i could see some frustrating night for the Novice vB admin. i find the backend pretty user friendly. lol does this mean im finally wrapping my head around vB? lol Thanks for this killer product. cant wait to see it evolve with 4.0

Is there a way using LDM to user must pay (using subscriptions) for each file he want to download?
Thanks
Regards!

This is not built in. You can however use vbulletin's 'forum subscriptions' to protect the files with a 'pay for access' forum.

what that means?

is this software getting some kind of update soon? I would love to see some features requested by other members, implemented.

LDM sets up default allowances/permissions for the standard vbulletin usergroups, e.g giving registered users some permissions and administrators most permissions. If you add new usergroups, they default to 'no LDM permissions'. This message warns you that you have added user groups and should check what permissions you want them to have - see ldm/admim/permissions and /allowances.

It had a quite substantial update this summer. I am waiting until the new coding styles/coding interfaces for vbulletin 4.x are released before doing any more work on new features, as the whole specification/code/test cycle is quite lengthy and it would be a great waste of effort if this had to be redone.

Perhaps you can tell me which features you miss?

Hi, excellent mod, thanks.

I'm only having one problem with this, and that's when I try to change/add more attributes, then I receive this error message:

One or more of the attribute definitions is invalid - check that names are unique, attributes are assigned to a group, etc

It was fine a few days ago, but for some reason I cannot add or update them, and even receive the message when I just try to submit them as they are. I've tried just about everything to no avail.

Any help would be appreciated. :)

This error mesage is given if two of your attributes have the same name or if you attempt to create an attribute with an empty group name. Check the ldm/admin/entry attributes page. If this is not the problem, get back to me and we can look for something else.

Hi, thanks for your reply. :)

Yes, I've checked and double-checked and it still won't let me. It's just strange that it won't even let me submit using the configuration I used before...I haven't/can't change anything.
:(

Would you like me to take a look at your site? Sometimes I find that is the only way to find bugs. If so, send me a PM with details of the site, plus an account that can access the full vb acp.

so this mod wont be 3.8.x compatible anymore?

This release of ldm will remain available, just as the versions for vb 3.7, 3.6, 3.5 and 3.0 have remained available. However, I have no idea at this stage whether future enhancements will be compatible with vb 3.8, as I have not yet seen details of the code changes that are being made to vbulletin.

Hi, Andrew, thanks for a wonderful product!

Little problem: there are about 2000 entries in LDM. But users asked me to turn on autocreating threads on forum. Is it possible to autocreate posts for existing entries?

For example, I need to create 'Test" category at forum and autocreate in this category posts for all entries in "Test" category in LDM?

Sorry for my English, thank You for help!

I'm sorry, I have not written code to handle this.

I changed the Database name to 'Files' in Settings but I need to also change where it says 'Links/Downloads' in the NavBar to just say 'Files'. Where would I do that?

Thanks! :)

Go to vb/admincp/languages and phrases/search in phrases and find the phrase with title "ldm_vbmenu_ldm". Create a translation for this phrase, e.g. "Files"

Hi, sorry just seen this. I manage to fix the error. I had certain fields called 'image 1', 'image 2' etc and it didn't like it. :( I changed their names and now it works ok.

Thanks for the offer.

Is there a way to include file hosting sites, such as megaupload, imageshack etc. so people can upload using these? That way I could save a lot on bandwith and space. :)

Also, I want to use the extra you provide to place the latest download on my forum home, but am using another style that, apparantly, doesn't have the correct 'hook' (if this is the right word!), so they are not showing up. Please can you tell me the code I need to input into my forumhome temps to make it show up?

Thank you

Edit: I found the needed HTML and managed :)

AndrewD,

i accidentally found that extended seo option does not work with non-latin characters, in my case cyrillic. when LDM forms seo'd urls it just skips non-latin characters and category name that consists only of cyrillic letters results in url like "/seo_title/c-----4" and mixed category name looks like "c---ford--1". while not necessary a bug, it would be nice to have this condition documented somewhere.

Thanks for letting me know - I'll document this in the wiki and see if there is an easy fix.

When vbulletin 4 is out, can you please integrate LDM into vbulletin search, including 'new posts'?
Please add a 'latest files' widget.
A way to integrate LDM into vb CMS its grid (lay out) would be very nice.
Please use vb's commenting system for entries, like the CMS does for articles. (It currently uses a hidden forum)

help

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